tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-186608342024-02-28T11:04:12.250-08:00Philosophy and Psychology for the 21st CenturyThis blog is devoted to the discussion of creative philosophy. The goal here is to follow a path of clarity, choosing the best descriptions of mind and mental activities that are available. The view is prospective, looking to the future and not repeating the past.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02609755350719581459noreply@blogger.comBlogger128125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18660834.post-89387787093885691822018-03-05T18:11:00.000-08:002018-03-05T18:11:26.555-08:00The Environment - Crises Demand Attention<ul id="left" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: navy; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 400 16px/32px Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; list-style-type: none; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
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The Environment</h1>
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"The earth is Our Mother. What befalls the earth befalls
all sons of the earth. The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the
earth." Squamish chief Seattle 1855</div>
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Smart humans in the 20th century made astounding advances in earth sciences.
The images of the earth from the moon moved and informed everyone who saw them.
The earth as a small, bluish planet circling the sun offered a new understanding
of the human predicament. Since the Apollo flights to the moon, satellites have
proliferated, telescopes have become sophisticated monitors of the universe and
god’s view is available to all who are interested. The scientific exploration of
the earth has probed every environment. The explosion of knowledge about planet
earth and her creatures inspires those who know and care. The humans who do not
know and do not care remain locked in their group identities and anachronistic
beliefs. </div>
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One essence of being human is that you are an adaptable and nomadic creature.
Your innate preferences are layered like layers in sedimentary rock that allows
geologists to read the history of a place over millions of years. Your
deepest feelings come from the oldest parts of your brain that still recognize
features of an environment that appealed to early mammals and perhaps to more
ancient creatures such as reptiles and dinosaurs. </div>
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The finest of homes to this day display rock, wood and fire. Civilized humans
still cook meat over fires in kitchens, backyards and fires improvised on
beaches, feeling more peaceful and authentic on a camping trip when they are
closer to their wilder nature. When you go to a beach, you will collect stones
and shells and sometimes pieces of wood that have been sculpted by waves. You
don’t really know why you find these natural objects so attractive. You cannot
recall how your distant ancestors collected stones to make tools that were vital
to their survival and used stones to make houses, mark places, and create
monuments for deceased members of the clan. </div>
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The environment is much more than air, rocks and water. The entire planet is
occupied with living creatures large and small. Life is the most important part
of the environment for humans who are animals among animals. Humans live or die
depending on the stability and endurance of the biosphere. Humans
derive meaning from other life forms and the smartest, kindest humans study the
biosphere , bond with and protect other animals. </div>
<h2 style="color: navy; font-family: Verdana,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 19.2px; font-weight: 700;">
Humans Change and Often Destroy Environments</h2>
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The planet is changing rapidly because of human activities. Humans alter and
destroy natural environments. Humans emit greenhouse gases which are causing
global warming. Warming land, ocean and air cause weather changes that cause
increasingly extreme and expensive wealth events. The harmful effects of human
activities promise increasing costs and threaten the lives of humans,
plants and animals. In 2018 human have a planet emergency and must change their
destructive habits.</div>
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In an ideal world, everyone would seek personal health and
well-being, but at the same time would strive to restore planet health. Smart
people realize that no personal benefit will survive long in a world that is
ailing, polluted and careening toward more man-made disasters. The really sad
part of our current predicament is that all the right ideas have been around for
decades and have been clearly articulated in many forms by a host of intelligent
people. The right ideas involve unselfish and compassionate behavior. The right
ideas involve long-term planning, conservation and a deep commitment to
preserving the natural world. Without a healthy natural environment, there will
be few or no healthy humans.</div>
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The term “ecosystem” refers to living creatures interacting
with each other and with the physical features of the planet. Almost every
student learns the basics of ecosystems and can tell you that we need clean air,
clean water and food to sustain human populations. Some of these students will
take the lessons seriously and act more responsibly toward their local
environments. Most students, like most adult citizens, treat knowledge of
ecosystems as an abstract exercise and will consume, pollute and ignore the
negative environmental consequences of their actions. This is not to argue that
these are irresponsible or bad people. It is to argue that book knowledge is too
abstract and that humans only respond to locally perceived environmental
conditions. </div>
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Humans adapt easily to deteriorating conditions and will
persist in following daily routines even when air pollution is severe, traffic
is congested, water and food supplies are at risk, and social order is unstable.
The tolerance for environmental destruction is ancient and human history is
littered with civilizations that failed because humans indiscriminately
exploited natural resources and spoiled their own nest. The human tendency is to
plunder and pillage nature and to move on when resources are depleted. The
solution to this tendency requires strong leadership by smart, well-educated,
compassionate humans who understand <em style="color: navy; font-family: Verdana,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px; list-style-type: none; padding: 0px;">nature is divine</em> and understand that human
survival depends on healthy ecosystems.</div>
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My bias is strong and clear. I am on the side of Nature.
When I was five years old, my family moved a new suburb on the edge of Toronto,
a typical North American city beginning its post-war growth spurt. My back yard
was a forest that led down into a river valley - still natural and full of
wonder. For a few years, I enjoyed this natural environment and made friends
with trees, flowers, birds, raccoons and fish in the river. </div>
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I was never a
hunter, but I was a participant, a fellow creature among friends. I climbed
trees. I discovered peace in the natural environment. I could also ride my bicycle, just a few miles and arrive at farms with
horses, cows and fields of corn and hay. My family went for drives in the
country on Sunday afternoon and sometimes stopped at roadside stalls to buy
fresh vegetables from a farmer’s wife. My idea of a perfect world involved
preserving this relationship of city to country with natural environments
remaining in the interstices.</div>
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<li style="color: navy; font-family: Verdana,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px; list-style-type: none; padding: 0px;">Discussions of Environmental Science and Human Ecology were developed by
Stephen Gislason MD at Environmed Research Inc. Sechelt, B.C. Canada. Online Topics were developed from
the book, The Environment. You will find
detailed information about the sun, weather, soils, forests, oceans, atmosphere, air pollution, climate change,
water resources, air quality, energy sources, and preserving habitats. The Environment
is available from Alpha Online as a Printed book or as an eBook
Edition for Download. The 2018 edition is 286 pages.</li>
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<li style="color: navy; font-family: Verdana,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px; list-style-type: none; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.nutramed.com/environment/index.htm"><strong>Go to The Environment</strong></a></li>
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</ul>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02609755350719581459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18660834.post-12519675709750858752017-04-28T18:40:00.000-07:002017-05-02T13:14:11.511-07:00Politics & Environment<h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Environmentalists</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There are host of well-known environment groups that an educated individual can support, join and contribute. Political action is always required and is always frustrating. Effective political lobbyists have insights into human nature, communication skills and a good understanding of political processes. Climate changes require intelligent, responsible politicians to act quickly and decisively to avert looming disasters. They are in short supply.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The University College London established the Policy Commission on the Communication of Climate Science. They wrote:” The Commission explored the role of climate scientists in contributing to public and policy discourse and decision-making on climate change, including how highly complex scientific research which deals with high levels of uncertainty and unpredictability can be effectively engaged with public and policy dialogue. The Commission also examined the insights that scientific research and professional practice provide into how people process and assimilate information and how such knowledge offers pathways for climate scientists to achieve more effective engagement. Finally, the Commission sought to identify the approaches that climate scientists can adopt to effectively communicate their messages and to make clear recommendations to climate scientists and to policy-makers about the most effective ways of communicating climate science.” </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Politics is about the strategies of control and leadership of human groups. Humans have a deep tendency to form groups, to develop and defend boundaries and to treat outsiders as enemies. All groups have interests, privileges and costs of membership. All groups have hierarchies and competition for privilege and prestige. The effort to create tolerance and an ideal, egalitarian state counters these deep tendencies and probably will never be stable and enduring. Political groups advance the interests of their members, tending toward ideologies that oversimplify complex issues and average fears and beliefs so that a spectrum of individuals can belong.</span></span><br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Group Dialectics</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Politics has revealed basic human tendencies that require understanding. The questions are: Why are their democrats and republicans, liberals and conservatives? Why doesn’t everyone have the same preference and come to the same conclusions, given most of the facts? Why isn't everybody nice? The conventional view of political opinion recognizes a spread of political preference from left to right. This metaphor is misleading at best. Political arguments are about the distribution of wealth and resources, the use of force and the regulation of individual activity. The dialectic can be traced back to root group dynamics and the ever-changing balance between self-interest and group interest, between belligerence and peaceful negotiation. Most scholars investigate local, specific examples of divergent tendencies, but a skilled negotiator must focus on root tendencies and understand political arguments in terms of a range of expressions of innate characteristics. In the simplest case you could argue that some humans are nicer, more generous and more tolerant than others. Some humans are irritable, unstable and belligerent. Some humans are sociopathic. </span><br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Failing Democracies</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Democracies have carried politics to an advanced level of refinement or absurdity, depending on your point of view. An ideal version of democracy proposes that every citizen can advance his point of view and vested interests in a public forum. The ability to speak well is an essential skill to succeed in a democratic forum. Other essential skills are the ability to understand local issues and the ability to affiliate with and influence others. Politics in the best case is art of gathering information, skill in creating public policy, skill in speaking and having an aptitude for affiliation and negotiation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As groups grow in size, ideal representative democracy becomes impractical. A few representatives take on the job of speaking, affiliation and negotiation. The transition from individual participation to group representation has numerous problems. Hierarchical organization prevails in human and animal societies. Elected politicians now are preoccupied with manipulating their constituents with all the techniques of propaganda, advertising and public relations.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Battersby reviewed the attempts to study the interactions of governments that hoped to achieve consensus and sustain cooperation. He quoted Hardin: “Ruin is the destination toward which all men rush, each pursuing his own best interest in a society that believes in the freedom of the commons. Freedom in a commons brings ruin to all.” It has proved to be a powerful idea. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To Hardin and others, the same grim logic was behind many of our biggest problems. Common resources, such as fisheries, forests, and even the air are threatened by selfish individuals and nations taking what they can, even though they know the resource will be wiped out if everyone does the same. Hardin’s solution was to cede our freedoms to the state, to be bound by “mutual coercion mutually agreed upon”. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“`On the global stage, the greatest tragedy of the commons is climate change. Despite knowing of this looming threat, countries have delayed taking real action for decades, quarreling over costs and responsibility, failing to build trust, all the while continuing to pour greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Even in the wake of the Paris Agreement, the 2016 United States election has placed the status of a major player in doubt. Lacking any higher authority to rein in the selfishness of nations, are we doomed? “</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“For the past three decades, countries have been trying to forge climate treaties based on voluntary national reductions in greenhouse gas emission. This works much like the classic cows-on-the-commons case that Lloyd described in 1833. The best outcome overall is if everyone cooperates, but each individual can do better for themselves by not joining in: let everyone else do the hard work of emissions reduction while I merrily pollute. <br /><br />In game theory, this is akin to the prisoner’s dilemma: cooperation would be best overall, but you gain by betraying the other culprit (or resource competitor) no matter what they choose to do. Barrett’s experiments show that when real people communicate, they often start out in a spirit of cooperation, and many will make contributions to cutting emissions. But some opt out. Cooperators see these free-riders as depriving them of economic advantage; those cooperators start to drop out until soon none remain. Could this arrangement work better if we name and shame those who drop out, as the Paris Accord now promises to do via its pledge-and-review system? Dannenberg and Barrett have tested this idea with experiments too. It makes people promise more, but hardly alters their actual contributions. Tinkering with the game doesn’t help. “It was only in the last year that I finally understood the general point. “Countries are good at coordinating and bad at cooperating voluntarily.” </span></span><br />
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<h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">USA Political Disaster</span></h3>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In 2017, the USA is suffering a political disaster with the election of Donald Trump as president. Mckibben summarized the new administrations anti-environmental stance: </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">”President Trump’s environmental onslaught will have immediate, dangerous effects. He has vowed to reopen coal mines and moved to keep the dirtiest power plants open for many years into the future. Dirty air, the kind you get around coal-fired power plants, kills people. It’s much the same as his policies on health care or refugees: Real people (the poorest and most vulnerable people) will be hurt in real time. That’s why the resistance has been so fierce. But there’s an extra dimension to the environmental damage. What Mr. Trump is trying to do to the planet’s climate will play out over geologic time as well. In fact, it’s time itself that he’s stealing from us. What I mean is, we have only a short window to deal with the climate crisis or else we forever lose the chance to thwart truly catastrophic heating.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Trump is trying to give gas-guzzlers new life and slashing the money to help poor nations move toward clean energy; he and his advisers are even talking about pulling out of the Paris accords. He won’t be able to stop solar and wind power in their tracks, but his policies will slow the pace at which they would otherwise grow. Other presidents and other nations will have spewed more carbon into the atmosphere, but none will have insured, at such a critical moment, that carbon’s reign is extended. The effects will be felt not immediately but over decades and centuries and millenniums. More ice will melt, and that will cut the planet’s reflectivity, amplifying the warming; more permafrost will thaw, and that will push more methane into the atmosphere, trapping yet more heat. The species that go extinct as a result of the warming won’t mostly die in the next four years, but they will die. The nations that will be submerged won’t sink beneath the waves on his watch, but they will sink. No president will be able to claw back this time — crucial time, since we’re right now breaking the back of the climate system. We can hope other world leaders will pick up some of the slack. And we can protest. But even when we vote him out of office, Trumpism will persist, a dark stratum in the planet’s geological history. In some awful sense, his term could last forever."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.nutramed.com/environment/index.htm"><b>See The Environment by Stephen Gislason</b></a></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02609755350719581459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18660834.post-87152243326039351462017-04-15T17:23:00.000-07:002017-05-02T13:12:01.228-07:00Nuclear Warfare - The Biggest Global Threat<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Gigantic threats to human existence are in the form of nuclear warheads attached to short and long range missiles. Confusion is common between the relatively safety and desirability nuclear reactors for energy production and bombs for destruction. It is possible to build safe reactors and dismantle bombs.
