I continue to read The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time
Polanyi gets off to a slow start, but finally gets to the main point - the introduction of machines, created the self-regulating market, that completely transformed human society.
There have been many explanations and descriptions, of how the Industrial Revolution happened. But they all agree that was a big deal and changed nearly everything. It based everything on gain.
We now take this for granted, but feel uneasy about it - for some very good reasons. And this we, is composed of two factions - those who want to understand it, and control it - and those who do not, the vast majority of the population.
This situation has changed with the addition of Software to Hardware. There is more of an emphasis on integrating the User, with the Developer. But the Market is still there, as powerful as ever
The Market has given us a lot - and taken a lot away from us. Especially our ability to think about what is going on.
This was a huge loss!
Sunday, December 31, 2017
Saturday, December 30, 2017
All money now is virtual money
This was made clear to me, while I was studying the Ethereum BlockChain. Using their software, you can create a new currency, out of thin air, and call it whatever you like.
This is like the money that was created, by the many new banks, early in the 19th Century. They bought a printing press, and printed all the money they wanted. They were supposed to only print money that was backed up by specie, coins that could be melted down to get their valuable metals, such as gold and silver. But they usually printed more - because people wanted cheap money.
This method of creating money, was popular with Real Estate speculators - who could get money based on the worth of their property. Or any kind of speculator, who wanted to get rich fast.
The alternative is a managed currency, such as the American Dollar. The supply of money is adjusted to keep the economy running smoothly.
The banks are closely regulated, to keep them from running out of control.
This is like the money that was created, by the many new banks, early in the 19th Century. They bought a printing press, and printed all the money they wanted. They were supposed to only print money that was backed up by specie, coins that could be melted down to get their valuable metals, such as gold and silver. But they usually printed more - because people wanted cheap money.
This method of creating money, was popular with Real Estate speculators - who could get money based on the worth of their property. Or any kind of speculator, who wanted to get rich fast.
The alternative is a managed currency, such as the American Dollar. The supply of money is adjusted to keep the economy running smoothly.
The banks are closely regulated, to keep them from running out of control.
Wealth and Immorality
This has always been a problem, everyone agrees on that. But they do not agree on whether it has been solved or not.
Americans, for the most part, think it has been solved - and are proceeding, as though it has been. When it has not been solved at all. It has only been pushed under the rug - and ignored.
They seem to think that wealth alone is adequate - and do not want to bother with morality, because it is too much trouble.
Americans, for the most part, think it has been solved - and are proceeding, as though it has been. When it has not been solved at all. It has only been pushed under the rug - and ignored.
They seem to think that wealth alone is adequate - and do not want to bother with morality, because it is too much trouble.
Friday, December 29, 2017
Business is War
Our attitude towards war, says a lot about who we are. As does our attitude toward Business. And in America, at the present time - the two have merged.
This was brought home to me when I started to work in h\HighTech, in Southern California, in the Eighties. I saw, right away, that this was war - and everyone seemed to find this destructiveness natural.
War produced riches and everyone was out to get some for themselves. As soon as a company developed a profitable new expertise, it was robbed of its riches. This was not a win-win situation, it was a win-lose situation - and everyone wanted to be on the winning side.
In other words, it was war. And the people in it, loved it. And never noticed its destructiveness. And never noticed what awful people they had turned into.
This last effect - the awful people that had turned into - was something no one wanted to see. So they didn't see it - even as it was wrecking their world.
I noticed it, or at least I kind of noticed it. And I tried to bring it up in the various therapy groups I was in. I was also into meditation, but these meditation groups also ignored it.
There I was, surrounded by craziness on all sides - and nobody wanted to see it! I had to get out, so I did - and moved to Costa Rica.
I still keep in touch with the developments in Software, which are amazing. But so far, these people still ignoring the big problem they are embedded in - they are part of a culture that is not good for people.
Presently, blockchain technology is very popular and is being used to form new marketplaces, for everything imaginable. But there is no way to tell, if these markets are ethical, or not. Computers have no way of telling this, so this is omitted in the way these markets are built.
The solution is simple - include people, who are critical of these markets, into the structure of these markets itself. The people who are in favor of them are already there.
If you looked at the coding for these markets (which is open source, and readily available) - you could see how easily, this could be done.
Put the people back in control!
This last effect - the awful people that had turned into - was something no one wanted to see. So they didn't see it - even as it was wrecking their world.
I noticed it, or at least I kind of noticed it. And I tried to bring it up in the various therapy groups I was in. I was also into meditation, but these meditation groups also ignored it.
There I was, surrounded by craziness on all sides - and nobody wanted to see it! I had to get out, so I did - and moved to Costa Rica.
I still keep in touch with the developments in Software, which are amazing. But so far, these people still ignoring the big problem they are embedded in - they are part of a culture that is not good for people.
Presently, blockchain technology is very popular and is being used to form new marketplaces, for everything imaginable. But there is no way to tell, if these markets are ethical, or not. Computers have no way of telling this, so this is omitted in the way these markets are built.
The solution is simple - include people, who are critical of these markets, into the structure of these markets itself. The people who are in favor of them are already there.
If you looked at the coding for these markets (which is open source, and readily available) - you could see how easily, this could be done.
Put the people back in control!
Thursday, December 28, 2017
Solidity
This is the latest thing I am interested in - in Software. It one of those things that just showed up, after the Internet showed up. And which most people do not understand - and don't want to understand. I figure I am getting a headstart on them.
This has its own web site, that tells you about the Remix IDE, Smart Contracts, and the Ethereum BlockChain. A combination of things that should make you drool.
It wants to tell you about itself - so you can use it for yourself.
Yes, boys and girls - we are no longer in the Industrial World, that wants to charge you for everything. But in the Computer World, that still makes plenty of money, and has its share of scams - but leaves plenty of room for new people to build their own world in it.
This has its own web site, that tells you about the Remix IDE, Smart Contracts, and the Ethereum BlockChain. A combination of things that should make you drool.
It wants to tell you about itself - so you can use it for yourself.
Yes, boys and girls - we are no longer in the Industrial World, that wants to charge you for everything. But in the Computer World, that still makes plenty of money, and has its share of scams - but leaves plenty of room for new people to build their own world in it.
The Antisocial Society
The first thing anyone has to do, is to to understand the society he lives in. This is not easy, because most societies discourage this - and sometimes discourage this violently.
And one of these societies was the one I grew up in - America in the 20th Century. It did not burn heretics at the stake - but it instilled a fear so profound, most people were not aware of it.
America has been described in many ways, mostly praiseworthy - but in the middle of the last century it could also be described, usefully, as a nation of scared people. And I mean really scared.
When people get this scared, they are bound to react in strange, unpredictable ways. And to produce an antisocial society - one that is not good for people.
How did this happen? Very innocently, as part of our effort to improve ourselves - when we were no longer a Medieval Society, but a Modern Society. Not so long ago, actually.
The big change came with the Reformation - these revolutionaries, who did not intend to be revolutionaries, but reformers - set in motion huge changes - that nearly tore the Western World apart. Changes we are still living with today.
The lesson here is easy to state - societies can only change slowly, and this rate of change was greatly exceeded by the Industrial Revolution.
People drew the logical conclusions - something much bigger than them, was in control - this something was not good for them - and they could not possibly challenge it.
Enough to scare anyone.
And one of these societies was the one I grew up in - America in the 20th Century. It did not burn heretics at the stake - but it instilled a fear so profound, most people were not aware of it.
America has been described in many ways, mostly praiseworthy - but in the middle of the last century it could also be described, usefully, as a nation of scared people. And I mean really scared.
When people get this scared, they are bound to react in strange, unpredictable ways. And to produce an antisocial society - one that is not good for people.
How did this happen? Very innocently, as part of our effort to improve ourselves - when we were no longer a Medieval Society, but a Modern Society. Not so long ago, actually.
The big change came with the Reformation - these revolutionaries, who did not intend to be revolutionaries, but reformers - set in motion huge changes - that nearly tore the Western World apart. Changes we are still living with today.
The lesson here is easy to state - societies can only change slowly, and this rate of change was greatly exceeded by the Industrial Revolution.
People drew the logical conclusions - something much bigger than them, was in control - this something was not good for them - and they could not possibly challenge it.
Enough to scare anyone.
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
In Insane Situations, Special Rules Apply
This hardly needs to be said, and everyone will agree with it. Because nearly everyone believes it does not apply to them.
I might as well say, right out - that it is does apply to me. Sometimes I am as crazy as the March Hare. But sometimes I am not - and I can usually tell the difference.
And I have learned, from bitter experience - to judge, as best I can, the sanity of situations I encounter - and to react according.
Note the keyword react here. This not what most people do - they do not notice what is going on, and, as a result - they cannot react to it.
What can I say about this? I can say, this is a good example of insane behavior in action - and has to be evaluated accordingly. We have to look behind their behavior, to see what motivates it.
This not easy, because some dark forces are often behind our behavior. We were rejected by those who should have loved us.
And, if that were not enough - the way our societies are built, can also be destructive. The perfect example was Nazi Germany. This was not because of a few people at the top - but because of the German people themselves - who went crazy.
I will now bring this up to date - to Silicon Valley in the Nineties. It didn't take a genius to see a lot of craziness was going on there - and is still going on. The New York Times has a weekly analysis of this - from a humorous perspective. The latest, for example, is the Bitcoin Craziness.
What is going on there? No one knows - and no one will ever know. In fact, you can try your hand at out-guessing it - by investing in BitCoin Cash.
I might as well say, right out - that it is does apply to me. Sometimes I am as crazy as the March Hare. But sometimes I am not - and I can usually tell the difference.
And I have learned, from bitter experience - to judge, as best I can, the sanity of situations I encounter - and to react according.
Note the keyword react here. This not what most people do - they do not notice what is going on, and, as a result - they cannot react to it.
What can I say about this? I can say, this is a good example of insane behavior in action - and has to be evaluated accordingly. We have to look behind their behavior, to see what motivates it.
This not easy, because some dark forces are often behind our behavior. We were rejected by those who should have loved us.
And, if that were not enough - the way our societies are built, can also be destructive. The perfect example was Nazi Germany. This was not because of a few people at the top - but because of the German people themselves - who went crazy.
I will now bring this up to date - to Silicon Valley in the Nineties. It didn't take a genius to see a lot of craziness was going on there - and is still going on. The New York Times has a weekly analysis of this - from a humorous perspective. The latest, for example, is the Bitcoin Craziness.
What is going on there? No one knows - and no one will ever know. In fact, you can try your hand at out-guessing it - by investing in BitCoin Cash.
Tuesday, December 26, 2017
The Dark Bounty of Texas Oil
New Yorker
I have a sister whose husband's family were in the oil business, as I liked to say - to impress people.
The facts were more mundane. The big oil companies bought up all the oil wells, that had been discovered by small oil companies. And them pumped them dry - or nearly dry, they were pumping more water, than oil - and they could no longer make any money from them.
So they sold them to independent operators, who could make a little money from them - because they didn't pay themselves any wages. There were no other jobs in the area, and poor jobs were better than none at all.
Eventually, however they could not make any money from them either. And they were faced with an unpleasant fact - they would have to cap over their wells, a process that would cost them money. In the old days, they could just walk away from them - but they would continue to seep oil and pollute the water table.
This was fine with my sister's oldest son, who had the heavy equipment necessary for doing this. He would pull up the old pipe, that was so corroded it was useless. Then another contractor would pump the hole full of concrete.
I have a sister whose husband's family were in the oil business, as I liked to say - to impress people.
The facts were more mundane. The big oil companies bought up all the oil wells, that had been discovered by small oil companies. And them pumped them dry - or nearly dry, they were pumping more water, than oil - and they could no longer make any money from them.
So they sold them to independent operators, who could make a little money from them - because they didn't pay themselves any wages. There were no other jobs in the area, and poor jobs were better than none at all.
Eventually, however they could not make any money from them either. And they were faced with an unpleasant fact - they would have to cap over their wells, a process that would cost them money. In the old days, they could just walk away from them - but they would continue to seep oil and pollute the water table.
This was fine with my sister's oldest son, who had the heavy equipment necessary for doing this. He would pull up the old pipe, that was so corroded it was useless. Then another contractor would pump the hole full of concrete.
Madonna in a Fur Coat
Amazon
This is a novel about a woman, as the title makes clear - but even more: about her affect on a man, who then wrote about it. It does not have a happy ending.
It is about Turkey and Berlin after WWI - when both had been destroyed and were trying to put themselves back together - unsuccessfully, as it later turned out.
The writer asks a lot of fundamental questions - not the kind most people want to think about. It will never be made into a movie - although it certainly would make a good one.
This is a novel about a woman, as the title makes clear - but even more: about her affect on a man, who then wrote about it. It does not have a happy ending.
It is about Turkey and Berlin after WWI - when both had been destroyed and were trying to put themselves back together - unsuccessfully, as it later turned out.
