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Monday, September 16, 2002
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John Brockman writes: In The Blank Slate, Steven Pinker notes "that there is a quasi-religious theory of human nature that is prevalent among pundits and intellectuals, which includes both empirical assumptions about how the mind works and a set of values that people hang on those assumptions. The theory has three parts". 1) One is the doctrine of "the blank slate": that we have no inherent talents or temperaments, because the mind is shaped completely by the environmentóparenting, culture, and society. 2) The second is "the noble savage": that evil motives are not inherent to people but come from corrupting social institutions. 3) The third is "the ghost in the machine", that the most important part of us is somehow independent of our biology, so that our ability to have experiences and make choices can't be explained by our physiological makeup and evolutionary history. These three ideas are increasingly being challenged by the sciences of the mind, brain, genes, and evolution," he says, "but they are held as much for their moral and political uplift as for any empirical rationale. People think that these doctrines are preferable on moral grounds and that the alternative is forbidden territory that we should avoid at all costs". Brockman's interview of Pinker follows. (09/16/02) | |
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John Brand writes: Afghanistan is still in the throes of battles between warlords. President Bush is speaking of an all-out attack on Saddam Hussein. Rumsfeld rattles his sabers. The danger of terrorism has not been eliminated. What in the world does arcane research of the human brain have to do with all this? ... Until research led by Paul D. MacLean, M.D., former Chief, Laboratory of Brain Evolution and Behavior, NIMH, we did not know that there is a biological reason for the absurdity of our actions. This article and several more to come will provide a basic understanding for the reasons of the human Theater of the Absurd. One cannot understand either the current political disaster - the Kenny Boys, the George Bushes, the Bill Clintons, or anyone else's behavior, including yours and mine – without some understanding of the make-up of our brains. MacLean's tome is The Triune Brain in Evolution. Let me cut to the chase and quote the author from two journal articles that were published earlier and a conclusion stated in his major work. These three paragraphs pretty much summarize the major conclusions of his primary concerns. On page 361 of his Brain Roots to the Will-to-Power, he says, "This situation suggests that our psychological and behavioral functions are under the joint control of three quite different mentalities. For us human beings there is the added complication that the two older formations do not have the power of speech." The first claim made by MacLean is that three different mentalities are responsible for our behavior. In other words, you have three, quite distinct brains telling you what to do and what not to do. (09/15/02) | |
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BBC News -- A study into rising seas and increased rainfall concludes five million people and most of the country's best farmland are at risk, says the Independent on Sunday. The report's findings have been revealed to the government as Europe recovers from some of its worst ever floods. ... Researchers describe global warming as "the greatest threat facing the world community". They say 180,000 businesses, 1.8 million homes and 3.5 million acres covering 61% of grade-one land in England and Wales is at risk, says the IoS - at a cost of £222bn. Half the properties are in the London region of the Thames - affecting 750,000 people in the capital and putting in jeopardy the city's financial future. ... And in what the paper claims is the most controversial recommendation, the study urges the government to encourage people to give up their cars. (09/16/02) | |
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On September 10th, U. S. Congressman Ron Paul, MD spoke to the House of Representatives: Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce legislation to restore financial stability to America's economy by abolishing the Federal Reserve. I also ask unanimous consent to insert the attached article by Lew Rockwell, president of the Ludwig Von Mises Institute, which explains the benefits of abolishing the Fed and restoring the gold standard, into the record. Since the creation of the Federal Reserve, middle and working-class Americans have been victimized by a boom-and-bust monetary policy. In addition, most Americans have suffered a steadily eroding purchasing power because of the Federal Reserve's inflationary policies. This represents a real, if hidden, tax imposed on the American people. From the Great Depression, to the stagflation of the seventies, to the burst of the dotcom bubble last year, every economic downturn suffered by the country over the last 80 years can be traced to Federal Reserve policy. The Fed has followed a consistent policy of flooding the economy with easy money, leading to a misallocation of resources and an artificial "boom" followed by a recession or depression when the Fed-created bubble bursts. With a stable currency, American exporters will no longer be held hostage to an erratic monetary policy. Stabilizing the currency will also give Americans new incentives to save as they will no longer have to fear inflation eroding their savings. Those members concerned about increasing America's exports or the low rate of savings should be enthusiastic supporters of this legislation. (09/16/02) | |
