A warm bath hath charms to soothe the savage list member ;-) For you, Don Kemple, remember: Incomprehesibility is a gift, son, use it wisely. "A Nation of Shopkeepers, all selling local-produced goods?" Forgive me, my Schumacher is pretty rusty.
Yes, a Calivinist nation - all claiming exceptionalism - but this is a collective thing, not really individual. But I think that we are now at a stage where, under the leadership of GW, we're mouthing "all nations are equal," but, we're just equalerer than the other equal ones. 4 legs good, 2 legs bad. 4 legs good, 2 legs bad. 4 legs good, 2 legs bad. Mike Redler wrote: > Kind sir, > > Thank your for your gratitude. However, I find myself entirely outdone > by your short but profound response. I shall now follow the advice of > my esteemed virtual colleague, Mr. Weaver and retire to the loo for a > bath. > > Ta ta, > > - Redler > > Martin Kemple wrote: > >> Thanks Mike! >> Intriguing perspective. >> >> Though I'm preternaturally suspicious of our (Westerners') proclivity >> for exceptionalism (from the creed of Manifest Destiny on the one >> extreme, to its opposite - that we're inveterate >> "predator-imperialists," on the other), it's a hard box to escape from. >> Adam Smith / E.F. Schumacher - two sides of the came coin? >> Know what I mean? >> That is: Not only are we moderns "different", we're more different >> than anybody else has ever been. >> What's up with that? >> I recoil at the idea, yet can't get away from it. Like a dark magnet : o >> -MK >> >> >> >> >> On Aug 22, 2006, at 10:36 AM, Michael Redler wrote: >> >> Martin, >> >> Necessity can be broadly defined by what is popularly needed in a >> civilization. Since "Necessity is the Mother of invention", it >> stands to reason that the path to any invention is paved by the >> civilization from which it came. >> >> The civilizations you mentioned were content with technical >> developments that required only what was immediately available to >> them from their environment. In my opinion that's something which >> our ambitious culture hasn't yet been able to appreciate. >> >> As E. F. Schuhmacher explained so effectively in his writing, the >> so called "modern world" and it's technology has often taken us >> in directions which does more harm than good. >> >> It's presumptuous to quantify the progress of civilization by a >> hand full of great inventors and assume that they have made the >> world a better place. I say this as someone who has two >> engineering degrees, a patent of my own and a wife who is a >> research scientist and a PhD. in Chemistry. >> >> I admire all the people mentioned in this thread plus many who >> have yet to be mentioned. However, to put things in >> perspective, one needs to ask if the work of particular >> inventors are a measure of progress in a civilization >> (irrespective of politics): >> >> Could any of these people have been able to do what they did >> without the work of their predecessors and the civilization from >> which they came? Should we be thankful for a passion which was >> beyond their control and grew from their own natural curiosity? >> >> Tesla and Edison represent two fundamental ideologies and a broad >> range of innovative thinking. Tesla, a theorist, would have not >> made the progress he did, without the work of people born (as >> much as four hundred years) before him like Newton, Pascal, >> Fourier, etc. Edison's assets surrounded him every hour of every >> day. He was inspired by and built upon every technology to which >> he was exposed, representative of every inventor which came >> before him. >> >> I think it's also important to mention that technology evolves >> with the priorities of our civilization. By that, I mean you >> can't judge people like Jonas Salk, J. Robert Oppenheimer, the >> Wright Brothers or Richard Gatling until you've also judged those >> who used their inventions and examined the inventor's >> justification for it's development. >> >> If I boiled all this down to a single question, it would be: >> >> If we were able to measure the "success","progress",etc. of "the >> modern world", who would get the credit? >> >> Similar questions include: >> >> How high is up? >> >> How dark is gray? >> >> -Redler >> >> >> */Martin Kemple <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>/* wrote: >> >> Question: >> Why didn't most Native Americans, for example, master the >> wheel for >> transportation on their own? >> Why didn't the Chinese, for starters, invent internal >> combustion much >> earlier than the opportunists who did? >> And why didn't the Arabs, for instance, harness electricity >> much sooner >> than the nitwits who stumbled onto it? >> In other words: Why did it all take so dang long, and then >> all happen >> seemingly at once? >> -Martin K. >> > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >_______________________________________________ >Biofuel mailing list >Biofuel@sustainablelists.org >http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org > >Biofuel at Journey to Forever: >http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > >Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): >http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ > > > _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
