Nick, By the way, my interpretation of the alleged joke about the rabbis is that it's a failure of metaphor when the listeners are too literal.
Frank ----------------------------------- Frank Wimberly My memoir: https://www.amazon.com/author/frankwimberly My scientific publications: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Frank_Wimberly2 Phone (505) 670-9918 On Wed, Apr 17, 2019, 8:39 AM Prof David West <[email protected]> wrote: > Glen, > > Your comments about your Swedish friend's kids reminded me of a > ethnographic expedition I once led. Four undergraduate cultural > anthropology students followed me to San Francisco to do a study of "cyber > culture." We started in Silicon Valley with Jared Lanier and multiple VR > pioneers, which led to the electronic music culture, which led to the > Castro district leather gay community, which led to Raves, and eventually > to the Church of All Worlds convention north of The City. > > Quite an eye opener for affluent Catholic suburbanites that attended the > University of St. Thomas. Molly was on the horizon then, but Acid and > Mushrooms and Cacti were in abundance. > > For those not SciFi fans, CAW is the second American religion deriving > from a science fiction novel; after Dianetics which orginated in Hubbard's > "Battleship Earth." CAW was founded by Michael Valentine Smith in Robert > Heinlein's novel "Stranger in a Strange Land." CAW remains a small but > vibrant religion. > > davew > > > On Wed, Apr 17, 2019, at 3:54 PM, glen∈ℂ wrote: > > On 4/16/19 11:52 PM, David West wrote: > > > I am currently in Amsterdam - probably moving here for several years > as two colleagues and I are starting a software development business. > > > > I'm jealous! A friend of mine in Utrecht suggested we start an > > organization together. But until Renee' finished school we were rooted > > here. > > > > > While abandoning the institution of religion, the Dutch (who I am > coming to know) remain religious in the sense that they still have a belief > system. It is a syncretic 'religion' that seamlessly blends humanism, > (mostly) Protestantism, and "sciencism." This religion has no dogma, no > dictats, no fatwas. An anthropomorphized/personified God is far closer to > metaphor than literal assertion. What remains is a shared 'sense' of how to > interpret all that is about you and how to interact with each other. > > > > This sounds similar to the way my Swedish client's 20-something kids > > and their crowd believe(d). It felt much more like an ethical system > > than a religion. As usual, I spent more time with the kids than with > > the adults ... maybe because I'm so immature ... or maybe I'm a social > > vampire. But by the nature of my skeptical questioning, some of the > > kids reacted (defensively) as if some of the ideas were religious > > belief. But not very different from some of the near-religious beliefs > > in some technical circles (e.g. the Singularity and strong AI). I also > > can't help but associate their blended philosophy with the free flow of > > Molly in their crowd. That group flowed smoothly between art and tech, > > equally enthusiastic about microcontrollers and VR as they were about > > music and art installations. The drug seemed to facilitate the blending. > > > > As I've watched them age and settle into life paths, the frenetic > > activity has waned, but the philosophy remains. > > > > ============================================================ > > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > > to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > > archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ > > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove > > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ > FRIAM-COMIC <http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/FRIAM-COMIC> > http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove >
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove
