I have a few similar, yet polar opposite examples:
- I have good health coverage, on paper. In practice, United Health Care chose to disallow *every* claim we submitted over the past two years. We had to shove each and every claim down their collective throat to get reimbursed. - Obama, in rhetoric, sounded just peachy. In practice, it's just another case of same politicians, different day. - Bought some new tires from Sears, limited lifetime warranty. One of them was square, it took threatening to launch an anti-Sears net campaign to get them to replace their defective product. You get the picture... --Doug On Wed, Feb 17, 2010 at 11:06 AM, Owen Densmore <[email protected]> wrote: > It's self observation: I am far more likely to become pessimistic over > abstractions. > > Example: Santa Fe Police. Looked pretty grim in terms of capabilities and > editorials in the news paper. Yet working with them showed them to be far > more professional than I had thought. And I was told specifically by the > police chief that, yes, they get bad apples and they fire them asap. > > Similar the court system. On jury duty, I was amazed at the understanding > and care that Judge Michael Vigil showed, and the joint programs he had set > up with the police and judiciary to cure rather than punish. > > Ditto with the fire department in wild fire and evacuation work: they are > far more professional than I had expected. > > I can go on for quite a while, but you get the picture. > > -- Owen > > > On Feb 17, 2010, at 10:28 AM, Douglas Roberts wrote: > > Can you point to a study which validates this contention, Owen? Or is it > more of an opinion? > > Mine (opinion) is that pessimism is largely born out of experience. > > --Doug > > On Wed, Feb 17, 2010 at 10:22 AM, Owen Densmore <[email protected]>wrote: > >> Most pessimism comes from abstractions, not close personal experience. >> >> -- Owen >> >> >> On Feb 16, 2010, at 2:34 PM, [email protected] wrote: >> >> Americans: Neither Ugly nor Dumb >> I have enjoyed the plethora of Wisdom apropos contemporary mores and >> innovation from Friam correspondents: finally a reply is irresistible. But >> I can respond only with banal facts I have personally experienced and know >> to be true. >> On dumth: I have earned a living in Africa, New Zealand, England and USA. >> During my years in the US I have found people to be generous, >> open-minded, honorable and mainly smarter than me. And folks here are >> significantly more civilized and humane than those in any other continent >> that I have worked in. So I am surprised at Friam correspondents’ >> apparent contempt for our fellow citizens - mebbe they know whereof they >> prattle, mebbe not. >> On innovation: the sage advice is all correct - and all irrelevant. I >> have spent decades working professionally with DARPA, NASA, DOD, US >> Renewable >> Energy Institute, many aerospace corps, and as a consultant for patent >> applications . I continually witness a brilliant, humbling, >> kaleidoscope of new ideas. I reckon, before pontificating, pundits >> should establish qualifications of their own creativity: patents issued, >> original papers and articles, senior managerial accomplishments. Perhaps >> they are too modest to list these. >> I love reading the Friam stuff as fiction. I think Joyceans call it >> Stream of Consciousness. It would be very nice if people provided >> specific support for their assertions. >> >> >> Peter Lissaman, Da Vinci Ventures >> >> Expertise is not knowing everything, but knowing what to look for. >> >> 1454 Miracerros Loop South, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505,USA >> tel:(505)983-7728 >> >> ============================================================ > > 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 > -- Doug Roberts [email protected] [email protected] 505-455-7333 - Office 505-670-8195 - Cell
============================================================ 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