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">All environmental threats become insignificant when you consider the apocalypse that would be created by the use of atomic and hydrogen bombs. In 2017, Helfand et al expressed their increasing concern about the threat of war using nuclear weapons. ” After the end of the Cold War, the intense military rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United States/North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was replaced by a much more cooperative relationship, and fears of war between the nuclear superpowers faded. Unfortunately, relations between Russia and the United States/NATO have deteriorated dramatically since then. In the Syrian and Ukrainian wars, the two have supported opposing sides, raising the possibility of open military conflict and fears that such conflict could escalate to nuclear war. Speaking in January, when the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced that its Doomsday Clock would remain at 3 minutes to midnight, former US Secretary of Defense William Perry stated, "The danger of a nuclear catastrophe today, in my judgment, is greater that it was during the Cold War...and yet our policies simply do not reflect those dangers." His assessment was echoed 2 months later by Igor Ivanov, Russian Foreign Minister from 1998 to 2004. Speaking in Brussels on March 18 2016, Ivanov warned that "The risk of confrontation with the use of nuclear weapons in Europe is higher than in the 1980s."</span></span><br />
<h2>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Doomsday</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">My early life was dominated by three horrific preoccupations; the holocaust, the hydrogen bomb and the destruction of animals and their natural environments all over planet earth. By age ten, I knew in theory how to construct both fission and fusion bombs and knew how destructive they were. I would study civil defense maps showing the extent of destruction from hydrogen bombs of different strengths exploded above Canadian and US cities. Later, I took courses in nuclear physics and the medical management of radiation sickness. For many years, I belonged to organizations that protested the development of more nuclear bombs. If you asked me in 1970, I would have told you that I had little confidence in modern civilization and wanted to live away from urban centers and the madness prevalent in the world. For me, the natural world of coastal British Columbia was sane, rational and enduring. Here, I felt part of an ancient natural order that would continue even if humans departed. I could ignore, at least for awhile, the folly of self-destructive humans. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As a young man I was always reassured to know that Albert Einstein existed and joined millions of educated others in admiration of his intellect. In a review of Einstein's impact on human awareness, Brian Greene wrote:" Albert Einstein once said that there are only two things that might be infinite: the universe and human stupidity. And, he confessed, he wasn't sure about the universe. When we hear that, we chuckle. Or at least we smile. We do not take offense. The reason is that the name “Einstein” conjures an image of a warm-hearted, avuncular sage of an earlier era. We see the good-natured, wild-haired scientific genius whose iconic portraits—riding a bike, sticking out his tongue, staring at us with those penetrating eyes—are emblazoned in our collective cultural memory. Einstein has come to symbolize the purity an power of intellectual exploration." </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Einstein revealed the stunning relationship of mass to energy in the famous formula, E=MC². The speed of light, C, is a large number so that a small amount of annihilated mass produces a large amount of energy. This equation explains the prodigious energy production of our sun and other stars. Einstein did not imagine man-made devices that suddenly convert mass to energy, creating gigantic explosions. The discovery of the neutron chain reaction in radioactive materials such as purified uranium suggested the possibility of a nuclear bomb. A physicist friend, Leo Szilard, had patented an atomic bomb design in 1934. He feared that Germany might construct nuclear weapons and encouraged Einstein to sign a letter to US President Roosevelt, warning him.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A second Einstein-Szilard letter was sent in March 1940 and led to the Manhattan Project in 1942, designed to produce nuclear bombs based on the fission of purified, radioactive uranium. Scientists from all over the US were recruited to purify bomb-grade uranium and to work out the details of a denotation system under the direction of physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer. The scientists had been highly motivated to end the destruction inflicted on the world by Germany and Japan. Their work lead to the sustained proliferation of nuclear weapons in the US, Russia and six other countries. The US tested at least 1100 nuclear weapons and continues to maintain the second-largest stockpiles of nuclear weapons in the world. Sensible humans were alarmed by the persistent belligerence of the US and the Soviet Union and sought to limit or abolish nuclear weapons. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I called the blind proliferation of nuclear weapons <b>Nuclear Weapon Insanity</b> and proposed an international institution for the politically insane that could arrest and contain politicians voting for nuclear weapons. In 2017 there is an increasingly urgent need for such an institution.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Plutonium, the second fissile elements used to create nuclear explosives, is not found in significant quantities in nature. The production of plutonium started with the Manhattan Project and accelerated as nuclear reactors were built for weapons production. Plutonium is created in a nuclear reactor by bombarding. Uranium 235 with neutrons to produce the isotope 239 U, which beta decays becoming a neptunium isotope which again beta decays to 239 Plutonium. Uranium and plutonium are radioactive substances that release radiation – electrons, neutrons, alpha particles, X-rays and gamma rays. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When the bomb project began, scientists did not understand the health damaging effects of radiation. In the US, reckless if not cruel experiments were inflicted on naive “volunteers” to determine the effects of radiation on human subjects. Credit goes to the US Department of Energy who established the Office of Human Radiation Experiments in March 1994 to reveal the shocking story of radiation research using human subjects in the US.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The complete detonation of one kilogram of plutonium produces an explosion equal to about 20,000 tons of chemical explosive. Nuclear explosions produce blast effects, thermal radiation, ionizing radiation and delayed effects, such as radioactive fallout that can damage all living creatures hours to years after the blast. When a nuclear bomb is detonated on or near the Earth's surface, the blast destroys everything in a central zone, creating a large crater. A cloud of particles rises into the air and returns to the earth’s surface downwind as radioactive fallout.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">An intense burst of thermal and gamma radiation travels at the speed of light in all directions. The flash of light is followed by a blast wave followed by hurricane-like winds. Humans who survive the direct blast can be injured in many ways. For example, gamma radiation exposure causes radiation sickness and death. Thermal radiation and secondary fires will cause burns in many of the blast survivors. Third-degree burns over 24 percent of the body, or second-degree burns over 30 percent of the body, will be fatal unless prompt, specialized medical care is available. Fallout consists of particles made radioactive by the explosion, distributed at varying distances from the site of the blast. The fallout is greater if the burst is close to the surface. The area and intensity of the fallout are determined by local weather conditions. Winds and rain distribute radioactive particles. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Areas receiving contaminated rainfall become "hot spots," with greater radiation intensity than their surroundings. Radioactive isotopes enter the soil, the groundwater and accumulate in rivers and lakes. Lower level radiation exposure received by people hundreds to thousands of miles from the blast center leads to delayed consequences such as cancer many years after exposure.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The ongoing manufacture of plutonium is one of the many features of political processes that ran amok after the Second World War. Sherwin summarized the nuclear insanity:” Armed with tens of thousands of nuclear weapons capable of being launched from land, sea, and air, the United States and the Soviet Union became prisoners of a cold war process that neither controlled. Locked into a nuclear arms race justified by national security, they increased their peril, diminished their economies, and promoted an international atmosphere of impending catastrophe. While each government held the population of the other hostage to annihilation, both engaged in conventional wars on the territories of other nations. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“Occasionally, as in the Berlin crisis of 1961 and the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, they pushed each other to the nuclear brink. Living in the nuclear bull's-eye became a way of life. How to prevent the nuclear system from becoming a way of death was the question that dominated the debate over nuclear weapons from their inception. Most responses to it promoted the nuclear arms race, including the massive retaliation doctrine, limited nuclear war plans, the concept of mutual assured destruction (mad), the Strategic Defense Initiative, and even the salt and start arms control negotiations.” </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The scientists that opposed the development of nuclear weapons are examples of smart, pragmatic people who used a variety of strategies to advance human well-being. Einstein is the worlds’ best known scientist. According to Levenson, a producer of NOVA's Einstein Revealed, Einstein was the greatest of the great. In the last ten years of his life, Einstein warned against the extreme dangers of nuclear weapons He advocated nuclear disarmament and international cooperation. He proposed a world government that could enforce disarmament and impose negotiated settlements to disputes among nations.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Einstein joined some of the smartest, nicest humans on the planet in intelligent opposition to nuclear bomb development, tests that contaminate air, soil and water with radioactive materials. He believed that rational thinking could supersede the self-destructive features of human nature. In association with Bertrand Russell, the British mathematician and philosopher, a manifesto of reason was issued that remains a </span>guide for nice and smart people who will continue to seek a peaceful planet. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.nutramed.com/survival/index.htm"><b>From Surviving Human Nature</b></a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By Stephen Gislason MD. The books is available as an eBook download. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02609755350719581459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18660834.post-3310028969305395852017-04-04T17:38:00.002-07:002017-09-27T21:17:53.246-07:00Cannabis: Expert Report Details Health Effects -- Good and Bad<h2>
Stoned</h2>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The growing acceptance, accessibility, and use of cannabis and its derivatives have raised important public health concerns ; 22 million Americans older than 12 years report current cannabis use ― the majority for recreational purposes. Twenty-eight states and Washington, DC, have legalized marijuana for medical use, and eight states and the District of Columbia allow recreational use. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The movement in Canada to legalize both medicinal and recreational use of cannabis was in part an attempt to eliminate the illegal trafficking of the drug. With criminal penalties in place, the police, courts and prisons at great cost were unsuccessful in suppressing the market for the drug. Other arguments for governments gaining the revenue that criminal organizations received were persuasive. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The problem, of course, is that cannabis-using citizens are drugged, dangerous drivers and are compromised in their learning, social interactions and employability. We already have a drugged society with at least half the population under the influence of mind altering drugs. Another group of psychotropic drugs will get lost in the great festival of brain dysfunction.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">According to a 2017 report on the benefits and harms of cannabis from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS): their evidence suggests cannabis use is associated with the development of psychoses and schizophrenia, but may have benefits, including alleviating chronic pain and chemotherapy-induced nausea. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Cannabis use before the age of 25 years may impair brain growth and learning. The committee found moderate evidence of increased mania symptoms and hypomania in patients with bipolar disorder who use cannabis regularly, and there was evidence of an increase in the incidence of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts with heavy use. It also reported substantial evidence linking greater frequency of cannabis use and an increased likelihood of developing problem cannabis use, and that initiating cannabis use at a younger age increases the likelihood of problem use. Cannabis may pose risks, including a worsening of respiratory symptoms and more frequent bronchitis with long-term smoking, an increase in motor vehicle accidents, and low birth weight in offspring of maternal smokers. The committee also found an increased risk for cannabis overdose in children in states where the substance is legal. Cannabis may cause respiratory symptoms and more frequent bronchitis, an increase in motor vehicle accidents, and low birth weight in offspring of maternal smokers. The committee also found an increased risk for cannabis overdose in children in states where the substance is legal. (Alicia Ault Medscape January 13, ;2017 ) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Researchers at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) are sounding the alarm over a possible increase in unknown cognitive and behavioral harms that widespread cannabis use may unmask.<span lang="en-ca"> </span>They stated: "Science has shown us that marijuana is not a benign drug. The morbidity and mortality from legal drugs is much greater than that for illegal drugs, not because the drugs are more dangerous but because their legal status makes them more accessible and a larger percentage of the population is exposed to them on a regular basis. The current normalization movement presses on with complete disregard for the evidence of marijuana's negative health consequences, and this bias is likely to erode our prevention efforts by decreasing the perception of harm and increasing use among young people, which is the population most vulnerable to the deleterious effects of regular marijuana use."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A clinical review conducted by NIDA director Nora Volkow, MD, points out that as legalization of the drug for recreational and medical use spreads, vulnerable populations, especially adolescents, are exposed to toxic effects of the drug. Dr Volkow explained that young brains are engaged in a protracted period of "brain programming," in which everything an adolescent does or is exposed to can affect the final architecture and network connectivity of the brain. Drugs are powerful disruptors of brain programming because they can directly interfere with the process of neural pruning and interregional brain connectivity. In the short term this interference can negatively affect academic performance. Long-term use can impair behavioral adaptability, mental health, and life trajectories. Emerging evidence suggests that adolescents may be particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of cannabis use. Several studies, for example, have shown that individuals who use cannabis at an earlier age have greater neuropsychological impairment and that persistent use of cannabis from adolescence was associated with neuropsychological decline from the age of 13 to 38 years. Cannabis use may cause an 'amotivational' state.<br /><br />(JAMA Psychiatry. 2016;73(3):292-297.</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You can view the <b><a href="http://www.nutramed.com/brain/index.htm">Brain Mind Center at Alpha Online</a></b>. Understanding the human brain is essential to become a well-informed, modern citizen. </span><a href="http://www.nutramed.com/Stephen_Gislason_MD/index.htm"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Stephen Gislason MD, </span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the author of the <strong>Human Brain,</strong> is a physician-writer who is good at making complex subjects more understandable. This is a book with important ideas, so be prepared to read and then keep the book as reference.</span> </li>
</ul>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02609755350719581459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18660834.post-86618333794835112872017-01-21T13:25:00.000-08:002017-01-21T13:32:26.581-08:00A tale told by an idiot signifying nothing<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As an Outsider I would summarize the US political experience as: “A
tale told by an idiot signifying nothing.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
I have reviewed my description of Citizens
Duties in Surviving Human Nature and wish to share it with fellow travelers who have
an understanding of human social organization:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: blue;">Citizen Requirements and Duties</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The realist recognizes an unchanging human nature expresses
all its contradictions in a turbulent, often violent and recursive manner. A
knowledgeable realist will assume that governments are inherently unreliable.
This is axiomatic and not just a critique of individual participants. A realist
sees critically disputatious humans creating problems in every direction. More
humans mean more problems.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Each citizen in a free, civil society does have a
responsibility to protect his or her freedom and right to life by insisting on
bottom-up solutions to problems. This means that the local community decides
what is in its best interests; not a distant and autocratic authority. When central authority becomes autocratic, it
must be replaced. The easiest way to replace bad governments is to vote against
politicians who formed the government. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">T<b><span style="color: blue;">he following list of precepts is an outline of how a free
society should operate: </span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1. Diversity among individuals and groups is good. Local control is
good. Distant control is bad. Competition is good. Monopoly is bad. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2. Rational thinking and free access to information are good. Dogmatic
belief is bad. Propaganda and coercion are bad. Freedom of speech is good.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3. Religious beliefs are properties of local groups and individuals.
Tolerance for different beliefs may sometimes be good. Imposition of personal
beliefs on others is bad. Obedience to charismatic and dogmatic leaders is very
bad.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4. Support for equal rights is good. All claims of superiority and
special privilege are bad. Equality of opportunity and equal treatment under
the law is good. Special rights and privileges to minority groups for any
reason is bad, even if the minority group appears to be privileged or
disadvantaged.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5. Some, but not unlimited redistribution of money and resources is
good. Economic constraints on or punishment of successful, creative people and
innovative groups is bad.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6. Private property, the protection of privacy and security of the home
are all good. Violation of the sanctity of the home is bad. Government
surveillance and interference in the private lives of individuals is very bad. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7. Intelligent regulation of the public behavior of citizens is good.
Unregulated policing is bad. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">8. Domestic activity of military forces is extremely bad, except for
disaster management<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">9. Free and permissive education is good. Science is essential. Autocratic education is bad.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">10 Protecting and restoring the natural environment is good. Harming
the environment is bad. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">11. Controlling population growth is good. Unregulated reproduction is
bad.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">12. Community support of children with generous provision of food,
shelter, nurturing communities, health care and liberal, scientific education
is essential.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.nutramed.com/survival">From Surviving Human Nature by Stephen Gislason 2017.</a></b></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02609755350719581459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18660834.post-38976779496037504632016-11-15T16:57:00.001-08:002017-04-15T17:07:02.993-07:00nationalism, protectionism, selection and discrimination<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_Toc463540504"></a>US president Obama
warned against "a crude sort of nationalism’ taking root." He, like many other
smart and responsible humans, fails to understand human nature. The tendency to prefer
small groups and to protect boundaries that separate our group from others is
an innate feature of humans and is not going to disappear. Obama stated:“We are
going to have to guard against a rise in a crude sort of nationalism, or ethnic
identity or tribalism that is built around an us and a them, and I will never
apologize for saying that the future of humanity and the future of the world is
doing to be defined by what we have in common, as opposed to those things that
separate us and ultimately lead us into conflict.” The beginning of his big
mistake is the suggestion that ethnic identity and tribalism are recent constructs,
add-ons that can be changed. Ethnic identity and tribalism are innate and
create societies rather than the society creates ethnic identity and tribalism. I review the basic truths in my book Human
Nature:</span></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="color: blue;">Selection,
Discrimination</span></span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The fantasy of egalitarian<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span> XE "Egalitarian" <![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--> democracy is out of step with nature and the
reality of human behavior. We have
recognized that group membership is all important to humans. You recognize
familiar humans who speak and act like yourself as members of your group. In a crowd you notice humans who display small
differences in speech, costume and behavior. Most often these small differences
are the basis for shunning or ignoring the “strange” humans. In the most rigid
groups, everyone wears the same costume, repeats the same polite language, with
the same intonation and behaves in a predictable, ritualistic manner. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We have recognized that<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span> XE "Racial segregation" <![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>XE "Discrimination" <![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--> racial and ethnic boundaries exist but obvious
boundaries are not required for discrimination. The ideal of an egalitarian
society is to recognize the merit of individuals; to allow social mobility
based on learning and achievement; and to
protect individual expressions by social policy and law, but<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span> XE "Glenn, John" <![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--> human nature does not change. Group
preferences and boundaries that separate groups can always be identified. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Every group, large or small, invents selection<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span> XE "Selection" \b <![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>XE "Discrimination" \b <![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--> processes to sort humans by age, gender,
appearance, ancestry, intelligence, aptitudes, skills, accomplishment and other
variables. You can invent rules against sorting, but selection will continue because it is natural and important. In every
human life, every day, a selection
process is at work. Discrimination refers to noticing differences and making
choices based on evaluating differences. One of the trends in neuroscience
involves understanding how decisions are made. You could argue that
detecting and responding to differences is a
universal strategy in animal brains. Humans are good at detecting differences and
make millisecond decisions that have a lasting influence on their subsequent decision-making procedures. The kind and degree
of difference is always in flux and depends on prior learning, context and social status. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Discrimination is a deeply embedded
property of the human mind that is expressed in almost every human behavior we
might consider. However, discrimination as a popular topic is often a
misinterpretation of the normal activity of noticing and acting on differences.