The writer asks a lot of fundamental questions - not the kind most people want to think about. It will never be made into a movie - although it certainly would make a good one.
Mindfulness with Jon Kabat-Zinn
YouTube
I can't believe Google is into this, and encourages its employees to do it also! For the simplest of reasons - it makes them better at writing software.
To do this, you have to be in touch with what's out there - that is the same as what's in here. In other words, you have to be.
I can't believe Google is into this, and encourages its employees to do it also! For the simplest of reasons - it makes them better at writing software.
To do this, you have to be in touch with what's out there - that is the same as what's in here. In other words, you have to be.
The Sociology Book
Amazon
I am taking a MOOC on Sociology - but was surprised to find none of the textbooks on that subject, existed in the Kindle format! This is the only book on that subject that I could download and read on my Fire tablet - for $9.
It is an interesting read, and I can recommend it.
I am taking a MOOC on Sociology - but was surprised to find none of the textbooks on that subject, existed in the Kindle format! This is the only book on that subject that I could download and read on my Fire tablet - for $9.
It is an interesting read, and I can recommend it.
Authority
This is one thing that is changing in our move from Industrialization to Software. And most people do not like it - because it is threatening one of the foundations of their existence.
For them, there have to be authorities - that know everything, and are in control of everything. My father was an example - he loved being an authority! Deep inside, he was nothing, and he knew that - but this was compensated for, by his being an authority - and as a result, very important!
This was the paradox of being an authority - you were nothing, and everything, at the same time. But you are high on the social ladder, anyway.
And something else has to be said - you do not need to learn anything, because you already know everything! And this is the fatal error, that is bringing them down - without their knowing it.
In my working life, in the last half of the last Century, the high-tech workers, who made everything work - kept complaining that their bosses, who were higher-up - didn't know much. And the higher up they got, the less they knew.
This was not quite right - they did have one important skill - they knew how to please those in power, and become one of them!. For them, the worse things got - the better off they were. And sure enough, things got worse - a lot worse!
Except for Software, that keeps getting better. In that small world, everything was logical, and sane. And profitable. But even there - there are huge insanities, and I bump into them all the time.
I live in a divided world - with two kinds of authorities. The second kind is shown by Wikipedia - where you can find out about anything, for free!
If you cannot find what you are looking for there - you can do an Internet search, and have access to a database that has been assembled by thousands of virtual computers - working away, in the Cloud.
Human authorities have been replaced by something else - intelligence that is built into the structure of the Internet itself.
For them, there have to be authorities - that know everything, and are in control of everything. My father was an example - he loved being an authority! Deep inside, he was nothing, and he knew that - but this was compensated for, by his being an authority - and as a result, very important!
This was the paradox of being an authority - you were nothing, and everything, at the same time. But you are high on the social ladder, anyway.
And something else has to be said - you do not need to learn anything, because you already know everything! And this is the fatal error, that is bringing them down - without their knowing it.
In my working life, in the last half of the last Century, the high-tech workers, who made everything work - kept complaining that their bosses, who were higher-up - didn't know much. And the higher up they got, the less they knew.
This was not quite right - they did have one important skill - they knew how to please those in power, and become one of them!. For them, the worse things got - the better off they were. And sure enough, things got worse - a lot worse!
Except for Software, that keeps getting better. In that small world, everything was logical, and sane. And profitable. But even there - there are huge insanities, and I bump into them all the time.
I live in a divided world - with two kinds of authorities. The second kind is shown by Wikipedia - where you can find out about anything, for free!
If you cannot find what you are looking for there - you can do an Internet search, and have access to a database that has been assembled by thousands of virtual computers - working away, in the Cloud.
Human authorities have been replaced by something else - intelligence that is built into the structure of the Internet itself.
Monday, December 25, 2017
Scientific Reality
This was the main discovery of the Scientific Revolution - that ended Medieval world, and made the Industrial Revolution possible.
Science realized that Time and Space were uniform and infinite - infinitely small and infinitely large. And that processes could be discovered there, that were repeatable - the same conditions always produced the same results. There were Mathematical Scientific Laws, such as Newton's Laws of Gravitation.
Some people (in Northern Europe, as the result of the Reformation) realized the importance of this - and become rich. Other people (in Southern Europe, as the result of the Counter-Reformation) fought against this - and remained poor.
The end result, for the North, was the Ford assembly line - that produced huge numbers of identical cars, at steadily reduced prices. And greatly enriched the workers there. And produced the roads they could operate on - at unheard of speeds.
This was the situation in the middle of the last century - but after this, something strange happened. As described in How America Lost Faith in Expertise.
Americans not only lost faith in experts - they last faith in Science, and in Scientific Reality.
Science realized that Time and Space were uniform and infinite - infinitely small and infinitely large. And that processes could be discovered there, that were repeatable - the same conditions always produced the same results. There were Mathematical Scientific Laws, such as Newton's Laws of Gravitation.
Some people (in Northern Europe, as the result of the Reformation) realized the importance of this - and become rich. Other people (in Southern Europe, as the result of the Counter-Reformation) fought against this - and remained poor.
The end result, for the North, was the Ford assembly line - that produced huge numbers of identical cars, at steadily reduced prices. And greatly enriched the workers there. And produced the roads they could operate on - at unheard of speeds.
This was the situation in the middle of the last century - but after this, something strange happened. As described in How America Lost Faith in Expertise.
Americans not only lost faith in experts - they last faith in Science, and in Scientific Reality.
People Hate Other People, because Other People Hate Them
I know I am not supposed to say this, especially on Christmas Day. I am supposed to say the exact opposite - people love other people, because other people love them.
Which is sometimes true - although it would be more accurate to say people like each other, for many reasons (such as Economic reasons) in times of peace - but in times of war, they act entirely differently.
And they can flip from peace to war, suddenly - with great enthusiasm. They have two ways of behaving - peacefully and warlike. And seem to like a mix of the two.
Since the middle of the last century, world wars have ended. They were just too destructive - but minor wars, involving undeveloped countries - have continued, almost without interruption.
And this is seen, by Americans - as a desirable situation. They want war, but the want it to happen elsewhere - harming other people, but not them. They are willing to accept some damage to their own troops, in the process. As long as the enemy is damaged more.
I must be more explicit, and talk of Afghanistan/Pakistan - the longest American war ever, that has no sign of ending anytime soon. What is America trying to accomplish here?
This probably the wrong question. We should ask "What is going on here?" And the answer is - a war that solves nothing, but satisfies the American need for another little war, in a remote area.
Which is sometimes true - although it would be more accurate to say people like each other, for many reasons (such as Economic reasons) in times of peace - but in times of war, they act entirely differently.
And they can flip from peace to war, suddenly - with great enthusiasm. They have two ways of behaving - peacefully and warlike. And seem to like a mix of the two.
Since the middle of the last century, world wars have ended. They were just too destructive - but minor wars, involving undeveloped countries - have continued, almost without interruption.
And this is seen, by Americans - as a desirable situation. They want war, but the want it to happen elsewhere - harming other people, but not them. They are willing to accept some damage to their own troops, in the process. As long as the enemy is damaged more.
I must be more explicit, and talk of Afghanistan/Pakistan - the longest American war ever, that has no sign of ending anytime soon. What is America trying to accomplish here?
This probably the wrong question. We should ask "What is going on here?" And the answer is - a war that solves nothing, but satisfies the American need for another little war, in a remote area.
Sunday, December 24, 2017
The Mind
When I start with a subject this big, I have to wonder about my own mind - why on earth am I doing this, when everyone else is content to leave it alone?
I have to remind myself, that not everyone else is this way - some people have been asking themselves about this for a very long time. Perhaps I am one of those.
I am reading Madonna in a Fur Coat where the woman goes into long soliloquy, that lasts for pages, where she tries to understand the world of her time - Berlin, after the Germans have been defeated in WWI.
I am also reading The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time that also deals the same subject. And comes up with an answer that will not surprise you - it's the Economy, and everything involved with that. And his analysis is convincing.
Personally, I think something even bigger is behind all this - the desire to wreck everything, because it has become so bad. Not a new idea at all.
You may reply that I read too much - and for that matter, write too much also, in my blog.
Maybe, but I have a bulletproof defense - no one is reading me!
I have to remind myself, that not everyone else is this way - some people have been asking themselves about this for a very long time. Perhaps I am one of those.
I am reading Madonna in a Fur Coat where the woman goes into long soliloquy, that lasts for pages, where she tries to understand the world of her time - Berlin, after the Germans have been defeated in WWI.
I am also reading The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time that also deals the same subject. And comes up with an answer that will not surprise you - it's the Economy, and everything involved with that. And his analysis is convincing.
Personally, I think something even bigger is behind all this - the desire to wreck everything, because it has become so bad. Not a new idea at all.
You may reply that I read too much - and for that matter, write too much also, in my blog.
Maybe, but I have a bulletproof defense - no one is reading me!
Saturday, December 23, 2017
Geniuses and Ordinary People
There have always been geniuses - and it has always been easy to spot them. Mozart was a musical genius - probably the greatest genius of classical music, of all time. As classical music evolved however, other geniuses appeared, such as Beethoven. Ordinary people then appeared, to play, or sing, their music.
The line between geniuses and ordinary people cannot be sharply drawn. Many people exist somewhere in between them - and have their moments of inspired genius also.
The Computer, with its Software - has confused things even more. There are software geniuses, and I have worked with a few. And I have seen geniuses come and go - as the Computer industry has evolved. Geniuses at one kind of software, stop being geniuses as new kinds are invented.
Most of us, only use the software they have invented. And some of us, do not do that very well. The amount of substandard software being produced is prodigious.
The software world is like the world of the Red Queen - you have to run at top speed, to stay in one place. And developments in the next square go around you anyway.
For example, I worked for Adaptec for awhile. It made adapters for the desktop computer - huge things, three feet tall the two feet deep. They couldn't do much, out of the box - and you had to plug in adapter boards for anything exetra - such as accessing the Internet.
When the laptop computer appeared, adapters were no longer necessary - and Adaptec went out of business. The same thing happened for the Computer Graphics companies I worked for - they went out of business also. Everyone who worked for these companies was out of a job.
But no one panicked - they just learned another skill, and headed for the next job fair, if they were in a boom period. If they were in a bust period, they were shit out of luck.
The Business Cycle was as powerful at ever,
The line between geniuses and ordinary people cannot be sharply drawn. Many people exist somewhere in between them - and have their moments of inspired genius also.
The Computer, with its Software - has confused things even more. There are software geniuses, and I have worked with a few. And I have seen geniuses come and go - as the Computer industry has evolved. Geniuses at one kind of software, stop being geniuses as new kinds are invented.
Most of us, only use the software they have invented. And some of us, do not do that very well. The amount of substandard software being produced is prodigious.
The software world is like the world of the Red Queen - you have to run at top speed, to stay in one place. And developments in the next square go around you anyway.
For example, I worked for Adaptec for awhile. It made adapters for the desktop computer - huge things, three feet tall the two feet deep. They couldn't do much, out of the box - and you had to plug in adapter boards for anything exetra - such as accessing the Internet.
When the laptop computer appeared, adapters were no longer necessary - and Adaptec went out of business. The same thing happened for the Computer Graphics companies I worked for - they went out of business also. Everyone who worked for these companies was out of a job.
But no one panicked - they just learned another skill, and headed for the next job fair, if they were in a boom period. If they were in a bust period, they were shit out of luck.
The Business Cycle was as powerful at ever,
When People Became Super People
This happened, and it was a big happening - but we have not taken it seriously enough. We are willing to acknowledge that we got better, a lot better - but not willing to see how horrible this development was, in human terms.
As super people, we were willing to commit horrible atrocities - against ordinary people. That was the whole point of being superior.
This possibility has always been active in human nature, especially in times of war - that brought out the best and the worst in us, but mostly the worst.
The last big change that happened to us was the Industrial Revolution - that we have never come to grips with - because it changed us so much. So much so, we can no longer recognize ourselves. But exist as split personalities - what we were before the change, and what we were after it.
I can understand this most easily, by examining the technologies involved. And there were a lot of them - too many, in fact. One way of looking at this, would be to observe, that our machines took over - and made us like them. This made us more powerful (as a system of machines) - but less human.
Our most important inventions were Electricity and Photography, That when merged, became the Movies. This was the culminating Industry, that resulted from WWI, the Depression, and WWII. We had become what our wildest dreams could not imagine! As shown to us, on the Magic Screen.
But behind all of this, was the humble vacuum tube - that had been refined, perfected, and was mass-produced, in huge quantities. Behind all the flash and glitter, were vacuum tubes - quietly doing their work.
No one gave much thought to what they were doing - that only became clear much later, when the Computer appeared - they were processing Information! One of the fundamental constituents of Reality. They had made like the gods - if not God himself.
