Today I read about how much Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton fought each other at the beginning of the United States government once the current Constitution had been formed. They were both battling for George Washington's mind about which way to steer the country: strong national government that might resemble Britain and favor those who knew how to manipulate money games, or stronger state governments leading to more power for the average person, which would be more favorable to agricultural societies. They were both driven by love of their country, and incredibly worried that the view of their opponent would bring disastrous results for everyone.
I saw a link today to an article summarizing a list by a group called Edge, a group dedicated to getting leading minds to share their thoughts. Every year they ask a question and get intelligent human beings to share their answers. The longer responses can be found here
The question this year was "What should we be worried about?"
At least one respondent had the wisdom to reply, "That this year’s Edge topic has been poorly chosen." –Kai Krause, software pioneer
I understand the supposed benefit of getting people interested and informed about issues that could affect their world, but a lot of these worries from supposed geniuses make me wonder about their wisdom:
133. “There are known knowns and known unknowns, but what we should be worried about most is the unknown unknowns.” –Gary Marcus, cognitive scientist
Does this guy work for cable news? Does he get paid by how much people tune in based on fear?
I mean, maybe there's an invisible invincible super nano-particle that we won't know about for one thousand years, or worse, forever, but it's the primary reason humans feel any pain. But maybe there isn't. We don't even know about it. It's an unknown unknown. Then again, perhaps me saying makes it a known unknown? So an unknown unknown couldn't even be listed because I don't know that I don't know it.... now why the hell should I worry about THAT?
How about this guy:
28. That there are an infinity of universes out there, but that we are only able to study the one we live in. –Lawrence M. Krauss, physicist/cosmologist
He's right. That would be terrible. Only one universe to study. What a miserly generator of existence. Or worse yet, what if there weren't infinite universes, but merely billions upon billions upon trillions upon zillions existing within our universe, because each consciousness is a universe unto itself... yet we only get to experience one? This guy's only way out of his worry war is Hinduism.
Then there are the ones whose worries balance each other out, so I'm not sure which genius's worries I should subscribe to:
109. That humankind’s social and moral intuitions will stifle technological process. –David Pizarro, psychologist
&
114. That historically entrenched institutions will prevent technological progress. --Paul Kedrosky, editor
vs.
36. That technology may endanger democracy. –Haim Harari, physicist
&
150. That science is in danger of becoming the enemy of humankind. –Colin Tudge, biologist, editor at New Scientist
or
105. I’m not worried about Super-AIs ruling the world. --Andy Clark, philosopher and cognitive scientist
&
130. That we won’t have enough robots to do all the jobs we’ll need them to do in coming decades. –Rodney A. Brooks, roboticist
vs.
106. The posthuman geography that will result when robots have taken all our jobs. –David Dalrymple, MIT researcher
The wise ones:
76. That we worry too much. –Joel Gold, psychiatrist
82. That we worry too much. –Gary Klein, scientist at MacroCognition
87. There’s nothing to worry about, even though the Large Hadron Collider hasn’t turned up any new discoveries. --Amanda Gefter, editor
92. That we worry too much. –Brian Knutson, associate professor of psychology
128. That we worry too much. –James J. O’Donnell, classical scholar
129. That we worry too much. –Robert Provine, neuroscientist
21. Not much. I ride motorcycles without a helmet. –J. Craig Venter, genomic scientist
I saw a link today to an article summarizing a list by a group called Edge, a group dedicated to getting leading minds to share their thoughts. Every year they ask a question and get intelligent human beings to share their answers. The longer responses can be found here
The question this year was "What should we be worried about?"
At least one respondent had the wisdom to reply, "That this year’s Edge topic has been poorly chosen." –Kai Krause, software pioneer
I understand the supposed benefit of getting people interested and informed about issues that could affect their world, but a lot of these worries from supposed geniuses make me wonder about their wisdom:
133. “There are known knowns and known unknowns, but what we should be worried about most is the unknown unknowns.” –Gary Marcus, cognitive scientist
Does this guy work for cable news? Does he get paid by how much people tune in based on fear?