In popular debates, discrimination is treated as an aberration. Terms that end
in “ism” and “ist” are often used to describe discriminating people in a derogatory
manner. Thus anyone with a different
ancestry who disagrees with you becomes a racist.<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span> XE "Racist" <![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--> This is not to argue that noticing differences
is always positive. It is to argue that
humans base a lot of their decisions on noticing differences. In a positive
mode, the description “a discriminating shopper” identifies human who notices
differences in design and quality of manufacture, choosing high-quality products rather than cheap ones.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Every creature who is hatched or born on planet earth faces
a series of tough tests to find out if he or she has the right stuff to
survive. Nature is not kind to individuals who do not make the grade. Animal
populations consist of healthy, smart members because everyone else died or was
eaten.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Humans have an
unusual ability to protect their young, sick and disabled members so that
strong, healthy members increasingly devote more of their time, money and
energy helping the less fortunate. This altruistic<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span> XE "Altruism" <![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--> option in human groups, however, does not
alter the tough and persistent competition among humans for resources, mates,
money, prestige and security. In every aspect of human life, there is a
selection process operating. The selection<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span> XE "Status" <![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--> of members for special status or privilege
involves tests to find out who has the right stuff. Humans are constantly
evaluating each other. Humans quickly notice differences<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span> XE "Differences" <![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--> in appearance and behavior, automatically
sorting the people they meet into convenient categories.<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span> XE "Categories" <![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--> Humans respond strongly to physical
characteristics and react negatively to others who differ in appearance, size,
shape sex or color. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Humans are built to respond differently to different
characteristics. This discriminatory
tendency is innate, not a matter of choice or learning. The details may be
learned but the tendency is innate and is not going to disappear. There is an
odd discrepancy between the realities of rigorous, persistent selection
processes in nature and the pretense that everyone has the same ability and
should have the same opportunity to succeed at any endeavor they fancy. The
Miss America pageant is not egalitarian<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span> XE "Contest" <![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--> and only one young beauty is selected from
thousands of beautiful young woman who enter beauty contests in their own
states. The athletes who compete in Olympic Games are selected from a large
population of athletes in the home countries. These highly selected individuals
from over 200 countries compete to discover who is best in the world. Only one
in each sport will win a gold medal. The selection of one from many is basic to
human society. Many-to-one<!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span>
XE "Many-to-one" <![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--> is the rule of hierarchy<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span> XE "Hierarchy" <![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--> and every society generates a hierarchal
distribution of rights and privileges, even societies based on the principle of
equal opportunity for all.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The term Homophily describes the tendency of humans to
associate with others similar to themselves. The preference bias is innate but
its expression is influenced by many variables such as ethnic origins, age,
gender, level of education and by exposures to others with different
backgrounds. Currarinia et al found, for example, that in American high schools:
"Asians exhibit the least preference bias, valuing friendships with other
types as much as friendships with Asians, whereas Blacks and Hispanics value
friendships with other types 55% and 65% as much as same-type friendships,
respectively, and Whites fall in between, valuing other-type friendships 75% as
much as friendships with Whites. Meetings are significantly more biased in
large schools (>1,000 students) than in small schools (<1,000 students),
and biases in preferences exhibit some significant variation with the median
household income levels in the counties surrounding the schools."<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=18660834#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">An ideal civil society<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span> XE "Civil society" <![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--> attempts to reduce negative discrimination,
struggling against the innate tendency. The idealists who seek a permanent
solution for discrimination will be disappointed. Racial and ethnic boundaries<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span> XE "Boundaries" <![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]-->, at least in the ideal model,
are undesirable and are suppressed by social policy, law and the good will of
citizens. All societal constructs are ephemeral and only change local
circumstances briefly. We would like to believe that in Canada selection
processes employed in business and education are fair and not discriminatory.
There is an important distinction between discrimination<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span> XE "Performance” <![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--> before the fact of performance and after the
fact of performance. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If an individual is judged before he or she has a chance to
take the test - that is unfair. If discrimination occurs after the tests based
on performance measurements, then that is fair<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span> XE "Fair" <![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--> and necessary for a society to operate. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The third possibility is that the test is unfair. Many
debates arise when the fairness and appropriateness of tests is questioned. Schools generally have
established tests and standards that sort students by intelligence, aptitude and accomplishment. IQ tests sort
student by sampling their mental skills, which means sampling aspects of their
brain function with specific tests of cognitive ability.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Well-educated humans know about the distribution of
qualities, characteristics, goods and privileges in human populations. Biologists understand that the distribution
of observable characteristic follows the
distribution of genes<!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span>
XE "Distribution" <![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--> in a population. A "normal distribution” is a bell-shaped
curve, with most scores in the middle range and a few at each end, or "tail,"
of the distribution. A standard deviation<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span> XE "Standard deviation" <![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--> is a measure of distance from the mean or
average value; one standard deviation below the mean is at the 16th percentile;
one standard deviation above the mean is at the 84th percentile-- this is a big
difference. Two standard deviations from the mean mark the 2nd and 98th
percentiles (a bigger difference). Three standard deviations from the mean mark
the bottom and top thousandth of a distribution. In medicine, the distribution concept
is valuable and is used in daily practice to evaluate test results and to make
prognostications. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The main idea is that all human characteristics are
distributed and, no matter what human feature you are considering, you will
find some individuals with more and some with less. In medicine, two standard
deviations from the mean on a test result is described as "normal" on
the assumption that 98% of the population cannot be abnormal. This assumption is often reasonable, but may
be misleading if the distribution of a characteristic is skewed in a given
population. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div>
<h3>
<a href="http://www.nutramed.com/HumanNature/index.htm"><b>From Human Nature by Stephen Gislason</b></a></h3>
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="edn1">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=18660834#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">[i]</span><!--[endif]--></a>
Sergio Currarinia, Matthew O. Jackson, and Paolo Pind. Identifying the roles of
race-based choice and chance in high school friendship network formation. PNAS
March 16, 2010 vol. 107 no. 11 4857-4861</div>
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02609755350719581459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18660834.post-21532811038112452612016-10-28T14:39:00.003-07:002017-01-21T13:33:57.136-08:00Future of Human Rights<h3>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Future of Human Rights</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Michael Ignatieff in his essays about human rights reviewed the recent and not encouraging history of the human rights movement in the world. Human rights are abstract and largely invented. Analysis of the feasibility and the methodology of human rights needs to be grounded in a clear understanding of human nature. Ignatieff asks the question that lies at the heart of my philosophical inquiries: “If human beings are so special, why do we treat each other so badly?” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Ignatieff argues that human rights is the language of defending one’s autonomy against the oppression of religion, state, family and group. The proper emergence of rights is from the bottom up, from individuals who insist that the group they belong to respect the rights of each member, as an individual. Almost by definition, rules imposed from the top-down, by a moral or political authority insisting that all obey the rules imposed is not human rights. He reminds us that “human rights come to authoritarian societies when activists risk their lives and create a popular and indigenous demand for these rights, and when their activism receives consistent and forthright support from influential nations abroad.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Humans require regulation using a system of rules that are an external form of behavior coding. External regulation can evolve and improve by creating and maintaining stable social and political structures in a democratic infrastructure. Democracies are, however, unstable and vulnerable to internal dissolution as much as external attack. Democracies require elaborate internal rules and surveillance to prevent subgroups from achieving control over critical functions such as the money supply, police, courts and military forces. Subgroups are always competing for resources and control so that no civil society can be considered stable and enduring without an energetic and educated population of activists who are prepared to defend freedoms and privileges on a daily basis. Paranoid governments such as US administrations, develop elaborate spy networks inside the country that includes collecting data from phone calls, emails, and internet postings. In the worst case, governments imprison, torture, and kill citizens who are critical of the government and participate in protests.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img align="left" height="199" src="https://www.nutramed.com/images2008/staringwoman2.jpg" width="143" /></span> <br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To recall our fundamental truths: at the level of the largest organizations, small groups decide on policy and procedures that effect many nations, even the fate the entire species. The tendency to impose universal rules and policies from the top down is likely to fail because individuals and small groups cannot understand the diverse needs, values and beliefs of large numbers of humans. World-wide policies will tend to fail since they emerge from limited understanding, and ignore the tendency for humans to relate most strongly to the values and beliefs of their local group. World government is an oxymoron. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Whatever we value about civilized human existence - culture, knowledge, social justice, respect for human rights and dignity must be practiced anew and stored as modifications of each person's neocortex. Success at humanitarian efforts within a society reveals that portion of human attitudes, beliefs and behavior that can be modified and/or are supported by innate tendencies. Failure of moral authority reveals the extent to which innate negative tendencies prevail no matter how diligent the effort to modify or suppress them. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Human destiny as a species still lies with the programs in the old brain that offer only limited empathy and understanding and insist on the priority of survival at any cost. Individuals can transcend the old programs by diligent learning and practice but individual effort and learning does not change the genome, so that their can be no enduring human rights without the persistent and relentless initiation of new humans into a rational and compassionate world order. This, of course, is so far an impossible goal to achieve. You can then argue that if only 5% of the human population is not properly initiated they will have the power to destroy the civil order accomplished by the more reasonable 95% unless they are vigorously constrained, depriving them of their human rights.</span> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.nutramed.com/survival/index.htm">From Surviving Human Nature by Stephen Gislason</a></b></span><br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02609755350719581459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18660834.post-20934679172837267162016-10-28T14:37:00.000-07:002017-09-27T21:16:39.558-07:00Zen Buddhism<h3>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
Zen Buddhism</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Zen Buddhism is well known in Europe and North America even though it involves an obscure and difficult philosophy. Zen psychology contradicts common assumptions and doctrines. The practices found in Zen have evolved through several cultures in India, China and Japan. Zen can be considered a highly refined but tough and "bare bones" school of self-development that insists on a sustained and disciplined practice of meditation. Some would argue that Zen teaching is “pure Buddhism” as taught by the Buddha himself. In contrast to European philosophy and psychology, Zen discourages preoccupation with one's own story. If you keep a dairy, it could contain pictures of nature, little poems and drawings. Zen and science go well together.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Zen teaching takes a surgical approach to the cognitive lesions created by clinging to the past, egotism and the misuse of language: idle speculations, false story-telling, casemaking, memes and dualistic thinking. While dialectical processes of the brain appear to be built in and natural, a world view based on dualism distorts or conceals the seamless meshwork of events in the really real world. I would argue that paranoia is impossible in a proper Zen mind because there are no terrorists, there is no conspiracy, there is no blame, there is no danger, and there is no fear. Stories that blame others for the way you think and feel have no value and no one will listen to them. The government is not responsible. You are responsible. I am responsible. Everyone is responsible.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Zen developed in China and manifests the work ethic of Chinese peasants who were pragmatic and lived close to nature. Suzuki contrasted the Chinese as "the most practical people” with the Indians who tend to be “visionary and highly speculative... subtle in analysis and dazzling in poetic flight.” Suzuki stated: ”the Chinese are children of earthly life, they pod, till the soil, observing social duties and developing the most elaborate system of etiquette. He contrasted the Indian Mahayana Sutras that burst with multiple deities, kaleidoscopic colors, fantastic exaggeration and magical, supernatural powers attributed to the Buddha and Bodhisattvas, with the more grounded Chinese Sutras that contain Confucian principles; the superior man never talks about his magical powers nor does he refer to supernatural events.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Way of Zen </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I first encountered Zen Buddhism as a teenager in the form of Alan Watts book, the Way of Zen.Watts had a lasting impact on my understanding. Watts introduced the idea that language determined thought and misrepresented what is really going on. Watts stated: “…man is always in danger of confusing his measures with the world so measured, of identifying money with wealth, fixed conventions with fluid reality. But to the degree he identifies himself and his life with these rigid and hollow frames of definition, he condemns himself to the perpetual frustration of one trying to catch water in a sieve.”</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Watts also introduced the Tao, wu wei and the value of emptiness – all heretical concepts in the West. The Tao pointed to the natural way; the way of the natural mind and nature.The Taoist might be a sage in the forest who sat by a stream and conversed with birds. Wu wei means something like not doing, not acting, not making. Wu wei points to an insight into the way of the mind that is embedded deeply in Zen. Wu wei has at least two roots. The first root is a pragmatic assessment of the human condition. Human action is often un-necessary, wasteful and destructive. Why make hydrogen bombs when you could be sipping tea in a Zen garden?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Desires are often unattainable. Criticism and hate is invented and harmful. Ownership of things and people brings worry, frustration and ultimate loss. Why strive for all this stuff when happiness is your goal and sitting quietly by a stream brings happiness? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The second root is insight into the processes of the mind. All creativity is spontaneous and needs space; emptiness is valuable because it permits movement. The emergence of new forms of thought and experience require spaciousness in mind. Cluttered minds are not creative. So do nothing, empty the mind, be quiet and appreciate the natural world. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: blue;">Zen is paradoxical, self-contradictory and iconoclastic</span></b>, as exemplified in the following discourse: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dako came to the Zen Master and said: I am seeking the truth. In what state of mind should I train myself to find the truth? The Zen master said:</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There is no mind, so you cannot put it in any state.There is no truth so you cannot train yourself for it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dako asked: If there is no mind to train and no truth to find, why do you have these monks gather before you to study Zen?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Master replied: But, I haven’t an inch of room here, so how could the monks gather? I have no tongue so how could I call them together or teach them? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dako in frustration exclaimed: How can you lie like this?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But if I have no tongue to talk to others, how can I lie to you? asked the master.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dako said sadly I cannot follow you. I cannot understand you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I cannot understand myself said the Zen master.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<a href="http://www.nutramed.com/religion/index.htm"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">F<b>rom Religion for the 21st Century by Stephen Gislason</b></span></a><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02609755350719581459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18660834.post-7531683741692939502016-10-28T14:36:00.000-07:002017-01-21T13:40:31.083-08:00Killing an Innate Tendency<h3 style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
Killing an Innate Tendency</span></h3>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">
</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Clinton administration launched an attack on people in
Texas because those people were religious nuts with guns. Hell, this country
was founded by religious nuts with guns. Who does Bill Clinton think stepped
ashore on Plymouth Rock? “ P. J. O'Rourke</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Human males are predators and naturally express the
skills and interest in hunting and killing prey. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Men in the United States commit 85.53 per cent
of simple assaults, 87.31 percent of aggravated assaults and 88.5 percent of
murders. Women may play a supportive role in by encouraging their men to hate
and to kill. Women participate in the construction and maintenance of hatred
and can play a decisive role in initiating and sustaining lethal conflicts
among men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Men compete over women and
often kill each other to gain an advantage or to revenge sexual trespass. Men
and women conspire together to attack and kill rivals to gain property,
prestige and ostensibly to protect their lives and property. Anne Campbell
observed: ”For males, status and toughness where this quality is a determinant
of status is a route to desired resources, including females. Males seek public
recognition of their status and <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>trivial
altercations can result in homicide when an opponent's acts are interpreted as
a public challenge to a man's honor and when to back down is to accept that
dishonor.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Anthropologist, John Patton studied the Achuar, a tribe in
the Ecuadorian Amazon who have a high murder rate. In the 90’s after the
introduction of guns, killings increased; 50% of the males die from shotgun blasts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Achuar associate killing with prestige.
