Steve: I think the difficulty here is that at some point,
conversations are taken off-list when clearly appropriate.
Unfortunately, those participating in the conversation do not know how
to do so.
Can you think of a solution for that? We may want to just zap the
list and go to a Forum with sub-topics, one of which would be the
philosophy of science.
-- Owen
On Jul 12, 2009, at 12:44 PM, Steve Smith wrote:
Owen says:
... I think the conflict may be nearly trivial: constructing
things. ...
and Doug elaborates
...
Talk is cheap.
... I have anything against masturbation, mental or otherwise. It's
just that nothing ever comes of it, so to speak.
...
and now for some more Cheap Talk (following Aku's lead)!
I happen to enjoy constructing things a great deal...
useful things... then using them....
a lot more than I like talking about constructing
things.
Ideas, on the other hand...
especially well-considered, carefully contextualized ones,
are very interesting to me, and difficult to "construct"
on one's own. This is actually what lead me into mathematics
and science.... how much one can "construct" with carefully
chosen ideas (and notations).
As for FRIAM-the-list... any mail list (in my experience) has a high
noise/signal ratio.
I have learned to winnow fairly well... not engage in the
conversations that do not serve me.
Given the (300+ ?) membership here and the significantly lower
number speaking up, I'd
say a lot of folks here share that ability.
Some of the "philosophical discussions" here serve me nicely... I
weigh in on some and I
read others with interest, and a few I simply leave only skimmed
over because they do
not serve me very well at all. Sometimes I simply do not have
enough background to
appreciate them, and other times, they can simply be "lame".
Of the "discussions of constructing things", a few offer
interesting tidbits for me...
ideas about things which are _worth constructing_, and ideas for new
tools or materials
for doing them with. But a lot of that discussion can seem pretty
self-aggrandizing
and/or masturbatory as well. I've dabbled with tens of computer
languages in my
lifetime, and probably mastered 3 or 4... and I am happy for those
who still get
excited over the latest nuances of the latest version of the latest
language or tool... but
perhaps like Nick (yet for different reasons), it doesn't do that
much for me.
I don't need to suggest that such discussions not occur... Like
sitting in a coffee
shop to do work... I find happy babble that I don't understand or
care much about
a useful backdrop. If the background noise doesn't serve me, I
block it out or
find a different place to "hang out". If I happen to engage in
happy babble there
myself, I hope it is as useful to others who have chosen the same
coffee shop.
Carry on with the happy babble...
- Steve
PS. Anybody know where I can get a good deal on a set of injectors
for an 86 VW
Rabbit? Or a good third-member from an older 4x4 subaru or tercel
wagon?
Or a line on some good DC motors to drive these axles on the CRX
this is going into?
How about a couple of Canon Cameras using the vxWorks OS (to hack
into a
white-light scanner)? Is the ubiquity of JavaScript interpreters
in many tools (beyond web browsers now!) leading to a "Cambrian
Explosion"?
Anyone interested in helping me dig a 40' trench for the
foundation of an atrium? Anyone have any experience making foam-
crete (same
project)? Anybody nimble enough to climb to the top of my
Cottonwood to rig
me some lines so when I start to cut one of the dead limbs out, it
won't crash
into my house (or the atrium-to-be)? What's the cheapest way to
get a copy of MS
Windows XP to load on my Mac? Does anyone know of a practical open-
source
hybrid laser/white-light scanning system? How about a review of
all of the
current "rapid prototyping" systems and/or service bureaus? Who
wants to
start a FreeGeek.org NM? And what about that New Realism?
Anybody know how to change a diaper, plan an invasion,
butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet,
balance accounts,
build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give
orders, cooperate,
act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure,
program a computer,
cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly?
============================================================
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
============================================================
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
