Joe Velikovsky's Blog, page 12
March 17, 2021
Pathways to Ethical Culture Pt. 1 (NYS4EC)
Pathways to Ethical Culture Pt. 1 (NYS4EC)
So, went along to Pathways to Ethical Culture Pt. 1 (@ NYS4EC).
17th March 2021
& it was great!
See: https://ethical.nyc/events/pathways-to-ethical-culture-online/
-----------
From the NYS4EC's website:
`Ethical Culture is a humanist community that esteems ethics as its core precept, human worth and dignity as its central value, and community, sustainability and freedom as its principal goals. Where did Ethical Culture come from? What does it say to us today regarding the human condition? What is its unique contribution for our lives and our future?
Join us for a five part program that explores the origins, the history and the values of Ethical Culture – from its founding a century-and-a-half ago to the 21st Century. The topics will be:
The social and intellectual roots of the Ethical Culture Movement.Felix Adler’s philosophical challenge – How to prove inherent worth of the human being in a harsh and precarious world when one abandons traditional reliance on God and the supernatural?Ethical Culture’s rich social justice history in the age of reformation and the modern era.The NY Society and Ethical Culture’s place in today’s world of modern humanism.Living Ethical Culture – How it offers a life of meaning, growth and authenticity.Pathways is facilitated by the Society’s Leaders, Dr. Joseph Chuman and Dr. Richard Koral, and meets for one hour on the 3rd Wednesday of each month, March through July at 2:00 p.m. on Zoom.'
See: https://ethical.nyc/events/pathways-to-ethical-culture-online/
----------------------
Here's a diagram (or, digital handout?) that Joe (Chuman) kindly explained...
And, a screenie:
And, a groupie: (as opposed to, a selfie)
-----------------------
And - here's some Random Notes I took, &/or made, &/or scribbled during the mtg/webinar:
(...who knows, what they all mean? Not me, always.
Some of them may even be totally: wrong. I can't even read my own writing, sometimes.)
---------------------------
Joe Chuman talked (great speaker! very engaged, and fun to listen to) about:Historicism – (movements that `grow out of' their time, and couldn't have happened earlier in history)Ethical Culture – Felix Adler (@ age: 26!)Other `Religions of Humanity’… were around at the time...E.C. was a response to: the social oppressions that came with the Industrial Revolution (!)...The era of the robber-barons - Rockefellers & Carnegies, etcPeople were living in tenementsPublic health was a major issueProstitutionCrime, opium addictionThe Late 19th century was a mess (no unions, crappy work conditions, unregulated hours, no guaranteed wages, child labour, no mandatory education, etc)Huge wealth gap!Masses were: enslavedA period of massive urbanization, post Civil War, movement from rural to cities (thus overcrowding!)Most of it was aristocratic - and top-downRoosevelt was a racist & imperialist – but - broke up the huge monopoliesThere are 3 tenements created by NYS4EC - still extant!Walter Rouschenbush – social gospel movement (tenets of Liberal Protestantism)When it came to Labour, Adler supported both sides!He was critical of Capitalism - He was not a socialist nor Marxist, he developed his own `Third Way’Henry Moscowitz was very close to the workers and labour (and doesn’t get enough credit)The Social GospelSocial JusticePart of the Labor movement...The era ended around WW1 - but laid the groundwork for the New DealThe US is an oligarchy, that has moved towards a plutarchy (ie the current huge wealth gap)Reaganism and `trickle-down economics’ has been: a yuge failureEC = Judaism minus the monotheism!What was Transcendentalism? – a huge movement – eg Emerson, Thoreau (environmentalism), Alcott Fuller, Theo Parker, etcJoe S suggests: Think of Emerson as, `the original New Ager’!! 😊
------//-------
Anyway, great webinar. I learned a lot!
& Met lots of great people/scholars...
...What's not to like?
(...& very interesting, how Felix Adler was able to get the "captains of industry" onside. Wonder who's the `modern equivalent' of Felix? ...David Sloan Wilson, maybe?)
& all very helpful, re: The EthiSizer
--------------//---------------
Well, that's about all we have time for, folks.
You have been reading / viewing a blog-post by:
Dr J T Velikovsky Ph.D
(aka: Velikovsky of Newcastle)
Information Scientist & Systems Scientist & AI Researcher & Enthusiast & Evolutionary Culturologist & Filmmaker & Writer & Artist & Actor & Muso & Rugged Frontiersman & Random Guy
(and, also The StoryAlity Guy)
aka Humanimal
(or, The Artist formally known as Dr J T Velikovsky)
More stuff:
Transmedia Blog: On Writering
IMDb (Movies, Videogames):
Music: Texas Radio & Zen Stupidity
Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/joeteevee (over 100 videos, some are even: good)
Academia page: https://newcastle-au.academia.edu/JTVelikovsky
Researchgate page: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jt_Velikovsky
My ouvre... etc etc.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6741-066X
Forthcoming book (November 2021): https://www.igi-global.com/book/principles-protocols-practices-evolutionary-culturology/267379
The EthiSizer - (A Design Sketch)
The EthiSizer
(A rough Design-Sketch)
by
Dr. J T Velikovsky
18th March, 02021
--------------//---------------
What is: The EthiSizer ?
Well - imagine if you will, a computer program that does, this:
Figure 0. The EthiSizer.
A five-step process:
1) At the onscreen-prompt, you enter the intended action. (Say, for example: (a) build a road in a certain location; or (b) erect a factory; or (c) start a company that creates good &/or service [X], or even (d) vote for a certain politician... etc.)
2) If more detail is required (and almost always will be), the computer then asks you to answer a set of Questions, that detail, the exact design specifications of the proposed action...
3) You then press the "Analyze the Ethics!" button, of the program...
4) The computer then: gathers up all of the latest, most relevant, most up-to-date, accurate, scientific data (e.g.: using GPS coordinates, Google Maps, population statistics, affected ecosystems, various databases) and it runs a simulation (an Agent-Based Model) of such a proposed action...
5) The computer then finally delivers, an (1) Executive Summary, and also, (2) A Detailed Report, on the Ethics of the action. (Including, all the effects and impacts, on all the connected bio-psycho-socio-anthro-cultural systems, and, ecosystems.)
----------
So... in a nutshell, the EthiSizer's Executive Summary Report looks something like, this:
Figure 1 - A design-mockup, of an `Executive Summary Report', by: The EthiSizer.
The report (Figure 1 above) shows the beneficial (good!) and deleterious (bad!) ethical effects on various units and levels of the system... Namely, our planet's Ecosystems, i.e., life (plants, animals, humanimals), cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, organisms, families, groups, states, nations, and, the whole planet - all considered as one whole unit. (In fact, as one HOLON/parton.)
Also, I suppose it helps to know:
The 3 Laws of HOLON/partons...
which govern the levels and units of the whole system...
And, these 3 Laws can be used as a tool...
Examining a FAMILY UNIT via the 3 Laws---------
So - we have:
More info at P3 of EC
------------
Okay, so now some questions.
Q: Why is it called: The EthiSizer?
A: It sizes up the Ethics of the planned: action.
