the universe will not be controlled by the likes of us
the title is a brilliant phrase uttered on the intertubes by AdamSelene @ theoildrum.com. this space accumulates other such short, poetic, and found-elsewhere insights into the limits of human cognition. it is a project dedicated to Wes Jackson’s vision of an “ignorance-based worldview.” a brilliant phrase uttered by his friend Wendell Barry in a letter.Archive for stimuli
hyperthought
interesting discussion going on @ theoildrum right now, re: a thought experiment wherein mankind is given unlimited resources. seems to be a consensus among the TOD crowd that this would be an unmitigated disaster (though we act as if this is what we all really want.) this thought experiment has been performed in much science fiction (aka speculative fiction) literature, with similar results. a tributary has peeled away from this discussion on the implications of almost unlimited mental stimuli – is this ruining our cognitive capacity? TOD reader eloiburger had a beautiful comment, in which he brings the movie Forbidden Planet as an example of such speculative fiction dealing with the first problem (unlimited resources), and ends on the second topic (unlimited mental stimuli) in this way:
ADHD is just one way for brains to be; hard to say whether that will be a pro or con for survival value. The Twitterers may be forming a new sort of anthill mentality. If birds are any indication, the surviving dinosaurs were the twitchy ones.
