I’ve been working on a project that I’m trying to form into a
Student Resource regarding Donald Hoffman’s book “The Case Against Reality - Why evolution hid the truth from our eyes.”
With 18 chapters of detailed review of the book and one of his papers, along with a growing list of scientific papers, 10 so far and more to come. I’m making a point of including all the relevant sources I can and,
I have spent literally hundreds of hour searching out sources and reading them and collecting them in order to save certain interested students a lot of time.
… Sort of a CliffNotes with loads of links to authoritative sources.
Working on my latest post I added a post script that got into rambling about the reasons I was so engaged in this project. I kinda like it and since we have so little going on around here, I figured why not share. Especially if it actually catches a young person’s attention.
Cheers
from the post script at Jonathan Cohen: Perceptual representation, veridicality, interface theory
What am I trying to accomplished here?
Besides saying my piece while I’m still around?
I want to collect as much supporting evidence as I can and leave behind a repository to serve certain students as an intellectual landscape map for exploring the art of deception through science by rhetoric and misdirection; along with thinking about how we perceive this physical reality we are embedded within.
A collection of resources to help those so inclined to find their own way through the labyrinth of claims and competing information coming at you from every direction. We used to trust our elders to advise younger generations, but my generations have been abject failures with their me first priorities, that turned a blind eye to children, Earth and society’s future.
Today’s younger generations need to figure out your own future. For the most part, all today’s generations of old folks know is, how to consume, and how to rationalize and ignore our sins against humanity and our Earth’s life support system.
I also want to push the importance of personally recognizing and learning to appreciate the Physical Reality ~ Mindscape divide. Seems to me it does a wonderful job of helping an individual resolve that contrived dog chasing tail “body-mind problem.” At least I can’t figure out where the problem is.
Wow. That’s huge. The textbook industry is tough though. I heard it has improved with more electronic access, but then I’ve also heard that you still have get through the Texas School Board.
hahaha.
Underground baby.
You wouldn’t understand. You’re too old.
Not that you’re still not my best pal, just say’n.
xo 
First law of thermodynamics: you don’t get something for nothing. Second law: you never break even. There is no way to get more out of a system than was put into it. There is no way to get out of a system everything that was put into it.
For critical thinkers: all activity, including all human activity, is not a zero sum game. We always lose, every time. We don’t get our energy or our time back, ever. Anything we can build takes more to construct than can ever be recovered. Destruction is inevitable. At best we may be able to influence the rate of destruction, but not the ultimate result.
First law of thermodynamics: you don’t get something for nothing. Second law: you never break even.
Well, you've just proven that life is impossible.
Congratulations.
It occurred to me, during my latest walk with Maddy,
that another prerequisite for the above (as in @#340232 …) making any sense is an appreciation for natural landscapes and the hours going by.
Knowing what it’s like spending days and nights out of doors and simply being witness to creation unfolding one day at a time. {No not just sitting there, it can be done just as well while doing labor that needs to be done.} Not just landscapes, but the sky, the clouds and weather. How many have actually watched weather unfolding as it moves in and out over the course of a day? Simply observing (while doing chores) observing and absorbing. Folks who have always been confined within cities, are unaware. And for the most part disinterested.
But not all, that’s the sliver I’ve decided to focus on. Early days, long way to go, and foundation building can’t be rushed too much.
clouds and weather, and creatures too . . .
?
@ibelieveinlogic
For critical thinkers: all activity, including all human activity, is not a zero sum game. We always lose, every time. We don’t get our energy or our time back, ever. Anything we can build takes more to construct than can ever be recovered. Destruction is inevitable. At best we may be able to influence the rate of destruction, but not the ultimate result.
Thanks for offering a case in point. Notice how ibil’s imagination doesn’t extent beyond human activity?
Of course, that human activity is sucking the life out of Earth’s resources, which took millions and hundreds of millions of years to develop, is true, so I’ll admit ibil does have his hand on one of the octopuses tentacles. It’s the big picture that needs a bit more work.
And in fact, the point he’s trying to make, it’s why back in the '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s powering down was the only sane thing to do. Slowing down population growth, increase efficiency in consuming natural resources, learning to build an economy around nurturing the natural resource that supply our life support system. Of course, all that depended on truly and honestly understanding and appreciating our global biosphere and her ways and means, which required truly studying our planet’s pageant of evolution. From there our minds would have made better connections and we people saner choices. Instead, we collectively embraced willful ignoring.