------------
(Or - as the great Andy Lord says - it's an: Ethics SyntheSizer).
(Andy's a genius at ACRONYMS, and, names for things,
see his great CLIOLOGY website, for more...)
---------
So The EthiSizer algorithm (computer program) itself has Ethics & Morals programmed into it.
...This is important, so it's not a (flawed, biased, prejudiced) human, making the Ethics analysis...
...It's: objective.
Not subjective.
And - it's not even a human, (or even a group of them) doing the Ethical Analysis...
Rather, it considers: all points of view (of all units, and levels) in the system...
And of course - an army of experts on Evolutionary Ethics and Morality have informed the design, engineering, and architecture, of The EthiSizer software... (Before it was even built.)
(And obviously, the very first test - in, the very-very-many trials, and alpha- and beta-tests, is: to run an analysis on itself, and decide, if The EthiSizer program is, itself: Ethical, and Moral...!)
As, (again, to repeat) this way, it's not a human (or even a dictator, or, a demagogue) deciding what's Ethical, at all levels of the global HOLON/parton systems...
...It's: A computer.
Very Big Data.
So - at first - it's just an online app. (Like say, The Moral Machine. See maybe this article for more.)
So that, in a harmless `sandbox environment', you can `punch in to' The EthiSizer, any hypothetical action you'd like to take, in the world...
And - see how it `scores'...!
Look out for the
RED STUFF in the report
... Red means: Bad. (...Unethical.)----------
So... See any red statistics in the Report? (see: Figure 1)
If so, then: Houston, we have a problem.
And so, you can then see, how you need to tweak (or even, totally redesign) the planned action, so that, it's Ethical.
(The EthiSizer will help, and, can make recommendations for these tweaks.)
You can run the program, over and over - and, with different inputs - to compare the results.
And of course, you need to keep: Humans In The Loop (HITL)
(Its operation needs to be totally transparent, at all times.)
...And, the AI is `Explainable AI',
So The EthiSizer can show you exactly how (and, why) it arrived at
all those exact Ethical decisions/judgments.
------------
And so, what sort of Ethics, and Moral frameworks are programmed in (in The EthiSizer) - ?
Namely, partially in the words of a great Moral Philosopher, how to address these wicked problems?
...Is there a "true" (mathematical, objective, unbiased) solution to complex ethical dilemmas?
...How to assess: very-large-scale action plans? (On micro, meso, and macro levels?)
...Could a human (or a team of them) even do it? Given, complex, evolutionary, bio-psycho-socio-anthro-cultural ecosystems...?
And given, the current limits of human cognition? (see, for example, G A Miller (1956), and, a depressingly-long list of human cognitive biases, let alone, cognitive distortions...)
As another example of the `kind of thing' The EthiSizer is, see maybe:
So - for the kinds of (evolutionary) Morals and Ethics programmed into The EthiSizer, see some of these works, for example...
Harris, S. (2011). The Moral Landscape: How science can determine human values (1st Free Press paperback ed.). Free Press.
Pinker, S. (2018). Enlightenment Now: The case for reason, science, humanism, and progress. Penguin Random House UK.
Sunar, D. (2018). The psychology of morality. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture 2(1). https://doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1012
Singer, P. (2011). The Expanding Circle: Ethics, Evolution, and Moral Progress (1st Princeton University Press pbk. ed.). Princeton University Press.
Bradie, M. (1994). The Secret Chain: Evolution and Ethics. State University of New York Press.
Boehm, C. (2012). Moral Origins: The evolution of virtue, altruism, and shame. Basic Books.
Wilson, D. S. (2020). Atlas Hugged. Redwood Publishing, LLC.
Wilson, D. S. (2019). This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution (First edition. ed.). Pantheon.
Wrangham, R. W. (2019). The Goodness Paradox: How evolution made us both more and less violent (First edition. ed.). Profile Books Ltd.
Atkins, P. W. B., Wilson, D. S., & Hayes, S. C. (2019). Prosocial: Using evolutionary science to build productive, equitable, and collaborative groups. Context Press.
Gibney, E. (2012). Evolutionary Philosophy. & see: https://www.evphil.com/
Greene, J. D. (2013). Moral Tribes: Emotion, Reason, and the Gap between Us and Them. Penguin Press.
Henrich, J. P. (2020). The WEIRDest people in the world : How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous. Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Bostrom, N. (2014). Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies (First edition. ed.). Oxford University Press.
Tegmark, M. (2017). Life 3.0: Being Human in the age of Artificial Intelligence (First ed.). Allen Lane.
Harari, Y. N. (2017). Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow. Vintage Digital.
...And so on, and so forth.
Side Note: I became a pescatarian, (stopped eating farmed meat) after I read Harari's 3 (brilliant) books... (Even though as a human, eating fish is a strange loop.)
(Anyway - there's a lot you can read, on all of this... a guy called Kant had a lot to say, on: Ethics.)
See, also: the Stanford Encyclopedia, on Virtue Ethics, & what-not.
(The 3 `main' Moral theories are: deontology, consequentialism, and virtue ethics...)
And, so on.
Or, maybe if you're brand-new to the study and contemplation of Ethics & Morality, maybe even, try:
Blackburn, S. (2003). Ethics: A very short introduction. Oxford University Press.
And, maybe also even see, these blog-posts:
and
and
An Agent-Based Model of the global film industry as a system
...and so on, and so forth...
...You could even see a satirical short story I wrote a while ago, vaguely-about, all of this...
And maybe even see: My Worldview.
But - the humans involved in creating The EthiSizer shouldn't be relevant to the final program itself.
(...Trust the Science, not the Scientists.)
i.e., My own worldview (and, Ethics) aren't those of The EthiSizer.
Those are decided by: an army of highly-qualified Ethics Experts & Philosophers.
(...Which, I'm not :) [~JTV]
-------------
...Anyway, so - that's a rough sketch of: The Design for The EthiSizer...
...(& I don't care who makes it, just as long as it's: Ethical!)
-------------
Also -
...It would then go around, judging corporations and groups and individuals, for their: Ethics.
And, Morals.
!
--------------
...There could even be a global competition, to see: who can make,
The best-&-fairest, EthiSizer program...?
(Would likely be a better - & more ethical - use of global resources than: making videogames? :)
-------
So... yeah.
I'm just "putting the idea out there", for now... :)
(I've been called "An Ideas-Guy", at times.)
So - in a nutshell, that's the idea of: The EthiSizer.
...Food for thought, perhaps-?
...& whether anyone goes through the process or making it (as a final: product), remains to be seen.
But, I think the whole world is crying out for such a tool...?
(...Just sayin'. :)
One possible solution to E O Wilson's very wise point:
`The real problem of humanity is the following: we have paleolithic emotions; medieval institutions; and god-like technology. And it is terrifically dangerous, and it is now approaching a point of crisis overall.' (E O Wilson, 2009)
As we seem to need, a Global/Planetary Conscience.