They value the warrior who has strategy, skill, valor, willingness to fight and
lack of hesitation in battle. There is a striking similarity between an Aschaur
tribe in the Amazon and a street gang in Los Angeles or New York and an army
platoon in any country you choose. Patton suggests that men have a keen sense
of whom they can and cannot trust in the event of a conflict: "You want to
be part of a group that is big enough to beat the other guys or at least be a
threat to them, yet not so big that you can't keep everyone fed. Friendships
are forged according to who can offer whom or what, as a sort of insurance
policy.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<h3>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mind-boggling Violent. </span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Herbert wrote: “Life in the United States is mind-bogglingly violent.
But we should take particular notice of the violence brought down on the
nation’s women and girls each and every day for no other reason than who they
are. They are attacked because they are female.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A girl or woman
somewhere in the U.S. is sexually assaulted every couple of minutes or so. The
number of seriously battered wives and girlfriends is beyond the ability of any
agency to count. There were so many sexual attacks against women in the armed
forces that the Defense Department had to revise its entire approach to the problem.
We would become a saner, healthier society if we could acknowledge that
misogyny is a serious and pervasive problem, and that the twisted way so many
men feel about women, combined with the easy availability of guns, is a toxic
mix of the most tragic proportions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Guns and killings are broadcast to everyone everyday in the
USA. Children learn how and what to shoot, were and when to place bombs and practice
their killing skills with video games. Bob Hebert, wrote in a New York Times
review:” I do think that millions of American adults have lost all sense of
what are appropriate forms of play for children and teenagers. And the country
as a whole behaves as though there is no real-world price to pay for a culture
that has so thoroughly desensitized us to violence that it takes a terror
attack or a series of suburban sniper killings to really get our attention… The
biggest-selling video game over the last couple of years has been a PlayStation
2 game called Grand Theft Auto III. It actually carries a voluntary
"M" rating, which means it's not recommended for kids under 17. But
younger teens have no problem buying "M"-rated games, and they love
the various incarnations of Grand Theft Auto. This is a game in which all
boundaries of civilized behavior have vanished. You get to shoot whomever you
want, including cops. You get to beat women to death with baseball bats. You
get to have sex with prostitutes and then kill them. (And get your money back.)
The game is a phenomenal seller. At close to $50 each, millions of copies are
sold annually.”</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong><a href="http://www.nutramed.com/survival/">From Surviving Human Nature by Stephen Gislason</a></strong></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02609755350719581459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18660834.post-14054604320019224922016-10-28T14:35:00.000-07:002016-10-28T14:35:06.736-07:00Impermanence Often Wrongly Described as Plasticity <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Impermanence Often Wrongly Described as Plasticity</b></span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Everything changes. The largest chunk of uncertainly is impermanence. There are constant paradoxes and contradictions built into our brain function. We must be alert to notice and respond to changes but, at the same time, attempt to be stable and consistent. Our visual system is designed to notice minute changes but ignores most of the movement around us to create the illusion of a stable world in consciousness. Growth, development, and aging are the main expressions of predetermined impermanence that combines DNA programming with environmental opportunities and hazards. You could argue that brain growth and development changes are most vigorous in the first 20 years of life; later, after a brief period of relative stability, degenerative changes take over, accelerating with advancing age.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
Too often, I am an unwilling victim of television news nonsense and plasticity is a current favorite topic. Brain damaged survivors are shown with plausible mental abilities, as if their example refuted neuroscience beliefs. The term plasticity has crept into neuroscience jargon and should be erased from the vocabulary. I am not aware of the source of plastic metaphor and can only assume that it refers to a material that can be coaxed into different shapes by heat and pressure using a variety of machines. I cannot see any connection between the malleability of plastic and the constant flux that characterize brain function.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Even smart, educated humans participate in these media delusions. For example, I was surprised to read a report by Allison Gandey from a meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine that revealed basic ignorance among a group of smart professionals. She stated: " Some suggest the discovery of neuroplasticity is the most important breakthrough in neuroscience since the revelation of the brain's basic anatomy. Proponents say the brain is pliable and can alter its structure and function. " One MD even admitted:" We used to think the brain was wired after about the first 3 years and what you had was what you got and you work within that because there was no chance of changing it. If on top of that the brain was damaged, you had to live with that damage. Neuroplasticity says that's not so — the brain is changing all the time." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
It is true that the brain is changing all the time, but it is not true that this is a discovery or a breakthrough. It is also not true that lost function is easy to recover. While it might be true that limited recovery of function is possible after brain injury, it is more true that loss of function tends to be permanent after the initial recovery in the first few months. You might consider that some physicians are lost souls with erroneous assumptions and unrealistic fantasies, but then, I also read rather naïve comments about plasticity in the neuroscience literature.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
A big problem we have is that while the world around us changes, we also change and the biggest changes occur in our brain. The idea of one personality remaining stable over many years is actually absurd, but we are tempted to believe in an enduring self. An astute observer will notice that each day brings forward a series of different personalities within one body. I call these personalities eigenstates. The self is not one entity but rather consists of a collection eigenstates that serve different needs, roles and capabilities. Some eigenstates are built it others are learned and remain open-ended, evolving with changing circumstances. '</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
Neurons and glial cells are the brain cells that a manifest all the properties of mind. The study of neurons could be considered ne plus ultra, the quantum mechanics of biology. Neurons come in different shapes and sizes but have the common property of constant changes receiving and sending information. Neurons conduct discrete signals as electro-chemical pulses, known as action potentials or “spikes.” The signal passes from one neuron to another by the secretion of chemical neurotransmitters in synapses. There are trillions of synaptic junctions in the human brain. Learning occurs at least in part by changes in the number, strength and kind of synaptic connections. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
Learning, in the best case, is adaptive impermanence that requires changes to brain structure and function. We will consider, for example, that learned movements are generated from dynamic cortical maps based on fields of activity that converge and diverge in complex patterns. Over time, the pieces of the map change with learning and practice, so that the construction of cortical connections is always in flux. This impermanence allows us to learn at all stages of life, to adjust to changing environments and, to some extent, to work around disabilities that arise from brain injury and disease. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sleep is a transformative time of day. Cortical neurons are active, reviewing events of the day. During slow-wave sleep, the cortex disconnects from other parts of the brain and concentrates on memory consolidation. The emergent properties of the sleeping brain are unpredictable. You could argue that the events of each day will alter the brain during sleep and a new person wakes in the morning. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<b><a href="http://www.nutramed.com/neuroscience/"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">From Neuroscience Notes by Stephen Gislason MD</span></a></b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02609755350719581459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18660834.post-13489537506093540272016-10-28T14:33:00.000-07:002017-01-21T13:41:38.568-08:00Democracy and Control of Citizens<br />
<h2 style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="background-color: blue; color: cyan; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Democracy and control of Citizens</span></h2>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">We have recognized that humans in groups larger than 150
require an external form of behavioral regulation that is ephemeral and must be
renewed continuously. The invention and enforcement of rules occur within
hierarchical organizations that, by their own nature are autocratic and
self-serving. Citizens living in democracies must prevent subgroups with vested
interests from achieving control over critical functions such as the money
supply, police, courts and military forces. Subgroups are always competing for
resources and control so that the freedom promised in an ideal democracy cannot
be considered stable and enduring. The preservation of democracies requires an
energetic and well educated population of activists who are prepared to defend
freedoms and privileges on a daily basis. The preservation of freedom in
democracies also depends on a well educated and dedicated population of civil
servants who can administer complex infrastructures competently and honestly. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Elected politicians are seldom competent administrators and
must depend on senior civil servants for management skills. One weakness of
democratic governments is that personnel and policies are in constant flux
because of the instability of political processes. This weakness is also
strength since truly democratic elections can shuffle the deck so that power
bases, among both elected official and civil servants are disrupted at regular
intervals. The trade-off is less competent administration in favor of less
dictatorial government. The greater evil is clearly the emergence of a powerful
government that assumes dictatorial powers and cannot be opposed or
displaced. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Another weakness is that governments grow large and
unmanageable. Bureaucratic inefficiency, indifference and incompetence is well known
and tolerated only because there is no obvious alternative. In Canada, optimism
and idealism is sometimes expressed as compassion for refugees and a
willingness to welcome immigrants from all over the world. While the result has
been mostly positive, newcomers are sometimes hostile to Canadian culture,
disregard laws, engage in criminal activity and dream of taking over the
country sometime in the future. Group identity and affiliations established
early in life tend to endure and will often override later alliances
established after immigration. The tendency in Canada is for immigrant groups
to maintain their native language and traditions and to resist assimilation
into Canadian culture. A host society has limited capacity to assimilate
newcomers. When this capacity is exceeded, the newcomers change the society
more that the society changes the newcomers. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Canada, like the USA and many European countries has become
mosaic of different ethnic groups with the separate, sometimes incompatible,
traditions, languages, beliefs, values and goals.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><a href="http://www.nutramed.com/survival/index.htm"><b>From Surviving Human Nature by Stephen Gislason</b></a></span></div>
<i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02609755350719581459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18660834.post-41446538689436558602016-10-28T14:27:00.001-07:002017-01-21T13:46:02.214-08:00Virtual Realty , Smart Phones, Internet Addiction<h3>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Virtual Reality, Smart Phones, Internet Addiction</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Electronic machines have a strong appeal and create new possibilities for users. Children adapt quickly to video games and hand held devices that beep, display characters and images. Hand-eye coordination skills develop quickly. Some children display astonishing speed interacting with video games but become frantic and robotic in this connection with electronic virtual reality. You can argue that electronic games are perverse machines since they occupy time and attention in a virtual reality that might be better spent enjoying and cultivating the real world. Television has been declared a perverse machine for the same reason – a virtual reality replaces the real world and sedentary viewers may become fat, sick and confused. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<h3>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial";">No Education in Video Games</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Lewin observed that:’ New media products for babies, toddlers and preschoolers began flooding the market in the late 1990's, starting with video series like "Baby Einstein" and "Brainy Baby." But now, the young children's market has exploded into a host of new and more elaborate electronics for pre-schoolers, including video game consoles like the V. Smile and handheld game systems like the Leapster, all marketed as educational. Despite the commercial success, though, a report released yesterday by the Kaiser Family Foundation, "A Teacher in the Living Room? Educational Media for Babies, Toddlers and Pre-schoolers," indicates there is little understanding of how the new media affect young children - and almost no research to support the idea that they are educational… In 1999, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended no screen time at all for babies under 2, out of concern that the increasing use of media might displace human interaction and impede the crucially important brain growth and development of a baby's first two years. “ </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The growing dependence on smart phones and video games among teenagers and young adults is a very destructive trend in human development supported by a rapidly expanding multibillion dollar commerce. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dougherty reviewed some of the current trends (2016): “In a recent survey by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit research group, half of teenagers said they watched TV while doing their homework, while 60 percent said they texted and three-quarters said they listened to music. About three-quarters of United States teenagers have access to a mobile phone, according to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center. Most go online daily and about a quarter of them use the Internet “almost constantly. Those numbers have created a growing advertising market and fortunes for apps like Snapchat and Instagram, which is owned by Facebook. This year companies are projected to spend $30 billion on in-app advertising in the United States, roughly double what they spent in 2014, according to eMarketer, a research company. But even though these services all have the same core functions — find friends, post pictures, send messages — teenagers juggle them constantly, developing arcane customs for what to post where and ditching one app for another the moment it becomes uncool. To manage their identities in and obligations to this world in their pockets, they adhere to rules that have somehow been absorbed and adopted by their peers. App makers fear this kind of juggling the way TV networks fear DVRs. Each time someone leaves one app for another, there is a chance that user will never come back. And since apps make money only when users are plugged in and absorbing ads, the number of monthly users is less important than how many users they get each day — and how long they stay.” (Conor Dougherty. App Makers Reach Out to the Teenager on Mobile NYT Jan. 1, 2016)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<h3>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial";">High Tech Stupidity</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The real question is what humans really want? A better real world is a good answer. A better real world would be more natural, cleaner, safer, and more stable. A better world might be achieved, but not by the people who are preoccupied watching TV and playing videogames. Children are not well-served by television, movies, video games and games played with computers. Good parents face an increasing task of limiting virtual reality experiences and keeping children in the real world. While considerable effort has been made to rate television shows and movies and a few parents restrict access to violence and sex shows, the average child is hooked on virtual reality, is physically inactive, gaining weight, and not gaining a useful perspective on what is really going on out there in the real world. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The term virtual refers to the replacement of a real person or event with a substitute. "Virtual reality" has come to mean a computer-generated environment that is a facsimile of a real environment. You can create the illusion that you are walking around in a room by displaying pictures on a computer monitor and computer games routinely simulate three dimensions in two. If you wear the visual display as wrap around goggles, you can improve on the visual experience of a three-dimensional space, but the display is far from convincing. Movies often create virtual realities and virtual characters are proliferating.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Loose talk, fantasy, paranoia, violence and terror have become commonplace in movie and television plots that place computers and robots at the center of some fantasized machine takeover of the world. The people who write these scripts apparently do not understand computers very well and understand the intelligence of living creatures even less. A realist will note that there are no independently intelligent machines and there are no prospects for "intelligent machines" except in some vague fantasy. The only intelligence found in machines is human intelligence put there by people who design and program the machines.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Computer generated "virtual realities" are limited and limiting but there is increasing evidence that at least some children prefer these virtual realities (VR) and withdraw increasingly from the real world (RW) if they have a choice. In VR you try to create a hermetic world that is more predictable and mostly under your control. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Every environment that humans build is a step in the direction of creating an ultimate virtual reality. The living room equipped with drapes and a television set with remote controller is the most common virtual reality machine. You close the drapes to tune out the real world; with remote controller in hand, in the tradition of the most powerful person in the universe, tune into the virtual reality of videospace. With the push of a few buttons, you can skim the video envelope surrounding planet earth and adjust the picture and volume to your liking. What you experience is another matter. