The Ramblings of An Eternal Student of Life

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

◊ Part 2 – Millennials as Ghosts in the Machine(s)

Society ... Technology ...

In my last blog, I pondered the complaint of the Millennial generation, i.e. that they have been given a raw economic deal, especially compared to the opportunities to achieve the “American Dream” that my own Boomer generation was given. Instead of seeking some form of anti-youth conspiracy amidst our aging leaders (arguably in their quest to maintain Social Security and Medicare benefits for their peers, including myself), or suspecting an unhealthy sub-conscious mindset grounded in the jealousy and disappointment of an aging generation that once sang “hope I die before I grow old” and chanted “never trust anyone over 30”, I will next focus on what machines and technology are doing to the modern workplace . . . which is quite a lot. I will note that technology has been changing what workers do for over a century now, with mostly good results (e.g. increasing pay tied to growing worker productivity). But the pace of technology change seems to be accelerating and taking us into new territory, such that humans and their social systems are losing the ability to keep up. Are the Millennials the shock troops facing an ultimately contracting need for human skills and abilities in an increasingly automated production economy guided by artificially intelligent (computerized) managerial systems?

The human race overall is getting smarter and better with regard to finding improved techniques to build or create things from nature. The pace of progress seems to keep on accelerating. Entrepreneurs and politicians soon see the possibilities created by these new techniques, and put them to use for their own fortune and power. The biggest impact on the masses results from better and cheaper ways to do things that once required people to do. So, are we facing the nightmare of a world where machines eventually take over most everything, while most people (other than a handful of rich “masters” and a small contingent of their extremely intelligent lackeys who are able to keep up with accelerating machine intelligence) become un-needed, and are thus cast into desperate poverty with lives that are nasty, brutish and short?

This nightmare is not a new one, as many economists like to point out. Technology and change in the workplace has been going on for at least 300 years now in the west. A look at the economic history of America since the Civil War reveals many innovations that » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 4:49 pm Read Comments (2) / Leave a Comment

Saturday, September 21, 2013

◊ Old Economy Steve, Part 1

Economics/Business ... Society ...

I’m getting old now, as I recently completed my sixth decade here on Earth. So it’s kind-of natural for me to look back on the days of my youth and count the ways in which they were better than today. But then again, perhaps there really were some things about the suburban world of the 1960’s and 1970’s that were better. A lot of young people of today — the “Millennials” — are pretty upset about their declining social and economic possibilities. Some of them even look back with envy and irony on the world that I knew when I was their age, perhaps questioning the fairness of why their parents’ generation (the “Boomers”) had such abundant opportunities for a good, comfortable life as compared with the challenges that they now face.

In fact, the Millennials have created an Internet fictional character called “Old Economy Steve“, to stand as a “meme” (something like a mythological sound bite) for their frustrations. Old Economy Steve is a series of short messages posted on a series of identical pictures showing a long-haired white guy who definitely looks like a refuge from That Seventies Show. To be honest, I didn’t look all that different from Steve back then. And to be more honest, most of what they say about O.E. Steve’s world is more-or-less true. Back then, you COULD get a job with good pay right out of high school and be fairly sure that if you kept your nose to the grindstone, you would soon have enough to get married, buy a house, and raise a family. If you wanted to shoot a little higher, you COULD go to college and pay for books and tuition from what you earned on a summer job (I did just that!). And a college degree just about guaranteed a very decent job (that is, until the year that I graduated). No moving back in with mom and dad, not back in those days.

As with every ‘meme’, reality doesn’t completely fit with the story behind it. As Megan McArdle points out, if you weren’t a white male, » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 7:39 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Thursday, September 12, 2013

◊ Introverts, Lemons and Freckles

Music ... Psychology ...

I was going thru an interesting article on the neuroscience of introversion recently. There have been a surprising number of brain studies which well establish that the brains of introverts and extroverts operate quite differently. One side effect: extroverts are found to be “happier”. Well, why not, America is an extrovert culture, and those who go with the flow generally have an easier time of it. Personally, I feel more “fulfilled” as an introvert, even if my life isn’t one big smile.

Another interesting fact about introverts: our brain reacts more sensitively to certain physical stimuli. One such stimuli is lemon juice. Various tests have shown that introverts salivate quite a bit more then extroverts in response to lemon juice in the mouth. Actually, I do rather enjoy licking fresh-cut lemons (when no one else is around and only I will use them). It’s interesting that extroverts can’t easily turn a sour lemon into a pleasurable experience, as the introvert within me can.

