Thus spake Douglas Roberts circa 12/25/2008 04:27 PM: > IMO, Age and Obscurity (in languages, at least) are mutually reinforcing > resonant death knells.
Naaa. I'm a big fan of old, obscure artifacts. They flesh out the context through which homogenous fad-followers plow. It seems like our (the US) bias toward forgetting history and diversity and teaching only the lowest common denominator, most current fad, or toward the most likely future is the primary reason we have a trash culture. Rather than re-sole that old pair of boots or fix the transmission in that old car, we prefer to junk the old stuff and buy brand new stuff (usually made in China). The hip and trendy fads are great for preoccupying the teenager's (or politician's) mind; but for any serious work, one should consider as much historical context as possible in order to make wise decisions in the present. -- glen e. p. ropella, 971-222-9095, http://agent-based-modeling.com ============================================================ 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
