Quantum, Jazz and Dada – 1

[Raúl Ilargi Meijer]

Marcel Duchamp Nude descending a staircase 1912     Ilargi: Much to my surprise, I received a mail from an old friend. Alexander Aston last
[See the full post at: Quantum, Jazz and Dada – 1]

[zerosum]

Alexander Aston writing is understandable to only a few elitists who have mastered the vocabulary of the concepts that he employs.

[Raúl Ilargi Meijer]

It has that, zerosum, but the ideas are so interesting I hope people are willing to pass through that.

[palloy]

“Cognitive Archeology” , eh. Seems like a good opportunity to talk about the future in ways so vague that nobody can ever say you are wrong. It will never out-perform the Laws of Thermodynamics.

[VietnamVet]

The need to accumulate money and power is so pathological single minded that it is no wonder that it is supported by ideology that can only be described as evil. As a species, humans were the first to realize that we are passengers on a sphere on the edge of nowhere powered by the sun. Mankind’s survival is dependent on dealing with this and not fouling our nest.

[V. Arnold]

Facsinating, I’m hooked.
His use of language is poetic and resonates with me.
I’m very much looking forward for the rest.
Thanks Ilargi…

[V. Arnold]

It will never out-perform the Laws of Thermodynamics.

But, doesn’t Aston say just that?

[toktomi]

“Collapse Ain’t Nuthin New”

Perhaps not, but 7.5 billion souls on board is definitely new. The collapse of this unique industrial human society for sure will be new. The very real possibility of humanity returning permanently to a stone age, hunter/gatherer existence or the worse, easily imaginable possibility of near term extinction of the human species would definitely be new.

If this is the premise that the calamity that humans face today is no more serious than some bad times in the past then I’ll take my leave of all that follows herein.

Thanks, but no.

~toktomi~

[laodan]

For those of us who are interested in understanding the reality, we are immersed in, this text offers a very interesting perspective.

But the author seems to be caught up in an existential contradiction.

On one side he writes “If we are to create something better out of the ongoing destruction of the current system we must…”. But on the other side he recognizes that “whatever comes next, whether for good or ill, is beyond our imaginations”.

This kind of existential contradiction should be familiar to those of us who are aware that Modernity is pushing — human societies into collapse, — and living species into extinction. We feel indeed the urge to do something about it.

But the fact is that we are powerless as individuals while the decision makers of our societies do not even seem to care.

The reality of our universe is made of a cascade of sets or ensembles that nest inside and interact with larger ensembles. Humanity is living within one of these ensembles that we call the planet earth. And the ensemble earth is animated by complex Adaptive Systems in which “organisms, ecosystems, and the biosphere interact, aligning and diverging, shaping one another through ongoing developmental processes”.

Having observed for tens of thousands of years the dynamics at work in the sky and the complex systems at work on earth the tribal men of knowledge wisely recognized that:
— the interrelations between all earthly entities are vital for the preservation of life,
— humanity’s actions now are determining the quality of its life in the future,
— disturbances on earth occur with some regularity that are caused by forces originating from outside the planet earth

The recognition of these phenomena by tribal non-power societies led them to conclude that humanity is powerless amidst such a vastly extreme complexity. And in their humility they understood that human actions have to be constrained by precaution in order to avoid imbalancing the complexity of the systems at work within Gaia. This precautionary principle was one of the core values shared for tens of thousands of years over the whole earth by animism which was the tribal societal worldview. Modernity, the worldview shared by the citizens of nations-states, changed all that and after a few centuries of application we now observe the consequences. “Barring the possibility of extinction, humans are on the precipice of the most radical social reorganizations in the history of the species”.

The author writes that “In navigating this process of transformation, if we wish to create a world worth living in, it is necessary to understand the interactions between energy, ecosystems, cognitive development and social organization”. In reality this process of transformation has put in motion natural forces that dwarf human understanding and so what comes after Modernity is out of our control. The best we can hope, for the future of humanity, is that some of us will be able to surf on the waves of the coming maelstrom…

[Glennda]

Interesting intro to our predicament. I think toktomi’s point is important about “7.5 billion souls on board”.

Two possible issues stemming from this are 1 – slavery as humans are going to be more abundant than fossil fuels, and 2 – plagues as our population runs into hard limits in agriculture.

I know we are already wage slaves, but I”m surprised that the wave of anti immigrant folks haven’t recognized the “resource” that they might provide, but with the abundance of “slaves” trying to feed themselves, owners don’t need to bother with taking care of the excess humans. In CA we use immigrants to harvest fields and they move with the harvest. As the fires take out water and land, will these folks be forced into city homeless camps? Yes.

We also are going to be looking at the issue of plague or antibiotic resistant diseases. It’s bound to happen as the homeless/migrant population weakens.

Going back to the land has been one of the Prepper options, but with fires raging they are being forced back to cities and homelessness.

More later – I am very interested in the ideas of Degrowth and have been reading extensively in that area.

[Dr. D]

Finally a schmartz-guy who doesn’t support central planning by a violent, dictatorial cadre of other schmartz-guys. But I also noted the inherent contradiction of saying, in humility, “we can’t know, and with complexity theory, we can prove it” and that means “if we want to plan out our futures we must…” Still can’t internalize that humility, like the animists noted could. And that humility makes you live very, very differently, like a monk, in a smallness and childish wonder the west cannot stand.

Also, as smart and well-met as this really is, when you truly understand something, it’s simple to explain and doesn’t need fancy language. However, when you’re expanding new ideas, you’re by definition not at that point but pushing towards it, so caveat emptor. If you want to know where you’re going, go look at the shamans and animists in light of your new knowledge. Showing that, like the prodigal son, sometimes taking that crazy, reckless journey makes you more valuable when you come home to eternity and sustainability.

[Author]

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