This quickly went to our heads. We had become everything, and nothing at the same time.
As super people, we were willing to commit horrible atrocities - against ordinary people. That was the whole point of being superior.
This possibility has always been active in human nature, especially in times of war - that brought out the best and the worst in us, but mostly the worst.
The last big change that happened to us was the Industrial Revolution - that we have never come to grips with - because it changed us so much. So much so, we can no longer recognize ourselves. But exist as split personalities - what we were before the change, and what we were after it.
I can understand this most easily, by examining the technologies involved. And there were a lot of them - too many, in fact. One way of looking at this, would be to observe, that our machines took over - and made us like them. This made us more powerful (as a system of machines) - but less human.
Our most important inventions were Electricity and Photography, That when merged, became the Movies. This was the culminating Industry, that resulted from WWI, the Depression, and WWII. We had become what our wildest dreams could not imagine! As shown to us, on the Magic Screen.
But behind all of this, was the humble vacuum tube - that had been refined, perfected, and was mass-produced, in huge quantities. Behind all the flash and glitter, were vacuum tubes - quietly doing their work.
No one gave much thought to what they were doing - that only became clear much later, when the Computer appeared - they were processing Information! One of the fundamental constituents of Reality. They had made like the gods - if not God himself.
This quickly went to our heads. We had become everything, and nothing at the same time.
Friday, December 22, 2017
International Finance in Costa Rica
I continue to read The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time and this is one subject that it deals with - International Finance in the Nineteenth Century. in Europe.
It made me consider this in my context - the role of the Dollar and the Colone in Costa Rica, where I live. The Colone is the official currency of Costa Rica, and it is managed by the Banco National, that does a fairly good job of letting Tico businesses pay for their local expenses in Colones - and. at the same time, buy and sell in the American market - in Dollars. Quite a trick.
Costa Rica has always recognized its Big Brother to the North - and has taken care to stay on good terms with it. Other countries in Central America have been more combative, and been invaded, as a result. With disastrous results to their economies.
It made me consider this in my context - the role of the Dollar and the Colone in Costa Rica, where I live. The Colone is the official currency of Costa Rica, and it is managed by the Banco National, that does a fairly good job of letting Tico businesses pay for their local expenses in Colones - and. at the same time, buy and sell in the American market - in Dollars. Quite a trick.
Costa Rica has always recognized its Big Brother to the North - and has taken care to stay on good terms with it. Other countries in Central America have been more combative, and been invaded, as a result. With disastrous results to their economies.
Just Answer
justanswer.com
I want you to know about this service, that I used recently, for help with my Windows 10 laptop. Their expert took control of my laptop, and tried all kinds of things to make it work right. And concluded it must be a hardware problem. Laptop Experience, then send me another keyboard to replace my defective one.
In this complicated world, you need experts like these, to give you a helping hand. All you have to do - is ask them, and pay a reasonable fee.
I want you to know about this service, that I used recently, for help with my Windows 10 laptop. Their expert took control of my laptop, and tried all kinds of things to make it work right. And concluded it must be a hardware problem. Laptop Experience, then send me another keyboard to replace my defective one.
In this complicated world, you need experts like these, to give you a helping hand. All you have to do - is ask them, and pay a reasonable fee.
Sanity and Insanity
This is one of the things that make us human. And one of those things, that in our time - we do not want to talk about. Because we have become more sane and more insane. And it has become more difficult to tell the difference.
The keyword in what I have just written is - more. We have so much of everything, it is driving us crazy.
This, in itself, should not be a problem - I have little difficulty in admitting that I have a hard time understanding what is going on - and anyone who knows me can see that also. Everyone can see that I am cognitively handicapped - to use a neat phrase I just picked up.
The problem for most people, is that they do not want to admit how handicapped they are. They have become what Nietzsche called the Ubermensch - or, in English, the Supermen. Or, to use Christian terminology - Saints in Heaven. A crazy idea, if ever there was on - but one, billions of people have believed in, and still believe in.
This idea, of perfection in our time - has undergone a radical redefinition in the practice of Software Development. These guys and gals, have discovered Eternity - as it was defined mathematically, a few hundred years ago. And they have added to that treasure trove, by developing Algorithms, that greatly increase our ability to manipulate the World around us.
And also made themselves rich - a side effect, they had not planned on, but one they don't mind accepting. They have rediscovered that Virtue has its own rewards - and makes its own demands. If you are a good developer - you help other developers, and the better your gifts to them, the better you are - as a developer.
This is a new way of life, that most people cannot comprehend. But would have been familiar to Romans, in the Roman Republic - but not Romans in the Roman Empire, that was a different matter entirely.
The keyword in what I have just written is - more. We have so much of everything, it is driving us crazy.
This, in itself, should not be a problem - I have little difficulty in admitting that I have a hard time understanding what is going on - and anyone who knows me can see that also. Everyone can see that I am cognitively handicapped - to use a neat phrase I just picked up.
The problem for most people, is that they do not want to admit how handicapped they are. They have become what Nietzsche called the Ubermensch - or, in English, the Supermen. Or, to use Christian terminology - Saints in Heaven. A crazy idea, if ever there was on - but one, billions of people have believed in, and still believe in.
This idea, of perfection in our time - has undergone a radical redefinition in the practice of Software Development. These guys and gals, have discovered Eternity - as it was defined mathematically, a few hundred years ago. And they have added to that treasure trove, by developing Algorithms, that greatly increase our ability to manipulate the World around us.
And also made themselves rich - a side effect, they had not planned on, but one they don't mind accepting. They have rediscovered that Virtue has its own rewards - and makes its own demands. If you are a good developer - you help other developers, and the better your gifts to them, the better you are - as a developer.
This is a new way of life, that most people cannot comprehend. But would have been familiar to Romans, in the Roman Republic - but not Romans in the Roman Empire, that was a different matter entirely.
Thursday, December 21, 2017
Love was a Boy
I am reading The Aeneid which is full of Roman mythology - in shocking detail. I have reached the point where Aeneas is living in Carthage, with its queen Dido. The Roman gods and goddesses, as usual - are busy interfering with the mortals under their control.
Cupid appears, loving his father Aeneas - but soon becomes attached to Dido, who falls in love with him.
Love is amazingly versatile here - involving every combination of children, adults, men, and women. As it was no doubt. with the Romans themselves.
All this ends very badly, with the Roman conquest, and total destruction - of Carthage.
Later on, in the story.
Cupid appears, loving his father Aeneas - but soon becomes attached to Dido, who falls in love with him.
Love is amazingly versatile here - involving every combination of children, adults, men, and women. As it was no doubt. with the Romans themselves.
All this ends very badly, with the Roman conquest, and total destruction - of Carthage.
Later on, in the story.
Society and the Computer
We now have two kinds of machines - Mechanical and Digital. And they have produced two kinds of people.
The Mechanical produced people who could not get along with each other - this is 99 percent of the present population. The Digital is producing people who have to get along together. - this is 1 percent of the population.
Neither population is very aware of the other - and doesn't want to be. Understanding the other would be too much work, that no one would thank them for. People seem satisfied now with two worlds, who do not understand each other. This, they think - is the best they can do, under the circumstances.
They are probably right - but it seems to me, we could do a little bit better. And this effort would have to be from the vast majority - who would have to try to understand the Computer. Something they now resist, like the appearance of the Black Plague. Something, they are sure - that is out to destroy them.
To understand this, we have to get inside their heads. And understand their unconscious mental processing - as a Mechanical culture.
This produced vast wealth, but also workers - people who understood little, They just did their job - without thinking about it. And this is the one demand they make of their world "Don't make me think!"
Precisely the apposite of what the Digital world demands - that they think!
The Mechanical produced people who could not get along with each other - this is 99 percent of the present population. The Digital is producing people who have to get along together. - this is 1 percent of the population.
Neither population is very aware of the other - and doesn't want to be. Understanding the other would be too much work, that no one would thank them for. People seem satisfied now with two worlds, who do not understand each other. This, they think - is the best they can do, under the circumstances.
They are probably right - but it seems to me, we could do a little bit better. And this effort would have to be from the vast majority - who would have to try to understand the Computer. Something they now resist, like the appearance of the Black Plague. Something, they are sure - that is out to destroy them.
To understand this, we have to get inside their heads. And understand their unconscious mental processing - as a Mechanical culture.
This produced vast wealth, but also workers - people who understood little, They just did their job - without thinking about it. And this is the one demand they make of their world "Don't make me think!"
Precisely the apposite of what the Digital world demands - that they think!
Wednesday, December 20, 2017
Can Evangelicalism Survive Donald Trump and Roy Moore?
New Yorker
This was written a by religious person who pays careful attention to what is going on. Someone who thinks, in other words. Someone who recognizes the complexity of the situation.
Evangelicalism is active in Costa Rica - the second largest religious movement, after Catholicism. It exists mostly because it is subsidized by churches up North, in the US. Although there are plenty of homegrown varieties, with the modest church buildings. They prefer loud music, with lots of rhythm in it.
Its main appeal is simple - it promises to make you rich, like the Americans are. And sometimes it does this - by introducing better business practices. But it also introduces things that are not so helpful - such as the recent Central American trade agreement - that mainly benefits the rich.
And it has supported reactionary governments, in places like San Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
This was written a by religious person who pays careful attention to what is going on. Someone who thinks, in other words. Someone who recognizes the complexity of the situation.
Evangelicalism is active in Costa Rica - the second largest religious movement, after Catholicism. It exists mostly because it is subsidized by churches up North, in the US. Although there are plenty of homegrown varieties, with the modest church buildings. They prefer loud music, with lots of rhythm in it.
Its main appeal is simple - it promises to make you rich, like the Americans are. And sometimes it does this - by introducing better business practices. But it also introduces things that are not so helpful - such as the recent Central American trade agreement - that mainly benefits the rich.
And it has supported reactionary governments, in places like San Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
The Obsession with Perfection
The obsession with perfection was something Christianity inherited from the Hebrews. And when it was mixed with Greek Idealism (a strange combination, to be sure) it brought down the Roman Empire.
This collapse lasted for a thousand years, and eventually produced what we refer to, as the Modern World.
This in turn, was followed by the Reformation and the Industrial Revolution. That had its own Perfectionism - the Market Economy. Where the imperfection of individuals was transformed, as if by magic, into the Greater Good. And where Business became a religion.
I want to dwell on this - the transformation of Business into a Religion. This happened rapidly, from the middle of the 19th Century, to the middle of the 20th in America. Although it was preceded, by developments in England, where Industrialization had originated.
All this was made possible by powerful new technologies that produced the Railroads and the Factories - and the Movies. And WWI, the Depression, WWII, and the Holocaust. A horrible mess, if ever there was one.
The people affected by this, survived by a simple transformation - a reversal of values. What was bad became good.
This collapse lasted for a thousand years, and eventually produced what we refer to, as the Modern World.
This in turn, was followed by the Reformation and the Industrial Revolution. That had its own Perfectionism - the Market Economy. Where the imperfection of individuals was transformed, as if by magic, into the Greater Good. And where Business became a religion.
I want to dwell on this - the transformation of Business into a Religion. This happened rapidly, from the middle of the 19th Century, to the middle of the 20th in America. Although it was preceded, by developments in England, where Industrialization had originated.
All this was made possible by powerful new technologies that produced the Railroads and the Factories - and the Movies. And WWI, the Depression, WWII, and the Holocaust. A horrible mess, if ever there was one.
The people affected by this, survived by a simple transformation - a reversal of values. What was bad became good.
Tuesday, December 19, 2017
Please be Nice to Me, Little Laptop!
I got a Dell laptop from Amazon, that had been refurbished by Laptop Experience. I complained to them about the keyboard and they send me to a company, who had an expert take control of my Laptop, who downloaded many drivers and installed them.
This took quite a while, and he concluded the keyboard was defective. I took another look, and saw that the keyboard is surrounded by a flexible grommet, which means it can be lifted out, and replaced.
I asked Laptop Experience for a new one, and they are is sending me one, to my Miami address.
This took quite a while, and he concluded the keyboard was defective. I took another look, and saw that the keyboard is surrounded by a flexible grommet, which means it can be lifted out, and replaced.
I asked Laptop Experience for a new one, and they are is sending me one, to my Miami address.
Making Things Behave Properly
This title should be longer - Making Digital Objects in a Network Behave Properly. Or, Designing a Better Internet. Such as the IPFS.
The Internet happened by accident. Many people cooperated in its development, building on each other's ideas. Then, all of a sudden, in the Nineties - everything fit together, into a workable system!
Everyone realized something important had happened, and lots of money was going to be made because of it. But they overlooked how much it would change human society.
Now, after these changes are beginning to happen, they have changed their minds - and want to go back to the simpler times before the Net. But they cannot - history, including technical history, only runs in one direction - forward!