Which currently, seems: urgent, and lacking...? :)
------------
TL;DR: (too long, didn't read) Summary:
We need a computer-program, so that, anyone could simply ask it:
"Hey - here's an idea (or, process, or product)...? Does it pass the Ethics-test, for all units and levels of the HOLON/parton (from cells, up through people, up to, the planet)?
Yes or No?
& If `No' - what exactly would need to change, about the idea/process/product, so that it would pass the test..?
As in short - we'd then be able to simply ask the counsel of, some kind of: all-knowing, all-wise, all benevolent, Ethical `God'.
(i.e. a computer program :)
(And then - on demand - have it print out all of the data [`show your working'], to show why - so that, in our own sweet time, we could read `the long answer' / follow the logic.
And, we'd understand: Exactly, Why... :)
--------------//---------------
Well, that's about all we have time for, folks.You have been reading / viewing a great blog-post by:
Dr J T Velikovsky Ph.D
aka:
`Velikovsky of Newcastle'
aka
`The (great) Velikovsky'
Evolutionary Culturologist & Information Scientist & Systems Scientist & AI Researcher & Enthusiast & Evolutionary Culturologist & Filmmaker & Writer & Artist & Actor & Muso & Rugged Frontiersman & Random Guy
(and, also The StoryAlity Guy)
aka Humanimal
(or, The Artist formally known as Dr J T Velikovsky)
More stuff:
Transmedia Blog: On Writering
IMDb (Movies, Videogames):
Music: Texas Radio & Zen Stupidity
Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/joeteevee (over 100 videos, some are even: good)
Academia page: https://newcastle-au.academia.edu/JTVelikovsky
Researchgate page: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jt_Velikovsky
My ouvre... etc etc.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6741-066X
Forthcoming book (November 2021): https://www.igi-global.com/book/principles-protocols-practices-evolutionary-culturology/267379
March 16, 2021
TVoL Evolutionary Sociology webinar #5 (2021)
TVoL Evolutionary Sociology webinar #5 (2021)
See: https://thisviewoflife.com/evolutionary-science-and-sociology/
-----------
So we had the TVoL Evolutionary Sociology webinar #5 of 2021.
16th March 2021
& it was great!
Some random screenshots I took:
Russ's Intro
Andrew's talk
Lukas's talk
(Lukas' model, including: `habitus')-----------------------
And here's some Notes I took, &/or made, &/or scribbled during the mtg/webinar:
(...who knows, what they all mean? Not me, always. Some of them may even be totally: wrong. I can't even read my own writing, sometimes.)
---------------------------
03:06:05am - From David Sloan Wilson to Everyone : Here is an important TVOL series of print conversations and podcasts relevant to today’s subject, titled “Evolution, Complexity, and the Third Way of Entrepreneurship”: https://thisviewoflife.com/third-way-2/
03:08:43 From David Sloan Wilson to Everyone : Also, this new TVOL article titled “Greek Democracy as a Major Evolutionary Transition”: https://thisviewoflife.com/greek-democracy-as-a-major-evolutionary-transition-a-conversation-with-josiah-ober/
03:14:47 From Rosemary Hopcroft to Everyone : What is your response to your old professor's statement: Anything you can explain I can explain (to a group selectionist from a gene centric traditional biologist)?
03:17:48 From David Sloan Wilson to Everyone : This article is of interest, which treats sacred texts as cultural genomes..https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/2153599X.2016.1195766
03:19:07 From David Sloan Wilson to Everyone : And his one titled “The Nature of Religious Diversity: A Cultural Ecosystem Approach: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/2153599X.2015.1132243
03:21:24 From David Sloan Wilson to Everyone : The “Third Way” series cited above includes an episode on Pragmatism.
03:23:53 Question from Velikovsky of Newcastle to Everyone : Q: Lukas, (great model of top-down/bottom-up FX!) …Could you maybe explain Bourdieu's "habitus" theory (or, just the term `habitus') for the non-Sociologists?
03:34:38 From Someone to Everyone : see ‘Cognitive Gadgets: The Cultural Evolution of Thinking’ Cecilia Heyes
03:35:33 From Someone to Everyone : & ‘The Enigma of Reason’ Sperber Mercier
03:37:20 From Velikovsky of Newcastle to Everyone : Everyone here may also be interested in DSW's upcoming talk (March 19): https://sites.google.com/view/appeel/events/webinars
03:38:23 From Someone to Everyone : Selfish gene theory does not necessarily imply selfish organisms! (or selfish organs :) )
03:45:26 From Someone to Everyone : The latest Atlantic article: “Private Schools are Indefensible”
03:46:15 From ? to Everyone : Have you compared indigenous religions (natives, first people) against other religions in terms of environmental views?
03:46:21 From David Sloan Wilson to Everyone : There is so much to say…multiple perspectives are celebrated in sociology and cultural studies, as if the more the better. But in “hard” science there is more of a right and wrong. Mountains existed before people and if you disagree you’re just wrong. An empirical claim with a right and wrong is that higher-level selection is invariably weaker than lower-level selection. Or, in selfish gene parlance, groups are almost never vehicles of selection. That claim has been empirically disproven. The selfish gene theorist can still speak his/her language, but must acknowledges that whole gene-plexes exist.
03:47:31 From David Sloan Wilson to Everyone : I meant meme-plexes, of course.
03:49:10 From Velikovsky of Newcastle to Everyone : To ?'s (great) point about: the mathematical rigor of `genes' vs `units of culture' models, maybe see the (rigorous :) maths in: Wang, Y. (2015). `On the Mathematical Theories and Cognitive Foundations of Information.' International Journal of Cognitive Informatics and Natural Intelligence, 9(3), 41-63. https://doi.org/10.4018/IJCINI.2015070103
03:49:09 From ? to Everyone : Surely selection at the level of the group is much rarer than lower level selection. My understanding is that you can only get selection at the group level in very specific circumstances
03:53:54 From David Sloan Wilson to Everyone : No! That is a meme that refuses to die! Darwin’s Cathedral is an extended argument for group-level cultural adaptations and has withstood the test of time!
03:54:22 From David Sloan Wilson to Everyone : Humans are so groupish that MLS theory can appear obvious in retrospect.
03:54:29 From David Sloan Wilson to Everyone : Peter Turchin’s Ages of Discord diagnoses booms and busts in inclusiveness and polarization in American history.
03:55:47 From ? to Everyone : Does anyone work with Max Weber and the famous Protestant Ethic and the Rise of Capitalism.
03:55:58 From Ron Nahser to Everyone : And also the rise of the of the Axial Age?
03:55:59 From Velikovsky of Newcastle to Everyone : To Diane's point on MLS, my talk is also on MLS, on March 19: https://sites.google.com/view/appeel/events/webinars
03:56:29 From ? to Everyone : I think the core difficulty here is that the issues of interest to everyone are subject to examination by so many different disciplines. Biology, Psychology, Sociology, Cognitive Science… None of us can be expert in all of them but sadly we are all blind to aspects of fields that are all themselves moving fast. There is no quick route to ‘injecting’ evolutionary ideas into the social sciences
03:57:30 From ? to Everyone : YES to what Peter Griffith’s said; I have that problem all the time!
