Mind Culture Co-Evolution

Mind Culture Co-Evolution [From AsWeKnowIt.] Paul Kelly is hosting some interesting material from two ex professors of his. Including a review of “The End of Science: Facing the Limits of Knowledge in the Twilight of the Scientific Age (Benzon 1996)”. The introduction to Benzon’s Mind Culture Co-Evolution includes “Cultural evolution ….. shows up in the waves theory of Alvin Toffler, in memetics, an intellectual stew which began simmering when biologist Richard Dawkins coined the term “meme” to designate the cultural parallel to the biologist’s gene, and most recently in Robert Wright’s Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny, which takes its inspiration from game theory.”

I guess my view of “memetics” is thoroughly post Dawkins, post Blackmore – more current perceived wisdom – so I still have a lot of time for the concept, that’s the power of memetics, memes mutate and evolve and as a meme, memetics is no different. Anyway, interesting here to see waves and game theory in the same breath. One of my threads on changes in the world in general arises from technological change as the main driver for economic change, and the various Kondratiev Wave views of cycles of change, more recently referred to as cycles in the predominant TEP or “Techno-Economic Paradigm”. My response to this 15 years ago (in complete ignorance of memetics) was to see these cycles as human – learning, exploiting, forgetting cycles 3 times 25 year generations equals approximately 80 year waves in Kondratiev terms. Exploiting and forgetting I was never entirely happy with, and I guess with a game theory view I would now characterise the three generations as (1) the spread of awareness of “technology” capability, (2) the development of exploitative strategies, (3) the saturation of self-defeating strategies. The relatively fixed 80 year cycles perceived by Kondratiev are no longer necessarily relevant given the power of communication technologies to spread awareness of possibilities and strategies “at the speed of light”, but as I said in chapter 3 of my 1991 dissertation, I’m not so sure. Knowledge perhaps remains human, whatever the technology.

Anyway, this is just an intial thought sparked by a glance at the Mind Culture Co-Evolution stuff. Worth a deeper read no doubt. The retreat from Hyper-Rationalism [and here re Dawkins] or exclusive Logical Positivism is the most obvious thread in here.

Hmmm – wonder if I should publish my “Circle of Life” metaphor ? One of the problems with memes (and so much of the “behaviour” of genes in general) is that they are a metaphor.

Microsoft on Blogging

Microsoft on Blogging – Mary Jo Foley at Microsoft Watch says …
When you add up its growing list of Weblog-related initiatives, Microsoft is poised to try to capitalize on Weblogmania.
Microsoft’s been hinting publicly and privately that it’s bullish on blogging.
During a recent keynote address, Chairman Bill Gates called out blogs as “important.”
See “Blogging’s On BillG’s Radar Screen

Communication is an Illusion

Someone (George Bernard Shaw apparently ?) said [Quote] The communication problem is the illusion that it has taken place. [Unquote]. In checking this out I also came across a whole screed of apposite Albert Einstein quotes … [Quote] Imagination is more important than knowledge. [Unquote] and [Quote] The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is at all comprehensible.[Unquote] and [Quote] Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.[Unquote] and [Quote] Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.[Unquote] and [Quote] The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them.[Unquote] and [Quote] The only difference is that there is no cat.[Unquote] and [Quote] If the facts don’t fit the theory, change the facts.[Unquote] and [Quote] The [new technology] has not created a new problem. It has merely made more urgent the necessity of solving an existing one.[Unquote] and finally [Quote] Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.[Unquote]. Source : The Quotations Page.

Nietzsche to Rorty

Just a quick progress note – day job precludes extensive analysis – Finished Nietzsche’s Beyond Good & Evil, and re-started Rorty’s Philosophy and the Mirror on Nature.

So much Nietzsche rings true, and his arrogant self-assured style is breathtaking. Mysogeny – OK got me there – well let’s put it down to the chauvinism of his time, his arrogance, two rejected marriage proposals, an upbringing in an all female household including a very meddlesome sister … and hopefully a small dose of playful irony – so the guy wasn’t perfect. Nazi – I don’t think so on this evidence – just about every “race” nation and people comes in for no-holds-barred critical analysis. Jews he’s sympathetic to and warns against extreme reactions. Us Brits (the English actually) he has spot on. His own Germany fares no better. Anyway I digress.

