There are entire branches of philosophy devoted to ethics, in many ways the study of ethics and their application was the preoccupation of the Founding Fathers and the Constitution, the very foundation stone of the Enlightenment, but ultimately moral expertise falls down in its application- especially in the modern age, where social media has unleashed the plague of tongues from the Tower of Babel, wherein not only do we not understand each other, we aren’t even particularly motivated to try. Of course, we can be trained ethicists, learn the skills of how to examine and critically assess moral quandaries. But how can any of us truly claim to be able to negotiate our own biases- with Jonathan Haidt’s Elephant and the Rider serving as a good metaphor for how we can be unwittingly led by our own desires and prejudices?
It might be possible to examine issues through the lens of the essay, using a format very similar to certain online forums for feedback, but even then our meanderings are likely to be futile, for education itself can often lead to a glaring ignorance of the lives lived by those less fortunate than ourselves.
Plus, it’s not as though the unleashing of this technological monster, whilst having its beneficial side, hasn’t also completely polluted the partisan landscape as well as our ability to converse kindly, without rancour, and, given the speeds at which we all expect ourselves to digest new information and adapt to emergent threads in the paradigm, it’s hardly as though we are allowing ourselves the opportunity to hit pause and consider a problem fully.
Finally, many of us actually find this intellectual freneticism deeply appealing- we are like kids in a Toy Store gleefully exploring the next new exciting intellectual object, all competing to see who can solve the latest Rubik’s cube the fastest.
Outside, the climate of civility makes me feel rather mindful of W.B. Yeats and The Second Coming:
Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand; Surely the Second Coming is at hand. The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert A shape with lion body and the head of a man, A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun, Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds. The darkness drops again; but now I know That twenty centuries of stony sleep Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle, And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
There’s been a chill wind blowing from Davos this year. Our governments have lost trust in us, just as we’ve lost trust in them, and there has been much talk of curtailing online expression, tracking our carbon footprints and even some talk of programming our currency. Do they really think people will blithely accept these preposterous propositions?
We just might. The worst part is, whilst we’ve always distrusted our politicians if we have any sense whatsoever, the extent to which we’ve all become extremists in the cause of distrusting each other, is a tragedy. The link between diseases, parasite stress, and the rise of nascent authoritarianism has all been studied, proven and well-documented in larger scale societies, at a population level. This is how it happens.
This is how duly elected governments become regimes.
Beat us harder and then blame us for all the woes of government tyranny. The more you treat people like rats, the more they'll act like rats. The more you make them dependent, the more they become dependent. The more you speak of fear, the more fearful they become.
I think the poor individual is lost because too many cannot understand the obvious morality and peaceful world of "live and let live" compared to "force and obey." The latter will always have worse outcomes.
It was always inevitable that like would seek out like and that 'thinking fast' would win out in an enhanced communication environment. That this was glossed over at the time was also inevitable given our propensity to be positive about change without balancing it with caution.
There are many factors acting here not just one or two. This complexity is beyond the capacity of most minds to comprehend and they just end up seizing on one factor which fits their prejudices. The information bubble kicks in and dissonance ensures that the complexity of a situation is lost.
The other element that really impacts is nostalgia but there's a trap. It's false. The belief in lost utopias is illusory - they never existed. We can basically say that things are better than they ever were but there's still a long way to go.
Hi Geary, our politicians, at least in the last 30 years, have never had the well-being of the population in mind. The problem is that can we really vote for them, in or out?, i do not think so, i think that the EU would stonewall any politicians elected that would not have been "pre-approved by them", same applies to USA and the social media giants. Can it be that elections are just part of the circus?, really and truly i think i live in the film "V for Vendetta" in the moment they are watching the news on TV. Further to that a big chunk of our population continues voting for a continuation of the circus and following the advise of the circus, i think it was Winston that said "the best argument against democracy is half an hour talk with the average voter".
I think we need a completely overhaul of the education. I think that a pre-requisite for presenting oneself for an election would be to have paid taxes for at least 15 years in the private field, be it as a worker, an entrepreneur or a self-employed, public servants would be excluded from holding office. I would also request that for having the right to vote people should have paid taxes for at least 10 years in the private industry and 10 in the public service.
Is that fair? I do not enter in that discussion, i think we will do much better.
That taxes should have a purpose, so i tax this to pay that (no more and no less) and clear link between what is being paid at each point and the use of it. If that would happen i think people would have no issue in paying many things, and will offer full resistance for other things.
Mutual systemic mistrust is a novel idea, with plausibility right now. Also enjoyed the observation that many of us are gleefully exploring this moment as if it's some kind of entertainment.
Beat us harder and then blame us for all the woes of government tyranny. The more you treat people like rats, the more they'll act like rats. The more you make them dependent, the more they become dependent. The more you speak of fear, the more fearful they become.
I think the poor individual is lost because too many cannot understand the obvious morality and peaceful world of "live and let live" compared to "force and obey." The latter will always have worse outcomes.
Great poem. I memorized it years ago for my dad for his birthday or Father’s Day. He’s a Yeats fan and we’ve been to Yeats’ tower.
It was always inevitable that like would seek out like and that 'thinking fast' would win out in an enhanced communication environment. That this was glossed over at the time was also inevitable given our propensity to be positive about change without balancing it with caution.
There are many factors acting here not just one or two. This complexity is beyond the capacity of most minds to comprehend and they just end up seizing on one factor which fits their prejudices. The information bubble kicks in and dissonance ensures that the complexity of a situation is lost.
The other element that really impacts is nostalgia but there's a trap. It's false. The belief in lost utopias is illusory - they never existed. We can basically say that things are better than they ever were but there's still a long way to go.
Hi Geary, our politicians, at least in the last 30 years, have never had the well-being of the population in mind. The problem is that can we really vote for them, in or out?, i do not think so, i think that the EU would stonewall any politicians elected that would not have been "pre-approved by them", same applies to USA and the social media giants. Can it be that elections are just part of the circus?, really and truly i think i live in the film "V for Vendetta" in the moment they are watching the news on TV. Further to that a big chunk of our population continues voting for a continuation of the circus and following the advise of the circus, i think it was Winston that said "the best argument against democracy is half an hour talk with the average voter".
I think we need a completely overhaul of the education. I think that a pre-requisite for presenting oneself for an election would be to have paid taxes for at least 15 years in the private field, be it as a worker, an entrepreneur or a self-employed, public servants would be excluded from holding office. I would also request that for having the right to vote people should have paid taxes for at least 10 years in the private industry and 10 in the public service.
Is that fair? I do not enter in that discussion, i think we will do much better.
That taxes should have a purpose, so i tax this to pay that (no more and no less) and clear link between what is being paid at each point and the use of it. If that would happen i think people would have no issue in paying many things, and will offer full resistance for other things.
Nice weekend
Great essay - Oilman
Mutual systemic mistrust is a novel idea, with plausibility right now. Also enjoyed the observation that many of us are gleefully exploring this moment as if it's some kind of entertainment.