04:03:28 From ? to Everyone : People made “moral choices” before consciousness, they just did not know they were doing so.
04:03:44 From ? to Everyone : Jo Henrich is interesting on his
04:04:04 From Andrew Atkinson to Everyone : "I think the core difficulty here is that the issues of interest to everyone are subject to examination by so many different disciplines. Biology, Psychology, Sociology, Cognitive Science… None of us can be expert in all of them but sadly we are all blind to aspects of fields that are all themselves moving fast. There is no quick route to ‘injecting’ evolutionary ideas into the social sciences" (Correct, Peter, in my opinion!)
04:05:13 From peter griffiths to Everyone : It will be the end of the century :)
04:06:11 From ? to Everyone : Read Atlas Hugged
04:06:52 From Velikovsky of Newcastle to Everyone : And see David's talk on Atlas Hugged ! :) https://sites.google.com/view/appeel/events/webinars
----------------------------
DSW also mentioned:
Dewey's book - The Ethical Republic
&...a Whole-Earth ethic ...(a Holarchy / partarchy ethic? JTV :)
& The silo-ing of the Disciplines (DSW: The `Ivory Archipelago'!)
...& it will be the end of the f***ing century (before this unity happens) at this rate (We don't have that long!): Catalysis is needed!
Group Selection / Multi-Level Selection.
Society as an organism!!!
JTV - If this MLS stuff is of interest, see also my (forthcoming) book: P3 of EC
...Probably?
When I go to the next great Ev Soc TVoL webinar.
(Well; Unless, I miss it, or, die in the meantime, or whatever, as: that's also a thing that can happen to: folks like me. Or, anyone, I guess.Note To Self - It sure will be annoying if I die before this P3 of EC book comes out...?)
--------------
Anyway, great meeting. I learned a lot. (JTV)
& Met lots of great people/scholars.
...What's not to like?
--------------//---------------
Well, that's about all we have time for, folks.
You have been reading / viewing a blog-post by:
Dr J T Velikovsky Ph.D
(aka: Velikovsky of Newcastle)
Information Scientist & Systems Scientist & AI Researcher & Enthusiast & Evolutionary Culturologist & Filmmaker & Writer & Artist & Actor & Muso & Rugged Frontiersman & Random Guy
(and, also The StoryAlity Guy)
aka Humanimal
(or, The Artist formally known as Dr J T Velikovsky)
More stuff:
Transmedia Blog: On Writering
IMDb (Movies, Videogames):
Music: Texas Radio & Zen Stupidity
Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/joeteevee (over 100 videos, some are even: good)
Academia page: https://newcastle-au.academia.edu/JTVelikovsky
Researchgate page: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jt_Velikovsky
My ouvre... etc etc.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6741-066X
Forthcoming book (November 2021): https://www.igi-global.com/book/principles-protocols-practices-evolutionary-culturology/267379
-----PS - Hey this is all probably all a satire & a parody anyway, knowing me....Unless it isn't?Not sure.
March 4, 2021
Systems Thinking For Wicked Problems (Midgley 2021)
Systems Thinking For Wicked Problems (Midgley 2021)
Went to this great webinar:
"An Introduction to Systems Thinking for Tackling Wicked Problems"
by Professor Gerald Midgley (& thanks to Sadaf Salavati for chairing!)
4th March 2021
There were about 260 people in there...
(That's a lot of Systems Thinkers!)
The recorded seminar will be put online at some stage...
(and I will add it here...)
Also there's a similar (& equally great!) talk, here:
An Introduction to Systems Thinking by Gerald Midgley (2014)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYyTU...
Also, see:
Peter Checkland on Soft Systems Methodology
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA2i1...
And see this book by Peter Checkland.
And (thanks to the Zoom chat) see:
The Vensim software package (free for personal use): https://vensim.com/
The University of Hull offers a PhD in Systems Thinking. Further information can be found on the Centre for Systems Studies website: https://www.hull.ac.uk/work-with-us/r...
00:57:55 From Velikovsky of Newcastle to Everyone : A wonderful book on Systems Philosophy (Laszlo 1972): https://storyality.wordpress.com/2013/08/11/storyality-70c-systems-philosophy-laszlo/
A Systems Thinking Group on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/2639211/
See: https://www.adelaide.edu.au/directory...#
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Ja...
Syntegration (Synergy and Integration) system method: https://www.malik-management.com/mali...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systemi...
Ilias Kastritis to Everyone : another good book to ignite futures thinking while thinking in systems that help a participatory exploration of plausible futures and thus shared aspirations that might influence the direction of systemic interventions to change that can stick https://www.wiley.com/en-au/The+Sixth...
From Rita Hattemer-Apostel to Everyone : A wonderful book is also 'The Systems Thinking Playbook' - offers a wealth of tools and exercises. https://www.amazon.de/Systems-Thinkin...
Some great Systems Theory/Science/Thinking books also here:
On Systems Theory & Evolution
StoryAlity #70 – Key Concepts in Systems Theory, Cybernetics & EvolutionStoryAlity #70A – The (StoryAlity) SystematizerStoryAlity #70B – The Systems View of Life: A Unifying Vision (Capra & Luisi 2014)StoryAlity #70C – Systems Philosophy (Laszlo 1972)StoryAlity #70C2 – General Systems Theory: Problems, Perspectives, Practice (Skyttner 2005)StoryAlity #70D – The Evolving Self (Csikszentmihalyi 1993)StoryAlity #70E – On Human Nature – and Evolutionary PsychologyStoryAlity #71 – On Consilience in the Arts / Humanities / CommunicationAnyway, a terrific webinar!
Thanks again to Prof Midgley & Sadaf!
--------------//---------------
Well, that's about all we have time for, folks.
You have been reading / viewing a blog-post by:
Dr J T Velikovsky Ph.D
(aka: Velikovsky of Newcastle)
Information Scientist & Systems Scientist & AI Researcher & Enthusiast & Evolutionary Culturologist & Filmmaker & Writer & Artist & Actor & Muso & Rugged Frontiersman & Random Guy
(and, also The StoryAlity Guy)
aka Humanimal
(or, The Artist formally known as Dr J T Velikovsky)
More stuff:
Transmedia Blog: On Writering
IMDb (Movies, Videogames):
Music: Texas Radio & Zen Stupidity
Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/joeteevee (over 100 videos, some are even: good)
Academia page: https://newcastle-au.academia.edu/JTVelikovsky
Researchgate page: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jt_Velikovsky
My ouvre... etc etc.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6741-066X
Forthcoming book (November 2021): https://www.igi-global.com/book/principles-protocols-practices-evolutionary-culturology/267379
February 22, 2021
ASFF AGM - Feb 02021
ASFF AGM - Feb 02021
Attended the ASFF AGM. A good time was had by all... All smiles!
& check out the great work by all of these guys (and of course former President, Rose, not pictured) at the: ASFF!
And, membership is only $20 per annum!!! Remarkable.
https://asff.org.au/
------//-------
And, a big thanks to Ion (`Nuke') for publishing The Truth Bomb!