What are these changes to Society? The switch from Competition to Cooperation. The Industrial World was based on Competition - on people (and nations) trying to get the better of other nations. This resulted in huge riches - and huge problems, that could not be solved inside that system.
The Computer, with its networks (the Internet and the Wireless) is a sharing economy - where everyone thrives by giving things away, so other people can use them. This has created new problems, because these free gifts often contain hidden costs - the Trojan Horse comes to mind.
To put this another way - to use the Computer's Artificial Intelligence - our Intelligence has to better - which often it is not.
The Internet happened by accident. Many people cooperated in its development, building on each other's ideas. Then, all of a sudden, in the Nineties - everything fit together, into a workable system!
Everyone realized something important had happened, and lots of money was going to be made because of it. But they overlooked how much it would change human society.
Now, after these changes are beginning to happen, they have changed their minds - and want to go back to the simpler times before the Net. But they cannot - history, including technical history, only runs in one direction - forward!
What are these changes to Society? The switch from Competition to Cooperation. The Industrial World was based on Competition - on people (and nations) trying to get the better of other nations. This resulted in huge riches - and huge problems, that could not be solved inside that system.
The Computer, with its networks (the Internet and the Wireless) is a sharing economy - where everyone thrives by giving things away, so other people can use them. This has created new problems, because these free gifts often contain hidden costs - the Trojan Horse comes to mind.
To put this another way - to use the Computer's Artificial Intelligence - our Intelligence has to better - which often it is not.
Monday, December 18, 2017
They Don't Want to Know Anything, They Don't Already Know
Why? Because they have been lied to many times, and they don't want to lied to again.
This one of those social situations, where people undergo a vast change, they are not aware of - and this change. cannot then be reversed.
Let's consider the first - a vast change they are not aware of. In our time, this was Television, that had a strong subliminal effect, noted by McLuhan - that he summarized as The Medium is the Message. TV watchers got the message, without realizing it. And they became different people. as a result. While insisting they had not changed at all.
The same thing happened with the Computer - with even more amazing results, as described in Artifical Intelligence is Eliminating our Grasp of Reality. This is a vast change - but everyone with Phone in their hip pocket (nearly everyone, that is) will insist that nothing has changed at all!
They have to say this, because facing the facts is too painful. They cannot admit, that everything has changed, and changed so much they can no longer recognize what they are.
The arts have been saying this for some time - things have been bend badly out of shape. But the world still goes on, somehow.
This is all they need to know.
This one of those social situations, where people undergo a vast change, they are not aware of - and this change. cannot then be reversed.
Let's consider the first - a vast change they are not aware of. In our time, this was Television, that had a strong subliminal effect, noted by McLuhan - that he summarized as The Medium is the Message. TV watchers got the message, without realizing it. And they became different people. as a result. While insisting they had not changed at all.
The same thing happened with the Computer - with even more amazing results, as described in Artifical Intelligence is Eliminating our Grasp of Reality. This is a vast change - but everyone with Phone in their hip pocket (nearly everyone, that is) will insist that nothing has changed at all!
They have to say this, because facing the facts is too painful. They cannot admit, that everything has changed, and changed so much they can no longer recognize what they are.
The arts have been saying this for some time - things have been bend badly out of shape. But the world still goes on, somehow.
This is all they need to know.
The Great Society
This was championed by LBJ in the Sixties. It meant enforcing Civil Rights in the South, something they had refused to do for a hundred years. LBJ, who was an expert in working with Congress, passed legislation that provided for this (over strong opposition from the South). And then he enforced it, by calling out the National Guard in each state. People from the North also assisted this effort, and some of them were killed in the process.
LBJ did this, because he did not want to be seen as a Southerner, when he was running for election.
Then, something amazing happened - Americans decided they didn't want a Great Society, after all
- and had the Vietnam War, instead.
What happened here? Two patterns were evident - the desire to punish the South, and then the desire to punish Communism.
The desire for a Great Society was easily forgotten.
LBJ did this, because he did not want to be seen as a Southerner, when he was running for election.
Then, something amazing happened - Americans decided they didn't want a Great Society, after all
- and had the Vietnam War, instead.
What happened here? Two patterns were evident - the desire to punish the South, and then the desire to punish Communism.
The desire for a Great Society was easily forgotten.
Thinking
Man is an animal that can think. But often chooses not to. This is one of his crucial choices - when not to think, and when he makes this choice, why he makes it. A huge subject, that I can only touch on here.
I will not examine Greek and Roman thought on this, even though they had some important things to say about it. And skip forward to the Enlightenment, that also concentrated on thinking. And produced the reaction to it, called Romanticism.
And then skip forward some more to the Fifties, in America, in the last century - that I can remember well. What on earth happened then?
A lot happened, a whole lot - but whatever it was, Americans were determined to not notice it. And they are still determined to not notice it.
What was this? The fact that world was not noticing them, but something else. This something else was important, but not them. And they did not know who to cope with this amazing situation. So they ignored it - and ignored it completely.
I can state the problem this way, easily enough - and even go into the details of what this something else was. But that will make no difference - people are not thinking about this, and will continue to not think about it.
Even though their lives are so terrible, many of them will kill themselves. This makes them more determined than ever - to not notice, the most important fact of their lives.
Now that I have written this down, I feel better about it. If I can see it, perhaps others can see it also. Some of these others, should be in Software - someplace where people have been very successful. And where they should be extending their expertise to the larger world they are in.
But they are not. They are part of the tendency toward more and more specialization - and more and more disinterest in anything outside their specialty.
I am not saying anything new here - this has been said by nearly everyone. And nearly everyone has done nothing about it - because the situation seems impossible!
Let me give you an example. Yesterday, I received two notices, from Act Blue, that I had given money, for the third time, to two women, whose names I did not recognize. As a result, I cancelled my continuing contribution (once a month) to them.
They should have set up a newsletter, where they would have described that they were doing, and sent it to their supporters. And the money would have continued to come in.
Another example of not thinking.
I will not examine Greek and Roman thought on this, even though they had some important things to say about it. And skip forward to the Enlightenment, that also concentrated on thinking. And produced the reaction to it, called Romanticism.
And then skip forward some more to the Fifties, in America, in the last century - that I can remember well. What on earth happened then?
A lot happened, a whole lot - but whatever it was, Americans were determined to not notice it. And they are still determined to not notice it.
What was this? The fact that world was not noticing them, but something else. This something else was important, but not them. And they did not know who to cope with this amazing situation. So they ignored it - and ignored it completely.
I can state the problem this way, easily enough - and even go into the details of what this something else was. But that will make no difference - people are not thinking about this, and will continue to not think about it.
Even though their lives are so terrible, many of them will kill themselves. This makes them more determined than ever - to not notice, the most important fact of their lives.
Now that I have written this down, I feel better about it. If I can see it, perhaps others can see it also. Some of these others, should be in Software - someplace where people have been very successful. And where they should be extending their expertise to the larger world they are in.
But they are not. They are part of the tendency toward more and more specialization - and more and more disinterest in anything outside their specialty.
I am not saying anything new here - this has been said by nearly everyone. And nearly everyone has done nothing about it - because the situation seems impossible!
Let me give you an example. Yesterday, I received two notices, from Act Blue, that I had given money, for the third time, to two women, whose names I did not recognize. As a result, I cancelled my continuing contribution (once a month) to them.
They should have set up a newsletter, where they would have described that they were doing, and sent it to their supporters. And the money would have continued to come in.
Another example of not thinking.
Sunday, December 17, 2017
They are Angry, But They do not Want to Know, They are Angry
This, I think, summarizes the American situation now.
They are angry because they have been treated badly - which is certainly true, in the most fundamental sense. They have been treated badly, in so many ways - they cannot think of it, without flying into an uncontrollable rage.
But, at the same time, they know they are not supposed to have these feelings - and are not supposed to do anything because of them.
They are living in a pressure cooker, with the heat turned on high. And the result is unpredictable violence, that is destructive of everything - including themselves.
America is locked into a war in Afghanistan, its longest war ever - and it seems to want it to last forever. This is not just a foreign war, it is the outward manifestation of a war inside America, they do not want to see.
Is there a solution for this? Yes there is, in theory. People have to recognize this problem, then they can deal with it.
But things have gone too far, for this to happen. Some situations cannot be fixed, and this is one of them.
"What?" You may be saying, "Some situations cannot be fixed?" Yes, and they are fairly common - and have resulted in the downfall of many empires. And are causing the downfall of the empire we are living in right now.
We are living in interesting times. How they will turn out, no one knows.
They are angry because they have been treated badly - which is certainly true, in the most fundamental sense. They have been treated badly, in so many ways - they cannot think of it, without flying into an uncontrollable rage.
But, at the same time, they know they are not supposed to have these feelings - and are not supposed to do anything because of them.
They are living in a pressure cooker, with the heat turned on high. And the result is unpredictable violence, that is destructive of everything - including themselves.
America is locked into a war in Afghanistan, its longest war ever - and it seems to want it to last forever. This is not just a foreign war, it is the outward manifestation of a war inside America, they do not want to see.
Is there a solution for this? Yes there is, in theory. People have to recognize this problem, then they can deal with it.
But things have gone too far, for this to happen. Some situations cannot be fixed, and this is one of them.
"What?" You may be saying, "Some situations cannot be fixed?" Yes, and they are fairly common - and have resulted in the downfall of many empires. And are causing the downfall of the empire we are living in right now.
We are living in interesting times. How they will turn out, no one knows.
Saturday, December 16, 2017
I thought Sex was Everything - when By Itself, it was Nothing
It has taken me most of my life (I am now 80) to realize this.
I got this misunderstanding (you will not be surprised to learn) from my family, who was not that different from most of the families in the Midwest, in the middle of the last century. Sex for them, was suppressed - which only made it more powerful. It poisoned relationships, that should have been normal - such as those between parents and their children.
I will give you an example:
My parents retired, and became part of a church mission, in Saltillo, Mexico. I had left the church, a few years earlier (when I was at the University) but I was visiting them there - because, after all, they were still my parents. When something strange happened - they decided I should sleep (and have sex) with an older woman, also a church member. This would keep me in the church!
Looking back at this - it probably have worked out. I could have slept with her at night - and then we could have resumed our normal lives during the day - she with her daughter and her mission. I with my parents, and my sister.
My parents left the mission not too long after this - and I could have looked back at this episode, as another part of my strange life. Nobody would have been hurt - but we all had wasted part of our precious lives.
I got this misunderstanding (you will not be surprised to learn) from my family, who was not that different from most of the families in the Midwest, in the middle of the last century. Sex for them, was suppressed - which only made it more powerful. It poisoned relationships, that should have been normal - such as those between parents and their children.
I will give you an example:
My parents retired, and became part of a church mission, in Saltillo, Mexico. I had left the church, a few years earlier (when I was at the University) but I was visiting them there - because, after all, they were still my parents. When something strange happened - they decided I should sleep (and have sex) with an older woman, also a church member. This would keep me in the church!
Looking back at this - it probably have worked out. I could have slept with her at night - and then we could have resumed our normal lives during the day - she with her daughter and her mission. I with my parents, and my sister.
My parents left the mission not too long after this - and I could have looked back at this episode, as another part of my strange life. Nobody would have been hurt - but we all had wasted part of our precious lives.
The End of the World, is What They Want
They will never come right out and say this - but it is easy to see this is what they really want. And by they, I mean nearly everyone. Once the bad world ends, a good world will descend from heaven.
Consider the excellent essay Pushing Against the Populist Tide that tries another approach to the problem. More of a scientific one - that struggles to define the problem.
My definition is much simpler - they want to destroy everything. And they are succeeding at this.
This process was begun by the Pilgrims, the first settlers in America. Who were establishing an ideal community. Nothing less was acceptable to them.
But the power center moved south to Virginia, where people were more interested in making money - by growing tobacco, an addictive drug, that was in high demand.
These affluent people were successful in forming a National government - the United States of America. The Pilgrims were forgotten.
Then, two hundred years later, when Industrialization made life difficult for most people - they reacted against it, and decided to destroy it!
Polanyi's book The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time helped clarify my thinking on this.
Consider the excellent essay Pushing Against the Populist Tide that tries another approach to the problem. More of a scientific one - that struggles to define the problem.
My definition is much simpler - they want to destroy everything. And they are succeeding at this.
This process was begun by the Pilgrims, the first settlers in America. Who were establishing an ideal community. Nothing less was acceptable to them.
But the power center moved south to Virginia, where people were more interested in making money - by growing tobacco, an addictive drug, that was in high demand.
These affluent people were successful in forming a National government - the United States of America. The Pilgrims were forgotten.
Then, two hundred years later, when Industrialization made life difficult for most people - they reacted against it, and decided to destroy it!
Polanyi's book The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time helped clarify my thinking on this.
The Ultimate Radical Solution
This was discovered, by Americans, in the Seventies. and was instantly adopted everywhere - as a successful strategy for coping with a world, that was too much for them.
