On 31 Oct 2013, at 22:01, Telmo Menezes wrote:
On Thu, Oct 31, 2013 at 5:58 PM, meekerdb <meeke...@verizon.net>
wrote:
On 10/31/2013 3:55 AM, Telmo Menezes wrote:
I believe there's an important aspect of this type of discussion
that
is rarely considered. This sort of thing takes almost a religious
tone
where we are supposed to feel guilty. I'm very suspicious of this
sort
of thing. I was indoctrinated by catholic sunday school to feel
guilty
about things that I didn't even yet understand. This type of
discourse
has a similar smell.
I agree with that. But just because we aren't guilty, doesn't mean
we can't
do anything to redress the problem.
Agreed.
I also think that, pragmatically, the guilt trip doesn't do anything.
Politicians are too sociopathic, they will just use it as an
opportunity to gain more power while appearing to care. I put more
faith in technological solutions like geo-engineering.
If politics permits them. The problem we face today are due to human
irrationality, mainly.
We pay the price of allowing irrationality in the an and fundamental
science.
We are at the time of fear and catastrophes selling.
Neither you, Brent, nor me, nor anyone in this list is at fault.
There's nothing we can do to prevent this. I would argue for a more
radical idea:_nobody_ is at fault. There isn't a single human being
that has the power to revert the way in which our species operates.
Again, I don't mean to make a political point and defend or condemn
certain ideologies. I mean to make a biological point: we are not
social insects. We are somewhat altruistic but by far not as
altruistic as super-sister ants. This is just how we evolved. We
don't
know for how long we'll be able we'll be able to survive as a
species
and we can't stop being human. The earth won't care. If we go
extinct,
other species will take our place. Or not. In the great scheme of
things, does it really matter?
Does anything matter in the great scheme of things? I don't know.
I care
about what matters to me.
Brent
"It does not matter now that in a million years nothing we do now
will
matter."
--- Thomas Nagel
Nice!
What we will do now can matter a lot in our normal futures in a
millions years.
And it matters now, or when we die, as our descendant might be able or
not to reconstitute us, or not, and for what purpose, can depend on
what we do now.
It does not matter in the big picture, as "everything is already
written (in the logical consequence of + and *), but we have no access
to that picture, here-and-now, and pain is (alas) painful, in the here-
and-now.
Our doing have consequences.
Bruno
Telmo.
Meanwhile, we seem to be rather special children of the Universe, in
the sense that we are a mechanism by which the Universe can
introspect: powerful telescopes, particle accelerators, these are
all
part of the introspection. There's beauty in that, and ephemeral
things are even more beautiful.
Sorry for the moment of zen:)
Telmo.
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