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Videospace is full of gossip, fantasy, noise, confusion and violence. The worst of human behavior seems to receive the most attention. While it is challenging to exaggerate human perversity that actually exists in the RW, television VR programs often succeed. Perversity is amplified, exaggerated and sustained beyond any reasonable notion of entertainment or artistic license. You can argue that humans are unrealistic about all the virtual realties they create. Illusions of security and comfort are routinely accepted even when a VR is manifestly dangerous. The car is a virtual reality machine. Inside a new luxury automobile you are in a dream space; you feel comfortable, secure and in control. A new car is hermetic and the designers have thought of many comforts and conveniences. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You carry this sense of hermetic perfection with you as your drive and may not comprehend that in 60 seconds your luxury vehicle could be transformed into a pile of rubble and you could be seriously injured or dead. Children are notably unrealistic about the dangers of driving cars. If they are trained on virtual cars in video space, they will become dangerous drivers. You could argue that they will develop superior hand-eye coordination and should be technically better drivers, but the flaw is that they have no sense of how the real world operates, have practiced aggressive and dangerous driving and have poor judgment about the hazards they face and the hazards they impose on others.\</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<h3>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Teaching Violence with Videogames</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bob Hebert, wrote in a New York Times review :” I do think that millions of American adults have lost all sense of what are appropriate forms of play for children and teenagers. And the country as a whole behaves as though there is no real-world price to pay for a culture that has so thoroughly desensitized us to violence that it takes a terror attack or a series of suburban sniper killings to really get our attention… The biggest-selling video game over the last couple of years has been a PlayStation 2 game called Grand Theft Auto III. It actually carries a voluntary "M" rating, which means it's not recommended for kids under 17. But teens have no problem buying "M"-rated games, and they love the various incarnations of Grand Theft Auto. This is a game in which all boundaries of civilized behavior have vanished. You get to shoot whomever you want, including cops. You get to beat women to death with baseball bats. You get to have sex with prostitutes and then kill them. (And get your money back.) The game is a phenomenal seller. At close to $50 each, millions of copies are sold annually. The latest version, Grand Theft Auto, Vice City, is expected to be one of the biggest sellers this Christmas…”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The curious aspect of future technology fears and fantasies is that all the problems in the real world are sometimes discussed and then ignored. Even the most advanced countries today have aging infrastructures, ready to collapse at any moment. We are dependent on machines that depend on aging infrastructures that are inadequate in the best case. Electricity, telephone, cable communications and the internet are carried by wires on poles that fall down easily, pushed by a little wind or shaken by earth tremors. Even if TV networks keep broadcasting, viewers may not have enough clean water to drink or food to eat. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While we do not need space exploration, we need better technology to build a more stable and friendly infrastructure close to home. Parents must ask: What do children really want? Do they want more distraction and entertainment in virtual reality or do they want a real life in the real and healthy world? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The problems of bad food and eating excesses are embedded in the virtual reality of television and all other marketing media. The supermarket is a virtual reality that presents real food along with packaged, processed and junk foods. Again parents are confused and easily lose perspective on what is the correct food to feed children. Children, of course, responding to television advertising and store displays, demand and usually receive the wrong foods. I think it is necessary for parents to fully comprehend the two pronged assault on their children’s well-being; bad information and bad chemicals combine to produce disturbed or sick children. Normal is not normal. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Lewin, T. See Baby Touch a Screen but Does Baby Get It? New York Times. December 15, 2005. Hebert,B. The Gift of Mayhem. New York Times. Nov 28 2002.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<h3>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial";"><a href="http://www.nutramed.com/survival">From Surviving Human Nature</a> By Stephen Gislason</span></h3>
</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02609755350719581459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18660834.post-65408178226678639982016-04-25T14:27:00.000-07:002017-01-21T13:49:29.224-08:00Refugees Increasing: No Easy Solutions<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Syrian refugees in 2015 are representative of refugee
migrations occurring from many countries. An estimated 48 million refugees by
2014 were camped in squalid conditions without rights or privileges. Stewart
summarized the appalling development in world affairs: "International
organizations give every indication of being overwhelmed, and no wonder. Just
compare this 48 million with one of the greatest humanitarian crises in history
— when a shattered Europe at the end of the Second World War had to resettle a
staggering 16 million displaced persons. A horrifying number certainly, but
only a third as many as we have now. To make matters worse, the crisis is
happening at a time when ever more countries are putting up new barriers and
taking in fewer refugees. The result is that while over eight million newly
displaced refugees are being added annually and barely one per cent of those
seeking asylum are resettled in any given year. The average amount of time
families live in refugee camps is a staggering 17 years."</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Citizens of relatively affluent countries are likely to have
some compassion for displaced humans and will want to help individuals that
they can identify and know. There are important limitations that constrain
compassion.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We have recognized that
humans act from self interest and group interest. Helping others in need
satisfies a deep instinct for group survival, for mutual protection, food
sharing and child care. The desire to help is short-lived and will often end in
confusion and despair as newcomers fail to adapt and integrate. Membership in a
supportive group is a privilege to be earned and defended. Altruistic acts are
conditional and limited in scope and duration. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We have recognized that humans
require an external form of behavioral regulation that is ephemeral and must be
renewed continuously. The invention and enforcement of rules occurs within
hierarchical organizations. Subgroups are always competing for resources and
control so that the freedom promised in an ideal democracy cannot be considered
stable and enduring. Any large migration of strangers into a community is a
threat to the existing order. The preservation of freedom in democracies
depends on well educated and culturally compatible humans who can maintain a
civil order. Immigrating strangers are not likely to have the prerequisites
required by the civil order. Indeed, the most obvious feature of mass
migrations is the disruption of civic order. The opportunities are limited for
large groups of refugees to settle in a new country and become constructive,
contributing citizens. Everything we have learned about human nature suggests
that big long-term problems will emerge from mass migrations. These problems do
not have obvious solutions. </span></div>
<h3>
<span style="color: blue;"><br /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The UN List reasons for the plight of refugees:</span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Conflicts are becoming more protracted, some dragging on for
decades. There are currently 21 nations in ongoing conflicts with no clear end
in sight. Think Syria, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Central Africa, the
Sudan and Congo. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The UN refers to "the shrinking of humanitarian
space" as more conflicts are being waged by non-state forces such as
militias, insurgent groups, bands of religious fanatics and bandits who
terrorize civilians and aid workers alike. As fewer rules are respected, even
refugee camps are not safe from attack, and aid workers become prime targets.
More terror means more refugees.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Asylum itself is eroding as more countries put up barriers
to block the mass movement of desperate people, a list that includes economic
migrants and refugees alike as they search for haven alongside each other. 14
EU nations have refused Syrian refugees, often citing pressure from their own
ultra-nationalistic parties during hard economic times."</span></div>
<h3>
<span style="color: blue;">T<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">oo Many Humans, Too Much Conflict </span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The deep problem is human reproductive success is. Too many
humans means that increasingly large numbers will have to migrate to avoid
hunger, dehydration, natural and man-made disasters.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The problem of overpopulation cannot be
appreciated only in terms of numbers alone, or the geographic distribution of
populations, or even resources available to keep humans alive; the real problem
is the disputatious and destructive aspects of human behavior. Increased
population density creates increased social and economic problems that resist
solution. Children are at risk when parents do not have the motivation,
intelligence and resources needed to support them. Only thoughtful,
well-educated and affluent parents have the opportunity to understand their
responsibilities, to plan and allocate resources for an unborn child. All
problems would decrease by increasing the competence of parents, reducing
population size and limiting growth long term. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The European Union countries have become the most desirable
destinations for Syrian refugees. Their large numbers have produced
consternation in Europe, a model for the future? "In the first seven
months of 2014, more than 87,000 people arrived in Italy by sea, mainly from
Eritrea and the Syrian Arab Republic (Syria). In an effort to reduce the risks
linked to such journeys, in October 2013 the Italian Government launched the
Mare Nostrum operation, which has rescued more than 100,000 people at sea.
Greece and Spain also recorded an increase in arrivals. The economic situation
in the region has had an impact on the capacity and readiness of many countries
to strengthen their protection systems. Austerity measures have also hit
civil-society organizations that provide services to asylum-seekers and
refugees. Xenophobia and intolerance have led to incidents of discrimination
and violence. States have responded by concentrating on curbing irregular
movements, including through tighter border controls and detention, or
penalization for illegal entry.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Over 150,000 people seeking to enter Europe have reached
Hungary in 2015, most coming through the southern border with Serbia, and many
apply for asylum but quickly try to leave for richer EU countries. Hungarian
Prime Minister Viktor Orban built a barbed wire fence on the border with Serbia
to stop the huge flow of migrants. Orban declared his determination to stop the
refugees: "Today we are talking about tens of thousands but next year we
will be talking about millions and this has no end. We have to make it clear
that we can't allow everyone in, because if we allow everyone in, Europe is
finished. If you are rich and attractive to others, you also have to be strong
because if not, they will take away what you have worked for and you will be
poor, too."</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The burden of the invading refugees has been unevenly
distributed, with Germany taking in the most migrants a, projected 800,000
while Hungary, Sweden and tiny Montenegro have accepted the most per
capita.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thomas de Maizière, Germany’s
interior minister stated:” The refugees are synonymous with formidable change.
We must get used to the thought that our country is changing.” The Social
Ministry expects the German government to spend 1.8 billion to 3.3 billion
euros, about $2 billion to $3.7 billion, in 2016 to cover the refugees’ basic
needs, language lessons and job training. As those costs mount, so might
resentment. Already Germany has experienced a backlash against the migrants —
the worst in Europe. Neo-Nazi and right-wing groups have seized on the issue,
organizing demonstrations outside homes for asylum seekers. In the first six
months of this year, there were more than 200 arson and other attacks on
facilities for migrants, and on migrants themselves. One fear is that an
open-door policy will make Germany more vulnerable to Islamic extremism and
terrorism.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Free movement of people and
goods through borders in the European Union was a precept of its cohesion.
Austria was the first country to reactivate its border crossing controls and
other countries are likely to follow.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A basic tenant of world order is state sovereignty and the
right of countries to control immigration. The refugees entering Europe have no
respect for state sovereignty and believe they have rights that they did not
earn. While a sympathetic view of desperate people may forgive this lawlessness
in the beginning, the attitude does not suggest respect and lawful conduct in
the future. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Climate change is an important cause of conflict, economic
distress, and increasing scarcity of essential human resources – water, food
and shelter. Infectious disease also increases the human burden. Human survival
in the past 200,000 years has been challenged by natural disasters and climate
changes. Survival required migration away from unforgiving environments toward
new habitats with more resources. The near future will bring more severe
climate changes that force more mass migrations. The problems cannot be solved
easily.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The altruistic impulse in more
secure regions will face the threat of increasing world disorder. Orban’s
declaration that millions of refugees without qualifications will seek to share
the riches of affluent countries: ”... you also have to be strong because if
not, they will take away what you have worked for and you will be poor,
too."</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02609755350719581459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18660834.post-14745550314314751152016-04-15T14:06:00.001-07:002016-04-15T14:07:35.075-07:00Politics, Elections, Innate Behaviors<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">P. J. O'Rourke</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I have a self-imposed ban on US political news. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have learned enough to conclude that
elections are hopeless charades. My approach is to develop and apply some general
rules of human nature to current events. There are no surprises, ancient
patterns recur reliability. The names and places may change, but the underlying
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>patterns are innate and fixed in human
DNA.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Elections are often thought to be the essence of democracy,
but as human groups grow larger and social organization more complex, elections
become media events that preclude the ideal of citizen involvement in
government. In a simple analysis, increasing size and complexity of government
makes ideal democracy impossible. Eventually, democratic rights might be
restored by internet technologies that permit citizens to discuss and vote
directly on policy issues and legislation. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
The value of elections is not so much the selection of the
right people to run governments since this result is seldom achieved. Elections
invite the powerbrokers to spend increasing sums of money to elect candidates
they chose. You could argue that candidate selection for elections is so inappropriate,
so contrived that the real tasks facing the elected politicians will never be
addressed. An election lottery choosing from thoughtfully selected, highly
qualified citizens would do a better job of forming governments. An alert,
well-informed citizenry and a politically independent judiciary are essential
to the preservation of personal freedoms. A civil society develops multiple
overlapping levels of dispute resolution with the right to appeal bad decisions
that are common and inevitable when local tribunals and courts decide who is
privileged and who is not.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span>The US Example</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span>According to Posner,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>in the US, the founding fathers did not want to set up a democracy but a
mixed government. The presidency is the monarchical element, the Senate and
Supreme Court are aristocratic elements and only the democratic element is the
House of Representatives. This design has worked more or less to balance competing
interests, but Bush and Cheney demonstrated that the design had become
obsolete. The Constitution is the supreme law of the United States. The United
States Constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787, by the Constitutional
Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and later ratified by conventions in
each U.S. state in the name of "The People"; it has since been
amended twenty-seven times, the first ten amendments being known as the Bill of
Rights. None of the amendments change the infrastructure of governance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The US is a totally different country in the
21st century. Corporations that do not evolve with changing circumstances tend
to fail. So do countries with antiquated constitutions. Researchers at Princeton
University have definitively concluded that America isn’t a democracy… instead,
it’s an oligarchy in which power is vested in a few persons or in a dominant
class or clique; government by the few. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span>In the US, government is a circus of competing interests,
displaying their wares in a variety of venues. The real process of government
is an endless series of negotiations. Negotiated deals tend to benefit the more
aggressive, influential and wealthy participants. Government as a circus is
arguably better than government as a monarch’s court, but it is not ideal and
may not be sustainable. All governments are inefficient and are prone to
corruption.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span id="goog_368303766"></span><a href="http://www.nutramed.com/survival/index.htm"><strong>From Surviving Human Nature by Stephen Gislason</strong></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><o:p><span id="goog_368303767"></span></o:p></div>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02609755350719581459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18660834.post-17420478797119086602016-01-01T19:01:00.001-08:002016-01-01T19:02:17.941-08:00Selection, Competition and Survival <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every creature who is hatched or born on planet earth faces a series of tests to find out if he or she has the right stuff to survive. Nature is not kind to individuals who do not make the grade. Animal populations consist of healthy, smart members because everyone else died or was eaten. Humans have an unusual ability to protect their young, sick and disabled members so that strong, healthy members increasingly devote more of their time, money and energy helping the less fortunate. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This altruistic option in human groups, however, does not alter the tough and persistent competition among humans for resources, mates, money, prestige and security.
