tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post6882960093581176969..comments2023-11-03T11:32:01.540+00:00Comments on Thought Experiments : The Blog: Discuss 9Bryan Appleyardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08276787058430388582noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-12727331550529975602009-11-04T05:44:18.826+00:002009-11-04T05:44:18.826+00:00Some of this discussion reminds me of George Carli...Some of this discussion reminds me of George Carlin's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eScDfYzMEEw" rel="nofollow">Saving the Planet</a> routine.<br /><br />I should probably leave Carlin with the last word on the Big Electron theory, but I wanted to look at Huxley's whole sentence:<br /><br /><i>That which lies before the human race is a constant struggle to maintain and improve, Rus Bowdenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08412920154921512774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-75874748335602119022009-11-03T16:50:10.474+00:002009-11-03T16:50:10.474+00:00Reminds me of the Leonard Cohen lyric, There is a ...Reminds me of the Leonard Cohen lyric, <i>There is a war between the ones who say there is a war and the ones that say that there isn't.</i><br /><br />Anyway, Huxley apparently was not at all enamored of nature as a guide to behavior.Ken Pidcockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15236539087094493564noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-48644035954456611622009-11-03T15:35:25.511+00:002009-11-03T15:35:25.511+00:00'struggle' is an oddly cute sounding word ...'struggle' is an oddly cute sounding word for something that's annoyingwormhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02802335627720182532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-65872099530606852282009-11-03T15:08:58.326+00:002009-11-03T15:08:58.326+00:00Yes, and life is a constant struggle between them....Yes, and life is a constant struggle between them.Brithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-84533851609215310492009-11-03T15:07:01.038+00:002009-11-03T15:07:01.038+00:00Brit, I think the world can usefully be divided in...Brit, I think the world can usefully be divided into two groups: those who believe we are all in a struggle and those who do not.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-58817119171040745222009-11-03T14:56:53.099+00:002009-11-03T14:56:53.099+00:00Love that point about the hostile desktop, Mark, a...Love that point about the hostile desktop, Mark, and yes, Brit, the struggles, the struggles....Bryan Appleyardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08276787058430388582noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-57504557682189581942009-11-03T14:55:03.666+00:002009-11-03T14:55:03.666+00:00The organic crunchy con gang think we're in th...The organic crunchy con gang think we're in the opposite struggle: trying to preserve our nature against creeping civilisation.<br /><br />It's a constant struggle keeping track of all these struggles we're constantly having.Brithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-20542531678492490142009-11-03T14:52:56.715+00:002009-11-03T14:52:56.715+00:00It seems a straightforward expression of conservat...It seems a straightforward expression of conservative pessimism. Interesting though, as it's coming from Darwin's bulldog. Huxley obviously had no truck with the application of natural selection to explain human affairs.<br /><br />In fact, he seems to be suggesting 'the state of nature', presumably including natural selection, is actually inimical to the development of 'an Gareth Williamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05058241057385364459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-37480517654825172272009-11-03T12:43:25.396+00:002009-11-03T12:43:25.396+00:00By organised polity does he mean 'the state...By organised polity does he mean 'the state' or 'socialism'?<br /><br />Is this about the battle between waring ideologies of a Keynesian existence , the manifestation of the human scramble for independence and improvement - versus the monolithic state that numbs and protects, by seeking to place everybody at one level, even if it means bringing them downwards to do so.wormhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02802335627720182532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-21710274220335429682009-11-03T12:27:29.193+00:002009-11-03T12:27:29.193+00:00Since when has the polity been organized, and what...Since when has the polity been organized, and what did he think we were, the cast of the latest Attenborough epic?<br /><br />Ugg, your boots are crap.maltyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02936465848907794425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-72102835470556352922009-11-03T12:18:34.861+00:002009-11-03T12:18:34.861+00:00Hmmn, we don't know what the limits are yet. W...Hmmn, we don't know what the limits are yet. We don't even know why some things are the way they are. So the notions of progress in this quotation may not be workable.<br /><br />For example: modern desktop computer systems see the user as fundamentally hostile. The user has to be corralled and controlled; the computer is man and the user is nature, constantly threatening to reduce the Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06074816573442173758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-27295359487033753012009-11-03T11:53:20.787+00:002009-11-03T11:53:20.787+00:00For heaven sake calm down a bit. It is only now th...For heaven sake calm down a bit. It is only now that I've read enough on Minsky to feel that I might discuss as distinct from shoot from the hip.Vincehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09442327549417743472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-10444644804230872612009-11-03T11:42:47.601+00:002009-11-03T11:42:47.601+00:00This sounds suspiciously like a voiceover in a twe...This sounds suspiciously like a voiceover in a twenty second advertisement for new cars or deodorant on TV. I suspect it is a clever joint effort by Ugg boots and Nike to get around your comment moderation.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-89648048741207213372009-11-03T11:39:31.581+00:002009-11-03T11:39:31.581+00:00Humanity can choose its next stage of evolution, r...Humanity can choose its next stage of evolution, rather than wait for nature to go through its usual prototyping followed by nature selection. It's why, in the 24th century,we'll all be Premiership footballers.Willardnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-47059456560711869732009-11-03T11:25:44.381+00:002009-11-03T11:25:44.381+00:00Here Huxley seems to be rediscovering the third la...Here Huxley seems to be rediscovering the third law of thermodynamics.Chris Dornanhttp://senseorsensibility.comnoreply@blogger.com