John/Joe/Gregg &al:
What Gregg has done here may be the *first* time this has ever been
accomplished (or perhaps even attempted). While many have
"philosophized" over all this, Gregg has actually assembled a group of
experts (which decades of detailed knowledge as well as experience
arguing with their domain-expert colleagues.) Hurray . . . !!
_Tree of Knowledge Stack_
Culture :: Sociology (Joe)
Mind :: Psychology (Gregg)
Life :: Biology (John)
Matter :: Physics (???)
Does the "lower" define the "upper" or are there new *principles* that
must be added at each level (or what Gregg calls "dimensions of
complexity") . . . ??
In the 19th-century, during what was a very different paradigm from
the one in which we live Bernhard Reimann suggested what some call the
"hypothesis of the higher hypothesis" and Georg Cantor generated his
Transfinite schema in attempts to *rigorously* tackle this conundrum.
Both of them have largely been forgotten today and this was replaced
with the notion of a "Theory of Everything" (ToE) and "Unity of
Science" (as per Carnap &al) in the 20th-century -- as a result of the
new paradigm in which those scientists lived (but not the same one as
ours).
"Quantum" physics caught many people's attention and, for a while,
seemed to be the answer -- but then it failed to produce a ToE and
dissolved into a group of rival splinters until it was revived by some
"hippies" who were living under yet-another paradigm (yes, as it turns
out, I know Jack Sarfatti and he is an entertaining sorta guy, whose
ideas were enhanced by both some LSD and some "conspiracies" that he
imagines he was a part of) . . . <g>
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.amazon.com_How-2DHippies-2DSaved-2DPhysics-2DCounterculture_dp_039334231X&d=DwIDaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=k0ZghWq-BJq1gK-4dMAZTtj6bp4T6bBTZfy6CBuRjfI&s=33dfDKZJBX-85ukDLaHMffNGBFykE_FsB4C2YvYZgbw&e=
So much for physics -- but wait there is more! The US *military*
decided it wanted to take some Los Alamos bomb-desingers and shuffle
them across-the-street to a new place that was called the Santa Fe
Institute, to see if the physics of nuclear weapons (i.e. mini-stars)
could be applied to society. The Department of Energy (which owns the
US arsenal, not the service branches) initially funded them 100% (and
now it's 30% with another 30% coming from Pierre Omidyar).
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.santafe.edu_&d=DwIDaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=k0ZghWq-BJq1gK-4dMAZTtj6bp4T6bBTZfy6CBuRjfI&s=F5W1HxmIIVdZ3GS_MzMrLoCWDRWNyfBuzgX0o4uQF5c&e=
The result was "complexity science" -- re-branding "chaos," since that
frightens the children -- and its elaborate models of "emergence."
Some of us from the Center spent last Spring with these folks (in
particular, Jim Rutt, long-time chairman and now trustee at Santa Fe)
and I can tell you they don't have a clue (and are unlikely to ever
get one.)
So, Physics as failed (multiple times). How about Biology or
Psychology or Sociology? As John tells us, biology is broken. As,
Gregg tells us, psychology is broken. As Joe tells us, sociology is
broken. So, what are we going to do . . . ??
My suggestion is that we take a look at *paradigms* behind these
approaches and their causes/effects. This is the study of the
"structure of scientific revolutions" (as per Thomas Kuhn, although he
never explained either the causes or effects) and, to accomplish that
task, we will need Marshall McLuhan -- which we will do when Gregg
returns.
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.amazon.com_Structure-2DScientific-2DRevolutions-2D50th-2DAnniversary_dp_0226458121&d=DwIDaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=k0ZghWq-BJq1gK-4dMAZTtj6bp4T6bBTZfy6CBuRjfI&s=g0VIqhOwisfogySa80Bit0SP-dIenaP1olwltWbC3Rs&e=
To do this, we will have to do something that has been "forgotten"
for 400+ years -- understand *formal* cause. Fortunately, Aristotle
is there to help us (since he's the one who came up with this idea in
the first place, 2500 years ago) and, even more fortuitously, we are
now in a new paradigm (otherwise, we wouldn't be having this
conversation).
Mark
P.S. The previous paradigm was characterized by "globalism" and what
was called the "new world order" (i.e. the one that Kuhn was plumping
for, as funded by the Ford Foundation) and it has now collapsed. Yes,
this is what keeps Henry Kissinger awake at night. This is why Trump
was elected, Briexit occured and the 5 Star Movement now runs Italy
&c. This is also why we are now in another "counter-culture"
(parallel to the 60s), since that's what happens to *culture* when
paradigms shift (over-and-over, making its explanation a top priority
for a "pure" sociology). This is the focus of my Center (and,, yes, I
also know John Ralston Saul).
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.amazon.com_Collapse-2DGlobalism-2DJ-2DR-2DSaul_dp_1786494485&d=DwIDaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=k0ZghWq-BJq1gK-4dMAZTtj6bp4T6bBTZfy6CBuRjfI&s=Bc6j2-fwM5ZpgVYsaPrr57KNTXu-R-hFuDxcS_1_rL4&e=
P.P.S. The "cheerio conspiracy" in all this is that the *center* of
maintaining that now obsolete paradigm was the Government
Communications Head-Quarters (GCHQ) which is the foundation of what
some now call the "Deep State." Edward Snowden had a lot to say about
them in terms of their acronym, "Five Eyes," making Trump's upcoming
meeting with the Queen very interesting -- since the "Deep State"
actually reports to her (yes, making Canada an actual national
security threat) . . . !!
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__en.wikipedia.org_wiki_Five-5FEyes&d=DwIDaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=k0ZghWq-BJq1gK-4dMAZTtj6bp4T6bBTZfy6CBuRjfI&s=bc-SNA2mstl1_sMeWg2wn2iMeNCH1mSJ1iSqIuJ0mO8&e=
P.P.P.S. Since our confusion about all this has been going on for a
long-time, we will have to "drop back" and try to recover what
previous paradigms -- such as the "Enlightenment" &c -- have
destroyed. That is the origin of the "motto" on the Center website
that "Digital *retrieves* the Medieval" and, from ISIS reviving
*medieval* Jihad, to the Chinese reviving the *medieval* "Silk Road,"
it is already the world in which we live. As Marty McKly put it,
"Doc, it's time to go back to the future" . . . <g>
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__en.wikipedia.org_wiki_Back-5Fto-5Fthe-5FFuture&d=DwIDaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=k0ZghWq-BJq1gK-4dMAZTtj6bp4T6bBTZfy6CBuRjfI&s=nGYk3o6emq8cF-fnGu3aOWQ3bJO7z5aA21AitJYMigU&e=
P.P.P.P.S. What we have to try to avoid, as difficult as it may be, is
to not behave "like a drunk looking for our carkeys underneath the
streetlamp, because that's where the light is." The recently past
paradigms have seriously screwed us up. This is why we are in such
terrible condition -- which, btw, is not the situation in China, where
its historic civilization is now the focus of study at the Central
Party School (where CPC cadre are trained in Beijing) -- and *all* of
our attempts at "coherence" have failed. But, we're in luck,
Aristotle is there to help us (which is why Summer School at the
Center is teaching his 4th-century BC "On the Soul".)
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.amazon.com_Soul-2DMemory-2DRecollection-2DAristotle_dp_1888009179&d=DwIDaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=k0ZghWq-BJq1gK-4dMAZTtj6bp4T6bBTZfy6CBuRjfI&s=4n4jx26jGOYMfooHWTN86HDukxS9ZyNMD4-l8P6JviI&e=
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