that link page is too big.. maybe ill read it later
On Nov 14, 4:33 am, gabbydott <[email protected]> wrote: > Can it be that this a generation thing? I mean, the question used to be > "How are you?" and then one started discussing the weather. This "what is > happening to you/ to others" has this artificial dualism to it, which I > understand Molly doesn't appreciate either. And the next generation's > question is, where is the link to the stream. > > > > On Sun, Nov 13, 2011 at 1:40 PM, archytas <[email protected]> wrote: > > Pat might just be interested in this - > >http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qm-collapse/ > > - which is very clever stuff on physics I found I could only handle in > > parts. My brain is much less capable in both maths and being bothered > > with deep riddles these days. I play only as an amateur. There's > > some sort of argument in this stuff that allows a realist view of > > macroscopic space-time - i.e. that the moon is where it is without > > anyone looking and our old chestnut tree crashes to the ground as > > likely when we aren't looking - that is consistent with quantum-level > > theorising. > > I'm a tropical fish realist - if I want to know about, say, India on > > the ground, I'd ask Vam or people with direct experience I've actually > > worked with. If more than interest was at stake, I'd go. Even > > reading, incidentally, indicates that standard 'white people's > > histories' I soaked up from Hollywood-BBC are false. I tend to like > > my climate science from climate scientists, not the guff from > > Hollywood-BBC. It's hard to get stuff from the 'horse's mouth', and > > of course even when one can, there remain problems of knowing enough > > to understand - as a minute with the link above will indicate. I > > often find little to distinguish the academic and presumably accurate > > material and, say, some of the barking on Epistemology. I tend > > towards the experts in science. > > > This general attitude of mine does not extend to politics and > > economics. Here I find the experts vapid, generally untrustworthy and > > speaking in code or some sort. The dominant dross in economics since > > I started teaching it has been broadly neo-classical and so vapid it's > > models ignored debt. You can find the criticism and a more realistic > > model in the work of Steve Keen who puts his work out free. This is > > the model I teach - though I take a more narrative-behavioural line > > based on the question 'what's happening to you'? Quite a few of my > > undergrad and postgrad students find this so unusual that they start > > to look like shock and awe victims. > > > The follow up question (the first is more difficult than any quantum- > > waffle) is 'what is happening to other people'? Towards the end of > > 101 we might get to whether current economics as actually described in > > textbooks in a manner similar to that in books about keeping tropical > > fish describe how to keep the fish. Such matters can broaden out into > > how a science research programme has a core and periphery (Lakatos, > > Kuhn) and allows evidence and explanation to change these. > > > One can point to much information that demonstrates economics only > > works for a small proportion of people, but the idea is to let people > > get on with their own enquiries. You may be surprised how few respond > > well to this. Steve Keen's lectures are all available free on line I > > tell them - why waste £9K a year getting them from a bum like me? > > Some of the kinder answers involve me being a teacher, but teaching > > people to think for themselves. Some of them turn me into a very good > > teacher. I fail with loads. They demand instruction. You'd think > > more people would want to explore knowledge,but there don't seem to be > > many. And I have to say, on first sight of me, most struggle with > > both the first questions. I'll repeat them in that patronising manner > > of teacher training: > > > 1. what is happening to you? > > 2. what is happening to others? > > > I can, of course, put the answers in statistical form. > > > 1.you're being screwed. > > 2. they're being screwed. > > > Comments by free thinkers more than welcome!- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text -
