Jeremy Rifkin's RSA video<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7AWnfFRc7g&feature=channel>(The Empathic Civilization) claims that we are wired for empathy but that empathy exists only because we can identify with others' suffering. According to Rifkin (at about 4 1/2 minutes) there is no empathy in Heaven; there is no empathy in Utopia. I also liked Daniel Pink's RSA presentation on motivation and drive<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc&feature=channel> .
-- Russ A On Sun, Jun 13, 2010 at 9:02 AM, Nicholas Thompson < [email protected]> wrote: > Eric, > > I agree. The most sucessful psychologists ... the ones that made the big > bucks in textbooks, etc, and in circles of admiring chicks at conferences > ... are the ones who made an industry of taking conventional wisdom and > repackaging it as science. I think there is some point where I join the > "hard" scientist critique of the "soft" sciences, not because the > latter not as methodologically rigorous, but more because the questions > they ask are so maleable. A social scientist can always arrange to look like > a leader by watching where the mob is running and strolling over to be there > when it arrives. > > "See. I was here first. I am your leader." > > But am I envious? You bet! > > Nick > > PS to EPC: Note the New Realist premise, here. > > Nicholas S. Thompson > Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology, > Clark University ([email protected]) > http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/<http://home.earthlink.net/%7Enickthompson/naturaldesigns/> > http://www.cusf.org [City University of Santa Fe] > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* ERIC P. CHARLES <[email protected]> > *To: *Jochen Fromm <[email protected]> > *Cc: *The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group<[email protected]> > *Sent:* 6/13/2010 9:44:38 AM > *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] Time perspectives > > Jochen, > It is a wonderful video, but I worry about the content. > > Zimbardo's ability to mix a small amount of science with a lot of > common-sense vacuous, but appealing, bull shit, never ceases to amaze me. > For example, "All addictions are addictions of present hedonism." Really? > Have we checked ALL addictions. Do we have a good enough definition of > 'addiction' to really test the hypothesis? Is that merely true by > definition? If I came up with an alternative example, like say a compulsive > collector of past-related items (old baseball cards, records, civil war > memorabilia), would you simply keep twisting it until you could justify it > in terms of your original statement. I think at least half of the things > said could be subjected to similar criticism. For another example, as a kid > I played far more than 10,000 hours of video games, I'm not so sure there is > a direct relationship between that and school/life failure. Correlation? > Maybe, but I'll bet Phil's intro stats classes mentioned something about the > relationship between correlation and causation. > > And yet I maintain my faith that in subjects other than Psychology Stanford > has important people. > > Eric > > > > On Sun, Jun 13, 2010 07:01 AM, *"Jochen Fromm" <[email protected]>*wrote: > > In this wonderfully animated video, Philip Zimbardo > talks about the > geography of time, time perspectives, > online gaming and sit-down family > diners > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3oIiH7BLmg > > -J. > > > > ============================================================ > 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 > > > Eric Charles > > Professional Student and > Assistant Professor of Psychology > Penn State University > Altoona, PA 16601 > > > > ============================================================ > 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
