Sunday 29 April 2007

FIFTH GREAT DISCONTINUITY

Looking over human history one gets the impression that we are much more easily persuaded by really stupid ideas than we are by clever ones. The Inquisition, Nazism, Crazy Frog - we leap into these madnesses without reflection. We're really not very bright. We prefer the simplistic notions - the childish ones that grant us immunity from the stricter laws of the universe. We try to opt out of ecology, biology, psychology, gravity -responsibility in general! But however much we might wish to ignore them, the facts are the facts, and they will out. Some of the better ideas thrown up by our unusually perceptive fellows have taken centuries to graft on to our habitual nonsense. Sadly, even the realisation that the Earth goes around the Sun is currently only dimly and reluctantly grasped in some parts of the U.S. (It is hard sometimes to remember that the USA was, initially, intelligently designed.) But in a spirit of optimism that flies in the face of experience, here are some draft pages that point to some sense. Humility before hubris, where possible.



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This is very good indeed!