I mean, maybe there's an invisible invincible super nano-particle that we won't know about for one thousand years, or worse, forever, but it's the primary reason humans feel any pain. But maybe there isn't. We don't even know about it. It's an unknown unknown. Then again, perhaps me saying makes it a known unknown? So an unknown unknown couldn't even be listed because I don't know that I don't know it.... now why the hell should I worry about THAT?
How about this guy:
28. That there are an infinity of universes out there, but that we are only able to study the one we live in. –Lawrence M. Krauss, physicist/cosmologist
He's right. That would be terrible. Only one universe to study. What a miserly generator of existence. Or worse yet, what if there weren't infinite universes, but merely billions upon billions upon trillions upon zillions existing within our universe, because each consciousness is a universe unto itself... yet we only get to experience one? This guy's only way out of his worry war is Hinduism.
Then there are the ones whose worries balance each other out, so I'm not sure which genius's worries I should subscribe to:
109. That humankind’s social and moral intuitions will stifle technological process. –David Pizarro, psychologist
&
114. That historically entrenched institutions will prevent technological progress. --Paul Kedrosky, editor
vs.
36. That technology may endanger democracy. –Haim Harari, physicist
&
150. That science is in danger of becoming the enemy of humankind. –Colin Tudge, biologist, editor at New Scientist
or
105. I’m not worried about Super-AIs ruling the world. --Andy Clark, philosopher and cognitive scientist
&
130. That we won’t have enough robots to do all the jobs we’ll need them to do in coming decades. –Rodney A. Brooks, roboticist
vs.
106. The posthuman geography that will result when robots have taken all our jobs. –David Dalrymple, MIT researcher
The wise ones:
76. That we worry too much. –Joel Gold, psychiatrist
82. That we worry too much. –Gary Klein, scientist at MacroCognition
87. There’s nothing to worry about, even though the Large Hadron Collider hasn’t turned up any new discoveries. --Amanda Gefter, editor
92. That we worry too much. –Brian Knutson, associate professor of psychology
128. That we worry too much. –James J. O’Donnell, classical scholar
129. That we worry too much. –Robert Provine, neuroscientist
21. Not much. I ride motorcycles without a helmet. –J. Craig Venter, genomic scientist
I used to worry about a lot of things. I still worry about things very much, from time to time, but less often than I used to. I used to worry about tarantulas escaping from the pet shops on Long Island, or migrating from the southwest and crossing the Verrazano Bridge. I worried about anything I saw on scary TV news magazines when I was a kid, which makes sense because they want you to be scared. I was worried about all sorts of things. Before I went to India I was worried that I would get a bad disease or be in a bad accident. Then my dad and his friends started worrying that I would get kidnapped, which I didn't need. I was worried I would be put in prison for absurd ransom if I got caught partying. I was afraid somebody I loved would die while I was gone. Then I was afraid that I would be stuck in some terrible job and never explore again. I was afraid that I wouldn't ever be able to go to Japan. Then I decided to hike a lot and worried that I might get eaten by a bear. Then I worried I wouldn't find a job. A few times I've gotten too high and worried that the universe was going to kill me. Those ones were silly. I brought them on myself. Yet none of them happened. I still had problems. But those were the things I had to handle anyway. Worrying had nothing to do with them.
There is plenty that you could worry about. The thing is, if nothing can be done to prevent them, if they are things completely out of your control, just as you coming into this world and all of the miniscule biological mechanisms which have sustained you are and always have been out of everyone's control, there is nothing to worry about. You've gotten this far, haven't you?
There is plenty that you could worry about. The thing is, if nothing can be done to prevent them, if they are things completely out of your control, just as you coming into this world and all of the miniscule biological mechanisms which have sustained you are and always have been out of everyone's control, there is nothing to worry about. You've gotten this far, haven't you?
And if you are worried, just imagine your favorite person smiling at you and giving you the thumbs up.
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