People could have said "I cannot understand today's world!" And satisfied themselves with observing it instead. Accepting it the way it was - and making small changes to it.
This pragmatic approach, however was not satisfying. People wanted a world view they could understand immediately, without thinking about it - that would do everything for them. A religion, in fact.
The solution for them, was to become nothing. A solution that was easy for anyone to acquire - and was all-powerful.
This depended on the human ability to consider opposites as identical. And to worship greater powers - powers greater than human powers. They knew these powers existed - all they had to do was discover them. And then be overwhelmed by them.
This had always been the human solution - they were going back to the one they had always used.
How could they go wrong?
Friday, December 15, 2017
F# Explained
This is the best explanation of F# that I have seen.
My audience here is one percent of the population - not the 99 percent, who have no idea what is going on.
They are still in control of their part of the economy, however - that keeps on working, because they are so good at grabbing everything.
The one percent are building another economy, based in sharing, that is growing rapidly.
Is there a conflict here? Will the two merge, somehow? Or will something else happen?
My audience here is one percent of the population - not the 99 percent, who have no idea what is going on.
They are still in control of their part of the economy, however - that keeps on working, because they are so good at grabbing everything.
The one percent are building another economy, based in sharing, that is growing rapidly.
Is there a conflict here? Will the two merge, somehow? Or will something else happen?
Americans were Protestants, Latinos were Catholics
And Americans had much more money. Was there a connection here? Yes, America was Industrialized and Latin America was not.
And this difference went right back to the Reformation, that made the Industrial Revolution possible, and the Scientific Revolution. These made their countries rich.
The South remained Catholic, and could not make the huge leap to thinking about the world, in terms of logical abstractions. These abstractions included people, who could be used, like anything else.
The North became competitive about everything - including its dealings with the South, that it raided for its raw materials.
I have said nothing original here - just reorganized other people's thoughts. I hope you find them useful.
And this difference went right back to the Reformation, that made the Industrial Revolution possible, and the Scientific Revolution. These made their countries rich.
The South remained Catholic, and could not make the huge leap to thinking about the world, in terms of logical abstractions. These abstractions included people, who could be used, like anything else.
The North became competitive about everything - including its dealings with the South, that it raided for its raw materials.
I have said nothing original here - just reorganized other people's thoughts. I hope you find them useful.
The Role of the Stock Market in the Computer Economy
I never gave any thought to this, when I was working in the Computer Industry, from 1980 to 2000. Everything was just too crazy for me, or anyone else, to understand it.
We were there, because Money was there, and that meant Jobs were there also. We didn't try to understand what was going on - in fact, we were forbidden to. We just did as we were told.
And that meant that, in my job as a technical writer - my job was to make the company I worked for, look good. Because that would make the value of its stock go up.
The primary purpose of any company, was to make money - and the easiest way to do that, was to situate it in a market of rising expectations - in a bubble, where everyone made a lot of money, in a hurry. No one thought about what would happen when the bubble popped - as it did, in 2001 and then in 2008.
Making a bubble, could be done most easily in the Stock Market where value was created out of nothing. Its model was the Movie Industry, that created alternative realities, that if successful - were extremely profitable. The trick, of course, was to create a fictitious reality that the moviegoers believed in.
And people back then, believed in the Computer - even though they had no idea what it was. They knew, whatever it was - it was creating its own reality - and they wanted to be part of that.
The Computer did not disappoint them - it exceeded their expectations beyond their wildest dreams. And created a reality so different - they didn't know what to make of it.
I am speaking of the Internet and Cellular networks - and the Cloud. That I am using, right now, to write in this blog. And you are using to read it.
The amount of computer hardware and software we are using, staggers the imagination. But we carry on, as if nothing unusual was happening.
When, in fact - the election of Trump has happened. We now have two kinds of people - the Computer people, who know what is happening, at least in computers - and the rest, the 99 percent, who know they are out of the loop, and don't know how to get back in.
We were there, because Money was there, and that meant Jobs were there also. We didn't try to understand what was going on - in fact, we were forbidden to. We just did as we were told.
And that meant that, in my job as a technical writer - my job was to make the company I worked for, look good. Because that would make the value of its stock go up.
The primary purpose of any company, was to make money - and the easiest way to do that, was to situate it in a market of rising expectations - in a bubble, where everyone made a lot of money, in a hurry. No one thought about what would happen when the bubble popped - as it did, in 2001 and then in 2008.
Making a bubble, could be done most easily in the Stock Market where value was created out of nothing. Its model was the Movie Industry, that created alternative realities, that if successful - were extremely profitable. The trick, of course, was to create a fictitious reality that the moviegoers believed in.
And people back then, believed in the Computer - even though they had no idea what it was. They knew, whatever it was - it was creating its own reality - and they wanted to be part of that.
The Computer did not disappoint them - it exceeded their expectations beyond their wildest dreams. And created a reality so different - they didn't know what to make of it.
I am speaking of the Internet and Cellular networks - and the Cloud. That I am using, right now, to write in this blog. And you are using to read it.
The amount of computer hardware and software we are using, staggers the imagination. But we carry on, as if nothing unusual was happening.
When, in fact - the election of Trump has happened. We now have two kinds of people - the Computer people, who know what is happening, at least in computers - and the rest, the 99 percent, who know they are out of the loop, and don't know how to get back in.
Thursday, December 14, 2017
I Love Lucy
Delancy Place
This takes me back to the Fifties, when Television took over the American Mind - and never gave it back.
This review is an example of online journalism at its best. We are now flooded with this - and have become the best informed (and the worst informed) people in history.
This takes me back to the Fifties, when Television took over the American Mind - and never gave it back.
This review is an example of online journalism at its best. We are now flooded with this - and have become the best informed (and the worst informed) people in history.
The Common Good
We're all in this together - or are we? For most people, the answer is clearly, No.
They know the correct answer is, Yes - and they may give that response. But anyone who watches their actions can easily see what they really believe. Grab what you can, and the devil take the hindmost!
People came to this conclusion, because they had been oversold on Capitalism and the Market. Instead of creating a Brave New World, they had created a moral Wasteland. And, what is worse, people who are not able to understand what had happened to them.
They can focus, on a narrow slice of time, and a small number of people - and can say, truthfully "Things aren't so bad!" But deep down, they know something is wrong. And they have reacted in ways reminiscent of the Fascist response, of the Thirties.
They know the correct answer is, Yes - and they may give that response. But anyone who watches their actions can easily see what they really believe. Grab what you can, and the devil take the hindmost!
People came to this conclusion, because they had been oversold on Capitalism and the Market. Instead of creating a Brave New World, they had created a moral Wasteland. And, what is worse, people who are not able to understand what had happened to them.
They can focus, on a narrow slice of time, and a small number of people - and can say, truthfully "Things aren't so bad!" But deep down, they know something is wrong. And they have reacted in ways reminiscent of the Fascist response, of the Thirties.
Wednesday, December 13, 2017
The Man from Red Vienna
New York Review
Here is the final paragraphs:
In sum, Polanyi got some details wrong, but he got the big picture right. Democracy cannot survive an excessively free market; and containing the market is the task of politics. To ignore that is to court fascism. Polanyi wrote that fascism solved the problem of the rampant market by destroying democracy. But unlike the fascists of the interwar period, today’s far-right leaders are not even bothering to contain market turbulence or to provide decent jobs through public works. Brexit, a spasm of anger by the dispossessed, will do nothing positive for the British working class; and Donald Trump’s program is a mash-up of nationalist rhetoric and even deeper government alliance with predatory capitalism.
Discontent may yet go elsewhere. Assuming democracy holds, there could be a counter-mobilization more in the spirit of Polanyi’s feasible socialism. The pessimistic Polanyi would say that capitalism has won and democracy has lost. The optimist in him would look to resurgent popular politics.
I have downloaded his The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time
Here is the final paragraphs:
In sum, Polanyi got some details wrong, but he got the big picture right. Democracy cannot survive an excessively free market; and containing the market is the task of politics. To ignore that is to court fascism. Polanyi wrote that fascism solved the problem of the rampant market by destroying democracy. But unlike the fascists of the interwar period, today’s far-right leaders are not even bothering to contain market turbulence or to provide decent jobs through public works. Brexit, a spasm of anger by the dispossessed, will do nothing positive for the British working class; and Donald Trump’s program is a mash-up of nationalist rhetoric and even deeper government alliance with predatory capitalism.
Discontent may yet go elsewhere. Assuming democracy holds, there could be a counter-mobilization more in the spirit of Polanyi’s feasible socialism. The pessimistic Polanyi would say that capitalism has won and democracy has lost. The optimist in him would look to resurgent popular politics.
I have downloaded his The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time
Information has been Improved so much, we are no longer interested in Information that has not been Improved On
This has always been a problem, we have to take our raw experience and process it, to make it meaningful. Every living being does this, and animals do it rapidly. Is this a threat? If so, react in a way that has protected us in the past. In this way, animals eat, or get eaten.
In humans, the fight or flight response is triggered, in milliseconds. The safest response is flight, and we could easily outrun our predators.
This worked fine, until the 19th Century, when we started killing each other with unbelievable efficiency. We had always had wars, for every reason imaginable - but our latest technologies (the Railroad and the Machine Gun) greatly increased their destructive potential.
And gave us WWI, the Depression, and WWII - with the Holocaust.
One of the problems here, was defective information - nations had badly distorted views about what was happening in the world, and how they should react to it.
Television made this situation worse - anyone watching his TV is informationally overloaded, they cannot possibly process this much information, this fast. Their responses to this, have been varied - they may become addicted to it - and watch TV for long hours every day. Or they may do whatever the advertisers want them to do (such as vote for the candidate with the most convincing commercial).
And then came the Computer, with its awesome ability to manipulate information - in the form of data.
Stanford University has produced a video about Computational Journalism - that lasted too long, for me. But the basic idea is simple - the Computer's Artificial Intelligence can outsmart our own intelligence - if we are not aware of this.
Which most of us are not.
In humans, the fight or flight response is triggered, in milliseconds. The safest response is flight, and we could easily outrun our predators.
This worked fine, until the 19th Century, when we started killing each other with unbelievable efficiency. We had always had wars, for every reason imaginable - but our latest technologies (the Railroad and the Machine Gun) greatly increased their destructive potential.
And gave us WWI, the Depression, and WWII - with the Holocaust.
One of the problems here, was defective information - nations had badly distorted views about what was happening in the world, and how they should react to it.
Television made this situation worse - anyone watching his TV is informationally overloaded, they cannot possibly process this much information, this fast. Their responses to this, have been varied - they may become addicted to it - and watch TV for long hours every day. Or they may do whatever the advertisers want them to do (such as vote for the candidate with the most convincing commercial).
And then came the Computer, with its awesome ability to manipulate information - in the form of data.
Stanford University has produced a video about Computational Journalism - that lasted too long, for me. But the basic idea is simple - the Computer's Artificial Intelligence can outsmart our own intelligence - if we are not aware of this.
Which most of us are not.
Tuesday, December 12, 2017
How the Computer is Winning
As I have said before, the Computer is winning - and People are losing. This posting is about how the Computer is winning.
It is winning because its software keeps getting better and better. As its developers get better at understanding, and describing to each other - what they are doing.
It's not hard to listen to what they are saying to each other. You just subscribe to O'Reilly's Safari Service, where for $40 a month, you can hear them talking to each other, and sharing their discoveries with each other.
Right now, I am reading Cloud Native Java - and getting so much good information, I can hardly handle it. These guys and gals are not only getting better - they are getting faster!
They now have a new culture, that I can hardly understand - but I know for sure, it exists.
It is winning because its software keeps getting better and better. As its developers get better at understanding, and describing to each other - what they are doing.
It's not hard to listen to what they are saying to each other. You just subscribe to O'Reilly's Safari Service, where for $40 a month, you can hear them talking to each other, and sharing their discoveries with each other.
Right now, I am reading Cloud Native Java - and getting so much good information, I can hardly handle it. These guys and gals are not only getting better - they are getting faster!
They now have a new culture, that I can hardly understand - but I know for sure, it exists.
Man as Human, and Man as Machine
I have no trouble at all describing Man as Machine - I am surrounded by machines, and they are getting better all the time.
But the Human side of Man is not doing well at all. In fact, I am tempted to say, He is Finished.
What a thing to say! But it has to be said.
And in fact, this was the basic Christian message - the human side of God has been killed, and gone to Heaven, where he will be treated properly. And the early Christians could not wait to join him there.
This resulted in the Fall of the Roman Empire. That lasted for a thousand years.
It was gradually replaced by the Modern World, that gradually became obsessed with the Machine. This made them wealthy - but not interested in People.
This has resulted in the End of Democracy - that was composed, after all, by People. Not by their machines. If People cannot get along with each other - they are finished.
