Comment on Is Cognition Inherently Dangerous? by David H
In reply to tmurphy. " Dirt .The Erosion of Civilisations " by David Montgomery , and "One with Nineveh " by Paul and Anne Ehrlich are two relevant books. (reply to Mike Black )
In reply to tmurphy. " Dirt .The Erosion of Civilisations " by David Montgomery , and "One with Nineveh " by Paul and Anne Ehrlich are two relevant books. (reply to Mike Black )
In reply to tmurphy. Tom Have you explained how pre say 1800s agriculture was not sustainable? Where are your calculations or evidence for this? Just genuinely curious about this Are you aware of any forms of agriculture being sustainable?
In reply to Jesper. What about the maximum power principle? You deserve a thermodynamic viewpoint: all things related to willpower are products of our overevolved big brains.
Reminiscent of E.O. Wilson's famous statement: "If there is danger in the human trajectory, it is not so much in the survival of our own species as in the fulfillment of the ultimate irony of organic evolution: that in the instant of achiev…
I’m a big fan of analogies because they let people see perspectives they might otherwise miss. To answer your title question, I’d say that cognition on its own is not inherently dangerous. Human cognition only becomes dangerous when it gain…
In reply to Mike Roberts. Excellent points. Indeed, humans are exceptional—as are newts. My main beef is with an attitude of human supremacism, which I hope is not present here! It is abundantly clear that humans have tremendous power withi…
I feel that there are elements of human exceptionalism here, or maybe acknowledgment of human stupidity? You suggest watching what other species do in order the emulate them. So it seems humans aren't allowed to act in their innate ways, bu…
Human cognition is an evolved attribute, so it must have a goodly amount of adaptive fitness in normal circumstances. If human cognition is now maladaptive, perhaps it is because the circumstances have changed. Based on your antipathy towar…
Tom, I appreciate all your posts. I get so much out of them. They are educational without being institutional. In fact, they are my 'news'. Thank you!
"The universe provides no recipe for safe operation." True, but it's not difficult to evaluate actions in real time. For example, if I'm building a house, I can apply some logical statements to verify its sustainability (measuring sustainab…
Much of our predicament can be blamed on human cognitive capacity (and incapacity!). But is cognition fated to fail? A pool-table framing helps appreciate appropriate cognition. Continue reading →
Awww, Tommy is starting to grow up! We couldn't be prouder. Yes, many of us figured this out 15 or 20 or more years ago. But each in his own time and now Tommy is scratching the surface. Let him go! Go, Tommy, go!