Wednesday, September 28, 2022

How colleges & universities have failed to prepare humanity regarding understanding & coping with existential threats

 The problem continues.  
https://www.ehn.org/failure-of-the-universities-the-culture-gap-is-now-near-lethal-2658333670/culture-gap

In great detail, the authors of this article show how higher education has become mired in dogmatic slumber, especially regarding the threats of climate change and expanding nuclear weapon arsenals.  Furthermore, it seems apparent that most educated people today have little grasp of the overall foundations of sustainability.

Decades ago, R. Buckminster (Bucky) Fuller pointed out in his book, Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth:  specialization precludes comprehensive thinking.  Today, and for years now, we're buried in specialists.  In general, they don't appear to be able to comprehend what has been called the Earth System, which consists of the interconnected & interdependent atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere (aka, lithosphere), and biosphere.  Understanding the complex functioning of our Earth System must at least be attempted by leaders (public & private) and policy makers if we are to avoid our own destruction.

Education in the following fields seems to be especially remiss in teaching comprehensive thinking re Earth & sustainability:  politics, economics, the Law, and business.  Unfortunately, those fields produce the majority of policy-makers in the democratic world.  One could argue, I suppose, those people rely upon advisors who are educated in broader Earth concerns.  Perhaps, but given the current socio-eco-econ-ethical Crisis we're now in, it should be blatantly obvious any such advice largely is being ignored.  [Luckily for us, there are some exceptions around the world; but not enough.]

The original purpose of public education in general was not to produce thinkers, but to produce workers.  People were needed who could read, write, and do arithmetic.  There's nothing wrong with that, but that alone is not sufficient.  We need critical and comprehensive thinkers as well.

Finally, so as not to be misunderstood, consider this:  specialization often is required.  It's not a bad thing unless it's the only thing.  Even in Earth System study, one must specialize to varying degrees.  At the same time, though, one also must seek a broader understanding.  Higher education (in particular) must structure its programs in such a way if civil society is to avoid collapse.  The need for a truly educated populace has never been greater.
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Not only my opinion.  Take Care
p.s.  For everyone, both those with a higher education and those who cannot (for various reasons) get one, I urge you to continue learning with the greatest library ever assembled, the internet.  Don't believe the largely Establishment poo-pooers of the Web, who often would prefer to keep us ignorant.  The internet contains tons & tons of legitimate, highly useful, & educational info.  Sift through the chaff on your Search results page (which can be done quickly), and find the kernels.  Education is a life-long process.

Tuesday, September 27, 2022

"Enigma in the Desert"

 https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/125757238
Done in Abstract Realism, this is one of my recent paintings.

Be Well

Saturday, September 24, 2022

The horrible side of the High Tech Industry FAR outweighs the good side

Below is my reply - edited quite a bit - to an email which suggested the term "Tech Whiz Kids" (which I often use in writing & speech) is somewhat inaccurate because many of those people now are much older.
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I have no problem with you or anyone substituting some other term for "kids" in "Tech Whiz Kids" (TWK).  But for me, they're all TWK, regardless of age.  "Kids" is not meant to be taken literally.  For me, it denotes an attitude.  In general, they are "playing with fire" when they develop things which atomize our society, & they don't even think about the unintended consequences.  By "atomize our society", I mean: depriving us of meaningful relationships with others (which, admittedly, usually is done by higher-ups in the Corporatocracy re things like labor unions) via luring us away from those relationships, or damaging them with gizmos designed to make each of us an island unto ourselves.  So, only one of many examples: some younger people think their 7,000 "friends" on some "social" medium actually are significant.  Why go out into the world & meet with real friends when I have my gizmo right here in the house with 7,000 "friends" on it?  
[Kids sometimes play with fire.]  

The adult TWK act irresponsibly also when they build-in obsolescence into their products.  It takes 500 lbs of raw materials to make one cell phone.  I don't know how many pounds it takes to make some of their larger crap which also has a short lifespan.  [Kids sometimes/often act irresponsibly.]