And this seems to be the case.
But the Human side of Man is not doing well at all. In fact, I am tempted to say, He is Finished.
What a thing to say! But it has to be said.
And in fact, this was the basic Christian message - the human side of God has been killed, and gone to Heaven, where he will be treated properly. And the early Christians could not wait to join him there.
This resulted in the Fall of the Roman Empire. That lasted for a thousand years.
It was gradually replaced by the Modern World, that gradually became obsessed with the Machine. This made them wealthy - but not interested in People.
This has resulted in the End of Democracy - that was composed, after all, by People. Not by their machines. If People cannot get along with each other - they are finished.
And this seems to be the case.
Monday, December 11, 2017
Sensible Development
This idea has been phrased in many ways - but I want to emphasize the contrast between sanity and insanity.
When I was working in Silicon Valley, back in the Nineties - it was definitely insane. But there was so much money there, no one could resist it. People (like me) flocked in from everywhere to get all those jobs - and get away from areas that had none.
We did not know we were part of a bubble that was going to burst. We just knew that, for the time being, a boom was on, and we were going to cash in on it. No one asked "Does all this make any sense?"
This was the right question, but no one was asking it. And it still remains the right question.
In the Valley, I was part of a men's group, led by a psychologist, and everyone in the group had the same problem - how to cope with all the craziness that was going on. But none of us (including our leader) could formulate this question. For the simplest of reasons - we were not supposed to.
Our leader had a business helping companies solving the psychological problems that were rampant in the Valley. He was making money off of them. And didn't want a permanent solution to them.
All we have to ask, in situations like these (no matter how widespread they are) "Is this crazy?" All we have to do, is consult our gut feelings - no thinking has to be done. If they are telling us "This is crazy!" Get out of there.
I realize this advice. is not advice most people can follow. They cannot trust their feelings, they cannot judge their situation, and they cannot get out. They only know what they are supposed to do - and they do that. Whether it is good for them, or not.
When I was working in Silicon Valley, back in the Nineties - it was definitely insane. But there was so much money there, no one could resist it. People (like me) flocked in from everywhere to get all those jobs - and get away from areas that had none.
We did not know we were part of a bubble that was going to burst. We just knew that, for the time being, a boom was on, and we were going to cash in on it. No one asked "Does all this make any sense?"
This was the right question, but no one was asking it. And it still remains the right question.
In the Valley, I was part of a men's group, led by a psychologist, and everyone in the group had the same problem - how to cope with all the craziness that was going on. But none of us (including our leader) could formulate this question. For the simplest of reasons - we were not supposed to.
Our leader had a business helping companies solving the psychological problems that were rampant in the Valley. He was making money off of them. And didn't want a permanent solution to them.
All we have to ask, in situations like these (no matter how widespread they are) "Is this crazy?" All we have to do, is consult our gut feelings - no thinking has to be done. If they are telling us "This is crazy!" Get out of there.
I realize this advice. is not advice most people can follow. They cannot trust their feelings, they cannot judge their situation, and they cannot get out. They only know what they are supposed to do - and they do that. Whether it is good for them, or not.
Sunday, December 10, 2017
Networking
People have always done this, since we are intensely social beings - but not until the Computer appeared (like yesterday) did it became a indispensable part of the American vocabulary. If you are not networking (and networking aggressively) you might as well be dead!
I still do it, even though I am 80, live in Costa Rica, and will never work again. I no longer have a sex life, but my affairs on the Internet, are almost as satisfying.
For example, I am learning Cloud Native Java. Java is a programming language that swept through the software world in the Nineties, like a wildfire! It was invented by Sun Microsystems, who wanted to kick Microsoft off its throne. But didn't get the job done. It was done in, instead. The infighting in the computer world, boys and girls - can be lethal!
Sun was sold to Oracle, who did not do very good job of taking care of Java. It didn't do a bad job, but its heart was not in it. To keep ahead in the Software world - you gotta be committed to the job!
Such people did show up (bugle calls here!) and invented powerful new tools and services to save Java from its grave.
Java is back kicking ass again.
I still do it, even though I am 80, live in Costa Rica, and will never work again. I no longer have a sex life, but my affairs on the Internet, are almost as satisfying.
For example, I am learning Cloud Native Java. Java is a programming language that swept through the software world in the Nineties, like a wildfire! It was invented by Sun Microsystems, who wanted to kick Microsoft off its throne. But didn't get the job done. It was done in, instead. The infighting in the computer world, boys and girls - can be lethal!
Sun was sold to Oracle, who did not do very good job of taking care of Java. It didn't do a bad job, but its heart was not in it. To keep ahead in the Software world - you gotta be committed to the job!
Such people did show up (bugle calls here!) and invented powerful new tools and services to save Java from its grave.
Java is back kicking ass again.
The Shock of the New
Humans have always been an adaptable race - but we had always made these adaptations slowly, taking our time about them. We knew we were complicated beings, especially socially - and making these complicated adjustments had to be done carefully.
The correct procedure, was to make a small change, and then observe what the effects of this were, before making any more. This way, big, but stable, changes could be made - over time.
Over thousands of years, we showed up everywhere - making small, but important changes, as we went along.
It was important that we were aware of these adjustments - which was not hard, if we only had to work with a hundred people, or so - the size of the average tribe.
But we were not satisfied with this, and had to have more - more power, especially. And that meant more people - and sure enough, larger groups, with more people in them showed up.
In fact, a lot of things showed up - and we became civilized, with all its advantages, and disadvantages, of this amazing development.
We were off to the races, the Human Race. We didn't know where we were going - but we were going there fast.
The correct procedure, was to make a small change, and then observe what the effects of this were, before making any more. This way, big, but stable, changes could be made - over time.
Over thousands of years, we showed up everywhere - making small, but important changes, as we went along.
It was important that we were aware of these adjustments - which was not hard, if we only had to work with a hundred people, or so - the size of the average tribe.
But we were not satisfied with this, and had to have more - more power, especially. And that meant more people - and sure enough, larger groups, with more people in them showed up.
In fact, a lot of things showed up - and we became civilized, with all its advantages, and disadvantages, of this amazing development.
We were off to the races, the Human Race. We didn't know where we were going - but we were going there fast.
Saturday, December 9, 2017
The Aeneid
Amazon
The appeal of this great work, is that it shows how terrible, and impossible human life is.
The appeal of this great work, is that it shows how terrible, and impossible human life is.
Terrible things are visited on us, by the gods themselves. Who are also subject to destructive rage.
They pity us, but there is little they can do to help us.
I will end with one quote from the end of this book review:
Love
Is not of our blood and he is not of our kind.
I will end with one quote from the end of this book review:
Love
Is not of our blood and he is not of our kind.
Company Craziness
In the Eighties and Nineties I worked for a number of companies - and they were all crazy. Or perhaps I should say, they were self-destructive. It's much the same thing.
And people liked them this way, and would have them no other way. Huge amounts of money were wasted this way - much to everyone's satisfaction.
You have probably noticed by now, that I am crazy myself - and I am, no question about it. But my craziness gives me some insights that not many other people have.
Our contemporary culture, whatever you want to call it - is crazy on a global scale. And everyone is ignoring this - as if their lives depended on it, which indeed they do.
If anyone revolts against an authoritarian regime - they get squashed, like a bug in a windshield. They become unemployable - a fate worse than death.
The basic Christian symbol is - Jesus suffering on the Cross. An image that everyone can recognize. And it became the symbol of the untold multitudes suffering under Roman Rule. That brought the Roman Empire down.
Pause to think about that - a religion brought down an empire! And this fall lasted for a thousand years.
We are going through another Fall, right now. And everyone is saying "Nothing bad is going on!"
I am saying something bad is going on - but if you pressed me, to say more about this - I could not, any more than you can.
And people liked them this way, and would have them no other way. Huge amounts of money were wasted this way - much to everyone's satisfaction.
You have probably noticed by now, that I am crazy myself - and I am, no question about it. But my craziness gives me some insights that not many other people have.
Our contemporary culture, whatever you want to call it - is crazy on a global scale. And everyone is ignoring this - as if their lives depended on it, which indeed they do.
If anyone revolts against an authoritarian regime - they get squashed, like a bug in a windshield. They become unemployable - a fate worse than death.
The basic Christian symbol is - Jesus suffering on the Cross. An image that everyone can recognize. And it became the symbol of the untold multitudes suffering under Roman Rule. That brought the Roman Empire down.
Pause to think about that - a religion brought down an empire! And this fall lasted for a thousand years.
We are going through another Fall, right now. And everyone is saying "Nothing bad is going on!"
I am saying something bad is going on - but if you pressed me, to say more about this - I could not, any more than you can.
Friday, December 8, 2017
Imperative Programming
All Programming was originally imperative - a series of orders to the computer: do this, do this, and then do this - in extreme detail, in a machine language the computer could understand. But most people could not understand at all.
The main drawback here, was not that People could not understand it - but that it was a huge amount of work for the Programmer. A higher level of programming language was needed - where the Programmer could work with abstractions (such as variables) and a compiler would translate this into a lower-level machine language.
The most successful of these higher-level languages was C - and I was an expert at this, back in the Eighties. It wasn't too hard to learn, and could do nearly everything for the Computer - but almost nothing for the User.
Gradually, over the next twenty years - a User Interface was developed (such as Microsoft's Windows) so that people with only a minimal understanding of the Computer, could use it easily. They could use a mouse to point and click on buttons, and get things done. This turned the User into a higher-level being - something they did not mind at all.
The Java programming language appeared in the Nineties - and was a huge success. It could work with the Internet easily. and it could be used on any computer! You could write your program once, and run it anywhere. This is now used on most cars.
But it still consisted of a number of commands. And these commands could get in each other's way - and produce some very nasty bugs!
The solution here is Functional Programming, that I am now learning (F#, in fact). You tell the computer what to do - but not how to do it. It will then do what you want - and take care of the details itself.
Believe it or not - it works!
The main drawback here, was not that People could not understand it - but that it was a huge amount of work for the Programmer. A higher level of programming language was needed - where the Programmer could work with abstractions (such as variables) and a compiler would translate this into a lower-level machine language.
The most successful of these higher-level languages was C - and I was an expert at this, back in the Eighties. It wasn't too hard to learn, and could do nearly everything for the Computer - but almost nothing for the User.
Gradually, over the next twenty years - a User Interface was developed (such as Microsoft's Windows) so that people with only a minimal understanding of the Computer, could use it easily. They could use a mouse to point and click on buttons, and get things done. This turned the User into a higher-level being - something they did not mind at all.
The Java programming language appeared in the Nineties - and was a huge success. It could work with the Internet easily. and it could be used on any computer! You could write your program once, and run it anywhere. This is now used on most cars.
But it still consisted of a number of commands. And these commands could get in each other's way - and produce some very nasty bugs!
The solution here is Functional Programming, that I am now learning (F#, in fact). You tell the computer what to do - but not how to do it. It will then do what you want - and take care of the details itself.
Believe it or not - it works!
How to build effective engineering teams under pressure
O'Reilly Media
Psychological safety combined with clarity, give you the highest chances of forming a high-performing team.
Check Julia Grace's bio at the bottom of this page.
And watch her video also. Great information is now available for free!
Psychological safety combined with clarity, give you the highest chances of forming a high-performing team.
Check Julia Grace's bio at the bottom of this page.
And watch her video also. Great information is now available for free!
The Right Kind of People are Above That Kind of Thing
This has always been true of the upper classes - whose higher status demanded that they be interested in higher things.
In America, the middle classes became obsessed with imitating everything about the upper classes. And plenty of books explained how to do this - even how to walk, and have the proper upper-class carriage. What clothes to wear, and what food to eat. How to climb the social ladder.
This was an important function of the Movies, whose Stars proved that instant success was possible.
It went without saying, that lots of money was necessary also - and one should not be too scrupulous about how one acquired this.
This obsession to imitate gradually faded as the middle classes acquired financial security - good, permanent jobs. And fine homes in the suburbs, and new cars. They acquired middle-class respectability - and that was good enough for them.
But part of this respectability was a new attitude toward how things worked - they did not want to know about that. They had acquired their wealth by accident, and they did not want to know how this accident occurred. They assumed they were rewarded with this wealth, because of their innate goodness. Which was not true, at all.
The stage was set for the Fall of America - Americans were incompetent about nearly everything, and could not maintain their Great Society.
To make things work, you had to know how they worked,
In America, the middle classes became obsessed with imitating everything about the upper classes. And plenty of books explained how to do this - even how to walk, and have the proper upper-class carriage. What clothes to wear, and what food to eat. How to climb the social ladder.
This was an important function of the Movies, whose Stars proved that instant success was possible.
It went without saying, that lots of money was necessary also - and one should not be too scrupulous about how one acquired this.
