10 MAR 2019 by ideonexus
Estimating Technical Progress
Overestimating the potential upside of every new sign of tech progress is as common as downplaying the downsides. It's easy to let our imaginations run wild with how any new development is going to change everything practically overnight. The unforeseen technical roadblocks that inevitably spring up are only one reason for this consistent miscalculation. Human nature is simply out of sync with the nature of technological development. We see progress as linear, a straight line of improvement. ...Folksonomies: futurism technical progress
Folksonomies: futurism technical progress
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notes02 MAR 2019 by ideonexus
Hawking Considers Computer Viruses Life
A living being like you or me usually has two elements: a set of instructions that tell the system how to keep going and how to reproduce itself, and a mechanism to carry out the instructions. In biology, these two parts are called genes and metabolism. But it is worth emphasising that there need be nothing biological about them. For example, a computer virus is a program that will make copies of itself in the memory of a computer, and will transfer itself to other computers. Thus it fits the...Folksonomies: life
Folksonomies: life
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notes27 JUL 2018 by ideonexus
The Enlightenment Needs Vigorous Defense
The ideals of the Enlightenment are products of human reason, but they always struggle with other strands of human nature: loyalty to tribe, deference to authority, magical thinking, the blaming of misfortune on evildoers. The second decade of the 21st century has seen the rise of political movements that depict their countries as being pulled into a hellish dystopia by malign factions that can be resisted only by a strong leader who wrenches the country backward to make it “great again.”... 1 notes
notes30 MAY 2016 by ideonexus
Rebuking the "Good Old Days"
When you hear someone longing for the "good old days," take it with a grain of salt. (Laughter and applause.) Take it with a grain of salt. We live in a great nation and we are rightly proud of our history. We are beneficiaries of the labor and the grit and the courage of generations who came before. But I guess it's part of human nature, especially in times of change and uncertainty, to want to look backwards and long for some imaginary past when everything worked, and the economy humme... 1 notes
notes24 JAN 2015 by ideonexus
Success of America is Due to Hamilton's Jaundiced View of...
The practical success and durability of the Constitution owe much to Hamilton's jaundiced view of human nature. The American Constitution is designed to be operated by crooks, just as the British constitution is designed to be operated by gentlemen. Because Hamilton believed that men are by nature crooks rather than gentlemen, he was able to help design a constitution that could deal effectively with President Nixon. If ever a World Government should come into existence, it had better be a go...Folksonomies: politics governance
Folksonomies: politics governance
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notes24 JAN 2015 by ideonexus
Habitable Worlds as a Cause for Moral Reflection
In this great celestial creation, the catastrophy of a world, such as ours, or even the total dissolution of a system of worlds, may possibly be no more to the great Author of Nature, than the most common accident in life with us, and in all probability such final and general Doomsdays may be as frequent there, as even Birthdays or mortality with us upon the earth. This idea has something so chearful in it, that I own I can never look upon the stars without wondering why the whole world does ... 1 notes
notes24 DEC 2013 by ideonexus
Causality as a Conceptual Tool
Causality itself is an evolved conceptual tool that simplifies, schematizes, and focuses our representation of situations. This cognitive machinery guides us to think in terms of the cause—of an outcome’s having a single cause. Yet for enlarged understanding, it is more accurate to represent outcomes as caused by an intersection, or nexus, of factors (including the absence of precluding conditions). In War and Peace, Tolstoy asks, “When an apple ripens and falls, why does it fall? Becau...
1 John Tooby on how causation is a way we simplify the world to more easily understand it, but it can also over-simplify.
24 DEC 2013 by ideonexus
Humans are the Giraffes of Altruism
Humans are the giraffes of altruism. We’re freaks of nature, able (at our best) to achieve antlike levels of service to the group. We readily join together to create superorganisms, but unlike the eusocial insects we do it with blatant disregard for kinship and we do it temporarily and contingent upon special circumstances (particularly intergroup conflict, as is found in war, sports, and business).
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Having the term “contingent superorganism” in our cognitive toolkit may help peo...Jonathan Haidt explains our our proclivity to help one another makes us a kind of "superorganism."
08 OCT 2013 by ideonexus
Evolutionary Theory Does Not Justify Greed
Human nature as it now exists was formed in accord with the laws of evolution under conditions pertaining well before recorded human history. Fossils discovered in Ethiopia and Kenya now date human ancestors back at least 5 or 6 million years. Distinctly human species arose in Africa at least 2 million years ago, while present evidence indicates that modern humans are only about 100,000 years old. Therefore the conditions relevant to which genetic mutations were advantageous and which were no... 1 notes
notesMany economic theories relying on "human nature" assume we are greedy, but this is not supported by the evidence. We might just as likely be generous and that is our evolutionary advantage.
13 APR 2013 by ideonexus
We Are Against Everything, but For Nothing
People who publicly protest are not only passionate and well meaning; they are also generally well informed. I found it incongruous that these same people advocated no real solutions. They appeared passionate about what they were against, but when it came time to propose an alternative course of action, they seemed befuddled.
It occurred to me I was witnessing some new form of gridlock: If we are against the war and also simultaneously against every withdrawa plan, how do we move forward? T... 1 notes
notesFor every proposal, it seems like there are twenty objections. Is this human nature? It does make us easy to manipulate.