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CNN Money -- The confession period that comes during the last few weeks of the quarter is always somewhat trying for investors. Invariably some of the warnings are awful; even in good times they can cast a pall over the market. And these are not good times: The economy is not recovering as quickly as many companies and analysts seemed to think it would, leaving expectations too high. Brace yourselves. Joe Cooper, a researcher at First Call, notes that so far this quarter the number of companies saying their results will fall short of expectations is more than double those saying results will exceed estimates. That's not a good sign -- at the comparable point in the second quarter negative and positive pre-announcements were running about even. When the warnings start picking up in the coming week, they'll likely be worse than usual. "It looks like it could shape up to a bumpy ride," said Cooper. (09/16/02) | |
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TIME.com -- What were you doing in Baghdad? Waging peace. My goal in Baghdad was to facilitate a debate here in the United States on America's policy toward Iraq, a debate that's been sadly lacking. We're facing a critical moment in American history and I believe this is something that has to be more thoroughly looked at. Why go to Iraq? You're talking to me now because I went to Iraq. I've been saying the exact same thing for years and I didn't get the call from Time magazine. In 1998, you said Saddam had "not nearly disarmed." Now you say he doesn't have weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Why did you change your mind? I have never given Iraq a clean bill of health! Never! Never! I've said that no one has backed up any allegations that Iraq has reconstituted WMD capability with anything that remotely resembles substantive fact. To say that Saddam's doing it is in total disregard to the fact that if he gets caught he's a dead man and he knows it. Deterrence has been adequate in the absence of inspectors but this is not a situation that can succeed in the long term. In the long term you have to get inspectors back in. (09/16/02) | |
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The Washington Times -- For the record, the National Climatic Data Center reported yesterday that June through August was the warmest summer since the 1930s and drought affected about half the country. The average temperature for the 48 contiguous states this summer was 73.9 degrees. That's 1.8 degrees warmer than normal and the third-hottest on record. Warmest was 1936 and second was 1934. The report comes just a day after the National Weather Service forecast continuing dry conditions for much of the country through winter. Only the southern tier of states are expected to be wetter than normal. (09/16/02)
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Tim Callahan writes: Why are we so fascinated by "end of the world" stories? ... The Bible, especially the book of Revelation, is filled with allegorical stories and symbolic tales. The problem is in interpretation. Are these stories prophetic warnings for us, or social commentary for the readers of the time of their writing? Fundamentalists and conspiratorialists try desperately to stretch apocalyptic writings (that were about the politics of their time) to fit modern times. They also try to fit poetic pictures of destruction into modern technology. The most obvious of these is the idea that fire raining down from heaven means nuclear-armed missiles. Another is the idea that the phrase "every eye shall see him" (Rev. 1:7) refers to the return of Christ being seen worldwide on television. Hal Lindsey has speculated that the demonic locusts, the plague of the fifth trumpet, represent helicopters. Here is the actual description of the locusts from Rev. 9:7-10: "In appearance the locusts were like horses arrayed for battle; on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, their hair like women's hair, and their teeth like lions' teeth; they had scales like iron breastplates, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots rushing into battle. They have tails like scorpions, and stings, and their power of hurting men for five months lies in their tails." In that their wings make a rushing noise, that helicopters could be said to look as if they have stinger-like tails, and that the locusts' armor could be said to be a description of the metal skin of helicopters, the locusts could be stretched to fit these modern machines, if one uses a good deal of imagination. (09/15/02) | |
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Frank Hutchinson writes: What are our children's fears about the twenty-first century? What are their dreams? What can we learn from what our children have to say about the future? ... Among the students surveyed the most commonly occurring responses to the open question, 'list up to three local or global problems that most concern you', were, in order of frequency, within the following broad categories: environmental or ecological violence-related problems, war and other direct violence-related problems, and economic security or structural violence-related problems. Less than 10 per cent of the sample considered that the problems of environmental degradation will be seriously tackled over the next five or so years. With a shift to a longer term perspective, only a little over 20 per cent believed that much progress will be made in lessening the problems of ecological violence, such as habitat destruction and polluted environments, by the year 2020. Even in cases of 'I' optimism about personal futures, there were often inconsistencies. Such a sense of 'I' optimism might be combined with 'we' pessimism about the world's future. (09/15/02) | |
6:06:30 AM 
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© TrustMark
2002
Timothy Wilken.
Last update:
10/1/2002; 6:08:24 AM.
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