[FRIAM] the Skeptical Meme

[Marcus Daniels]

Eric writes:


< It is not so far from Nietzche’s notion that “God is dead” creates a problem for people, and they will face a fork in the road in how they try to deal with it. >


Yeah, it is probably nothing new that is happening nor a new interpretation.   Institutions of various kinds can give individuals a role to play and guidelines for conduct, but a highly interconnected population with a complex economy will stress these institutions and reveal their limitations.   Meanwhile, only exceptional and delusional individuals can really make a convincing case (esp. to themselves) about their unique value either coupled-to or uncoupled-from from institutions.   However, I fear the stakes are pretty high now -- the contagion of people going bonkers could be fast with social media.   A healthy society is one where individuals can mature to the point they can begin to doubt the meaning in their own anxiety (whether by themselves, with their shrink or their spiritual authority) and make it to the next day.


Marcus

________________________________
From: Friam <friam-bounces at redfish.com> on behalf of Eric Smith <desmith at santafe.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2017 6:56:23 AM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] the Skeptical Meme


> Their desperation and rage just comes from a feeling that they can't confront, that they just don't have much to offer.
>
> Marcus

Reading this, I feel like you could found a new generation of something that is like existentialist philosophy but equally-well political theory.

It is not so far from Nietzche’s notion that “God is dead” creates a problem for people, and they will face a fork in the road in how they try to deal with it.  Maybe even, considering the currents running through European and particularly German society at the time he was writing (and that he specifically wrote about), driven by concerns based on similar observations.

It strikes me that this is an available point of view for almost any person.  Granted, the distribution of rewards and frustrations differs from person to person and also from region to region, and that matters.  But the black box (black hole?) of how minds form characters and orientations in response to streams of these things draws from an immense and to me-obscure range of inputs.

Makes me wonder,

Eric


============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/attachments/20170816/40faf86a/attachment.html>