Thanks, Glen. Maybe, with age, the denial of being a wisp becomes less effective.
----------------------------------- Frank Wimberly My memoir: https://www.amazon.com/author/frankwimberly My scientific publications: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Frank_Wimberly2 Phone (505) 670-9918 On Tue, Jul 30, 2019, 11:34 PM glen∈ℂ <geprope...@gmail.com> wrote: > Steve and I discussed some of this sort of thing awhile back. I argued > that the loss of both individual and collective plasticity over time might > be the core selection criterion. In times of fat diversity in the > environment, it's helpful to have diverse and tightly coupled estimators > (thanks to Eric for bringing up Ashby again). Like a broken record, I tend > to support both recreational and therapeutic uses of plasticity-increasing > behaviors. > > Then again, I just engaged in an argument between me, a Brexiteer, and a > Remainer about the benefits of the inertia-preserving EU in times of high > environmental stresses (like climate-driven migration). I see Brexit as a > plasticitiy-increasing move. Yes, it will allow the UK more degrees of > freedom to succeed or fail. But it also (further) opens the UK, Europe and > the whole world to more bad behavior (like autocracy, organized crime, > human trafficking, etc.). > > On a personal level, when we crack apart our fossilized policies and > habits, we run the risk of going downhill quickly ... which is kinda-sorta > what I've done since my cancer therapy. Luckily, I never had any sense that > my policies and habits "worked" in the first place. I've always felt like a > wisp experiencing whatever, at the mercy of my surroundings. > > On 7/30/19 6:38 AM, Frank Wimberly wrote: > > I mentioned that this discussion depresses me. I felt obligated to > think about why. It has to do with banal, quotidian, personal matters. > Policies that I have developed based on beliefs held for decades no longer > seem to work. That is, they no longer serve to make me "happy". I'm > thinking of stupid things like what to do while driving or eating > breakfast. Or interacting with children (I have five grandchildren). > > > > I read Ortega y Gasset in fragments when I was taking Spanish classes in > highschool and college. But I don't recall being particularly impacted. > > > > Some of the "policies" are probably best understood as OCD symptoms but > not ridiculous ones like those that involve magical thinking. It's just > that things that used to work no longer do. The world is changing. This > all may have to do with reaching old age. Someone suggested that my > acquiring a Porsche was a sign of a midlife crisis. I said that it was > more like an end-of-life crisis. Not that I expect to expire in the near > future. The Posche doesn't charm me the way it would have years ago. > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ > FRIAM-COMIC <http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/FRIAM-COMIC> > http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove >
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove
