[FRIAM] nice quote

steve smith sasmyth at swcp.com
Sat Oct 5 17:49:04 EDT 2024


Nick -

     And here I thought *I* was being "pithy", then you call me out on 
my lithp?!  ;^)

     The strawman arguments have started coming out, I wonder if anyone 
will gen up a steelman?

- tinman Steve



On 10/5/24 11:26 AM, 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.
>>>         >>
>>>         >
>>>         >
>>>
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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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>
>
> -- 
> Nicholas S. Thompson
> Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology
> Clark University
> nthompson at clarku.edu
> https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson
>
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