Archive for the ‘Armchair Philosophy’ Category

A brief psychohistory…

This Post is being brought to you by the vanishingly small probablility that my folks will ever encounter my blog, let alone pause to read it.
And also by the fact that I am curious as to what I will end up writing down. I have no desire to turn this blog into some sort of [...]

The zen of complexity

A lot of systems theoretic disciplines have seemed wholly useless because we took them as a set of tools with which we could rule over nature. Now I’m wondering if the insights from these sciences are just revelations FROM nature to teach us about our very tiny place in the grand scheme of things…
If so, [...]

the thermodynamic arrow of morality : take #2: it’s all an illusion…

After an incredibly long discussion with The Mei over plates of Ethiopean goodness at The Sheba, which conversation was mediated by ToyZ, mainly bcos we barely let her get a word in edgeways, it was grandly concluded that human morality is largely immutable… so that any perceived increase in morality/social consciousness (such as that posited [...]

data, information, and the necessary delusions of purpose

In the same way that we kid ourselves that we are artists and writers, poets, lovers, mothers, Olympic sprinters, whatever… so too do corporate entities become mired in their own necessary delusions of purpose.
But of course… I persist in my unholy (hollow?) belief that the one true original purpose is the simple, banal processing of [...]

People who gum up the works

There is an entire ecology of interacting technologies, human-computer interfaces, and process spaces, which have co-evolved with the ballpark average of human modes of perception and problem-solving. (I like to call this ‘person-tech energetics’. Mainly because this is bound to irritate somebody. But if energetics is too hokey a word for you, substitute behaviour modes [...]

Running scared of ‘Precious’?

I don’t know why I’m writing this now, having seen this movie yonks ago… but I was recently thinking about it so I might as well post my thoughts.
The trailer for Precious hides little, and I find that more than a few people have been put off seeing it at all, possibly because of:
1) fear [...]

The over-survival complex

I have come to the realisation that some people are too willing to over-extend themselves in order to get through a really tough, difficult situation. They genuinely believe that ‘God will not give you a cross that is too heavy for you to bear’, as the saying goes, so bear it they must – as [...]

The thermodynamic arrow of… of morality?

On my way to Canadian Tire a few days ago I put the radio on and settled at the CBC radio show ‘Tapestry’ with Mary Hynes. It was an interview with Robert Wright (author of The Evolution of God) who spent the later portions of the interview trying to explain his way out of a [...]

Don’t ever Voigt-Kampff me

It’s bad when your niece IMs you to remind you of your own sister’s birthday.
Especially when the niece in question is just past tweening* and is therefore old enough to bait you with circular discussions (giving you ample opportunity to redeem yourself) before giving up and just telling you what you’ve clearly forgotten.

Quantum Self Help: collapse of the belief function

The shops are filled with books on everything from NLP to how to become your most amazing awesome self. There are manuals and guides to get you self-actualizing like you’ve never self-actualized before.
There ought to be a disclaimer on the jacket of every self-help book, though. It should read: WARNING: This will actually work, if [...]

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