In every aspect of human life, there is a selection process operating. The selection of members for special status or privilege involves tests to find out who has the right stuff. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Humans are constantly evaluating each other, constantly noticing differences in appearance and behavior, automatically sorting the people they meet into convenient categories. Humans respond strongly to physical characteristics and react negatively to humans who differ in appearance, size, shape sex or color. Humans are built to respond differently to different characteristics. This discriminatory tendency is innate, not a matter of choice or learning. The details may be learned but the tendency is innate and is not going to disappear. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The fantasy of egalitarian democracy is out of step with nature and the reality of human behavior. Every human society is a little prototype of evolution. Every group, large or small, invents selection processes to sort humans by age, gender, appearance, ancestry, intelligence, aptitudes, skills, accomplishment and other variables. You can invent rules against sorting, but sorting will continue because it is natural and important. In every human life, everyday, a selection process is at work. There is an odd discrepancy between the realities of rigorous, persistent selection processes in nature and the pretense that everyone has the same ability and should have the same opportunity to succeed at any endeavor they fancy. The Miss America pageant is not egalitarian and only one young beauty is selected from thousands of beautiful young woman who enter beauty contests in their own states. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The selection of one from many is basic to human society. Many-to-one is the rule of hierarchy and every society generates a hierarchal distribution of rights and privileges, even societies based on the principle of equal opportunity for all. We would like to believe that selection processes employed in business and education are fair and not discriminatory. There is an important distinction between discrimination before the fact of performance and after the fact of performance. If an individual is judged before he or she has a chance to take the test - that is unfair. If discrimination occurs after the tests based on performance measurements, then that is fair and necessary for a society to operate. The third possibility is that the test is unfair. Many debates arise when the fairness and appropriateness of tests is questioned. Schools generally have established tests and standards that sort students by intelligence, aptitude and accomplishment. IQ tests sort student by sampling their mental skills, which means sampling aspects of their brain function with specific tests of cognitive ability. Well-educated humans know about the distribution of qualities, characteristics, goods and privileges in human populations.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The main idea is that all human characteristics are distributed and, no matter what human feature you are considering, you will find some individuals with more and some with less. In medicine, two standard deviations from the mean on a test result is described as "normal" on the assumption that 98% of the population cannot be abnormal. This assumption is often reasonable but may be misleading if the distribution of a characteristic is skewed in a given population. For example, two thirds of adult Puma Indians in the southern states are obese and develop adult onset diabetes. If you limited your data collection to the Puma Indians, you might consider obesity to be normal. However, if you compare the Pumas with Harvard faculty, the Pumas have greater number of diabetics and you conclude that Puma normal is abnormal in Boston. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No one gets upset if a scientist reports more diabetes in Pumas, but some get upset if a scientist reports a lower average IQ in groups of US blacks compared with whites. The black and white classification of humans is, of course, inherently misleading. The simple fact is that humans have a range of IQ, skills and aptitudes. "Equal opportunity" does not mean equal ability or equal accomplishment.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite the assertion in the US Declaration of Independence, not all men are “created equal.” Some men, for example, are women. The task for a humanitarian society is to treat all men and women equally despite obvious differences in shape, size, appearance, gender, color, mental abilities, aptitudes, beliefs and habits. This is a task for idealists and cannot be achieved except in an approximate manner with strict and relentless application of non-discrimination rules. Sorting, selection, discrimination, social stratification, economic differentials are as natural and inevitable as differences in gender, size, weight, blood pressure and lifespan. If the topic is IQ distribution, some get upset about population and individual differences based on genetic differences.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.nutramed.com/humanNature/index.htm">From Human Nature by Stephen Gislason</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02609755350719581459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18660834.post-13150039444344146342015-09-29T19:03:00.000-07:002015-09-29T19:04:26.961-07:00Idealists and Pragmatists Idealist are good at generating codes of conduct, rules of engagement and visions of the future when the good and true will prevail. The problem, of course, is that ideal human conduct is rare and when it does occur, it is temporary. Pragmatists focus on what actually happens and develop strategies to fix what is broken. World problems have proliferated at a feverish pitch. Everywhere you look, there are big problems that promise to get worse rather than better. A list of these problems discourage even the most optimistic of citizens. <br />
<br />
If you take a God’s eye view of the planet, you have to notice one basic fact – that most humans generate problems on a daily basis and a smaller number try to catch up with solutions. You can supply AIDs drugs to the sick and poor in Africa, but the recovering patients suffer from malnutrition, water shortages and other diseases. Their social infrastructures are gone. If they survive their immediate adversities, warriors from neighboring tribes may arrive one day and kill them with machetes or automatic rifles, bought from US or Chinese weapon suppliers. <br />
<br />
Even polite societies that have enjoyed periods of affluence and stability, a series of increasingly severe problems accumulate and undermine social order. In the US, a incompetent congress an ineffective administration, a failing economy, an aging infrastructure that needs reconstruction, destructive weather events and many layers of conflict within the society are serious problems with no obvious remedy. We have briefly considered the cumulative effects of resource depletion, habitat destruction, climate change and changing patterns of disease; these descriptions point to problems that do not have easy solutions. <br />
<br />
A pragmatic approach to an overwhelming set of problems is to establish priorities and focus on achievable goals. Within every effective pragmatist is the hope that incremental problem solving will in the end produce a rational, enduring social order. There is also the hope that young, smart, well-informed people will join an enlarging group of problem solvers, hard at work every day in every country on the planet. <br />
<br />
Smart people can break through old paradigms and recognize patterns in human nature. This is happening all the time. Good, new ideas always impress me and I always ask -why didn't I think of that? A new, good idea can spread from person to person and can make people smarter and more effective in the world. A good idea may seem obvious once you understand and accept it, but before someone comes up with the idea, you are ignorant. Humans who do not have access to new ideas and learn only a few of the old, worn-out and bad ideas are stuck with being ignorant; the natural and spontaneous level of human thought is crude and superstitious, often based on false beliefs and errors in judgment and attribution. Humans do well, even with marked cognitive limitations, because most transactions of life are carried out by innate, expert systems in their brain that do not require educated and rational thinking. Even though crude thinking dominates human society and will probably dominate for a long time to come, a small percentage of humans with especially clever minds will keep evolving toward some ultimate encounter with the really real. We can hope that smart and nice come together, since smart and evil is an undesirable combination.
<b><a href="http://www.nutramed.com/survival/index.htm"></a>From Surviving Human Nature by Stephen Gislason</b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02609755350719581459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18660834.post-77737962494260992052015-08-16T15:10:00.000-07:002015-08-16T15:15:18.652-07:00Fossil Fuels Require Intelligent Use<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The sun's energy is free, but methods of converting this
energy into human wealth requires technical ingenuity and cost money. Plants
are the most generous energy converters and humans supply labor and skills to
grow the most useful plants. Some of the sun's energy has been stored</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">in the earth's crust as fossil fuels -- coal,
oil and natural gas. The carbon in these deposits was captured by plants and
animals. To make a complex story simple you can argue that</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">much of the wealth generated in the 20th
century was an expression of the relatively cheap and abundant energy supplied
by carbon deposits. Diesel and gasoline fuelled engines, allowed the creation
of machines that work for humans, permitted industrial-scale, mechanized
agriculture and worldwide transportation system at sea, on land and in the air.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt 22.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The planet</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">has carbon
stores in many forms and places. In ecological terms, the carbon cycle must be
understood and properly managed if long term human survival is desirable. If
too much of this carbon is released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide,
climates change and human populations are at risk.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fossil fuels represent a valuable and finite
resource that should be used with restraint and sophisticated understanding.
The opposite occurred in the 20th century with the exploitation of fossil fuel
in a reckless manner. A major challenge for 21st century humans is to better
understand the proper uses of fossil fuels, restrain their use, and control the
release of carbon gases into the atmosphere.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt 22.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Major changes in the identification of new gas and</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">oil</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">fields and changes in methods of extraction have occurred, giving the
USA and Canada domestic sources of fossil fuel that may provide current levels
of energy for</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">many more years – longer
if use decreases with sensible conservation policies and more efficient energy
use. China has a vast resource of shale gas and oil that remains in the ground.
The International Energy Agency reported</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">that to meet the world’s growing need for energy will require more than
a $48 trillion in investment between now and 2035. Current spending is $1.6
trillion per year.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The WEA estimate
ignores climate change and may be completely wrong. In 2014 the supply of oil
exceeded demand and world prices dropped dramatically. The OPEC suppliers</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">refused to reduce production, so that low
prices would force competing countries to reduce their capital expenditures on
new and expensive oil well development. Low oil prices means the more fossil
fuels can be burned with increased climate change calamities.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt 22.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oil pricing has become a frantic interaction of countries
with fossil fuels to sell, speculators driven by greed, and consumers who
continue to buy petroleum products regardless of price. The consumers exercise
little control over the supply and cost of fossil fuels; however, consumers are
the only group that could adopt a sensible policy of fossil fuel consumption.
Despite many protest groups attacking the oil and gas industry,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">little has been accomplished. Protesters
usually attack the producers and never accept the blame that the consumers
deserve. The final solution to the problems that fossil fuel extraction creates
is for consumers to use less. Every responsible citizen needs to pledge a 30%
reduction in fossil fuel use immediately and further reductions as alternative
energy sources become available.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt 22.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Canada is a country with large deposit is of fossil fuels
and an economy that depends of gas and oil revenues. A healthy debate</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">slows industrial devolvement with its threat
of land and water pollution. The debate is mostly between Canadians who want
more oil revenues by building pipelines and coastal ports needed to export gas
and oil and Canadians who are committed to protecting the natural environment.
Governments, corporations and their investors who receive oil and gas revenues
continue to push for more development. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt 22.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Horodelski stated: "And another worrisome note, some
traders are looking at the derivative books and seeing negative signs when it
comes to the plummet in oil. You may wish to spend the weekend brushing up on
CLOs (collateral loan obligations), CDSs (credit default swaps) and other
derivative instruments. Unfortunately, when you try to get some decent research
on the size and issues associated with this market you find yourself in the
dark, deep web of conspiracy theorists and doom-day seers."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt 22.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reduced oil and gas production and increased cost worldwide
would be a long-term benefit for all humans. Reduced consumption reduces air
water and land pollution and is a perquisite of controlling climate change. The
industrial arguments for providing the energy needs of</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">increasing populations and promoting economic
growth are persuasive and pervasive. The real solution has three components:</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt 22.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reduced populations</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt 22.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Non fossil fuel energy
sources</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt 22.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Economies with no
dependence on oil and gas revenues</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt 22.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">study funded by the
UK Energy Research Centre</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">concluded that
the world should forego extracting a third of its oil and half of its gas
reserves before 2050…</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The majority of
the huge coal reserves in China, Russia and the United States should remain
unused along with over 260 thousand million barrels oil reserves in the Middle
East, equivalent to all of the oil reserves held by Saudi Arabia. The Middle
East should also leave over 60% of its gas reserves in the ground. The
development of resources in the Arctic and any increase in unconventional oil –
oil of a poor quality which is hard to extract – are also found to be
inconsistent with efforts to limit climate change.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt 22.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Economist argued that the fall in oil and gas prices is
an opportunity for a new approach to fossil fuels:" Most of the time,
economic policymaking is about tinkering at the edges. Politicians argue
furiously about modest changes to taxes or spending. Once in a while, however,
momentous shifts are possible. Bold politicians have seized propitious
circumstances to push through reforms that transformed their countries. Such a
once-in-a-generation opportunity exists today. The plunging price of oil,
coupled with advances in clean energy and conservation, offers politicians
around the world the chance to rationalize energy policy. They can get rid of
billions of dollars of distorting subsidies, especially for dirty fuels, while
shifting taxes towards carbon use. A cheaper, greener and more reliable energy
future could be within reach… the reason for optimism is the plunge in energy
costs. The price of cleaner forms of energy is also falling and new technology
is allowing better management of the consumption of energy, especially
electricity.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For decades the big
question about energy was whether the world could produce enough of it, in any
form and at any cost. Now, suddenly, the challenge should be one of managing
abundance. Falling prices provide an opportunity for …cash-strapped developing
countries such as India and Indonesia who have bravely begun to cut fuel
subsidies, freeing up money to spend on hospitals and schools… That should be
just the beginning. Politicians, for the most part, have refused to raise taxes
on fossil fuels in recent years, on the grounds that making driving or heating
homes more expensive would not only annoy voters but also hurt the economy.
With petrol and natural gas getting cheaper by the day, that excuse has gone.
Burning fossil fuels harms the health of both the planet and its inhabitants.
Taxing carbon would nudge energy firms and consumers towards using cleaner
fuels. As fuel prices fall, a carbon tax is becoming less politically
daunting."</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="http://www.nutramed.com/survival/index.htm"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From Surviving Human Nature by Stephen Gislason</span></a></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02609755350719581459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18660834.post-24667002386205328462015-08-15T12:39:00.000-07:002015-08-15T12:44:04.927-07:00Life and Death<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All living creatures die. The way of death is of great
interest to humans and in part determines the way of life. Birth is not a
choice but dying can be elected as a free and rational choice for a number of
reasons. In general, a healthy, modern human will opt for life and will imagine
death as an appropriate, peaceful outcome of aging sometime in the distant
future. Nevertheless, death may come abruptly, prematurely, unfairly, violently
and sometimes cruelly.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt 22.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Humans are preoccupied with constructions, beliefs and
rituals designed to appease spirits associated with death and provide guidance
to survivors. Funeral rituals can be elaborate and prolonged, often specifying
the behaviors that are expected of survivors. Death is the acknowledgement
among the living often with confusion, fear, screaming and weeping. The crisis
of death is that one human has vanished from the group and will never return.
If the dead human was loved and valued, then the loss is great and the grief is
painful and prolonged.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt 22.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Death is the
gathering of the kin to grieve, to celebrate, and to fight over inheritance
rights and kin status. Beliefs in destinations after death are common and, in
the best case, reassure survivors that their loss will be redeemed. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt 22.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grief, like love, is a complex of feelings, emotions,
memories and thoughts.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grief inspires
the deepest inquiries into the nature and meaning of existence. Even the
distress of talking about grief reminds us that this complex of feeling,
memories and thought is an important regulator of human affairs. As soon as you
care about someone else, you incur the risk of losing him or her. If you become
complacent over time, watching the suffering of others who have lost a loved
one is a powerful reminder to be more careful. The prospect of grief is so
daunting that humans who care for one another are more concerned and cautious
in their custodial role, protecting loved ones.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">People who have experienced a loss or near-loss will often declare that
they became more appreciative of those around them. Pure, pristine grief is our
response to death. There is an initial emotional state with "outpouring of
emotion". The expression is unmistakable in many cultures - crying,
wailing, self-injury and self-neglect. The passionate stage of grief tends to
last hours to days.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When a loved one dies,
grief is inevitable but the onset may be delayed. A sudden death is especially
confusing, hard to believe and impossible to accept. A state of suspended
disbelief may last for days or weeks, but sooner or later, grief explodes as
the terrible truth is realized with clarity. The emotional expression of grief
may be ritualized and dramatized as part of funeral observances. Grief often
emerges overtime with sustained dysphoric feelings. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt 22.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sadness is a subdued expression of grief that may last for
years or even a lifetime.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sadness is
both a feeling of loss and withdrawal from life involvements. There is a
gradation of sadness from mildly uncomfortable feelings expressed by poems and
little tears to despair. The deep, impenetrable sadness of someone grieving the
loss of a person truly loved is one of the hallmarks of sentient life on earth.
Some humans do not survive their grief because the sadness is so profound.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt 22.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is a tendency for humans to want to live forever when
things are going well. The idea of immortality appeals to the young and
healthy. Most observers stipulate that they would only want to live on as a
youthful, healthy person. The idea of reaching 90 years of age and then
extending life for another 100 years is not so appealing. Thus, younger people
tend be more interested in immortality than older people, although there are
always exceptions. Older people want to be rejuvenated. The grand view of life
on earth does not place individual values first but the places the continuation
and evolution of life first. Individuals die so that younger individuals can
replace them. Life goes on. Living creatures are programmed to die. Individual
cells die both in a programmed mode and an incidental or accidental mode.
Programmed cell death is essential for the survival of whole organisms. Cells
that become immortal run amok, proliferate relentlessly and kill the host.
Immortal cell growth is referred to as cancer. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt 22.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The longest lifespan is determined in advance and the
challenge of survival is to live through the maximum time permitted. The slow
deterioration, aging, proceeds in gradual steps. Aging and disease merge
inevitably as the deterioration of the body provides more opportunity for
disease processes to flourish. Because aging is programmed, there is some
interest among life scientists to discover how to prolong life. There are
tantalizing clues to the mechanisms behind the aging processes, but attempts to
alter this process may have adverse consequences. Cancer cells, for example,
have escaped aging and are immortal. The reason that cancer cells kill you is
that they keep reproducing when they should stop. Programmed cell death is one
of the basic strategies of getting trillions of cells to live together in a
cooperative enterprise. You can extend this insight to populations of animals
of planet earth. If all the humans and all the animals became longer lived,
then you all have to stop reproducing or all would perish in an unprecedented
population explosion.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt 22.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Death is understood
as the cessation of breathing and of heart beating. Death is also understood as
deep sleep, the lack of movement, the lack of response to words, gestures, and
touches. Death is the distress that living people experience when they witness
the cessation of living movements in another human and view the rigidity of a
corpse. Death has become more abstract in hospitals where detailed measurements
and monitoring of vital functions are available. Death can be anticipated by
the measurement of body chemistry, by monitoring the function of vital organs
and by applying statistics gathered about the natural course of diseases.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Information about disease processes is linked
to individual and group concepts about the “quality of life.” The challenge is
pursue treatments that promise improved quality and duration of life without
accepting futile treatments that just prolong suffering.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Discussions about the inevitability of death
are now more common and decisions about offering or withholding treatment are
now linked to understanding disease processes and they way they cause death.
