[FRIAM] nice quote

[Prof David West]

my affection for the quote derives from a metaphorical reading, not a literal one. Something akin to Steve's differential rates of evolution. I also would have eschewed 'god like' in favor of 'magical' ala Clarke's dictum about any sufficiently advanced technology.

davew


On Fri, Oct 4, 2024, at 8:46 PM, Nicholas Thompson wrote:
> I think that this way of talking about emotions precludes careful thought.   First of all, neurologizing emotions is just to hide the pea under the wrong thimble. I don't think paleolithologizig helps much more. Glen is correct that, whatever an emotion is, its inputs  and outputs are ontogenetically and culturally determined.  So, fear, for instance, is a relation between something that we take to be threatening and something that we hope will be avoidance. Inputs and outputs are everything. The rest is  just arousal.
> 
> N
> 
> On Fri, Oct 4, 2024 at 7:01 PM steve smith <sasmyth at swcp.com> wrote:
>> Emotions/Limbic systems evolve at genetic rates, institutions evolve at 
>> social/cultural rates (maybe the fastest significant change can 
>> happen/resolve is in multiple lifetimes?) but technology is advancing at 
>> must faster rates?
>> 
>> Or is this wrong(headed) also?
>> 
>> On 10/4/24 3:43 PM, glen wrote:
>> > None of that is true, however romantic it might sound. Depending on 
>> > how one defines "emotion", that smells the most true. But the 
>> > mechanisms of emotion are as coupled to current reality as is every 
>> > part of our bodies. To suggest that, say, the Space Force or methods 
>> > like quantitative easing are medieval is just nonsense. Technology is 
>> > more democratized than it has ever been. Granted, it takes (a lot) of 
>> > work to familiarize oneself with something like how GPS works or how 
>> > to NOT click on that phishing email. But to suggest that it's 
>> > "godlike" says more about the person than it does about the state of 
>> > technology.
>> >
>> > On 10/4/24 11:16, Prof David West wrote:
>> >> /"The real problem of humanity is the following: we have Paleolithic 
>> >> emotions, medieval institutions, and godlike technology. And it is 
>> >> terrifically dangerous."/ Edward O. Wilson.
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> 
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> 
> --
> Nicholas S. Thompson
> Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology
> Clark University
> nthompson at clarku.edu
> https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson
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