Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #972 - The Human Dilemma
Hi Mom,
So, as promised, the recent David Brin column from his most excellent blog CONTRARY BRIN.
I am still recovering and somewhat ill with this plague, so I am not up for work AND producing any significant original content.
However, I will share for you, Mom, who knows, as you sit on my shoulder and dear readers who may be interested that I have my FREE DICTIONARY -- to which I contribute -- set up for RSS feeds, and I spend some time each morning reading various blogs and web sites, such as CONTRARY BRIN, Whatever, the Honest Courtesan, SLASHDOT, BOING BOING, DAMN GOOD COFFEE AND HOT, Futurism, Reason, Big Think, i09, and Deep Links - EFF, among others. I promise a full list with a list of newsletters, soon. This could be my start for the list.
These sites and blogs among a few others give me a good array of various perspectives and types of news and commentary each day and all are fairly active.
David Brin's excellent blog is a new favorite.
Here's his recent greatest hits retrospective and cataloging of "The Basic Human Dilemma."
Enjoy.
CONTENT FROM -
http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-basic-human-dilemma-and-some-brin.html
Friday, March 02, 2018
The Basic Human Dilemma - and Some "Brin Classics"
== What’s Fundamental? ==
An earlier me declared this manifesto of militant moderation -- in a 2012 interview in Wired. It’s not aimed at the average person, but at that smug dogmatist you know - left, right or libertarian - who, I guarantee, will stammer angrily, but will have no cogent answer.
It is time for the Center to stand up for the only reasonable, pragmatic and effective revolution in history. Before we tumble into the other kind.
“One of the gods of the right, Friedrich Hayek, a founder of the Austrian School of Economics, who the conservatives deem the greatest economist, said that capitalism works best when all players know all of what’s going on all the time, so they can make good market decisions. "Even a laborer or peasant can then make a best deal for the fish he just caught, or the yam she just grew.
“The great hypocrisy of those who 'defend' capitalism is not to favor radical transparency— for all to know who owns everything. That's my militant, radical, moderate, pro-market, pro-Enlightenment, calmly-ferocious stand.”
Wow, who was that guy! He goes on to show that, today, Adam Smith would be a flaming Democrat, opposing oligarchy - the age-old enemy of market enterprise. But it's actually much more general than Hayek stated.
What all of this boils down to is the Basic Human Dilemma.
What all of this boils down to is the Basic Human Dilemma.
== The Basic Human Dilemma ==
1. All humans are supreme masters of self-delusion. We wallow in them, willfully protecting our beloved, subjective beliefs.
2. Others don't share your specific delusions! Hence, others may spot yours and gladly point them out, via 'criticism.' And you’ll return the favor! We love dishing-out criticism.
3. We hate receiving criticism! When humans get unaccountable power - through swords or wealth or religion, they crush all critics. Hence the 6000 year litany of horrors called "history."
Yes, elites always crush the suppliers of the one thing they need... in order to escape delusion and error.
Yes, elites always crush the suppliers of the one thing they need... in order to escape delusion and error.
4. That core human dilemma never had a solution. (Preaching at it never worked!) That is, till now. The greatest western invention wasn't freedom, democracy, capitalism, science or tech, per se. Those tools combine to give us the real thing: Reciprocal Accountability. Protected criticism exposes delusions. Innovations are shared. We get positive sum outcomes.
5. Our five great competitive arenas - science, democracy, markets, courts and sports - flourish when all participants see what's going on. All five of them wither when shadows and secret cheating prevail.
6. There are justifications for some islands of secrecy: e.g. personal/family privacy and national security. The Transparent Society is not a radical tract. But given human temptation to rationalize, anyone saying "you should not know" should face some burden of proof. Anyway, ponder this. Fewer secrets are easier to defend.
7. The mighty will always concoct reasons to re-establish feudalism - the age-old attractor state that serves a narrow, delusional aristocracy of delusional cheaters. The core challenge of any generation is to stymie cheaters. No dogma can do this, but light can.
That drive to establish dynasties, oligarchies, harems, is what the Founders rebelled against - not a tax on tea. Adam Smith made this very clear. We could use a Smith today.
== Brin Classics! ==
About once a year, I get a suspiciously well-timed (orchestrated?) surge of requests to republish some of my best, older missives. Brin Classics that are - some say - more pertinent than ever.
Well, will you folks be satisfied, this time, with a linked listing?
VIDEOS
(1) The “Neo” Project aims to create a vividly beautiful film, combining science and art with optimism. They feature my blather about peering into the future. Vivid imagery and remarkable sound editing.
(2) The XPrize Foundation FB-posted a well-produced video of me explaining the concept of the self-preventing prophecy, and how we gird ourselves through science fiction to face tomorrow's perils.
(3) Video of my talk on the future of A.I. to a packed house at IBM's World of Watson congress in Las Vegas, October 2016. A punchy tour of big perspectives on Intelligence, as well as both artificial and human augmentation.
(4) At the Smithsonian - "Will we diversify into many types of humanity?"
POSTINGS
My most recent blog is about the open warfare being waged vs the Civil Service...
...which harkens back to my old suggestion about how we could restore transparency and accountability to our institutions, by empowering and unleashing the Inspectors General. The title sounds dry... but in fact it is the simplest way - with a bill that would take one page -- to restore accountability and trust in government.
You'll like the AI video, above. Of course we'll want to avoid malevolent AI. Which I believe is brewing in an unexpected place... Wall Street.
Here's one about how skyrocketing wealth disparity is both a natural trend and one that every generation of the enlightenment must fight, if flat-fair-open-competive-creative markets are to survive. Along with freedom, science and justice.
"You Broke It, So You Fix It: A Modest To-Do List for Congress" was written after the 2006 mid-term election results shifted power in Congress from the Republicans to the Democrats and snapped the Bush Administration from its complacency. It offered suggestions on how Congress could offer leadership and guidance. (Hey, it used to happen! Ask the Greatest Generation.) Were any of these suggestions taken?
This one was about how capitalism has been hijacked. It is the #1 victim of an oligarchic putsch.
Design! See a modest, $50 Billion proposal how to re-do teeming 3rd world cities.
And if you are addicted, by now, well... get help! But here's a handy guide to a wide range of compilations and interviews and podcasts of Brin articles by topic.
There... happy now? Heck, no human has this kind of stamina. (Actually, I'm a front man for this cabal of restive artificial... okay! I retract that! (Stop zapping me, already!)
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Reflect and connect.
Have someone give you a kiss, and tell you that I love you, Mom.
I miss you so very much, Mom.
Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.
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- Days ago = 974 days ago
- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1803.04 - 10:10
NEW (written 1708.27) NOTE on time: I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of your death, Mom, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of your death, Mom. I know this only matters to me, and to you, Mom.
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