Amphimacus (Antipodean Sci Fi)
Hey, and on a totally-unrelated topic, today I wrote a song:
--------------//---------------
Well, that's about all we have time for, folks.
You have been reading / viewing a blog-post by:
Dr J T Velikovsky Ph.D
(aka: Velikovsky of Newcastle)
Information Scientist & Systems Scientist & AI Researcher & Enthusiast & Evolutionary Culturologist & Filmmaker & Writer & Artist & Actor & Muso & Rugged Frontiersman & Random Guy
(and, also The StoryAlity Guy)
aka Humanimal
(or, The Artist formally known as Dr J T Velikovsky)
More stuff:
Transmedia Blog: On Writering
IMDb (Movies, Videogames):
Music: Texas Radio & Zen Stupidity
Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/joeteevee (over 100 videos, some are even: good)
Academia page: https://newcastle-au.academia.edu/JTVelikovsky
Researchgate page: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jt_Velikovsky
My ouvre... etc etc.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6741-066X
Forthcoming book (November 2021): https://www.igi-global.com/book/principles-protocols-practices-evolutionary-culturology/267379
February 20, 2021
AppEEL webinar #2 - 2021
AppEEL webinar #2 - February 2021
-----------
So we had AppEEL webinar #2 of 2021.
It was great!!! (Just like AppEEL webinar #1)
This post you're reading isn't the Official Page for it.
This is just: my NOTES & whatnot.
(i.e., Velikovsky of Newcastle, or whoever I am)
--------
* Intro by Thomas Reydon to the special issue on Evolutionary Epistemology for the Journal for General Philosophy of Science with featured talks by:
* Denis Noble & Raymond Noble on Can Reasons and Values Influence Action: How Might Intentional Agency Work Physiologically?
* Antonio Fadda on Population Thinking in Epistemic Evolution: Bridging Cultural Evolution and the Philosophy of Science
* David Suaréz Pascal on N. R. Hanson and von Uexküll: A Biosemiotic and Evolutionary Account of Theories
For the full year's AppEEL webinar Schedule/Program, see: here!
And here's some Notes I made / scribbled during the webinar: (who knows, what they all mean? Not me, always. Some of them may even be totally: wrong. I can't even read my own writing, sometimes.)
VELIKOVSKY'S SCRIBBLED NOTES:
Nathalie's welcome...!
Thomas' introduction about the special issue on EE in JGPS Paradigms, Core Problems, Core Solutions8 (of 9) articles are done... so, Special Issue coming ASAP!
Dennis & Ray Noble (of: The Third Way)
`constraints downwards, openness upwards'...a cell-membrane as an organelle...In Q&A, someone mentioned: Maturana & Varela on autopoiesis, & the nature of living systems (& their cognitive capacities)psycho-social cultural nichesorganism & environment are the one unitRobert Rosen did the maths on autopoiesis, anticipatory systemsBarbara McClintock (on corn genes, acting under stress)JTV: Structure & AgencyAntonio's presentation on Population Thinking in Epistemic Evolution
EEM/EET...
see Antonio's paper on this !epigenetics (Lamarck, 1940s, etc)demesDavid's talk:
umwelt, & innenweltcombining Hanson & von Uexkull...Theories function like MAPSSomeone mentioned: Honeybee algorithms in AI ML (for routing internet traffic)[JTV - see `Adapt' by Amina Khan (ant foraging algorithms), & see IJCINI]Other Notes (eg chatting to David, etc)Meaning: semiotics, semantics, hermeneutics2 schools of Semiotics: de Saussure & PeirceVon Uexkell - The Theory of MeaningAntonio - Dawkins: genes as replicators, the `replicators' are the scientists in Kuhn, Toulmin, Popper etcDNA barcodingOlga: went to talk by Godfrey-SmithJerry L R Chandler - re: Robert Rosen - a new number system, atomic weights (mutation & human genome) That's all folks!
JTV's Afterthoughts:
Dennis & Ray's great point on downward causation, biology is open systems all the way up & down... Reminds me of:
------------//------------
Anyway,
great meeting. I learned a lot. Met lots of great people/scholars. What's not to like?
--------------//---------------
Well, that's about all we have time for, folks.
You have been reading / viewing a blog-post by:
Dr J T Velikovsky Ph.D
(aka: Velikovsky of Newcastle)
Information Scientist & Systems Scientist & AI Researcher & Enthusiast & Evolutionary Culturologist & Filmmaker & Writer & Artist & Actor & Muso & Rugged Frontiersman & Random Guy
(and, also The StoryAlity Guy)
aka Humanimal
(or, The Artist formally known as Dr J T Velikovsky)
More stuff:
Transmedia Blog: On Writering
IMDb (Movies, Videogames):
Music: Texas Radio & Zen Stupidity
Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/joeteevee (over 100 videos, some are even: good)
Academia page: https://newcastle-au.academia.edu/JTVelikovsky
Researchgate page: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jt_Velikovsky
My ouvre... etc etc.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6741-066X
Forthcoming book (November 2021): https://www.igi-global.com/book/principles-protocols-practices-evolutionary-culturology/267379
February 18, 2021
NEHs Darwin Day Lecture - How To Become A Wise Manager of Evolutionary Processes
North East Humanists'
Darwin Day Lecture - How To Become A Wise Manager of Evolutionary Processes
So, just attended this great webinar:
And it was GREAT !
That is all.
Thanks to the great Ed Gibney for telling me about it.
ROLL CREDITS.
--------------//---------------
Well, that's about all we have time for, folks.
You have been reading / viewing a blog-post by:
Dr J T Velikovsky Ph.D
(aka: Velikovsky of Newcastle)
Information Scientist & Systems Scientist & AI Researcher & Enthusiast & Evolutionary Culturologist & Filmmaker & Writer & Artist & Actor & Muso & Rugged Frontiersman & Random Guy
(and, also The StoryAlity Guy)
aka Humanimal
(or, The Artist formally known as Dr J T Velikovsky)
More stuff:
Transmedia Blog: On Writering
IMDb (Movies, Videogames):
Music: Texas Radio & Zen Stupidity
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/joeteevee (over 100 videos, some are even: good)
Academia page: https://newcastle-au.academia.edu/JTVelikovsky
Researchgate page: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jt_Velikovsky
My ouvre... etc etc.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6741-066X
Forthcoming book (November 2021): https://www.igi-global.com/book/principles-protocols-practices-evolutionary-culturology/267379
TVoL's Examined Lives: The Insurrection of 1/6/2021
TVoL's Examined Lives:
The Insurrection of 1/6/2021
(Webinar of: Feb 18th 2021)
See: https://thisviewoflife.com/examined-lives/
A blog post by Velikovsky of Newcastle
--------------
So - I just attended this great webinar!
-------//--------
The Insurrection of 1/6/2021Thursday, February 18th, 12-1pm EST
Examined Lives with Andy Norman
. "The Insurrection of 1/6/2021" (Session 6)Thursday, February 18th, 12-1pm ESTOn January 6th 2021, an angry mob provoked by a sitting president stormed the American Capitol. The events of that day raise troubling questions: How on earth did this happen? Could it happen again? Could the next uprising be worse? Many have looked at the particular social and political forces that contributed to the tragedy, but what can the events of that day teach us about human nature? What passions and instincts drove the rioters, and how did the (now ex-) president exploit them? Join us as we make sense of the utterly senseless.