This all reminds me of an old episode of “The Little Rascals“, one that I watched many times when growing up (one of the pleasures of summer vacation » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 8:54 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Sunday, September 8, 2013

◊ Judaism and Jesus the Christ — Personal Reflections

Religion ...

I recently finished a second listen of the Teaching Company course on the Bible’s Old Testament, by Prof. Amy-Jill Levine. I first heard it several years ago, when I was only interested in getting a general overview of what went on before the Gospels. (Obviously I grew up in a Christian tradition; but not in a Bible-thumping tradition, as I grew up in the Catholic faith. Perhaps that’s why I’m trying to catch up on Bible study!). This time around I focused more on the history of Israel, on what the Tanakh can tell you about Judaism and the Jews. Perhaps it is appropriate that I finished the course just before Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year (which was celebrated this past Thursday).

So, over the past few weeks, I sat through (or mostly stood, while making dinner or ironing shirts) the great stories of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob (my namesake!), Moses and the Exodus, Aaron, Joshua, Deborah, and Samson; then on thru the kings, Samuel, Saul, David, Solomon, then the split of the two kingdoms with the fall of the north; then the rise of the wise prophets, Elijah, Elisha, and Amos; followed by the Exile, Isiah, the Restoration, and the rise of the priests; and finally, the Diaspora, Job, Esther, Jeremiah, Daniel and the growth of apocalyptic expectations (setting the stage for the coming of Jesus of Nazareth). All are great stories indeed, but this time I was listening for meta-themes regarding the formation of the Jewish people and the roots and development of “what it is” about Judaism, about its “social mindset” (if you will). And yes, there was definitely some of that to be had in Professor Levine’s lectures.

One of the most significant “mindset” things that I took away was something of a wise weariness developing amidst the Jewish tradition over the centuries (not entirely my own idea, » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 4:37 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Thursday, September 5, 2013

◊ The Real Climate Change Problem

Current Affairs ... Food / Drink ... Science ...

As of this writing, the Atlantic Hurricane season is about half over . . . and there hasn’t been a hurricane yet! This is a bit surprising, given the frequency and intensity of Atlantic and Caribbean tropical storms over the past 10 years. In the over $10 billion of damage range (adjusted to 2010 dollars), since early 2004, we have had Katrina ($105.8 billion 2005), Ike ($27.8 billion 2008), Wilma ($20.6 billion 2005), Ivan ($19.8 billion 2005), Charley ($15.8 billion 2004), Irene ($15.8 billion 2011), Rita ($11.8 billion 2005), and Frances ($10.02 billion 2004). Oh, and let’s not forget the memorable almost-hurricane that knocked New York City and New Jersey for a loop last year: Sandy, weighing in at about $64 billion in overall damages (adjusting back to 2010 dollars for comparability). There were only four other 10 billion + storms between 1965 and 2003 (admittedly, there was less coastal residential development back then; but there was also more industrial factory and port infrastructure along the East Coast and Gulf before 2003, so 9 mega-damage storms in 10 years still says something against 4 others in the previous 39 years).

Is this an early sign of global warming? The jury still seems to be out on this. Even the 10+ billion list above indicates that two-thirds of the recent mega-storms were concentrated in two seasons, 2004 and 2005; indicating that this hurricane outburst may have been something of a “freak of nature”. If progressive global warming were the main driver of increasing hurricane intensity, you might have expected more storms in the second 5 years (2009-2013) than the first; but the results are skewed heavily towards the first 5 years (7 versus 2).

But there is something else happening in the weather that doesn’t make the headlines like major hurricanes, but is more likely to be resulting from “anthropogenic climate change”. And that is » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 3:33 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Sunday, September 1, 2013

◊ WW1 in a Tweet

History ...

I’m not very good with short twitter-like messages; just can’t seem to think of anything that would come across in 140 or even 200 characters. Especially not about stuff like World War 1 and its lessons for today’s Middle East.

But here’s a good short thought that I recently read about World War 1. I think it serves nicely to explain what that war was really all about.

[Our belief that] when a government we find unsatisfactory is overthrown, we can expect a better government to follow, goes back at least as far as President » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 5:14 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Thursday, August 29, 2013

◊ Consciousness as Illusion — Another Theory, Another Yawn

Brain / Mind ... Science ...