This obsession to imitate gradually faded as the middle classes acquired financial security - good, permanent jobs. And fine homes in the suburbs, and new cars. They acquired middle-class respectability - and that was good enough for them.
But part of this respectability was a new attitude toward how things worked - they did not want to know about that. They had acquired their wealth by accident, and they did not want to know how this accident occurred. They assumed they were rewarded with this wealth, because of their innate goodness. Which was not true, at all.
The stage was set for the Fall of America - Americans were incompetent about nearly everything, and could not maintain their Great Society.
To make things work, you had to know how they worked,
Thursday, December 7, 2017
The No-Nonsense guide to getting started in Web Development
hackernoon
This is for parents who want their children to get into Computers, and make some of that nice computer money.
It's also a commercial for freeCodeCamp.
He (or She) will need a laptop with a fast Internet connection.
This is for parents who want their children to get into Computers, and make some of that nice computer money.
It's also a commercial for freeCodeCamp.
He (or She) will need a laptop with a fast Internet connection.
I did not Want to be an Engineer
It is finally time for me to confess this, now that I am 80 - and have had plenty of time to review my working life, from 1960 to 2000.
I grew up in my Father's home town of Ft. Madison, Iowa. An Industrial town with the Santa Fe Railroad on the West End of town - the Sheaffer Pen Company on the East End.
Ed McKiernan, a personal friend of my Father, was an Engineer, who had graduated from the U of Iowa, and worked for Sheaffer Pen. Where he was treated badly - even though he was responsible for many of its successful innovations. I took note of this, and decided I was not interested in Engineering. More abuse I did not need.
However, in High School, I was urged to become an Engineer - because the pay was so good! And in 1959, I graduated from the U of Illinois, as an Electronic Engineer. This was at the height of the Cold War - and I made a lot of money on exotic Radars, that would protect America from Soviet Bombers.
I did no Engineering work, and was not expected to. I just held Engineering positions in the Military-Industrial Complex. There was immense amounts of money there - and I got some of it.
I grew up in my Father's home town of Ft. Madison, Iowa. An Industrial town with the Santa Fe Railroad on the West End of town - the Sheaffer Pen Company on the East End.
Ed McKiernan, a personal friend of my Father, was an Engineer, who had graduated from the U of Iowa, and worked for Sheaffer Pen. Where he was treated badly - even though he was responsible for many of its successful innovations. I took note of this, and decided I was not interested in Engineering. More abuse I did not need.
However, in High School, I was urged to become an Engineer - because the pay was so good! And in 1959, I graduated from the U of Illinois, as an Electronic Engineer. This was at the height of the Cold War - and I made a lot of money on exotic Radars, that would protect America from Soviet Bombers.
I did no Engineering work, and was not expected to. I just held Engineering positions in the Military-Industrial Complex. There was immense amounts of money there - and I got some of it.
Dissatisfied with Ourselves
More and more, I am convinced that our problems began with the Industrial Revolution - when we became obsessed with our Machinery - with our Railroads and our Factories. And with the Organizations behind them.
There was nothing wrong with that - except that it made us seem inferior, by comparison. This change in our attitude toward ourselves was very important - but completely unnoticed. There must of been a demand (by those who profited from this) that people not see this. They had become very wealthy from this situation - and they wanted their wealth to continue.
This gross inequality was noticed, and there many reactions to it. But in all this activity, something more fundamental was overlooked - we had forgotten ourselves. And nothing on earth would make us put ourselves back in control.
We knew one thing, and we knew it very well - something else was more important than we were. And we existed to serve it.
This impulse has existed for a long time. We are social creatures, and we are religious creatures - and this combination is much of what we are.
There was a huge change however, that that began with the Reformation. Protestants did not not want The Church telling them how things were. They could see this, easily enough, on their own - with the assistance of Science.
The world became divided into the Protestant North and the Catholic South. With the North having most of the wealth.
This wealth convinced them their priorities were right - the Organization (the Nation, or the Company) was most important, and the People were less important.
The net result of all this however, in the middle of the 20th Century, was unexpected - people, since they were not wanted, ceased to exist! Before, they had worked hard, to make things work. Now they were not going to work. They would pretend to work - and collect a paycheck, but not much else.
There was nothing wrong with that - except that it made us seem inferior, by comparison. This change in our attitude toward ourselves was very important - but completely unnoticed. There must of been a demand (by those who profited from this) that people not see this. They had become very wealthy from this situation - and they wanted their wealth to continue.
This gross inequality was noticed, and there many reactions to it. But in all this activity, something more fundamental was overlooked - we had forgotten ourselves. And nothing on earth would make us put ourselves back in control.
We knew one thing, and we knew it very well - something else was more important than we were. And we existed to serve it.
This impulse has existed for a long time. We are social creatures, and we are religious creatures - and this combination is much of what we are.
There was a huge change however, that that began with the Reformation. Protestants did not not want The Church telling them how things were. They could see this, easily enough, on their own - with the assistance of Science.
The world became divided into the Protestant North and the Catholic South. With the North having most of the wealth.
This wealth convinced them their priorities were right - the Organization (the Nation, or the Company) was most important, and the People were less important.
The net result of all this however, in the middle of the 20th Century, was unexpected - people, since they were not wanted, ceased to exist! Before, they had worked hard, to make things work. Now they were not going to work. They would pretend to work - and collect a paycheck, but not much else.
Wednesday, December 6, 2017
Success Academy’s Radical Educational Experiment
New Yorker
When I went to the University of Illinois, in the late Fifties, attending the Education College there was considered a complete waste of time. And this fit in with my time in High School - I hated the experience, and the teachers. And they hated me.
This article is about educational experiments in New York City. An exotic world as far removed from the MidWest I was raised in, as it was possible to get.
It is also a primer on the two educational philosophies in American education - traditionalism and progressivism.
Every American parent ought to read it.
When I went to the University of Illinois, in the late Fifties, attending the Education College there was considered a complete waste of time. And this fit in with my time in High School - I hated the experience, and the teachers. And they hated me.
This article is about educational experiments in New York City. An exotic world as far removed from the MidWest I was raised in, as it was possible to get.
It is also a primer on the two educational philosophies in American education - traditionalism and progressivism.
Every American parent ought to read it.
Most People
I am hardly the world's most intelligent person - but my feeble intelligence can detect a basic fact about the world, that most prefer to ignore: that most people are not very impressive creatures - and have no idea what is going on in their world. And since they are the vast majority (perhaps 99 percent of the population) this means the world is in bad shape. And is close to a total collapse.
They are soaking up the world's resources, and providing little in return. And this, they think - is very clever of them. Thinking is hard work, and they don't want to do any of it.
Consider one of my allegations - that the world is close to a total collapse. Close to an economic collapse, that is. This is shown by the Financial Crisis of 2008 - that we have never fully recovered from. Some clever people saw how they could raid the world's economy - and get away with it. Every time the Economy recovers, and makes some money - they grab this for themselves.
It doesn't take a genius to see where this is leading to. Some abuse of power always happens - but when too much happens, bad things happen.
The trick is telling when too much happens. We have no way of predicting this - and can only detect when too much has been taken, after the fact - when a collapse has already happened.
We were lucky the last time, in 2008 - only a partial collapse happened, and this pattern may continue. But a partial collapse, that continues - is not good news.
They are soaking up the world's resources, and providing little in return. And this, they think - is very clever of them. Thinking is hard work, and they don't want to do any of it.
Consider one of my allegations - that the world is close to a total collapse. Close to an economic collapse, that is. This is shown by the Financial Crisis of 2008 - that we have never fully recovered from. Some clever people saw how they could raid the world's economy - and get away with it. Every time the Economy recovers, and makes some money - they grab this for themselves.
It doesn't take a genius to see where this is leading to. Some abuse of power always happens - but when too much happens, bad things happen.
The trick is telling when too much happens. We have no way of predicting this - and can only detect when too much has been taken, after the fact - when a collapse has already happened.
We were lucky the last time, in 2008 - only a partial collapse happened, and this pattern may continue. But a partial collapse, that continues - is not good news.
Tuesday, December 5, 2017
People can Use the Computer, but They Cannot Understand It
This is hardly surprising. We learned how to use machines, almost as soon as they were invented. We did not learn how they worked - and were not encouraged to. This was how the Industrial World worked - but it did not work very well, and produced a series of World Wars, terminating in the Holocaust.
I have been to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC. And like everyone else, knew something had gone wrong - but did not know what that something was. We did not understand the effect of all these machines on the people who used them. And, in fact, were determined to not understand this effect. Why? I have no idea - but I am certain that we were determined to not know.
Then a new machine was invented - the Computer. That did not produce more World Wars - but produced effects even worse - we started destroying everything, including ourselves.
Why? Here again, I do not know - but this destructiveness is so common and so widespread it takes a superhuman effort to overlook them - but a superhuman effort has been made.
I have been to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC. And like everyone else, knew something had gone wrong - but did not know what that something was. We did not understand the effect of all these machines on the people who used them. And, in fact, were determined to not understand this effect. Why? I have no idea - but I am certain that we were determined to not know.
Then a new machine was invented - the Computer. That did not produce more World Wars - but produced effects even worse - we started destroying everything, including ourselves.
Why? Here again, I do not know - but this destructiveness is so common and so widespread it takes a superhuman effort to overlook them - but a superhuman effort has been made.
Microsoft and Me
The most important thing a learner of software has to decide is - who to get in bed with?
The Microsoft of a few years ago, was a company no one wanted to get in bed with. And it was smart enough to realize this, and change its ways.
A year ago, it kicked me out of its cloud, and IBM did the same thing. Last month, it changed its mind, and allowed me back in again. And I have been happily looking at what it has there. Some pretty impressive stuff!
It has F#, something that really impresses me - and tons of courses to help you learn it. And Visual Studio, the best IDE there is. It says it has integrated this with its Azure cloud - but I haven't tested that yet. If so, it is ahead of everyone else - including AWS.
The Microsoft of a few years ago, was a company no one wanted to get in bed with. And it was smart enough to realize this, and change its ways.
A year ago, it kicked me out of its cloud, and IBM did the same thing. Last month, it changed its mind, and allowed me back in again. And I have been happily looking at what it has there. Some pretty impressive stuff!
It has F#, something that really impresses me - and tons of courses to help you learn it. And Visual Studio, the best IDE there is. It says it has integrated this with its Azure cloud - but I haven't tested that yet. If so, it is ahead of everyone else - including AWS.
The Emerging Future
This is a hot new idea, that a lot of people believe in. And I can summarize it easily "The future can be discovered, right now - in the present!"
This is the gift of prophecy - that has been with us for a very long time, perhaps forever.
It has been given a new lease on life with the latest developments in Software - collectively referred to as Artificial Intelligence. This can discover new relationships in the Data fed to it, that were not known before. And make money for the companies who discover these new relationships.
This has been facilitated by digging a shorter cable between Wall Street, in New York - and the Chicago Board of Trade - giving the financial companies who own this cable, and the computers they own also - a few milliseconds to anticipate the future of these markets.
They are on the leading edge of the Emerging Future. But a better way of anticipating the future - is to participate in the making of it.
Such as that done by Wikipedia - or the Open Source movement in Software. Here the smart people are helping each other make the future - and, as a side effect, make money (and a lot of money) off of this.
This is the gift of prophecy - that has been with us for a very long time, perhaps forever.
It has been given a new lease on life with the latest developments in Software - collectively referred to as Artificial Intelligence. This can discover new relationships in the Data fed to it, that were not known before. And make money for the companies who discover these new relationships.
This has been facilitated by digging a shorter cable between Wall Street, in New York - and the Chicago Board of Trade - giving the financial companies who own this cable, and the computers they own also - a few milliseconds to anticipate the future of these markets.
They are on the leading edge of the Emerging Future. But a better way of anticipating the future - is to participate in the making of it.
Such as that done by Wikipedia - or the Open Source movement in Software. Here the smart people are helping each other make the future - and, as a side effect, make money (and a lot of money) off of this.
Good Things and Bad People
This problem has been stated in many ways, by better people than me. In the book The Mind and the Market: Capitalism in Western Thought for example.
I started thinking about this when I was making my morning coffee, in my espresso machine - a marvelous machine that cost me little, as did the coffee I put in it. Two hundred years ago, all this would have been impossible.
We have come a long way - but this has not made us better, as people. In fact, it has made us worse.
And the reason for this are not hard to see - we have made our things, more important than we are. We have made a world that is good for them - but bad for us. And, as a result, we have decided to destroy this world that is bad for us!
This decision was made early in our childhood - perhaps before we were born. And was entirely unconscious - which makes easy for us to deny it.
We can say, with perfect honesty "I am not that way!" We can see plenty of bad things going on - and be certain they are not caused by us.
This is frustrating for those who want to make a better world - because most of the people in the present world, do not want to do this! And resist, vigorously, any attempts to make them see this.
They have a soul, that is incorruptible - that they can always rely on.