Sad reality is that the runway is pretty much behind us and from here on it’s all about inertia.
Had we collectively acted with a little altruistic forethought, rather than a bunch of rich spoiled frat boys out to party up and burn it down.
Notice how ibil’s imagination doesn’t extent beyond human activity?
And what "beyond human activity" do we have the power to control?
And in fact, the point he’s trying to make, it’s why back in the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s powering down was the only sane thing to do. Slowing down population growth, increase efficiency in consuming natural resources, learning to build an economy around nurturing the natural resource that supply our life support system
So, Biden's Green New Deal differs in what way other than population control?
And what “beyond human activity” do we have the power to control?
You're missing my point.
For critical thinkers: all activity, including all human activity, is not a zero sum game. We always lose, every time. We don’t get our energy or our time back, ever. Anything we can build takes more to construct than can ever be recovered. Destruction is inevitable. At best we may be able to influence the rate of destruction, but not the ultimate result.
It's the fact that your imagination never takes you beyond the human sphere, that caused me to choke on your quote. Whereas I'm thinking about the global organism and what it's capable of. For instance,
http://physics.gmu.edu/~roerter/EvolutionEntropy.htm
As for Biden and his policy, what do you want me to say?
As for population control, it’s not something we can turn a switch on. What would have been feasible with constructive education, instead of brainwashing founded on self-destructive and complete lies, that deluded us into believing Too Much Is Never Enough and that nothing but increasing our own avarice mattered.
I think if people had had a chance to honestly learn about our Earth, what Evolution was all about, and how it created us, there would have been a natural societal appreciation for gently powering down. Less kids back then would have made a huge difference today. But, the runway behind us, does us no good right now.
That question you used as a bludgeon rather than sincere curiosity, simply reveals your lack of appreciation for simple math.
One more time, may I introduce you to Professor Bartlett:
You can’t green capitalism. Which is all the Green New Deal is an attempt to do.
@missinggirl. Why are you baiting me with this bullshit?
Why not go back to the beginning and get a clue about what I started this thread for.
For instance, you could start with the title, don’t see Biden in there anywhere do you???, don’t see grand policy suggestions anywhere in the OP do you???
It’s about something much more fundamental.
You could take another look at the title of this thread it might give you a hint.
Does Honesty or Science matter?
If you're all about baiting, at least have the dignity and intellect to stick to the topic of my thread.
I was talking about the reality of the need for fundamental change in lifestyle. Covid forced this on us but it nothing compared to what climate change will force us to do
And what “beyond human activity” do we have the power to control?
Control is a sucky word. Most inapplicable.
What we are doing to our Earth has nothing to do with human control and everything to do with human disruption.
Do you know anything about how Earth is insulated from frigid empty space? Have you ever heard of the CO2 cycle? Just for starters, then there’s everything else under the sky.
@missinggirl. I was talking about the reality of the need for fundamental change in lifestyle.
Why didn't you say so?
What are the prerequisites for initiating fundamental change in the attitudes that lead to lifestyle choices?
Some suggestions:
A) Recognize the fundamental difference between your mind and all that unfolds within your thoughts and emotions, what I refer to as our Human Mindscape ~
and the Physical Reality of atoms, molecules, deeptime, the dance between geology and biology, that produced evolution, and all our Earth has ever contained.
B) Honesty learn about that Evolution that unfolded over deep the. Simply the act of absorbing the many wonders that went into creating the creature you are today, triggers emergent understanding.
C). Rededication to respecting honesty, physical facts, fair play, pluralistic principle.
Pull that off and you'll have the elements of a foundation for sane economic interaction with our biosphere, thus a healthier future.
Unfortunately, from my perspective, sure seems like we lost too much runway for those outcomes. I'd love to be wrong, I'm willing to behave as though it weren't so, hoping I'm wrong, but I can't ignore all I know and now it computes.
Cheers and welcome to the forum. Cc
There’s no denying Democrats are as strapped to our Hollywood fantasy living, and everyone’s expectation of more, more, more, for me.
Our assorted Boob-Tubes has been marvelous money makers and mind friers. Then we lose track of the Earth we depend on.
That’s were the trouble starts.
D) reality
The temporary ‘lifestyle’ changes that have come about as a result of the pandemic are as nothing to those that will have to come about as a result of the effects of climate change and other insults to the natural world due to humanity’s actions.
We can either change our ways of life willingly or they will be forced upon us one way or the other.
