[FRIAM] Everything she knows...

[Frank Wimberly]

Nick,

By the way, my interpretation of the alleged joke about the rabbis is that
it's a failure of metaphor when the listeners are too literal.

Frank

-----------------------------------
Frank Wimberly

My memoir:
https://www.amazon.com/author/frankwimberly

My scientific publications:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Frank_Wimberly2

Phone (505) 670-9918

On Wed, Apr 17, 2019, 8:39 AM Prof David West <profwest at fastmail.fm> wrote:

> Glen,
>
> Your comments about your Swedish friend's kids reminded me of a
> ethnographic expedition I once led. Four undergraduate cultural
> anthropology students followed me to San Francisco to do a study of "cyber
> culture." We started in Silicon Valley with Jared Lanier and multiple VR
> pioneers, which led to the electronic music culture, which led to the
> Castro district leather gay community, which led to Raves, and eventually
> to the Church of All Worlds convention north of The City.
>
> Quite an eye opener for affluent Catholic suburbanites that attended the
> University of St. Thomas. Molly was on the horizon then, but Acid and
> Mushrooms and Cacti were in abundance.
>
> For those not SciFi fans, CAW is the second American religion deriving
> from a science fiction novel; after Dianetics which orginated in Hubbard's
> "Battleship Earth." CAW was founded by Michael Valentine Smith in Robert
> Heinlein's novel "Stranger in a Strange Land." CAW remains a small but
> vibrant religion.
>
> davew
>
>
> On Wed, Apr 17, 2019, at 3:54 PM, glen∈ℂ wrote:
> > On 4/16/19 11:52 PM, David West wrote:
> > > I am currently in Amsterdam - probably moving here for several years
> as two colleagues and I are starting a software development business.
> >
> > I'm jealous! A friend of mine in Utrecht suggested we start an
> > organization together.  But until Renee' finished school we were rooted
> > here.
> >
> > > While abandoning the institution of religion, the Dutch (who I am
> coming to know) remain religious in the sense that they still have a belief
> system. It is a syncretic 'religion' that seamlessly blends humanism,
> (mostly) Protestantism, and "sciencism." This religion has no dogma, no
> dictats, no fatwas. An anthropomorphized/personified God is far closer to
> metaphor than literal assertion. What remains is a shared 'sense' of how to
> interpret all that is about you and how to interact with each other.
> >
> > This sounds similar to the way my Swedish client's 20-something kids
> > and their crowd believe(d).  It felt much more like an ethical system
> > than a religion. As usual, I spent more time with the kids than with
> > the adults ... maybe because I'm so immature ... or maybe I'm a social
> > vampire. But by the nature of my skeptical questioning, some of the
> > kids reacted (defensively) as if some of the ideas were religious
> > belief. But not very different from some of the near-religious beliefs
> > in some technical circles (e.g. the Singularity and strong AI).  I also
> > can't help but associate their blended philosophy with the free flow of
> > Molly in their crowd.  That group flowed smoothly between art and tech,
> > equally enthusiastic about microcontrollers and VR as they were about
> > music and art installations. The drug seemed to facilitate the blending.
> >
> > As I've watched them age and settle into life paths, the frenetic
> > activity has waned, but the philosophy remains.
> >
> > ============================================================
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>
> ============================================================
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
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