On Jul 10, 2007, at 8:32 AM, John Goekler wrote: > While I don't disagree with the broad assessments of the Iraq fiasco > presented here, I think we have to very careful about valuing 'our' > truth more highly than 'their' truth. > > There is, after all, a universe for every physicist. > > Is it not possible that 'truth' is no more than an emergent property > of the CAS we might call the observer? (Or the 'reporting party' as > they say in the police logs.) This is a very interesting thread... considering "truth" to be an emergent property... it seems compelling on first blush.
One of the important features of CAS would seem to be that it inherently studies subjective phenomena. Not subjective in the sense that every observer can see something different, so much as subjective in the sense of highly contextual up to and including the observer. > Or as they say in the spook biz, 'Whose truth? Which truth?' This kind of relativism (especially in the spook business) is really awkward "spiritually" but I do look to CAS, etc. to help provide a more scientific handle on epistimological considerations of complex systems. As for the Iraq war, I know plenty who are pro-war, both on principle and in practice with this war. They are either hawkish in their nature or overly pragmatic (in my opinion). I personally have no use for this war (or any systematic act of violence) and find most of the rhetoric and value systems around it extremely questionable... but most of my anti-war friends are not much help either... they make up their own lies about the lies and then believe *those* lies are better than the ones they are fighting (they are only better for me in that I am sympathetic with their spirit). Lies and Truths are "duals" but not opposites, not symmetric. I wonder what your (collective and individual) take on what Lies are in CAS as compared to Truths. ============================================================ 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