I just read another “theory of consciousness” article attempting to use scientific logic to convince us that our conscious being is nothing more than an illusion. This one is by a Princeton U neuroscientist named Michael Graziano. He calls it the “attention schema“, as it focuses on how we direct our attention and self-awareness.

Dr. Graziano is a clever writer, but ultimately his article is just another attempt to demonstrate that science has it all down and physicalism is all there is. According to the good professor, consciousness isn’t different from anything else that science understands, such as transistors and catalysts and carbon cycles and superconductivity. Dr. Graziano seems to think that he has a powerful conceptual tool that makes consciousness fall into place. He co-opts and then debunks outer body experiences and rays coming out of the eyes and such — kind of a cheap shot, I’d say. The article mixes a bit of information theory and evolutionary process with the human brains’ ability to imagine and conceptualize things that don’t exist, along with the human need to form social structures. Knowing the usual “question of mind” philosophy quandaries, he also tries to defeat “epi-phenomenalism” (or talk around it, in my opinion).

In sum, Dr. G defines consciousness in a way that fits his pre-stated objectives. That’s groovy. But is what Professor Graziano conceptualizes as “consciousness” really what » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 8:23 am Read Comments (2) / Leave a Comment

Saturday, August 24, 2013

◊ Sorry, Ecuador; Drill, Baby, Drill

Current Affairs ... Economics/Business ... Foreign Relations/World Affairs ...

I heard a story on the Voice of Russia radio news the other day about Ecuador’s plans to go ahead with drilling for oil in an environmentally rich and sensitive Amazon rainforest region, after failing to raise $3.6 billion in donations to “buy out” the economic value that the oil would have to its economy. The Washington Post article pretty much summed up the situation: “Ecuador asked the world to pay it not to drill for oil, and the world said no”. President Rafael Correa came up with this plan back in 2010. He managed to raise a total of $13 million; so it was 0.1 billion down, 3.5 to go. Now he decided to throw in the towel and drill, baby, drill. Of course, while requesting the funds, there were all sorts of dire consequences in the air; now he says that less than 1% of the Yasuni National Park will be affected.

Hmmm. This is something of a tough question. On the one hand . . . we can’t all ask each other to pay to not drill for oil. At some point, oil production would plummet and prices would shoot up, then the world economy would crash and nobody could make any further such payments. If Ecuador got away with this, then why not Mexico, Canada, Russia, Niger, maybe even North Dakota? On the other hand . . . poorer nations have a harder time integrating environmental concerns in their oil drilling efforts. (It is arguable that abundant natural-resources keep poorer nations from diversifying their economies, as they become too dependent on oil and mineral wealth — the “resource curse”). In all fairness, if environmentally sensitive areas are to be “saved”, or at least have damage minimized from hydrocarbon exploitation, then people in the better-off nations like the USA, Japan and Western Europe should contribute the most for this.

But other than asking for voluntary donations from governments or private individuals, there’s really no good way to make this happen. The world, such as it is, is just not ready for one-world government. It’s hard enough to make government work on local and state levels; and national politics in the past 10 years continue to make people doubt that government on the national level is useful. So why would we believe that a government of humankind-in-general could make things better?

So, sorry Ecuador, but the world is taking a pass on saving Yasuni (or that 1% of Yasuni that will be impacted). President Correa can now pin the blame on what he is about to do on the evil » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 8:00 am Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

◊ 10:30PM in Maywood

Photo ...

It’s just another Saturday night in northern New Jersey, with a middle-aged rock cover band (which includes my middle-aged brother, incidentally) hard at work keeping the patrons of an “ale house” in suburban Maywood entertained.

◊ posted by Jim G @ 8:00 am Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Sunday, August 18, 2013

◊ A Question for You Atheists

Religion ... Spirituality ...

Atheism has been around for a long time and is fairly common in certain parts of the world, but it hasn’t yet caught on big here in the USA. However, it’s numbers are growing over time. A huge percentage of people in academia consider themselves atheists, especially in the sciences. So, atheism seems to be the preferred viewpoint of the “brightest of the bright”.

I have a lot of regard for those “brightest of the bright”. I consider myself to be something of a thinking man, a patron of critical thought and rationality. I myself have great regard for the ways and accomplishments of science; I myself subscribe to reason and the basic tenets of The Enlightenment.

And yet . . . I have a problem with atheism. I’m not ready to give up on God and the idea of some sort of life-after-death for we self-conscious beings with complex thinking and feeling abilities. So I have a question » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 4:00 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

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