Their companies, usually run by TWK who moved up the corporate ladder, are often deceitful beyond belief.  One example:  I think it's Apple who claims to be 100% "Green".  In fact, they farm out the manufacture of products to other companies located in places with few to no environmental regulations.  Those other companies generally have egregious practices when it comes to pollution, etc.  But Apple technically can claim to be "Green".  [Kids often are deceitful.]

Bottom line:  I believe the High Tech Industry - despite the good & useful things it has done - has pretty much ruined our society, both physically/materially, spiritually (in a generic sense), and culturally.  It has atomized us, stolen our privacy, polluted the ecosphere, gobbled up natural resources, enabled dictatorial governments & oligarchs (with undemocratic, egregious surveillance programs/gizmos), enabled wars being fought with no soldiers (except drone operators, making illegal wars more numerous), promulgated infinite growth on a finite planet, & more.  I believe High Tech is in the top 5 worst industries in the history of our species.  As far as I can tell, the majority of TWK act just like spoiled, irresponsible, destructive kids.  They've contributed greatly to the ruination of our kids, our society, and our planet.  It seems their primary goal is to get rich...at almost any cost.

Just my opinion, & it won't change.  I think the "bad" side of High Tech far outweighs the "good" side.  Congress could change things for the better, but probably won't.  Except for a very few, most of our elected officials in the Fed Gov't favor the corporatists, not Main Street.  [Corporatism is not Adam Smith capitalism; essentially, it's fascism - the marriage of the power of the State to the power of Mega Biz.]  The good things about High Tech should be supported; the bad things should be boycotted.  Only consumers can significantly put High Tech on a better path.  The Fed Gov't has shown over & over it will do little to such effect.
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Not only my opinion, & Everyone Be Well

Sunday, September 18, 2022

This is Just GREAT!

 The title is sarcasm.  Of course, some people will think it's great - the xenophobes, the white nationalists, the cult Trumpistas, etc., OR those who appear to be completely naive (or in some cases egregiously ignorant) regarding international relations, politics, genuine Christianity, spirituality in general, holism, etc.


re: Biden & this project---  "C'est la vie, say the old folks.  It goes to show you never can tell."  [about politicians]  ☺☺☺☺☺
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Not only my opinion.  Take Care


Sunday, September 11, 2022

"Ecology Calculators" Can Make a Difference

 https://www.omnicalculator.com/ecology

Several PhD candidates came up with this series of unique "calculators", meaning algorithms.  The broad categories are:  eco footprint, renewable energy, and other.  So, for example, under "eco footprint" one of the calculators is "flight carbon footprint".  Another is "cryptocurrency footprint, and another is "tree benefit".  You plug in some specific numbers, and they calculate the benefit or damage.

Under "other", here are only a few of the calculators:  "Shannon diversity index", "fish mercury", and "tap water".  In all the broad categories, these are easy to use and quite interesting.

Tools like the ones above are helpful in revealing both our positive and negative impacts on the ecosphere.  Sometimes such impacts simply are not readily apparent.  I hope you will spread these far and wide.  Thanks.
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Not only my opinion.  Be Well
p.s.  This photo is available here:
It was taken at the edge of my backyard after a series of desert monsoon rainfalls.

Tuesday, August 30, 2022

WOW! Jeffrey Sachs: a voice of reason in a sea of outmoded western world hegemony

 https://www.democracynow.org/2022/8/30/wests_false_narrative_china_russia_ukraine

Kudos to Sachs.  For decades, the U.S. Fed Gov't has had a foreign policy which is egregiously filled with hubris, stuck in the past, and just plain dangerous (never mind stupid).  It continues to this day, and it makes little to no difference which major political party is in power.  I've believed all this for at least twenty years.  Sachs confirms it; so do many others.

My primary interest in world affairs for many years has been ecology and sustainability.  Nevertheless, it became clear to me a long time ago that without a sane foreign policy in DC and elsewhere, the world would be facing continual eco-catastrophes.  Why?  Because Earth is one giant ecosystem, and overcoming eco-problems requires global cooperation.  Global conflict destroys any chance for those efforts.  If things don't change significantly, there will not be a sustainable planet for our grandkids.