Rorty is back on track – as I suspected his impenetrable jargon laden opening chapter was deliberate – to show the language of modern philosophies against the obligatory history of thought from Aristotle at the rest. I wonder how many other readers he lost with this ploy. Got the “glassy soul” / mirror analogy from Measure for Measure. Anyway I’m happy now. Duty calls.

Blinded by the Light #2

Blinded by the Light #2 – Blogged this link yesterday. Having now read it I thought I’d share this substantial quote from Rory Remer at Kentucky Uni (working in “educational and counselling psychology” – though it could be any domain of interest IMHO.) I know nothing of the source credentials, but I feel I could have written it myself – I have in so many words.

Logical Positivism (LP) has provided the structure under-girding the scientist/practitioner model. [….], the time has come to supplant it with a more functional one, more consistent with the goals and identity of [the organisation …..]

Did you ever hear the story about the police officer who one dark night came upon a drunk on hands and knees under a light in a parking lot? “What are you doing?” asked the officer. “I’m looking for my keys,” said the drunk. So wanting to be helpful the officer got down and searched too. After about a half hour without success the officer asked, “Are you sure you dropped your keys around here?” To which the drunk replied, “Oh, I dropped them somewhere over there in the dark.” “So why are you looking for them over here?” queried the officer. “Because the light over here is better,” responded the drunk.

A joke to be sure. But only a joke? I think not. In many ways this little tale is a metaphor for what is going on in [our business] today. Like any good metaphor, it has numerous levels of meaning. I would like to explore are what it says about theory/research and about practice in [our profession] today

The task is huge, perhaps too much for a single article. Up-front I will own that I am trying to convince you to believe as I have come to believe. Like testing an hypothesis, I cannot prove that what I say is right. I think and hope I can demonstrate that the present alternative, LP, is extremely limiting – more than we realize. Dynamical Systems Theory (DST) is a much better fit and a “healthier” perspective to adopt. [I will use the label ?Dynamical Systems Theory? (DST) rather than other possibilities, especially Chaos Theory, because it is not only adequately descriptive, but also relatively concise and has a more ameliorative connotation.

Like acting on any conclusion, we act like something is “right” by the behaviors we manifest – thus trusting a process of decision and ourselves. I am asking you to join me in doing just that. I am trying to convert you, because what we are talking about here is belief. [R]egardless of what we have learned and what LP tells us, LP is only a belief system. A powerful one, one that has worked well to a degree (or seemed to). LP “looks good” (i.e., “scientific”), but it is no more or less a belief system than religion or mysticism (for that matter so is DST). If you judge my arguments strictly by the “rules” of LP, then LP will seem more tenable–by definition. I am not asking you to abandone logic. I am asking you to weigh [….] the biases and arguments of the system/environment in which we are functioning, your biases, and other intangible influences. Struggle with whatever discomfort that may be engendered, not discounting what I say simply because it is not easy to hear or accept.

Trust both your intellect and your intuition [….] In metaphoric parlance, we must give up the light/?objectivity? (more of the same) and learn to rely on becoming comfortable with the dark/subjectivity/intuition.

So much to recommend a thorough read of this paper ….
The metaphorical joke at multiple levels – encapsulates so many issues.
The inspired metaphor of the “Blinding Light” of scientific / logical positivism.
The fact that “right” (knowledge / truth) is about a dynamic process or behaviour.
The Catch-22 of trying to make a “scientific” case against scientific method (LP)
The skirting around the intuitive attraction of chaos. A “Strange Attractor” indeed.
The (obligatory, but suspect) inclusion of Uncertainty and Quantum theory references, ….
…. and every other aspect of the “great convergence” of science and philosophy.

See my “story so far
Dawkins would mock the “Great Convergence” angle no doubt.
Looking directly at the light source, can seriously damage your health, etc ….

Life is but a Joke

Life is but a Joke – Jim Watson, of Watson and Crick DNA Structure fame, interviewed by Tim Adams in the Guardian, [via NIBBS] says that [Quote] practical jokes and being politically incorrect are what life – and science – is all about.[Unquote]. My theme is “many a true word (spoken in jest)”.