I started thinking about this when I was making my morning coffee, in my espresso machine - a marvelous machine that cost me little, as did the coffee I put in it. Two hundred years ago, all this would have been impossible.
We have come a long way - but this has not made us better, as people. In fact, it has made us worse.
And the reason for this are not hard to see - we have made our things, more important than we are. We have made a world that is good for them - but bad for us. And, as a result, we have decided to destroy this world that is bad for us!
This decision was made early in our childhood - perhaps before we were born. And was entirely unconscious - which makes easy for us to deny it.
We can say, with perfect honesty "I am not that way!" We can see plenty of bad things going on - and be certain they are not caused by us.
This is frustrating for those who want to make a better world - because most of the people in the present world, do not want to do this! And resist, vigorously, any attempts to make them see this.
They have a soul, that is incorruptible - that they can always rely on.
Monday, December 4, 2017
Introduction to Sociology
WikiBooks
I am taking a MOOC about Sociology - and this is one of the links it provides.
Take a quick look at the opening paragraph - about a sociologist doing his best to avoid detection in heavy metal bar. As a writer, I have to admire his style.
I am taking a MOOC about Sociology - and this is one of the links it provides.
Take a quick look at the opening paragraph - about a sociologist doing his best to avoid detection in heavy metal bar. As a writer, I have to admire his style.
Want a Good Job? Learn Software.
I knew this back in 1980, when my career as an Electronic Engineer was ended by the replacement of Vacuum Tubes with Solid State technology - and I could see the future was in Computers.
This meant I would have to go back to college and get a new degree, of some kind - what kind, I was not sure. As a result, I did nothing, but lived off my savings.
When they ran out, I became a technical writer, because I had a technical background, and I could write. The pay was good, but the work was frustrating, because every company I worked for - soon went out of business. The computer industry was just beginning, and didn't have its act together yet.
Now, thirty years later, it is getting its act together - and the advances in Software Development are astonishing. And there are many online courses that will teach you these skills - for free.
But all the young people I know - are not interested. Learning (of any kind) sounds like work to them - and they only want to play.
What will happen is familiar enough - one percent will get ahead, and the rest will go nowhere. They will not die, as they used to, in large numbers - but they will not be happy with their lives either. In a word - they will be depressed.
This meant I would have to go back to college and get a new degree, of some kind - what kind, I was not sure. As a result, I did nothing, but lived off my savings.
When they ran out, I became a technical writer, because I had a technical background, and I could write. The pay was good, but the work was frustrating, because every company I worked for - soon went out of business. The computer industry was just beginning, and didn't have its act together yet.
Now, thirty years later, it is getting its act together - and the advances in Software Development are astonishing. And there are many online courses that will teach you these skills - for free.
But all the young people I know - are not interested. Learning (of any kind) sounds like work to them - and they only want to play.
What will happen is familiar enough - one percent will get ahead, and the rest will go nowhere. They will not die, as they used to, in large numbers - but they will not be happy with their lives either. In a word - they will be depressed.
Sunday, December 3, 2017
Lack of Ambition in Young Americans
The Americans I am referring to here, were born after the boom economy that followed WWII ended in the Sixties and Seventies. In the Fifties, it was easy to go to college, and get a career. And most young people did just that.
The young people I am speaking of here are now in their Thirties, and are getting along to use their own terminology - surviving on a minimal income, a minimal education, and no career prospects. And to use my terminology - no ambition.
We are tempted to blame someone for this (perhaps their parents) but it is best to consider this a system defect, or a functional problem. Everyone is responsible for it - and no one can escape this responsibility.
The young people I am speaking of here are now in their Thirties, and are getting along to use their own terminology - surviving on a minimal income, a minimal education, and no career prospects. And to use my terminology - no ambition.
We are tempted to blame someone for this (perhaps their parents) but it is best to consider this a system defect, or a functional problem. Everyone is responsible for it - and no one can escape this responsibility.
Americans do not Want to Make a Better America
They disagree, of course. But I arrived at this conclusion after watching how they behaved, not how they said they behaved.
People are perfectly capable of deceiving themselves - and always have been. But this tendency became more prominent with Industrialization - a huge change we have never understood very well. Its results were the Industrial wars - the American Civil War, WWI, the Depression, and WWII, with its Holocaust. Clearly, something had gone wrong.
One thing that went wrong, was how people were overwhelmed by external forces. The result, they felt - was that they became a stronger people. Not a better people, but a stronger people. And a richer people.
What did these forces amount to, in concrete terms? Railroads and Factories.
My hometown of Ft. Madison, Iowa, was an example. The West End of town was dominated by the Santa Fe Railroad - the East End by the Sheaffer Pen Company. It is now part of the Rust Belt, that covers much of Midwestern America.
Americans, back in the 19th Century - did not try to build a better America. They built a stronger America instead. There was a minority (the Progressives) who did want a better America, especially for its farmers - but their voices were lost.
What I have described here, was an extremely condensed history of America, up to the Fifties. After that, two new forces appeared - TV and the Computer. That affected America - but the rest of the world also.
People are perfectly capable of deceiving themselves - and always have been. But this tendency became more prominent with Industrialization - a huge change we have never understood very well. Its results were the Industrial wars - the American Civil War, WWI, the Depression, and WWII, with its Holocaust. Clearly, something had gone wrong.
One thing that went wrong, was how people were overwhelmed by external forces. The result, they felt - was that they became a stronger people. Not a better people, but a stronger people. And a richer people.
What did these forces amount to, in concrete terms? Railroads and Factories.
My hometown of Ft. Madison, Iowa, was an example. The West End of town was dominated by the Santa Fe Railroad - the East End by the Sheaffer Pen Company. It is now part of the Rust Belt, that covers much of Midwestern America.
Americans, back in the 19th Century - did not try to build a better America. They built a stronger America instead. There was a minority (the Progressives) who did want a better America, especially for its farmers - but their voices were lost.
What I have described here, was an extremely condensed history of America, up to the Fifties. After that, two new forces appeared - TV and the Computer. That affected America - but the rest of the world also.
Saturday, December 2, 2017
A hacker stole $31M of Ether — how it happened, and what it means for Ethereum
freeCodeCamp
This is not an easy read. You have to wrap your mind around some strange new stuff.
But this strange new stuff, is going to be part of our financial future - that is going to be software-driven.
And it is going to be part of a system-oriented future - where systems and teams do everything together.
The Individual Inventor is part of the past.
This is not an easy read. You have to wrap your mind around some strange new stuff.
But this strange new stuff, is going to be part of our financial future - that is going to be software-driven.
And it is going to be part of a system-oriented future - where systems and teams do everything together.
The Individual Inventor is part of the past.
People are Data
Television turned people into Consumers - and the Computer has turned them into Data.
We have become used to the first transformation, and it now seems natural. But the second one, the transformation into Data - has happened under the hood with few becoming aware of it. The first was alarming, but the second is even more alarming.
This where some knowledge of the latest trends in software development become valuable. Trends that most people are not aware of.
These trends are often lumped together, and referred to as Artificial Intelligence (AI) or as Machine Learning (ML) or as Big Data. Whatever they are called, they are One Big Thing. And they all treat people as Data, and put them in Databases. And then analyze this Data, in order to make it useful (to make it profitable). People are used to make money - but in a new way.
The people who know how to do this, are as rich as the Robber Barons of a century ago. As the rest of the population struggles to survive.
We have become used to the first transformation, and it now seems natural. But the second one, the transformation into Data - has happened under the hood with few becoming aware of it. The first was alarming, but the second is even more alarming.
This where some knowledge of the latest trends in software development become valuable. Trends that most people are not aware of.
These trends are often lumped together, and referred to as Artificial Intelligence (AI) or as Machine Learning (ML) or as Big Data. Whatever they are called, they are One Big Thing. And they all treat people as Data, and put them in Databases. And then analyze this Data, in order to make it useful (to make it profitable). People are used to make money - but in a new way.
The people who know how to do this, are as rich as the Robber Barons of a century ago. As the rest of the population struggles to survive.
Technology and People Cannot be Separated
Perhaps they could have been, at one time - but not now! Let me explain.
The Industrial Revolution changed who we were - and very quickly. In only a few centuries we became machine people - strange beings that had never existed before. And the most amazing thing about these beings, was that they were not aware of how much they had changed, and what they had changed into.
What they were, as people - was separate from what they were, as machines. They felt comfortable with this separation - and, indeed, insisted on it. They were not their machines, and didn't want to be!
This clever decision (it seemed to them) was the worst one they could have made. And was one of the causes of a series of disasters - WWI, the Depression, and WWII - with its Holocaust.
Perhaps we could have recovered from this, but we were hit by new technologies - TV, and then the Computer. We became a different kind of people again, but (once again) - were not aware of this!
Just this morning, I was watching a video explaining how a new software company (Slack) was making a better world. What it did not say was this better world only consisted of Software Developers - whose world has improved dramatically - and made them rich, in the process.
The separation between software people and ordinary people - is as extreme as it can be. And has produced another crisis we do not have a name for yet - where most people resent the latest developments (even though they have no idea what they are) and are reacting to them, in some very strange ways.
Such as the election of Trump.
The Industrial Revolution changed who we were - and very quickly. In only a few centuries we became machine people - strange beings that had never existed before. And the most amazing thing about these beings, was that they were not aware of how much they had changed, and what they had changed into.
What they were, as people - was separate from what they were, as machines. They felt comfortable with this separation - and, indeed, insisted on it. They were not their machines, and didn't want to be!
This clever decision (it seemed to them) was the worst one they could have made. And was one of the causes of a series of disasters - WWI, the Depression, and WWII - with its Holocaust.
Perhaps we could have recovered from this, but we were hit by new technologies - TV, and then the Computer. We became a different kind of people again, but (once again) - were not aware of this!
Just this morning, I was watching a video explaining how a new software company (Slack) was making a better world. What it did not say was this better world only consisted of Software Developers - whose world has improved dramatically - and made them rich, in the process.
The separation between software people and ordinary people - is as extreme as it can be. And has produced another crisis we do not have a name for yet - where most people resent the latest developments (even though they have no idea what they are) and are reacting to them, in some very strange ways.
Such as the election of Trump.
Friday, December 1, 2017
Democracy is Too Much Work
I am reading Democracy in America?: What Has Gone Wrong and What We Can Do About It
This does a good job of describing the problems with democracy - the same problems that have existed for thousands of years - plus the problem with financing elections, that we acquired with Television.
It does not say much about the difference between what people say they are going to do - and what they actually do. Or between their conscious mind and their unconscious mind - two different minds, that do not communicate very well.
This does a good job of describing the problems with democracy - the same problems that have existed for thousands of years - plus the problem with financing elections, that we acquired with Television.
It does not say much about the difference between what people say they are going to do - and what they actually do. Or between their conscious mind and their unconscious mind - two different minds, that do not communicate very well.
Sweet Revenge
This is what most Americans are up to. Getting even for all the bad things that have been done to them.
What bad things? You may ask "They are the richest people in history!"
True, but they had to pay a high price for those riches - they had to lose themselves. And that is the ultimate loss. They had to make other values more important than their human values.
Right here is where I lose everyone. No one wants to think about values. They stopped thinking about them long ago, and they don't want to go back that time - it's too painful. They say "No, No, No!" - as loudly as they can.
What happened to them? This question has to be answered at a personal level, and a collective level.
On the personal level, this conflict is buried so deep in their personalities, accessing it is nearly impossible. Getting close to it, triggers off a personal crisis of massive proportions - and may result in a suicide.
I saw this happen to my wife, of five years, in the Sixties. She got her problems from her mother - as many of us have. But they were magnified internally, until they were much worse. This is a crucial process - we make our problems worse, ourselves - much worse.
I repeat - we make our problems worse, when we ignore them. And we are ignoring them on a massive scale. In the last half of the last century, America ignored its problems - and they blew up, and became completely unmanageable.
What bad things? You may ask "They are the richest people in history!"
True, but they had to pay a high price for those riches - they had to lose themselves. And that is the ultimate loss. They had to make other values more important than their human values.
Right here is where I lose everyone. No one wants to think about values. They stopped thinking about them long ago, and they don't want to go back that time - it's too painful. They say "No, No, No!" - as loudly as they can.
What happened to them? This question has to be answered at a personal level, and a collective level.
On the personal level, this conflict is buried so deep in their personalities, accessing it is nearly impossible. Getting close to it, triggers off a personal crisis of massive proportions - and may result in a suicide.
I saw this happen to my wife, of five years, in the Sixties. She got her problems from her mother - as many of us have. But they were magnified internally, until they were much worse. This is a crucial process - we make our problems worse, ourselves - much worse.
I repeat - we make our problems worse, when we ignore them. And we are ignoring them on a massive scale. In the last half of the last century, America ignored its problems - and they blew up, and became completely unmanageable.
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