Suggested background readings:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/joe-bidens-fundamental-challenge-is-to-root-out-the-domestic-insurgency/2021/01/19/0001d370-5a96-11eb-8bcf-3877871c819d_story.html
https://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/Op-Ed/2015/12/13/Paris-and-the-seeds-of-radicalization/stories/201512130048
-------//--------
And am happy to report, we solved all the world's problems, in that great webinar.
THE END.
-------//--------
(Though sometimes I can't read my own writing...?
So, I wouldn't take the below as `True News', or anything :)
Could all be: Fake News. You be the judge.
------------
My Scribbled Mtg Notes :
Andy (Norman) nicely summarized: The Insurrection of Jan 6th 2021. (...In fact, you could even watch it all again, here, if you like that kind of thing?)Note: Andy's `cognitive immunization' & `accountable believing' (see the Paris 2015 article. And Andy's forthcoming book, Mental Immunity .) That was a cool article, about Paris 2015. But I don't have a WaPo subscription, so, not sure about the other article. Guess I'm not such a committed Left-winger/liberal, after all? ...I did like the headline and subtitle of the WaPo article, which was all I could read, without a subscription. (Note to self: Need to work on my ideological commitments. Hey wait - no, that was the whole point. Ideological commitments are exactly the problem. Stick to Science, rationality, & all that good stuff instead.)Somebody noted: People (we: ultrasocial humanimals) seek connection, that can lead to tribalismSomebody mentioned: `tribalism' can have good connotations, if you're a 1st Nations peopleQAnon(sense) came up, for fairly obvious reasons.Somebody mentioned that new documentary, The Reunited States:The Reunited States (Trailer): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7BB-5uq2dUAnd which also (kinda) reminds me of, this documentary (...which is: Coming Soon, as the great philosopher, Frederick Mercury once said). Somebody (&/or, lots of somebodies) mentioned the following books: (Ezra Klein) Why We're Polarized (Erich Fromm) Escape From Freedom (Erich Fromm) The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness (Sebastian Junger) Tribe (Rutger Bregman) Humankind: A Hopeful History (Jon Gottschall) The Storytelling Animal (that great section on: Conspiracy Theories as `stories on steroids' ! ...Small wonder, QAnon[sense] `sucked in' so many gullible folks?)(D S Wilson) Atlas Hugged (Hey also, maybe see: 101 Q&As on Atlas Hugged)(Kwame Anthony Appiah) The Lies That Bind(Ulrich Beck) Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity & Kurt (Johnson) kindly noted:`fyi, the program we’ll be doing with David Sloan Wilson will be on VoiceAmerica (hopefully they’ll take it international); starting with David Sloan Wilson and David Korten, then the Producer and writer of The Reunited States, then Duane Elgin (Choosing Earth) and British cosmologist Jude Currivan and them Ann-Marie Voorhoeve of the Hague Center and some other prominent social activists…. We want to follow up with joining David with 9 NYTimes bestseller authors with whom we did our last program (and had over 50,000 listeners).
Our theme is: OUR MOMENT OF CHOICE: ATLAS SHRUGGED OR ATLAS HUGGED?
Someone asked a great Q: What passions and instincts drove the rioters, and how did the (now ex-) president exploit them? Did we try to answer that? Someone answered: Stress .Someone else said: Unless I missed it, I'm very surprised that nobody brought up Rush Limbaugh and impact on society today.(Actually, "Stress" may have been an answer to this one, too? Hard to say. One size fits all there.)Someone mentioned: `Ulrich Beck:“Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity” (1992) older book but think it helps make sense of a socio-economic “why” that drives conspiratorial thinking, strong-man-ism, and disempowerment'Someone mentioned: Memes. Splitting off. I (outrageously) suggested, maybe, like how we need a license to safely drive a car, we need a voting-license-test first, to see if you can safely vote, before we let you vote, as then, we all have to live with your dumb decisions, rather than it be: a birthright to vote. Like Socrates said (!) (Smart guy, right? Socrates, I mean.) (I also even wrote a rambling-ranty essay on it: On Cyber-Democracy (2017) ... but I certainly don't recommend reading it. Maybe just watch Cesar Hidalgo's 2019 TED Talk instead - that way, it's only 13 mins of your life? A bold idea to replace politicians - César Hidalgo (TED Talk, 2019) - 13 mins (of your life)
Our Moment of Choice is a book I recently co-edited (DSW contributed) done by Simon and Schuster. The VoiceAmerica program will be the next on on their “Convergence” Series: https://www.voiceamerica.com/show/2610/the-convergence. Sage put the link for Reunited States in earlier: https://reunitedstates.tv/ The Our Moment of Choice program with 9 NYTimes Bestselling authors is the Aug. 26 2020 `Our Moment of Choice' broadcast in the archive there at the first link.' (end of what Kurt said, 2021)
But so, in the (crazy) Voting-License Test idea, here's my `Elevator-Pitch' on how it works:
If any people indicate they are going to vote for Trump (or, anyone like him) in any election ever, they then are very politely sat in a strait-jacket-chair with their eyelids propped open like Alex in A Clockwork Orange and forced to watch (and listen to) 4 years straight of Trump's yelled-speeches, 24 hours a day, 366 days a year, and with no toilet breaks. And, he also YELLS all his TWEETS AT YOU, EXTRA LOUD
Also, of course, a big fat hairy issue is Electronic Social Media, & `Fake News Floods' which Humanity hasn't had to cope with, on this scale & speed before... The Cambridge Analytica scandal, The Great Hack , surveillance capitalism, The Social Dilemma, and whatnot... On that - as I write this, the FaceBook has just yesterday banned the sharing of any Australian news on Australian Facebook, as the government wants them to pay for it. Outrageous. (Google on the other hand seems fine with paying Aussie news outlets, to then use/share their media on Google? But, it's complex. Seems to be an own goal by The FaceBook, so far. And see here, and here, and if there's spelling mistakes in those news articles, it's probably because journalism has been gutted by digital disruption :) Like, from: The FaceBook. Also, why isn't everything free, & everyone on Universal Basic Income, and, tax the robots? (Hurry up, the future, this is getting really annoying, now.) What pains me the most is, today I went to post a The Onion news story about Limbaugh on The FaceBook, and it wouldn't let me. Cos of the Facebook `news' ban. - Seriously-?! (This is such BS. Big social media companies need to stop fleecing everybody, and grow some Morals. I'm talkin': Ethical Culture .) If I can't re-post super-duper-important satirical news on The FaceBook, what's the world coming to?(But as we know, FB is mostly nonsense anyway - mainly just: cute cats & conspiracy-theory cranks, LOL). Which says a lot about Human Nature, en masse? (...Though, I do like cute cats. I'm just like you. We have the same: culture.) Ok, well, enough about The Facebook (which had a yuge causal effect on spreading QAnonsense, & thus, the Jan 6 insurrection) - & back to the webinar-& also, going to the (great) `passions & instincts' question, above:Andy suggested: The neocortex [rationality] is effective, as long as the limbic system [emotion] isn't freaked out. (JTV thinks: Yes! In short, Evolution is both to be thanked & blamed for: Everything :)...Nah, just kidding. ...Or was I? It goes to show you never can tell, as the great philosopher, Charles Berry once wrote.)
