Yep, we're getting to the point that it is impossibly difficult to
continue to befool ourselves that we have vanquished, or even
diminished, uncertainty. The more we know, the more we are uncertain.
Shannon explained why - but there are many doubters . It is this:
"information" and "uncertainty" are the same thing. In fact, they are
measured by the same functional: statistical entropy.
Folks who do not understand this are confusing "data" and "information".
On 9/11/14, 1:03 PM, Roger Critchlow wrote:
The real "issue" is that we're all a mess. The surprise isn't that
attempts to change things for the better fail, the miracle is that
anything works at all.
The more we collectively learn, the more ignorant we all individually
become, and there isn't any *authority* that can tell us which part of
our ignorance needs the most attention. Being smarter just gives us
greater potential for being ignorant, there's more stuff that we could
have learned but haven't.
I started watching the Hamming lectures, again, yesterday.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2FF649D0C4407B30 He stands up
there in front of his Naval Postgraduate School class, does a
back-of-the-envelope calculation of what's implied by a doubling time
of 17 years for the sum of scientific knowledge, and says (paraphrased
from memory): in 40 years one of you will be Chief of Staff, and
there will be 5 times as much scientific knowledge relevant to your
work as there is today, that's quite a problem.
I found the book of the lectures,
http://worrydream.com/refs/Hamming-TheArtOfDoingScienceAndEngineering.pdf,
the printed continuation to the episode above is:
What is my answer to this dilemma? One answer is you must
concentrate on fundamentals, at least what
you think at the time are fundamentals, and also develop the
ability to learn new fields of knowledge when
they arise so you will not be left behind, as so many good
engineers are in the long run. In the position I
found myself in at the Laboratories, where I was the only one
locally who seemed (at least to me) to have a
firm grasp on computing, I was forced to learn numerical analysis,
computers, pretty much all of the
physical sciences at least enough to cope with the many different
computing problems which arose and whose
solution could benefit the Labs, as well as a lot of the social
and some the biological sciences. Thus I am a
veteran of learning enough to get along without at the same time
devoting all my effort to learning new
topics and thereby not contributing my share to the total effort
of the organization. The early days of
learning had to be done while I was developing and running a
computing center. You will face similar
problems in your career as it progresses, and, at times, face
problems which seem to overwhelm you.
What are the fundamentals of our social-political-economic life together?
If we removed the influence of money from politics, would everything
suddenly be clear? No, it would still be 5 times more confusing than
it was 39 years ago. "If we could just make _those_ idiots shut up"
is not a solution, because we are all objectively idiots and 5 times
more idiotic than we were 39 years ago. If you squint, you might
wonder if the Mayday PAC is all that different from the Republican
efforts to disenfranchise the poor, they're both focused on solving
the problem "why is my side not in control?" by removing the other
side from the game.
Your side is not in control because you're idiots and you have no
persuasive ideas about what to do, not because the idiots on the other
side are richer or more numerous.
-- rec --
On Thu, Sep 11, 2014 at 10:42 AM, Owen Densmore <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Maybe the best comparison is the Arab Spring, where there was so
much hope, and such a dismal result.
Lessig's Freedom From Pacs Spring is likely doomed to the same
end, but I hope not. We need to remember evolution is a part of
Mayday's future: figuring out what works and what doesn't, and
responding quickly.
-- Owen
On Thu, Sep 11, 2014 at 10:39 AM, Owen Densmore
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
I think its going to be quite a while before we see the impact
of Mayday and be able to judge it's "success".
But single issue is definitely a problem if not really, really
well defined.
For example, can Mayday's approach readjust the time folks
spend on getting funding? You'd think they'd want the
congress/senate to have more time to actually do something.
If not, maybe they should have a different goal: unblocking
the roadblock.
-- Owen
On Thu, Sep 11, 2014 at 10:14 AM, glen <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
We're starting to see the unintended consequences that we
were trying to suss out with our "explanations for why one
should do nothing".
http://irregulartimes.com/2014/09/10/did-the-single-issue-mayday-pac-fund-canvassers-on-obamacare-gun-rights-and-global-warming/
Although it's probably too late, those who care might step
in and suggest to mayday.us <http://mayday.us> that
"single issue" campaigns are part of the problem, not part
of the solution... if "complexity" means anything, it
means that.
On 07/01/2014 09:22 PM, Robert J. Cordingley wrote:
> Dare I say, as expected, offered an opportunity to
actual do something, many (the 91%?) keep explaining
(debate back and forth) why one should do nothing.
>
> With all the talent and expertise on this list, surely
someone could help Larry Lessig succeed with his campaign?
It's complicated/complex. Who's up to it? Remember, this
was inspired
<http://motherboard.vice.com/read/how-aaron-swartz-helped-inspire-lawrence-lessigs-mayday-pac>
by Aaron Swartz.
--
?? glen e. p. ropella
Lobsterbacks attack the town again
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