[FRIAM] nice quote

[steve smith]

    All /Pithy Aphorisms/ are wrong, some are useful?

On 10/5/24 9:06 AM, Prof David West wrote:
> 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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>
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