tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post4481363414872630943..comments2023-11-22T01:14:54.298-08:00Comments on amor mundi: Stupid Societies Die When Their Luck Runs OutDale Carricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811055279887722298noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-33944057456783814602011-06-16T17:52:27.706-07:002011-06-16T17:52:27.706-07:00America is also a very lucky country, lucky enough...America is also a very lucky country, lucky enough to survive some stupidity.<br /><br />I'm confident that it will eventually weather financial hard times and do the right thing. Unfortunately things are going to get pretty bad before that happens.jollyspaniardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10999141103840765243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-69472057799728783612011-06-13T08:35:20.080-07:002011-06-13T08:35:20.080-07:00> In [Yale Law School professor Dan] Kahan'...> In [Yale Law School professor Dan] Kahan's research. . .<br /><br />You know, I googled this guy, and came to a page called<br />"The Cultural Cognition Project at Yale Law School"<br />http://www.culturalcognition.net/<br />and what do I find under "current projects"?<br /><br />Nanotechnology Risk Perceptions<br />http://www.culturalcognition.net/projects/nanotechnology-risk-perceptions.html<br />-----------------------------<br />Its immense range of potential applications -- scientific,<br />commercial, and medical -- marks nanotechnology as one of<br />the most promising new forms of applied science. The future<br />of nanotechnology, however, will depend not just on anticipation<br />of its likely benefits but also on fear of its possible risks.<br />Many members of the public, often upon hearing of nanotechnology<br />for the first time, react with near-instantaneous concern about<br />the hazards it may pose to the environment and to human health.<br />Despite the nascent state of the nanotechnology industry,<br />moreover, efforts to subject it to comprehensive regulation<br />are already under way.<br /><br />As a component of its NSF-funded project on the mechanisms of<br />cultural cognition, the Cultural Cogntion Project, in collaboration<br />with the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, is conducting<br />research to determine what people think about nanotechnology<br />and how they respond to information about it.<br />-----------------------------<br /><br />The **NSF** is funding this? Jaysus!jimfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04975754342950063440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-70870246791569161842011-06-12T17:29:51.803-07:002011-06-12T17:29:51.803-07:00An amusing quote from
http://scottlocklin.wordpres...An amusing quote from<br />http://scottlocklin.wordpress.com/2010/10/04/spotting-vaporware-three-follies-of-would-be-technologists/<br />--------------------<br />A sort of hand wavey corollary based again on fusion’s<br />promises (or, say, the “war on cancer”), I like to call,<br />“the folly of 20 year promises.” Bullshitters love to give<br />estimates that allow them to retire before they’re<br />discovered as frauds; 20 years is about long enough to<br />collect a pension. Of course, a 20 year estimate may be<br />an honest one, but I can’t really think of any planned,<br />specific technological breakthrough developed by a<br />bureaucracy over that kind of time scale, and I can<br />think of dozens upon dozens which have failed miserably<br />to the tune of billions of research dollars. What<br />“20 years” means to me is, ”I don’t actually know how<br />to do this, but I wish you’d give me money for it anyway.”<br />--------------------<br /><br />This principle is nothing new.<br /><br />I gather that every Russian child learns stories<br />about a legendary rogue named Nasruddin.<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasrudin<br /><br />Here's one I found a while ago on Usenet (before I<br />found out from a Russian acquaintance that every<br />Russian kid has heard of this character).<br /><br />Nasruddin and the Shah's ass:<br />http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=1992Feb21.192207.9035%40husc3.harvard.edu<br />--------------------<br />There once was a Shah who developed a special fondness for his ass, and <br />expressed a desire that the animal be taught human speech. Nasruddin came <br />forth, declaring that he could do the job in twenty-five years, for 25 <br />thousand gold pieces. The Shah agreed, and Nasruddin led away the ass <br />loaded with a fortune in gold. Upon hearing about the bargain, Nasruddin's <br />friends came to his house, expressing great concern. "Surely, -- they <br />said, -- you will fail to teach the ass to speak, and spend the gold, and <br />then the Shah will order his royal executioner to cut off your head." <br />"Don't worry, -- replied Nasruddin, -- in twenty-five years the Shah will <br />die, or the ass will die, or I myself will die."<br />--------------------<br /><br />;->jimfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04975754342950063440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-2575520621182220802011-06-12T17:06:55.563-07:002011-06-12T17:06:55.563-07:00> America is unbelievably, indeed, almost unbea...> America is unbelievably, indeed, almost unbearably<br />> stupid right now. . .<br /><br />The Science of Why We Don't Believe Science<br />How our brains fool us on climate, creationism,<br />and the vaccine-autism link.<br />By Chris Mooney<br />http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/03/denial-science-chris-mooney<br />-----------------------<br />In [Yale Law School professor Dan] Kahan's research,<br />individuals are classified, based on their cultural values,<br />as either "individualists" or "communitarians,"<br />and as either "hierarchical" or "egalitarian" in<br />outlook. (Somewhat oversimplifying, you can think<br />of hierarchical individualists as akin to conservative<br />Republicans, and egalitarian communitarians as<br />liberal Democrats.) . . .<br /><br />The results were stark: When the scientist's position stated<br />that global warming is real and human-caused, for instance,<br />only 23 percent of hierarchical individualists agreed the<br />person was a "trustworthy and knowledgeable expert."<br />Yet 88 percent of egalitarian communitarians accepted<br />the same scientist's expertise. . .<br /><br />In other words, people rejected the validity of a<br />scientific source because its conclusion contradicted<br />their deeply held views—and thus the relative risks<br />inherent in each scenario. A hierarchal individualist<br />finds it difficult to believe that the things he<br />prizes (commerce, industry, a man's freedom to possess<br />a gun to defend his family) could lead to outcomes<br />deleterious to society. Whereas egalitarian communitarians<br />tend to think that the free market causes harm, that<br />patriarchal families mess up kids, and that people<br />can't handle their guns. The study subjects weren't<br />"anti-science"—not in their own minds, anyway. It's<br />just that "science" was whatever they wanted it to be.<br />-----------------------<br /><br />On the other hand, if you dare to venture into the secular<br />right-wing precincts of the blogosphere, you can find very<br />smart people who would not, to say the least, find their<br />own biases reflected in the pages of Mother Jones.<br /><br />Here's an example:<br /><br />Locklin on science<br />U.S. energy independence: hard numbers<br />by Scott Locklin, January 9, 2010 <br />http://scottlocklin.wordpress.com/2010/01/09/u-s-energy-independence-hard-numbers/<br /><br />Although he quotes F. T. Marinetti, author of the Futurist<br />Manifesto (1909) in the above article, Locklin isn't too<br />kind to contemporary futurists. See, e.g.,<br /><br />Spotting vaporware: three follies of would-be technologists<br />by Scott Locklin, October 4, 2010 <br />http://scottlocklin.wordpress.com/2010/10/04/spotting-vaporware-three-follies-of-would-be-technologists/<br /><br />and<br /><br />Nano-nonsense: 25 years of charlatanry<br />by Scott Locklin, August 24, 2010 <br />http://scottlocklin.wordpress.com/2010/08/24/nano-nonsense-25-years-of-charlatanry/jimfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04975754342950063440noreply@blogger.com