Comment I submitted to BBC Have Your Say on the incident:
As with Abu Ghraib, it should be asked whether there were orders or policies from higher up that led to this horrible incident. The greater lesson is that war always leads to such horrors. "Accidental" and "collateral" horrors happen, and then there will be those that are intentional, although likely motivated by panic or psychosis. It does not reflect on all soldiers, but it does reflect on the nature of war.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Pattern Theory of Human Survival
A little crystallization occurring today... The primary theme or focus of my "pattern theory" is "The Pattern Theory of Human Survival". Central points that will develop are that
1. "Survival of the Fittest", while shown to be a sort of truism both in statistical terms and in random, chaotic terms (sometimes the apparently fittest do not survive while the "less fit" do because of individualized circumstances), the oversimplified notion of survival of the fittest has led to an overemphasis on competition between organisms or between human cultures
2. Human beings, or any pattern, have evolved in and are adapted to a diverse environment, containing a huge multiplicity of organismic and also "non-living" (the reason for the quotes will be become clear) patterns. That is to say we come from a complex world of many kinds of people and other living beings, all existing in a complex environment.
3. In terms of survival and propagation, it is all too often a huge mistake for humans, who choose their modes of existence, to try to minimize or eliminate, or to allow the minimization or elimination of other well-developed patterns of existence, such as other organisms (extinction), other "sorts" of people (discrimination, war, genocide), or beneficial states of being (clean air, clean water) in order to attempt to dominate a larger portion of the overall pattern of existence, since this alters the pattern which supports us in such a way as to tend to hasten our own extinction.
4. Rather, we can more gently nudge and nurture those modes of existence that enhance our well-being, which can be summed up in a word: "diversity". This has become a loaded term; it really just means multiplicity, a state of many. There are many things, such as those listed above (people, organisms, a clean environment), in the world that benefit us, yet we often refuse to recognize them when they seem to stand in the way of a short term goal, such as, say, industrial production.
5. Obviously, every pattern that evolves means that other contrary patterns do not exist at that moment, and other patterns will never exist. The essence of chaos theory is that every action everywhere changes history at least a little bit. Every state of being carries with it the negation of its opposite, which, in the overall scheme of things, means every other possible state of being. Choices must be made, patterns and possibilities will be destroyed, and in any case entropy will eventually catch up with us. Yet we wish to survive, thrive, and propagate, and we can best do so by encouraging general patterns of diversity which reflect those patterns which gave rise to our existence and certain levels of comfort, love, and peace of mind.
1. "Survival of the Fittest", while shown to be a sort of truism both in statistical terms and in random, chaotic terms (sometimes the apparently fittest do not survive while the "less fit" do because of individualized circumstances), the oversimplified notion of survival of the fittest has led to an overemphasis on competition between organisms or between human cultures
2. Human beings, or any pattern, have evolved in and are adapted to a diverse environment, containing a huge multiplicity of organismic and also "non-living" (the reason for the quotes will be become clear) patterns. That is to say we come from a complex world of many kinds of people and other living beings, all existing in a complex environment.
3. In terms of survival and propagation, it is all too often a huge mistake for humans, who choose their modes of existence, to try to minimize or eliminate, or to allow the minimization or elimination of other well-developed patterns of existence, such as other organisms (extinction), other "sorts" of people (discrimination, war, genocide), or beneficial states of being (clean air, clean water) in order to attempt to dominate a larger portion of the overall pattern of existence, since this alters the pattern which supports us in such a way as to tend to hasten our own extinction.
4. Rather, we can more gently nudge and nurture those modes of existence that enhance our well-being, which can be summed up in a word: "diversity". This has become a loaded term; it really just means multiplicity, a state of many. There are many things, such as those listed above (people, organisms, a clean environment), in the world that benefit us, yet we often refuse to recognize them when they seem to stand in the way of a short term goal, such as, say, industrial production.
5. Obviously, every pattern that evolves means that other contrary patterns do not exist at that moment, and other patterns will never exist. The essence of chaos theory is that every action everywhere changes history at least a little bit. Every state of being carries with it the negation of its opposite, which, in the overall scheme of things, means every other possible state of being. Choices must be made, patterns and possibilities will be destroyed, and in any case entropy will eventually catch up with us. Yet we wish to survive, thrive, and propagate, and we can best do so by encouraging general patterns of diversity which reflect those patterns which gave rise to our existence and certain levels of comfort, love, and peace of mind.
Friday, May 12, 2006
Lawlessness, Law, Lawlessness
So, with a bit of a pause in the middle, I am a newly minted attorney, at least in license.
In law school, which is now a long time ago although I recently passed the bar on the first try, I did come to appreciate that we live in a system of laws, that this protects us from the worst kind of anarchy. But, a little later, I met and came to appreciate anarchists and their philosophy. I still think we need some laws, but look forward to a day when we teach enlightenment such that very few laws will be needed, and even less enforcement. The laws that remain will be followed not because they are the law, but because people understand what makes them important, and would follow or even invent them of their own accord even if they were not formally recorded.
In law school, which is now a long time ago although I recently passed the bar on the first try, I did come to appreciate that we live in a system of laws, that this protects us from the worst kind of anarchy. But, a little later, I met and came to appreciate anarchists and their philosophy. I still think we need some laws, but look forward to a day when we teach enlightenment such that very few laws will be needed, and even less enforcement. The laws that remain will be followed not because they are the law, but because people understand what makes them important, and would follow or even invent them of their own accord even if they were not formally recorded.
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