I concur about diversity being integral to reality, but I'd add that GST has already met your belief system with "The Law of Requisite Variety." I so happens that any system will ultimately become defunct if a requisite degree of diversity is not maintained... this is evidenced in everything from a gene pool to the eco-system. You may be interested in a group at LinkedIn entitled General Systems Theory, which is run by a prof hailing from Harvard. Check it out... I have some posts there myself.
On Sep 6, 10:42 pm, "Sam Carana" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Diversity constitutes reality, we know that for a fact. > > Those who have shared my epistemological contemplations will be > familiar with the fact that I believe that DIVERSITY is fundamental to > everything that exists. In short, diversity constitutes reality, as it > always has and as will always be the case. > > Those who are smart and new here may ask how I can know this for a > fact. Indeed, how can diversity be rhymed with the singularity > inherent in facts? Indeed, how can I write the word "fact" in above > sentence, before even mentioning diversity? > > In fact, I have always accepted facts, I actually like to start with > the facts and focus on reality. What I do NOT accept is the idea that > facts were inherently singular and therefore excluded diversity. Those > who know me, know that I do start with the facts and stick with the > facts, while all the time believing that diversity is fundamental to > reality. But let's have a look at an example, perhaps that will > clarify things. > > Imagine a motorcycle driver, young and reckless, stupid and brave, > driving fast through the night on a lonely country road. The driver > chases a car that manages to just stay ahead, by similarly driving at > speeds far too fast for such a windy road. At the next curve, as the > motorcycle starts overtaking the car, two lights appear from the > opposite direction. The motorcycle driver has only a split-second to > decide to either slow down or keep overtaking. Naturally, the > motorcycle driver, in such a crucial decision, will resort to the > facts. > > What do the facts say? Fact is that motorcycle drivers are prone to > fatal accidents, a good many of which are head-on collisions. Fact is > that it's dangerous, often even prohibited to overtake a car in a > curve. Fact is that motorcycles constitutes a small minority of > vehicles, so the chance is small that the two lights approaching from > the opposite direction are two motorcycles. The chance is even smaller > that two motorcycle would - stupidly - drive next to each other on a > windy country road in the night, instead of one behind the other. > > So, what goes through the head of the motorcyclist while overtaking > the car? There may be a tiny chance that the approaching two lights > are of two motorcyclists. So, there is a tiny chance to continue to > overtake the car, and stay in between these two motorcyclists without > causing accidents. But the probability is low, in fact, there's a > bigger chance that the two lights from a car, or even a bus or a > truck. > > Was there an emergency that justified taking such risks? What exactly > are the odds and the risks? Is there time to contemplate such > questions when one's survival depends on a split-second decision? Of > course, we all know the answer and any mature motorcycle driver knows > it too. We know what to do, not so much because we were in possession > of all the facts, We know what to do, not so much because we did > explore all alternatives, exhaustively testing them and proved them to > be wrong. Instead, we know what to do, because experience and maturity > tells us what to do. > > Similarly, we've got to act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We > know that for a fact. Global warming is a fact and there IS no > alternative but to reduce emissions. This conclusion is not in > conflict with the diversity that is inherent to reality. We simply do > not have the luxury to first explore the alternative and await proof > that temperatures will indeed rise with catastrophic results. We do > not have that option. We know that global warming is taking place and > we know that we must act now. That conclusion is fully in agreement > with the principle that diversity is fundamental to reality. We know > that we must act now to reduce emissions, we know that for a fact - > wisdom, experience and maturity tells us so. > > Cheers! > I am Sam Carana, and I like ti start with facts and focus on reality. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Epistemology" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/epistemology?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