Death can now be determined as brain damage with the permanent loss of
consciousness. The rest of the body can be intact and functioning well. What
every neurologist knows is that if a small lesion is made in the ascending
reticular activating system of the medulla oblongata or midbrain, consciousness
is lost and may never be regained. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt 22.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This view is practical - consciousness can be destroyed by
damage to specific and tiny areas of the old brain. The brain often swells in
head-injured patients and compress its own blood supply. A patient may be an
otherwise healthy, attractive teenager with a head injury who looks quite
viable, but if perfusion scans of the brain show no blood supply to the
cerebral hemispheres, the recovery of consciousness and sentient functions is
unlikely and death is declared. The emergence of free, individualistic,
affluent societies is associated with the disappearance of elaborate death
rituals and well-specified roles for each community member to play. Funerals
are often perfunctory or omitted and dead bodies pass through impersonal,
professional hands leaving survivors with thoughts and feelings disconnected
from any experience that might make the death of another more real and more
acceptable.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Acceptance of death for what
it is– the end of an individual life - is difficult to achieve but once there,
we can more or less live peaceably with the idea. We have no obligation to like
the truth. Acceptance is quite different from liking. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt 22.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since life involves suffering, there are times when death
seems an attractive way out. The Japanese Samurai tradition advocated killing
oneself in a deliberate ritualistic manner as an honorable and correct choice
when adverse circumstances prevail.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Voluntary death becomes a noble act that requires courage and skill and
a formal acknowledgement of the ephemeral essence of all life. In a less noble
fashion, Japanese Kamikaze pilots during the Second World War volunteered for
suicide missions just as suicide bombers today wear dynamite vests and kill
others as they kill themselves. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt 22.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the romantic western tradition, killing oneself has
sometimes been viewed as a legitimate lover's response to the loss of his or
her beloved and an understandable response to a major loss of investment, power
or prestige. Self-inflicted death is also acceptable to avoid capture,
imprisonment or torture. Selecting the right time of death is also a freedom
often denied to the terminally ill. A person with advanced cancer who suffers
every day with no hope of recovery will decide that the experience is too
unpleasant; it is time to leave. It is easy to argue that dying is a legitimate
choice among choices for a free sentient being, but in many countries today,
distant moral authorities and laws ban self-inflicted death under any
circumstance.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt 22.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Acceptance, in part, comes from the full participation in
the death of another, caring for the body, calling kin and friends together to
share stories and ritual observances, crying, preparing the body for burial,
and disposing of the body in a meaningful way. Anthropologists continue to
discover evidence of hominin ritualistic burials thousands of years ago that
show care and attention in placing the body, covering the body with flowers and
leaving gifts and tools. The attention to burial is an expression of the
survivors feeling of loss and their continuing need to care for themselves.
Death in a group is a reminder to all that each person is vulnerable. Grieving,
in the best case, enhances the survivor’s awareness of the value of others. In
grief, there are intense moment of feeling the great paradox of being alone and
yet, needing to be together.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt 22.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From my selfish point of view, aging, sickness and death are
bad ideas. If someone were responsible for these bad ideas, I would seek them
out and complain.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I find it odd when
people believe in an interactive God who kills a bunch of nice people in a plane
crash and their relatives gather to address this "merciful god" and
ask for his blessings. They sue the airline and praise God. If God had a known
address, I think I would sue God as well.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt 22.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Acceptance is realizing that there is no complaints
department in the universe. I accept that death is the end of individual
consciousness and the contents of one mind vanish. No personal biographical
information is transmitted to another brain, young or old. No soul goes to
heaven. There is no heaven. There is no hell.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 12pt 0cm 0pt 22.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The person who dies lives on in the minds of the people who
knew him or her. It is the survivors who create the stories that keep the
deceased person alive. They archive letters, photos and other artifacts.
Sometimes, the survivors say the person has been reborn and celebrate a child
who will carry on in the mindset of the deceased. Sometimes, the survivors say
that the person has gone for an extended vacation in an unknown location, all
expenses paid by God, Jesus, Mohammed, Moses or some other philanthropist in
the sky.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span id="goog_2101771317"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/">From Human Nature by Stephen Gislason MD<span id="goog_2101771318"></span></a></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02609755350719581459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18660834.post-40855325290333879192015-08-08T16:17:00.000-07:002015-08-08T16:17:33.179-07:00Misunderstanding Mind & Body
For forty years, I have been reading books and articles on how the “mind has limitless powers to heal.” Books, magazine articles and television reports recycle old material often presenting the same old stuff as new exciting discoveries. Forty years ago these ideas were more appealing to me and I pursued them in my professional and personal life. But they have become irrelevant fantasies and obstacles to understanding mind-body interactions. Ideas about the healing mind involve a set of misunderstandings, fantasy and human narcissism which leads people to claim more ability and more control than they actually have. <br><br>
Life is difficult, and you can argue that a little fantasy and narcissism offers solace to people who might otherwise despair. I was browsing popular magazines in the local library and choose one example from a Canadian magazine directed to women. I am not citing the article because it is a generic repetition of similar articles published in many magazines. The article begins with a story of a woman who had a breast cancer removed and survived 20 years without a recurrence. Long term survivors of cancer are expected in the normal distribution of cancer outcomes. This survivor claims that positive thinking and meditation were responsible for her survival. This is a narcissistic claim that gives the survivor and her audience a feeling of security that cannot be substantiated. The article does not mention other women who practiced positive thinking and meditation who died of their cancers. They are more numerous than the survivors.<br><br>
I advocate positive thinking and meditation but do not expect these strategies to cure diseases such as cancer. Cancers are abnormal growths of cells that have mutated genes and fail to respond to the usual controls over cell behavior and replication. Cell mutations are deeply imbedded in an ancient matrix of life determinants that cannot be easily altered. Some cancers do not progress because the mutated cells are not aggressive and may be destroyed by defenses that routinely destroy abnormal cells.<br><br>
The survivors are lucky, not superior beings with superior mental abilities. The article talks about ‘using the mind to change body chemistry.” The problem with this talk is that there is no understanding of how body-mind works. You live inside your mind. It is incorrect to claim that you can use your mind as if you were outside of mind. It is more correct to state that your mind can use you. Since you are inside your mind, you experience a monitor image of your body that shrinks and expands in your consciousness, depending on what is going on inside. The connection between body and mind is the brain. The brain is the organ of the mind.<br><br>
To be completely correct, we have to admit that brain is inside the mind. To speak pragmatically, we have to join bodybrainmind into the whole entity that it is. We can claim that body events are brain events are mind events.<br><br>
The chemistry of bodybrainmind is implicit in mind. Every action, every reaction of bodybrainmind involves changes in the way the whole system works. Many of these changes can be understood in terms of physiology, chemistry and genetics. This is not news. Exercise, for example, changes bodybrainmind and some of these changes are beneficial. Women who exercise regularly have a lower incidence of breast cancer and depression; they tend to be both healthier and more successful in life endeavors. The human bodybrainmind evolved in natural environments where exercise was mandatory and physical fitness had survival value. In contrast, the modern woman who eats too much and exercises too little gains weight and may become anxious and depressed. She may develop many diseases, including breast cancer. She is not a survivor until she returns to the habits of her ancient ancestors. When she eats less food, changes food selection to fruits and vegetables and works physically everyday, she thinks, feels and acts better. At the same time, she decreases her risk of developing a fatal disease. <br><br>
I have met people who practiced yoga and meditation and tried their best to think positively, but they ate too much food, exercised too little and developed food-related diseases. They failed to achieve the biological requirements for long-term health. While it may be true that meditation is a superb method of studying your own consciousness and can lower blood pressure, reduce heart rate and generate a feeling of well-being, all the benefits can be reversed quickly – just drink some coffee, eat the wrong food and drive home through traffic.<br><br>
From <a href="http://www.nutramed.com/brain/index.htm"><b>The Human Brain in Health and Disease by Stephen Gislason MD</a></b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02609755350719581459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18660834.post-58161119740478927202015-08-03T12:01:00.000-07:002015-08-03T12:01:44.973-07:00Social IntelligenceSocial organization is basic to animal life. Insect societies are remarkably coherent and suggest human organization even more than many mammalian societies. Coherent social organization is achieved by a meta-brain. Many individual brains are coordinated in a network of interacting individuals. Human invention is incremental and innovations spread from human to human because the two central tendencies of humans are to copy and compete. One of the functions of social organization is the distribution of individuals in spacetime and the regulation of their interactions. Humans are used to social regulation through speech and rules and tend to overlook the more basic and pervasive social controllers that operate from innate properties in the brain. <br><br>
Animal societies are organized around activities such as mating, rearing the young, foraging, hunting, resting and seeking protection. Mammalian social organization varies with the habitat, food supply, and habits of the animal. In primate groups, individual animals are locked into in complex sets of social and kinship networks. The kin group is the most prevalent basic unit of organization and has a genetic basis. Intelligence is organized around interactions with others. Modern humans belong to many groups of different size and importance and will create a hierarchy of allegiance characterized by shifting loyalties and even reversals of allegiance. Tracking allegiances is a major task for intelligence and some people are obviously more gifted than others. Humans evaluate and compete with each other in a continuous negotiation that involves strategy, criticism, conflict, and overt battles.<br><br>
Visual information gathering is dominant in primates and specialized area of the cortex a devoted to evaluating what others are doing. Neurons in the inferotemporal cortex of macaques respond to faces and hand gestures and some neuronal groups are tuned to specific behaviors. The most basic intelligence modules identify individuals by appearance and behavior and evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of association with other individuals. Smart people are better leaders because they are better evaluators of the behavior and intentions of other members of their group and are more accurate in responding strategically to challenges from their subordinates.<br><br>
The brain systems that evaluate others are not used in self-evaluation. It is easy to argue that humans, like other primates, are mostly interactive creatures, pre-occupied with what others are doing; humans have little or no cognitive ability for self-evaluation. One human relies on others to evaluate behavior and therefore, human society has built in multiple and complex evaluative procedures that operate daily as external controls. <br><br>
The innate rules of association built into the brain pertain to small groups and tend to become dysfunctional when individuals try to relate as members of large and anonymous groups. Large groups are still controlled by individuals and small groups with limited ability. Enlarging organizations rely on repeating modular structures controlled from above. A large corporation has many repeating subunits linked and administered by a central office that is controlled by a small group of executive officers and directors. As the corporation grows, the executive officers do not become more intelligent, better informed and more expansive. Indeed executives in growing corporations usually become isolated in their immediate social groups and have difficulty grasping issues beyond their immediate local group and self-interest. "IQ" is a handy short form for overall intelligence and IQ scores could be considered as approximate measurements of a number of underlying abilities. Comprehensive IQ testing would go far beyond the relatively selective IQ tests in common use. <br><br>
<b>Comprehensive testing would evaluate at least eight critical domains of mental ability: </b><br><br>
The ability to live in a group, to cooperate with others and, at the same time, to compete successfully for status, privileges, resources and mates.<br><br>
The ability to recognize what is really going on out there in diverse situations and to act appropriately.<br><br>
Information processing ability including the ability to find, evaluate and apply knowledge relevant to completing real world tasks.<br>
The ability to navigate through different environments and to move skillfully with minimal risk of injury or death. <br><br>
The ability to send and receive communications with language and other expressive modalities such as mime, singing, dancing, rhythm, drawing, sculpture, model-making, playing musical instruments.<br><br>
The ability to design, make and use tools effectively.<br><br>
The ability to set goals, sequence, plan and implement strategies <br><br>
The ability to self-evaluate and correct behavior, ideas and strategies when they are not working.<br><br>
<b>From <a href="http://www.nutramed.com/intelligence/index.htm">Intelligence and Learning by Stephen Gislason
</a>
</b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02609755350719581459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18660834.post-5802429768831712472015-07-18T15:07:00.000-07:002015-07-18T15:09:09.386-07:00Honesty?What about honesty and lies? While there is high value placed on honesty, a realistic look at human behavior reveals that deception is normal and story telling always involves dishonesty. Children learn quickly that there are advantages to lying. They are aware that adults lie routinely. Creative children are creative story tellers who are entertained by fictional stories and employ fiction-writing techniques in reporting events to parents and other adults. As children acquire more language skills and are held more accountable for their actions, they become increasingly skillful in their story inventions. <br />
<br /><br />
Each human projects the image of the honest one and denies taking part in any deception whatsoever. The root lie is “I am an honest man or woman”. This fundamental self-deception is practiced by all and usually believed by all. Even a when a liar is caught fabricating his or her story, he or she will usually persist in the claim “I am telling the truth”.
The idea is that individuals in all groups compete for position and prestige; the drive is to at least maintain your social position or improve it if you can. The risk of losing your social position is so threatening that all means of protecting yourself arise spontaneously. Since humans use language as an important social tool, any use of language that protects or enhances social position is acceptable.
A close examination of human behavior gives us the following precepts:
1. There is no absolute truth.
2. Memories are not accurate and factual.
3. Story telling is a small part fact and large part fiction. Stories always promote self-interest.
4. "No" and 'don't" are the two most important instructions for humans, young and old
5. Human problems can by solved by not repeating harmful behaviors.
6. Humans have a strong tendency to repeat harmful behaviors. <br />
<br /><br />
We admire people who deceive us professionally – magicians, movie directors, actors, psychics, faith healers, politicians, ministers and priests. We tell our children blatant lies about tooth fairies, Easter bunnies, Santa Claus, angels, heaven and yes, even God. The benevolent deception is designed in part to entertain, reassure and alleviate suffering. “Little white lies” involve omitting unpleasant information and changing small details that the story will be more acceptable: “… it will only hurt a little bit, dear.” Telling "little white lies" is not considered a moral crisis.
Story telling merges with other forms of persuasion and negotiation in strategies of business and social success. Humans tell stories and make deals, all out of self-interest. The stories and deals are always tilted in someone's favor. <br />
<br /><br />
If you censored television ads and scripts to rule out displays of lying and systematic deception, the entertainment industry would all but disappear.
If you believe you have benevolent motives, you will also believe that deception is a valid strategy when you negotiate with someone else, because you have to overcome their resistance, their prejudices and their ignorance to achieve a result that you desire. If you believe that the right deception will achieve the best outcome, you will lie with more confidence and soon believe your lies. The end justifies the means.
Despite obvious ethical flaws in the ends justify means argument; human conduct is almost always based on this implicit assumption. Network television sitcoms depend on plots involving deception, lying and the consequences of being found out. The series, "Seinfeld" was popular, featuring characters who were inveterate liars. Seinfeld plots depended on the characters' inadequacies; their inability to form meaningful relationships or to cope well with the simplest of life problems. The main coping strategies were manipulation and deception. Laws are meant to be circumvented. The issues were petty and trivial and the characters’ dependence on deception both entertained and reflected life as the audience lived it.
