Platt,
My head is still spinning on all the new twists on old ideas that came out of
Non Zero. I have read game theory stuff before, and considered synergy as
important within the MOQ, but this is the first time I saw it all laid out so
clearly.
The 3 higher levels emerging out of inorganic can actually be explained as
examples of non-zero sumness. They therefore evolve toward higher complexity
and higher quality within the level. When new types of opportunities for
non-zero sumness emerge, a new level arises out of the base of the old.
Wright really did not separate intellectual patterns out very well from
social patterns. I think if he had (by using the MOQ as a metaphysical
launching point) he would have been able to give the best examples yet of
synergistic nonzero sumness. The free exchange of ideas, and their easy
transportability and communicatability make the scientific revolution seem
almost inevitable once the rules of the game were agreed upon.
The final chapters were especially entertaining. Wright's open-mindedness on
teleology and the emergence of a moral universe was reminiscent of one of our
favorite books as well. Of course, Wright seems to point more toward complex
non-zero relationships rather than toward freedom as Pirsig does. Freedom
DOES contribute to non-zero outcomes, but I am still torn over which model
seems of higher quality on this count. (My ambivalence is only refering to
this one issue, but it is a pretty central one in the MOQ, in fact it is the
topic o' the month on our sister forum)
Hmmmmm...
Roger
PS -- This book is going on my "must read" list, along with The Web of Life
by Capra, The Collapse of Chaos by Cohen and Stewart, No Boundary by Wilber,
The Meme Machine by Blackmore, and The Life of the Cosmos by Smolin. These
books all add extensively to the concepts of the MOQ.
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