The Oil Drum

248 comments on DrumBeat: February 25, 2008

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710 on February 25, 2008 - 12:39pm

No man is an island entire unto itself, and nothing exists in a vacuum.

The geeks played their part, as did the scholars, researchers, philosophers, politicians, lobbyists, advertisers, corporations, media, religion, and the vast, unwashed, blissfully ignorant masses.

We haven't been able to wrap our heads around all the various issues, structures, and processes for thousands of years.

Our system is unmanageably complex.

And there is also the problem of rational thought. Humans may have the capacity to be rational, but they do not always behave that way. Humans, inevitably, will do emotional ("irrational") things as well as rational things.

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step back on February 26, 2008 - 6:46am

The geeks played their part, as did the scholars, researchers, philosophers, politicians, lobbyists, advertisers, corporations, media, religion, and the vast, unwashed, blissfully ignorant masses. ... We haven't been able to wrap our heads around all ... Our system is unmanageably complex.

Well said.

The human mind is good at not seeing the gaps and boundaries.
How often do you notice the blind spot in your retina?
How often do you notice the edges of your visual field?
Answer: almost never.

We are in constant denial of our every limitation. Why isn't each of us an expert in everything?

We don't question. Instead we have invented a beehive system where each of us is a "specialist" in some narrowly focused aspect of our hive works. One of us is a "politician, lobbyist, advertiser, corporate animal, media maniac, religionist", etc. and yes, even a techno geek.

The geek is no better or smarter than the rest of the worker bees. None of us can see when stuff slips past our blind spots. For example, most techno geeks are blind to social interactions. Dilbert can't see when the management is beating him down yet again. Dogbert wins every time.

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(click to enlarge --warning, won't work for body parts)

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Dopamine on February 26, 2008 - 8:45am

It is not really all that complex. Many are astounded by the results of the process and see complexity while the process itself is actually pretty simple. The ecosystem seems complex but the process that gave us the ecosystem and the diversity of life is not.

Those that are emeshed in the matrix of the technosystem with their specialized functions are truly amazed at the seeming complexity of it all. This perceived complexity supports magical thinking.

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