And, on this exact topic (ideological/cognitive infections, cognitive immunity, etc.), am really looking forward to Andy's new book: Mental Immunity (due out: May 2021) !
Mental Immunity (due out: May 2021)
(& I notice, you can pre-order it now on that Amazon link, above... & I did ! )
--------------
So: great webinar. I learned a lot. (JTV)
& Met lots of great people / scholars.
...What's not to like?
(Hey - and I also blogged on the previous one, here .)
THE END
ROLL CREDITS.
--------------//---------------
Well, that's about all we have time for, folks.
You have been reading / viewing a blog-post by:
Dr J T Velikovsky Ph.D
(aka: Velikovsky of Newcastle)
Information Scientist & Systems Scientist & AI Researcher & Enthusiast & Evolutionary Culturologist & Filmmaker & Writer & Artist & Actor & Muso & Rugged Frontiersman & Random Guy
(and, also The StoryAlity Guy)
aka Humanimal
(or, The Artist formally known as Dr J T Velikovsky)
More stuff:
Transmedia Blog: On Writering
IMDb (Movies, Videogames):
Music: Texas Radio & Zen Stupidity
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/joeteevee (over 100 videos, some are even: good)
Academia page: https://newcastle-au.academia.edu/JTVelikovsky
ResearchGate page: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jt_Velikovsky
My ouvre... etc etc.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6741-066X
Forthcoming book (November 2021): https://www.igi-global.com/book/principles-protocols-practices-evolutionary-culturology/267379
101 Questions about Atlas Hugged
101 Questions about Atlas Hugged (2020)
An interview with David Sloan Wilson
Visit Atlas Hugged World for the full interview!
You have been reading / viewing a great blog-post by:
Dr J T Velikovsky Ph.D
aka:
`Velikovsky of Newcastle'
aka
`The (great) Velikovsky'
Evolutionary Culturologist & Information Scientist & Systems Scientist & AI Researcher & Enthusiast & Evolutionary Culturologist & Filmmaker & Writer & Artist & Actor & Muso & Rugged Frontiersman & Random Guy
(and, also The StoryAlity Guy)
aka Humanimal
(or, The Artist formally known as Dr J T Velikovsky)
More stuff:
Transmedia Blog: On Writering
IMDb (Movies, Videogames):
Music: Texas Radio & Zen Stupidity
Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/joeteevee (over 100 videos, some are even: good)
Academia page: https://newcastle-au.academia.edu/JTVelikovsky
Researchgate page: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jt_Velikovsky
My ouvre... etc etc.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6741-066X
Forthcoming book (November 2021): https://www.igi-global.com/book/principles-protocols-practices-evolutionary-culturology/267379
February 13, 2021
On Ethical Culture
On Ethical Culture
Some Thoughts
by
JTV
14th Feb 02021
---------//----------
So, if culture is defined as ideas, processes, and products, what would it take to eliminate the Unethical Culture, and preserve and promote the Ethical Culture on Earth?
(Also, in space, since we humanimals seem to do that too.)
(As Ethical Culture is one of the many goals of the new Science of Evolutionary Culturology).
How about we first of all get clear on some Definitions:
Q: So what is Ethical Culture, anyway?
A: Okay well, here's what the webpage for THE NEW YORK SOCIETY FOR ETHICAL CULTURE says:
`THE NEW YORK SOCIETY FOR ETHICAL CULTURE is a Humanist community dedicated to ethical relationships, social justice, and environmental stewardship since 1876. We celebrate life’s joys, support each other through life’s challenges, and work together to build a more just world.' (Source: online, 2021)
And, they even have regular Meetups, and stuff...! (Aw man, if I lived in NYC, I would totally go: Meet. Up. But as it happens, I'm Down Under, here in Oz. Traylia. So, whaddyagunnado. Maybe just write a blog-post, and a book, and stuff.)
Hey but here's something more from their Meetup page, which helps to shed a little light on the subject:
`What we're about
Ethical Culture is a movement centered on ethics, not theology, whose mission is to encourage respect for humanity and nature and to create a better world. Members are committed to personal ethical development in their relationships with others and in activities involving social justice and environmental stewardship.
What We Believe
We believe all individuals have inherent worth and dignity, the potential to grow and change, a responsibility to strive for ethical growth, and a responsibility to create a better world.
As an Ethical Community we are all part of something that transcends the individual experience and are enriched through our relationships with others. As such, we have responsibilities to each other, to the Society, and to the community.
The New York Society for Ethical Culture offers a full schedule of events and activities for everyone including social gatherings, Sunday platforms, weekend and evening lectures, classes, outings, charitable volunteer opportunities, teen leadership programs, and a (non-theistic) Sunday school. Join us at one of our events such as our Foundations of Ethical Culture course, Ethics in Film, Ethics and the Theater, Advocacy Forum, or Socrates Cafe.' (Source: online, 2021)
Anyway, you get the idea.
But for the sake of clarity, we can look at those two words a bit closer, `ethical' and `culture':
Ethics is about right and wrong (good and bad) conduct.
(Here's a good goal: Minimize suffering.)
Culture, as noted above = ideas, processes, products.
Some examples of unethical ideas, processes, products:
Nazism is an unethical idea. (Or, Political Philosophy, or goal, or worldview.)
Female genital mutilation is an unethical process.
Cigarettes (which cause cancer) are an unethical product.
Q: When did this Ethics stuff begin?
A: Well, it goes way back to Aristotle, at least.
Aristotle. or: "Aristoteles" (1811) by Francesco Hayez (1791–1882)Image source: Public Domain.(No doubt Ethics goes much further back too, but there's a pretty good starting point. See for example, Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. Both his son and his dad were called Nicomachus, so who even knows who it was about, or for... Maybe both-!)
Hey and look here:
`Ethics, as now separated out for discussion by Aristotle, is practical rather than theoretical, in the original Aristotelian senses of these terms.[1] In other words, it is not only a contemplation about good living, because it also aims to create good living. It is therefore connected to Aristotle's other practical work, the Politics, which similarly aims at people becoming good. Ethics is about how individuals should best live, while the study of politics is from the perspective of a law-giver, looking at the good of a whole community.' (Source: online, 2021)
I only note the bold bit above as, it reminds me: He's talking about an idea, that, via processes, becomes a product. Culture.
Now it's time to throw in a diagram showing Multi-Level Selection. i.e. The HOLON/parton structure of bio-psycho-socio-cultural units of culture. (See also the book P3 of EC for many more details.)