<br />
<br /><br />
<b>From the book Children and Family by Stephen Gislason MD
<a href="http://www.nutramed.com/children-family/index.htm"></a></b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02609755350719581459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18660834.post-61741539860584551372015-06-12T15:04:00.000-07:002015-06-12T15:04:24.944-07:00Moral Distress
I discovered the term Moral Distress in the nursing literature. Hospitals are hot spots for important issues and engage diverse vested interests in daily interactions. Issues of life and death play out, often with conflicts among stakeholders who have different views of what is the right thing to do. Hospitals exist to serve the needs of sick or injured patients. Problems arise when hospitals grow larger, involve increasingly complex technologies, and employ different groups to fulfill the many functions that keep a hospital running. The logistics of managing such a complex institution have routinely overwhelmed patient care. You have armies of people running in all directions, attending meetings, conferences, generating and receiving reports but if you look in patients’ rooms, they are often alone and neglected. <br /><br />
Nurses remain the hospital group most directly involved in patient care. Epstein and Delegado summarized the nurses’ point of view: ”Moral distress occurs when one knows the ethically correct action to take but feels powerless to take that action. Research on moral distress among nurses has identified that the sources of moral distress are many and varied and that the experience of moral distress leads some nurses to leave their jobs, or the profession altogether.“ <br />
<br />
They and others identified the cognitive dissonance involved generated from several different sources; for example: power imbalances between members of the patient care team, lack of communication among team members, administrative pressure to reduce costs, fear of legal action and hospital policies that conflict with patient needs. Even greater issues arise when medical attitudes and methods are examined and questions are raised about medical prejudices, excessive drug use, inattention to patients, neglect of duty, technical errors and incompetence. <br />
<br />
I have no doubt about the distresses nurses’ experience, but the description moral distress is less than accurate. We have understood the humans are critically disputatious and hyper critical of others so that conflict among interacting individuals is common and inevitable. Ethical questions gravitate toward the interfaces between individual freedoms and group discipline. Hospitals are interaction dense, so that anyone working in these institutions will be distressed by the actions of others, at least, some of the time. Coping mechanisms must involve submission to group interests and willingness to compromise, even when I am right and they are wrong. We have also recognized that there is no consensus about the common good, so if you claim superiority by having an ethical position better than others, be prepared for a debate, if not a dangerous fight.
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nutramed.com/ethics/index.htm">From The Good Person, Morality and Ethics by Stephen Gislason</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02609755350719581459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18660834.post-9868212220498773982015-05-22T14:22:00.002-07:002015-05-22T14:23:46.842-07:00Rational Humanism One important dynamic of change during the 20th century was
the decline of religious institutions and the rise of secular humanistic
philosophy. Rational humanism is the proper basis of civil societies, but innate
human tendencies prefer the dogmatic and irrational. <br />
<br />
<br />
Joseph Campbell celebrated the rational humanism that emerged about 2500
years ago in three manifestations – the Buddha in India, Confucius
in China, and the poets and philosophers who emerged in the
Greek civilization that shaped the culture of Rome, then Europe, and then the
colonies in the Americas. These three traditions “generally realized local myths
for what they were --versions of universal imagery. <br />
<br />
<br />
Campbell epitomized the
three approaches to rational humanism : The realization that an
adult human being is autonomous and capable of self-government. The proper aim
of education is not the imposition of rules or dogma from without but the
opening of each person to knowledge from within his own genius, whether as an
independent mind (Prometheus), the expression of an inborn
nature (Confucius), or as enlightenment (the Buddha.) With the ascent of China
in the 20th century, Confucius has returned as an important architect of civil
society. Confucius lived in China from 551 to 479 BC. He was a philosopher and a
sociologist, a practical man who advocated a civil society based on the
understanding and discipline of citizens who sought social harmony. Ideas
associated with Confucius were written by disciplines and then scholars over
many centuries, representing a Chinese view of proper human conduct (virtue).
Mencius in the 4th century BC, for example suggested that innate goodness is a
source of the ethical intuitions that lead humans to Yì (right conduct). Others
insisted that morality required adherence to tradition, education and
discipline. <br />
<br />
<br />
Campbell regretted the “the emphasis on local forms over and against
all others…the cardinal dogma of Judaism, Christianity and Islam…
Such calcification of the local masking means that archetypes
become locked and elementary ideas become ethnic. All the passion that might
become illumination is short-circuited into inflating programs for the world.
There is no sense of humor with regard to one’s own myths. Mistaken
for natural and historic facts, they are especially vulnerable to science and
when the light of day has dissolved them like a dream, there is no supporting
ground to one’s life. This is a pity because the time has come when everyone of
the world’s ethnic systems is dissolving. There are no more locally fixed
horizons within which ethnocentric bigotry can be maintained.” <br />
<br />
<br />
Campbell may have
been overly optimistic about the disappearance of the divisive aspects of old
myths and ethnic dogma. Old myths do look obsolete, but old myths continue to
function as story-boundaries that support the tendency to form exclusive groups
with special privileges. New religious groups often co-opt
old stories with little or no understanding of the origins and significance of
the original stories. In the 20th century USA, for example, the Bible was
co-opted by hundreds of small groups that use old biblical stories to support
divergent points of view – some fanatical and most at odds with the large
religious institutions that once regarded themselves as owners of the Bible. At
the same time, old myths from many cultures have been revised and promoted by
groups with motives that range from personal interest and inspiration, to
inventing new religions to commercial exploitation of the gullible. <br />
<br />
<br />
The commerce
in old religious myths is something like the weight loss industry; the same old
stuff is packaged and repackaged, apparently with no end in sight. Myths are
packaged with renewed enthusiasm for superstitions and rituals that should be
recognized as obsolete, but instead, have renewed currency in the marketplace.
Lester suggested: “The assumption is that advances in the rational understanding
of the world will inevitably diminish the influence of that vexing sphere of
irrationality in human culture: religion. Inconveniently, however, the world is
today as awash in religious novelty, flux, and dynamism as it has ever been—and
religious change is, if anything, likely to intensify in the coming decades. The
spectacular emergence of militant Islamist movements during the twentieth
century is surely only a first indication of how quickly, and with what profound
implications, change can occur. It's tempting to conceive of the religious
world—particularly when there is so much talk of clashing civilizations—as being
made up primarily of a few well-delineated and static religious blocs:
Christians, Jews, Muslims and so on. But that's dangerously simplistic. It
assumes stability in the religious landscape that is completely at odds with
reality.”<br />
<br /><br />
<a href="http://www.nutramed.com/HumanNature/index.htm" target="_blank">From Human Nature by Stephen Gislason</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02609755350719581459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18660834.post-78959682591262558522015-05-07T16:59:00.002-07:002015-05-07T17:01:18.406-07:00Problems Created by ReligionAny
discussion of religion invites misunderstanding and conflict. No discussion of
religion will make sense until the importance of group identity is understood.
Humans may sometimes look like individuals, but the truth is that all humans are
members of local groups that determine what they know, how they communicate and
how they treat other humans. Each local group develops stories, beliefs and
rules. Collections of local groups with special beliefs into larger
organizations are often described as “religion.” Members of local groups are
described as “religious” if they recite group slogans, attend meetings and
celebrations. <br />
<br />
"Religions" often claim special privileges for their members so that
the term “religious” is used to claim advantages and superior moral authority
where none actually exists. The idea of large multinational organizations called
“religions” is misleading. At best, the idea of religion is a fuzzy category
that implies more coherence than can be found in the real world. Religion is a
convenient fiction.<br />
<br />
There
are several problems with strict religious orthodoxy. The first problem is that
humans must learn to live in a complex world that includes people of diverse
beliefs and different affiliations. The challenge is to become adapted to a
larger society while maintaining loyalty to a local group. Often religious
groups claim special privileges and moral superiority. While these claims are
spurious, the idea that religious beliefs can be equated with superior morals is
stubbornly held and must be refuted. Inside a religious container, you are
consumed by the specific language and beliefs of the religion, its symbols,
assumptions and claims.<br />
<br />
There
is a voluminous literature that describes, explains and advocates affiliation
with one or other of the religions. In the worst case, if you live inside a theological construct you are committed
to fixed beliefs that persist beyond any reasonable currency, resist revision
and review. To others who live outside your container, your beliefs are false.
Membership in a religious organization limits freedom and expression of thought
and often disables friendly, intelligent interaction with other groups. Strict
religious orthodoxies in many countries retain political control and leave
little or no room for personal freedom, nor democracy. Orthodoxy also creates
belligerence. The penalty for opposing strict religious authority is death.<br />
<br />
For
idealists who assumed that progress toward free, rational and secular societies
would be a natural evolution, the re-emergence of belligerent Christianity in
the US and belligerent Islam in many parts of the world has been alarming. <br />
<br />
Lilla
stated: “For more than two centuries, from the American and French Revolutions
to the collapse of Soviet Communism, world politics revolved around eminently
political problems. War and revolution, class and social justice, race and
national identity — these were the questions that divided us. Today, we have
progressed to the point where our problems again resemble those of the 16th
century, as we find ourselves entangled in conflicts over competing revelations,
dogmatic purity and divine duty. We are disturbed and confused. Though we have
our own fundamentalists (in the USA), we find it incomprehensible that
theological ideas still stir up messianic passions, leaving societies in ruin.
We had assumed this was no longer possible, that human beings had learned to
separate religious questions from political ones, that fanaticism was dead. We
were wrong…Even the most stable and successful democracies, with the most
high-minded and civilized believers, have proved vulnerable to political
messianism and its theological justification. "<br />
<br />
You may enjoy social benefits when the family belongs to a religious organization
affiliation with other members, regular meetings, picnics, rituals and
assistance coping with three key events of a human life- birth, marriage and
death. Religious affiliation in many countries is essential to obtain social
status and economic privileges. However, the social and political benefits of
belonging to a religious organization override any inclination to
self-determination and freedom. <br />
<br />
<strong><a href="http://www.nutramed.com/humannature/index.htm" target="_blank">From Human Nature by Stephen Gislason</a></strong><br />
<br />
(Lilla,
M. The Politics of God. NYT August 19, 2007 (adapted from his book) The
Stillborn God: Religion, Politics and the Modern West.)<o:p></o:p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02609755350719581459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18660834.post-8517429578942806352015-04-30T03:46:00.000-07:002015-04-30T03:50:36.757-07:00Sociology The social sciences aspire to understand social phenomena with theories, case
studies and statistical descriptions of populations, or they may explain
individual experiences using general principles derived from other fields such
as psychology, anthropology and economics. In this book, Human Nature, I aspire to
review general principles and suggest 21st century revisions based on an
understanding of human nature. <br />
<br />
The term “society” tends to be a fuzzy word that refers to the inner workings
of groups of different sizes. As an abstract term, society refers to ideas and
beliefs about how groups work. Society is often treated as an agency that does
things to people and causes humans to act one way or another. But there is no
actual entity, society; just humans interacting with other humans. <br />
<br />
The adjective “social “ refers to interpersonal dynamics and also to devices
invented to regulate human behavior such as fences, gates, roads, stores,
schools, churches and prisons. In this chapter, we view society as a product of
human-primate behavior. Social devices grow in size and complexity as
communities expand, but human nature does not change.<br />
<br />
We recognize that humans are social animals and generally depend on each
other to provide context and meaning. However, because of the construction of
the human mind at birth, each human has difficulty reconciling self-identity and
group membership. There are discrepancies between self-interest and group
interest; between bonding, belonging and being a free independent soul. While
there is a strong tendency to conformity in every group, selfish interests often
motivate deviance. Token conformity or simulated conformity provides a good
disguise for deviant individuals who seek to exploit others. <br />
<br />
The word ”community” describes a group of people who live together. As
groups enlarge, factual kinship is replaced by a sense of identity or similarity
and cooperation to achieve some stability and security of the home.
Communication is one of the tools of community. Communion is a ritual of the
community. <br />
<br />
Sociology is typical of academic disciplines with different schools based on
the writings of single individuals or small groups. The names for different
point of view become academic commodities and membership in the right group will
determine academic success or failure. Sociology has tended to be a cognitive
box with a specialized literature. Insights that occurred to non-sociologists
long before appeared in the discipline as new and sometimes controversial
innovations. Poore suggested that different schools of sociology such as
the Functionalists, Marxists and Symbolic Interactionists were divergent except
that they all assumed that the social world is orderly, that patterns of
behavior and interaction in society are regular and systematic rather than
haphazard and chaotic. Poole described American sociologist, Harold Garfinkel,
as an innovator who introduced and old-new perspective to sociology in his book
"Studies in Ethnomethodology." Poole stated: “Functionalists regard
society as the outcome of value consensus in society, which ensures that
behavior conforms to generally accepted norms. Marxists see it as a result of
the subordination of one class to another, it is precarious and prone to
disruption by revolution but nevertheless it exists. Interactionists differ from
these macro-perspectives by viewing social systems as something that is created
in a multiplicity of interactions. It is order which results from the processes
of definition, interpretation and negotiation. In contrast,
Ethnomethodologists recognize that social order is illusory… in reality it is
chaotic. For them social order is constructed in the minds of social actors.”
Garfinkel suggested that individuals make sense of their social world by
recognizing patterns that are used as frameworks for interpreting new
experiences. <br />
<br />
For example, Garfinkel asked a number of students to take part in an
experiment, telling them that it involved a new form of psychotherapy. The
students were invited to talk about their personal problems with an ‘advisor’
who was separated from them by a screen. They could not see the advisor and
could only communicate with him via an intercom. They were to ask him a series
of questions about their problems to which he would respond by answering either
‘yes’ or ‘no’. What the students didn’t know was that these responses were not
authentic answers to the questions posed but a predetermined sequence of yes and
no answers drawn from a table of random numbers. Although there was no
consistency in the answers given to the questions, the students made sense of
them by attempting to recognize an underlying pattern in the advice they were
being given. Most found the advice reasonable and helpful. This was so even
when, some of the advice was contradictory. Thus in one case a student asked:
"so you think I should drop out of school then?" and received a ‘yes’ response.
Surprised by this he asked, "You really think I should drop out of school?" only
to be given a ‘no’ answer. Rather than dismissing the advice as nonsense, the
student struggled to find its meaning, looking back for a pattern in the
advisors' responses, referring back to previous answers, trying to make sense of
the contradiction terms of the advisors’ knowledge of this problem. Never did it
occur to the student to doubt the sincerity of the advisor. What the students
were doing throughout these counseling sessions, Garfinkel argues, was
constructing a social reality to make sense of an often-senseless interaction.
They were able to bring order to what was in fact a chaotic situation. <br />
<br />
Garfinkel recognized that people make sense of a remark or action by
reference to the context in which it occurs; that is they index it to particular
circumstances. The counseling experiment had sufficient prestige that led the
students to accept the situation as authentic. The problems with pattern
recognition involve bias, cognitive boxes and perseveration. Garfinkel
recognized that pattern recognition can become so fixed that it is incapable of
accommodating new experiences. <br />
<br />
Erving Goffman is another innovator who extended sociology toward an
empathetic view of the chaotic. Collins and Makowsky in their brief
history of sociology described Goffman’s method: “to look at places where
smooth-functioning public order breaks down in order to see what normally holds
it together. The method has produced insights that have begun to
restructure sociological theory; we have come to see how social reality is
constructed out of tacit understandings among people meeting face to face… A
person is not an isolated thing, but an image carved out of the whole life space
of his or her interactions with others.” <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>Goffman compared normal interactions with presentations seen on the stage in theatres. His view is entirely consistent with the view of anthropologist who recognized the
dramatic performances common in preindustrial human societies and by
ethnologists who recognized the dramatic aspects of animal behaviors, especially
territorial and courtship displays. Humans have not invented anything new. In
his classic text, Asylum, Goffman, described his experience working in a mental
hospital and criticized total institutions such as hospitals, prisons, and
military boot camps. Collins and Makowsky suggested that:” the
hospital is a place to keep patients away from normal society – the patient
spends every hour of every day within the same walls, subject to the same
monolithic controls and facing the abiding scrutiny of a regular staff that
keeps permanent records. The social sources that reflect his or her self are
degrading; they offer the patient no escape into privacy or to alternative
audiences.” <br />
<br />
There have been many observers and critics of prisons that come in different
sizes, shapes and flavors, but all share the common feature of entrapment and
control of inmates. Some prisons such as mental hospitals pretend to be serving
the needs of mentally ill patients. Even general hospitals retain some of the
features of prisons, leaving significant doubts that the best interests of
patients and their families are being served. In an ideal world there would be
no prisons in any disguise.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nutramed.com/humannature" target="_blank">From Human Nature by Stephen Gislason</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02609755350719581459noreply@blogger.com