[FRIAM] nice quote

[Prof David West]

Our science illuminates global warming.

Our political institutions are incapable of crafting solutions absent so many loopholes as the make the exercise near pointless.

Individuals operating in those institutions are driven by greed, power lust, ego, and all manner of what the Buddha called "attachments."

davew


On Sat, Oct 5, 2024, at 12:26 PM, Nicholas Thompson wrote:
> So in what sense and for what purposes is this pithy aphorism useful?  What exactly is the pith?
> 
> If a metaphor, what is truth in the metaphor, the positive analog.   Nobody ever said that all metaphors are *entirely* wrong.
> 
> and yes, I am being pissy.
> 
> n
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Sat, Oct 5, 2024 at 11:04 AM steve smith <sasmyth at swcp.com> wrote:
>>> 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.
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >
>>>>> >
>>>>> 
>>>>> -. --- - / ...- .- .-.. .. -.. / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. .
>>>>> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
>>>>> Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe   /   Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom https://bit.ly/virtualfriam
>>>>> to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>>>>> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/
>>>>> archives:  5/2017 thru present https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/
>>>>>   1/2003 thru 6/2021  http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> --
>>>> Nicholas S. Thompson
>>>> Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology
>>>> Clark University
>>>> nthompson at clarku.edu
>>>> https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson
>>>> -. --- - / ...- .- .-.. .. -.. / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. .
>>>> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
>>>> Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe   /   Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom https://bit.ly/virtualfriam
>>>> to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>>>> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/
>>>> archives:  5/2017 thru present https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/
>>>>   1/2003 thru 6/2021  http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/
>>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -. --- - / ...- .- .-.. .. -.. / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. .
>>> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
>>> Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe   /   Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom https://bit.ly/virtualfriam
>>> to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>>> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/
>>> archives:  5/2017 thru present https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/
>>>   1/2003 thru 6/2021  http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/
>>> 
>> -. --- - / ...- .- .-.. .. -.. / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. .
>> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
>> Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe   /   Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom https://bit.ly/virtualfriam
>> to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/
>> archives:  5/2017 thru present https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/
>>   1/2003 thru 6/2021  http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/
> 
> 
> --
> Nicholas S. Thompson
> Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology
> Clark University
> nthompson at clarku.edu
> https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson
> -. --- - / ...- .- .-.. .. -.. / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. .
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe   /   Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom https://bit.ly/virtualfriam
> to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/
> archives:  5/2017 thru present https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/
>   1/2003 thru 6/2021  http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/
> 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/attachments/20241005/82dcf7a9/attachment.html>