Do you remember that pithy campaign comment from James Carville, “It’s the economy stupid”? I wonder if he knew how deeply universal that truth is. Why don’t educators put this at the top of their list of the basic education each person must have? Could it be they don’t know? Economics is survival for all […]
Continue reading…emergent property
And Then There Was Fire
A favorite thought experiment of mine is pondering the how and why of the world. Alas, there are mountains of geological and archeological information to consider. Happily, a lifetime of reflection seems to be paying off. I can see outlines of the ‘big picture’ now. The constant difficulty is that mountains of detail easily obscure […]
Continue reading…Upping the Ante
Have you noticed the ever-present urge to continue ‘upping the ante’? Not only that, but isn’t the sky often the limit? We can’t help but aim for the next step up, and when we reach it, that level becomes our new bottom line. Most of us are content for a little while, but then we […]
Continue reading…Really, Have We No Clue?
As a child, I recall marveling at how everything seemed to work so well. The logistics blew my mind, although I didn’t know that was the word for it. How the authorities dealt with all the sewage and garbage my hometown produced baffled me. I am still in awe that civilization works as well as […]
Continue reading…Naturally Unnatural, Naturally!
Occasionally I hear people opine on what is or isn’t natural human behavior. Doesn’t this depend on what part of the elephant one currently perceives? Elephant parables aside, I see this issue as emerging layers of reality’s onion. (See Tao as Emergent Property) Let me sort this out… Like all animals, humans are naturally inclined […]
Continue reading…Ethics as an Emergent Property
(First Pass: “Chapter of the Week” 2011) Ethics is a curious cultural creature. What is ethical for one group may well be immoral for another. Certainly there are some ethical rules which span most groups, at least on the surface. ‘Thou shall not kill’ is almost universal, except for the many exceptions, e.g., it’s all […]
Continue reading…You Know
More than once, I’ve voiced the view that we tend to put the cart before the horse when it comes to learning, understanding, and knowing. Over the last few years, I’ve become relatively convinced that we only truly understand and learn what we already know intuitively. My suspicions began during our home schooling days as […]
Continue reading…It’s Simply Nature’s Way
The Pope’s reference to suffering struck me. (Google: Pope Benedict stumped by Japanese girl’s question about suffering inflicted by the Tsunami.) Briefly, a young girl asked him, “Why do children have to be so sad?” Benedict admitted: “I also have the same questions: why is it this way? Why do you have to suffer so […]
Continue reading…Why God?
Why God? I have not heard this question asked much… if at all. Debate focuses mostly on whose God is best, the nature of God, or does God even exist. Asking, “Why do we believe in God” is more of a zoological approach to this issue. That is the place to begin; after all, we […]
Continue reading…Playing With Dolls
I’ve been amused for years by society’s attempts to blame culture for things that are obviously biological. This is the old nature vs. nurture debate. Naturally, I could never prove that nature was primarily responsible by coherent debate alone, although it was always fun trying. I suspect that those who blame nurture and culture do […]
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