Please listen carefully to Professor Sachs' presentation.  His life has been devoted to sustainability economics, mitigating poverty, and helping countries in crisis.  He works not only in academia, but also as an advisor to various world leaders.  This interview pulls no punches.  Plus, his grasp of modern industrial history is superb.
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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Monday, August 29, 2022

Hypothesis Number Two: It's likely the sincere people who are not concerned about...

our ongoing Eco-Crisis have such a view because they analyze and evaluate concepts by means of reductionism.  In that method of analysis, whatever is being examined is broken down into its constituent parts.  Each part is thoroughly evaluated separate from the others, and then the various parts are added together to determine some sort of conclusion regarding the whole.  Such a method can be extremely misleading when dealing with complex (not just complicated) systems.  Complexity is nonlinear.  [A motor vehicle is a linear system; it's "complicated", but the behavior of the "whole" is predictable by examining the individual parts.  Thus, it's not a complex system.]

Instead, for complex items (such as the Eco-Crisis, or even a single ecosystem, or a single living organism), the method of examination described in General Systems Theory should be utilized.  Why?  The approach used in Systems Theory (the updated version doesn't include the word "General") is holistic, not reductionist.  It uses synthesis rather than only analysis of parts.  It is aware of synergy:  a whole system is greater than the sum of its individual parts, which means the behavior of a whole system is unpredictable from the analysis of only its parts.

The above is true because a whole system produces emergent properties, or emergence.  Such properties are found in complex, self-organizing, dynamic, whole systems rather than in individual parts.  Emergence often is unpredicted, and a big surprise to people who adhere to reductionism.  Briefly, following are a couple of examples of emergent properties.

1.  The human body is a complex, dynamic, synergistic system.  It's made up of innumerable parts, from macroscopic to microscopic.  You may examine bones, or blood cells, or the stomach, or brain cells, or the heart, or the adrenal glands...but you will never find the emergent properties of anxiety, fear, anger, or love in those parts.  Only the whole "system" is capable of such.  [The human body produces many other forms of emergence.]

2.  A forest of hundreds of acres also is a complex, dynamic, synergistic system.  Examine a leaf, a strip of tree bark, a beetle, a squirrel, a clod of soil, or even a single tree...and you still won't find the emergent property of rainfall over a large area.  That rainfall often is the result of the process of green plant transpiration in all the trees combined.  Water is taken in by the roots, distributed throughout the plant, and a small portion of it is used to support individual cells of the organism.  The vast majority of it, however, is moved from the leaves to the atmosphere.  Depending upon various factors, it then can result in rainfall.  [Forests also produce many other forms of emergence.]

All ecosystems and all living organisms (even a bacterium) are complex systems.  Synergy applies, nonlinearity applies, and emergence applies.

The point being:  our Eco-Crisis involves complex, dynamic, nonlinear, living systems which only can be properly understood by taking a "systems theory" approach.  It's no wonder to me why people (of all kinds) using a reductionist, linear approach are perplexed, puzzled, and confused over the urgency of the Crisis.  They simply can't see it.  [I'm not talking about folks who see it full well, but are concerned only with promoting corporatism's greed.]

This little essay did not explain how to apply Systems Theory toward understanding and solving the socio-eco-econ-ethical crisis because such an explanation would take multiple, multiple pages.  Books have been written on the subject.  Google it.  Awhile back, I listed several of them on this venue when I shared the bibliography for my first book.  
In two parts:
   http://individualsovereignty.blogspot.com/search/label/Bibliography    In particular, especially see:  Lent, Jeremy 2021; and Ratcliffe, Jennie M. 2021.

With the holistic approach of Systems Theory, we can effectively deal with the present Crisis.  But, to be effective, we must ignore the propaganda coming from corporatists and their political puppets, and we must sway the sincere nonbelievers.
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Not only my opinion.  Take Care

"Don't Believe Him"

The Nazis in the 1930's and 1940's used exactly the same propaganda tactic as is used by Trump:  repeat a lie over & over, and m...