Dear Nick, thanks for your email, it resonated very much with me, and I agree, even in academia only a handful of people have intellectual curiosity. :-(
So strange that academia is a lonely place for thinkers all too often. I am happy to be able to share somewhat in the intellectual community of Sante Fe with the FRIAM List! Those are the wonders of the Internet. Best Regards, Günther Nicholas Thompson wrote: > Phil, > > My experience in academia is that the first impulse of any scholar is to > defend himself againt anything new. I know I do it myself. Having > somebody convince you of something new is like being given a new computer. > Yeah, I s uppose it will be wonderful inthe future, but right now I have to > spend the next 20 days loading new softward and learning new programs and > reading "manuals" and hanging on phones with techsupport people. Who wants > any of THAT? > > Also, i think even well read scholars continue to think that nobody > understands them. There is a wonderful passag in Darwin's Dangerous Idea > where dennett goes windging on about how nobody reads him and nobody cares. > (Yes, that WOULD be Daniel Dennett of the 15 best sellers, etc. ) I thnk > most scholars thrive on solitude, and if they dont have it, they will > invent it. > > One of my great dissapointments about having been an academic for 40 years > was the rarety of intellectual community in academia. This is how the > friam group in Santa Fe is so extraordinary: despite working hard to make > a living, they are still almost the only group of people I have ever > worked with that really has intellectual curiosity. > > So here is my prescription for survival in a savage world: develop the > intellectual communities that you can, take them where they will go, and > forget the schmucks with the big royalty packages. > > You heard if first from me, > > Nick > > -- Günther Greindl Departement of Philosophy of Science University of Vienna [EMAIL PROTECTED] Blog: http://dao.complexitystudies.org/ Site: http://www.complexitystudies.org -- Günther Greindl Departement of Philosophy of Science University of Vienna [EMAIL PROTECTED] Blog: http://dao.complexitystudies.org/ Site: http://www.complexitystudies.org ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