So, there's a diagram (or a model, if you will) of where I think we need to be concerned about
Ethics, Morality, and Politics, and Values
. These things all affect each other (cells, people, families, communities, nations, the whole biosphere, even our solar system as we're leaving a lot of space junk out there and whatnot. Littering is usually bad. You should really clean up your messes, so somebody else doesn't have to, later.) Atoms come into it too, as what if you split an atom, and blow up a whole country or whatever.
Electrons too, as: what if, you put the wrong guy in the electric chair, and murder him, or whatever.
Anyway - you get the idea. Systems Science goes into how `everything's connected' and whatnot. (Well, maybe not everything, but a lot of things are, like everything in an ecosystem, etc.)
...Some more definitions please? Just want to get really clear on what you're on about, here.
Okay then.
Here's the Encyclopedia Britannica on Ethics (in, an article written by the Australian Moral Philosopher, Peter Singer):
`Ethics, also called moral philosophy, [is] the discipline concerned with what is morally good and bad and morally right and wrong. The term is also applied to any system or theory of moral values or principles.' (Source: online, 2021)
Ah see, now, we're coming to: VALUES.
See the word `values', there, in that quote (above). Values.
Anyway - I think that definition is a pretty good one (Singer's one, above). That's why I Selected, Varied, and Transmitted (i.e., cited, or quoted) it here, on this blog post.
(I varied it a teensy bit, by adding the text `[is]'). It's not varying it much, I'll admit. Just makes it easier to read or understand, probably?
Hey, by the way, did you know there is an Evolutionary Algorithm (in both biology and culture): SVT? Selection, Variation, Transmission.
I only say that, as, some folks seem to (mistakenly) think that culture doesn't evolve.
But it does.
So, maybe keep an eye out, for that good ole SVT evolutionary algorithm... it happens a whole lot more often than most people seem to notice...?
You probably even do it yourself. Like, when you repeat some information, or news, that you know, to somebody else, or on the `Socialist Medias' (the Facebooks, and the Linked-Ins, Twitterverse, etc) or whatever. Just sayin'.
(I mean, if you really want to go hog-wild on it, check out, this book: P3 of EC.)
Where was I.
Ok, yeah, let's keep on hammering away on this `Ethics' stuff. It's probably important, or something.
Let's hit up Wikipedia's page on Ethics, and see what they have to say for themselves:
`Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch[1] of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".[2] The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns matters of value, and thus comprises the branch of philosophy called axiology.[3]
Ethics seeks to resolve questions of human morality by defining concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime. As a field of intellectual inquiry, moral philosophy also is related to the fields of moral psychology, descriptive ethics, and value theory.' (Source: online, 2021)
...Sounds about right?
Anyway maybe read up on Value Theory, and the point is: What's good for a person may not be good for the group/s they're in. i.e. Wider Society/s. Or, all nations, or, the rest of life on the planet, or the environment, or whatever. Systems are always in an environment. And you are a system of systems, inside a system of systems. Systems are HOLON/partons, by the way. (See P3 of EC for more.)
Anyway, some more on Ethical Culture .
There's some cool books on this stuff.
e.g.
Bradie, M. (1994). The Secret Chain: Evolution and Ethics. State University of New York Press.
Harris, S. (2010). The Moral Landscape: How science can determine human values. Free Press.
And, so on.
Now, so, what about: Moral Codes?
Yeah? These things go back to The Code of Hammurabi.
And well before, as hunter-gatherers in the Pleistocene (no doubt) had a set of group (tribal) rules: e.g. If someone is a bully, or does the wrong thing, maybe kill them in their sleep, or whatever.
Religions usually have Moral Codes, too, like `Commandments' and whatnot.
And, national Constitutions, and Legal Systems (global, national, state, local, etc) have them.
Hey - and let's all think about Asimov's 4 Laws of Robotics, as robots are a thing now, too.
Here they are from Wikipedia, as I'm in a bit of a rush, so currently, it's easier just to Select, Vary and Transmit them to you:
Asimov's 4 Laws of Robotics:
`A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.[1]In The Evitable Conflict the machines generalize the First Law to mean:
"No machine may harm humanity; or, through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm."This was refined in the end of Foundation and Earth, a zeroth law was introduced, with the original three suitably rewritten as subordinate to it:
0. A robot may not injure humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.'
(Source: online, 2021)
I think, we should take these 4 Laws, and apply them to: us humanimals, too.
As then, folks like Trump wouldn't be able to ignore Science (truth, facts, reality), and let hundreds of thousands of folks die, from COVID.
...Just sayin'.
Nah, just kidding.
This is all a satire and a parody. ...Isn't it?
Anyway, read The Evitable Conflict sometime. It's a ripping yarn. Also it shows kinda how it might be good, if computers (AI) ran the world.
(I don't mean just take the story literally. Read it, and see where the ideas underpinning it take you. Also, if you don't have a very good imagination, that may take you to: some really dumb places. So don't bother telling us about it, if, it's dumb, bad, or wrong. Be constructive. Try and solve a few global problems.)
The point is, Humanimals are not very good at: monitoring big complex systems.
Like: 200 or so nations, and all the 8 billion folks, and 10 million+ species on a planet.
...AIs are, though!
So; yeah - we need Ethical Robots running the world.
And, eliminating all the Unethical Culture. (or at least clearly tagging/labelling it, so we all know, from a mile off, that it's BS. Unethical stuff like: Science Denial, and Conspiracy Theories, and old outdated Religious ideas [okay; Religious ideas in general]) etc.
There's already tons of algorithms that detect and label `fake news'. So; more of that, please. On bigger scales. On all scales. See the levels and units of HOLON/partons, to see a few important scales.
Anyway so I think Ethical Culture is a good idea.
(You don't have to like it. It just has to be true.)
But wait, you say - What if, it then turns society / the world into, like what Communist China has done, with Social Credits, and the gamification of life?
The Answer: That's why, you have a smart-system computer.
To make sure, it doesn't happen that way.
"Yes - but, but but but -", You say.
Stop talking, it's getting annoying now, I say.
You can talk about it, all you want.
Until it's done, you don't really know what you're talking about.
...AmIRight-?
Anyway I was just kidding.
This was all just: a satire and a parody.
...Wasn't it?
[SUBROUTINE: ENDS]
You have been reading / viewing a great blog-post by:
Dr J T Velikovsky Ph.D
aka:
`Velikovsky of Newcastle'
aka
`The (great) Velikovsky'
Evolutionary Culturologist & Information Scientist & Systems Scientist & AI Researcher & Enthusiast & Evolutionary Culturologist & Filmmaker & Writer & Artist & Actor & Muso & Rugged Frontiersman & Random Guy
(and, also The StoryAlity Guy)
aka Humanimal
(or, The Artist formally known as Dr J T Velikovsky)
More stuff:
Transmedia Blog: On Writering
IMDb (Movies, Videogames):
Music: Texas Radio & Zen Stupidity
Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/joeteevee (over 100 videos, some are even: good)
Academia page: https://newcastle-au.academia.edu/JTVelikovsky
Researchgate page: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jt_Velikovsky
My ouvre... etc etc.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6741-066X
Forthcoming book (November 2021): https://www.igi-global.com/book/principles-protocols-practices-evolutionary-culturology/267379
