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Pastimes : Dr. Id's SI Addiction Room -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dr. Id who wrote (225)	10/27/2000 5:21:53 AM
From: FaultLine	Respond to of 414

Dr. Id, This fellow is using a shoe stretcher on my brain – does this pose any danger to my gyri? [Excerpt from an interview with PH and JP of Red Herring, No. 84, Oct. 30, 2000] PH: What’s the balance, then, between a pure democracy of ballots and representative democracy in an era of distributed intelligence? AG: Well, it’s changing somewhat. I think we’re almost always better off with more information. But information is not the same as wisdom, and we have to create opportunities for the intentional transformation of data into wisdom. <snip> Using this metaphor, this is a dictatorship [points to first diagram of cpu], this is a representative democracy [points to second diagram showing massive parallelism]. But now, with networks, every PC is a server, and soon, as Moore’s law continues, every device will be a server. JP: The network really does become a computer. AG: Yes. Or to go further back to Nathaniel Hawthorne, 150 years ago, "The world is a great vibrating brain." What we’re witnessing now is a process of dynamic change that’s faster and more powerful that anything in the history of humankind. Actually, can I shift metaphors briefly? PH: We love your metaphors. AG: Around 25 years ago, the Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded to a Belgian named Ilya Prigogine. This is not an arcane fact. He discovered what was in essence a new law of thermodynamics, and here’s how it operates. He studied what are called open systems, in which there is energy flowing in and energy flowing out, and the energy swirls in a recognizable pattern while inside the system. What he found was that when the flow of energy is increased, and increased again, at some point it crosses a threshold beyond which two things happen sequentially. No. 1, the pattern of the system breaks down. JP: And becomes unpredictable? AG: No, let me finish. The second consequence is that the energy spontaneously reorganizes itself at a higher level of complexity, and something new emerges, with a different persistent pattern. In some ways that was the birth of complexity theory. Now, if you look at political systems around the world, you can see this phenomenon taking place. You have patterns dramatically in flux because of the emergence of the Internet and networking. In many of the more brittle of the nation-states, you’re seeing an emotional and spiritual rejection of the nation-state and a simultaneous reinvestment into smaller regional identities, even tribal and ethnic identities. At the same time we are seeing a reinvestment in supranational identities, like the European Union. Now, the United States is unique in its ability to absorb this creative dynamic because we were the first nation to adapt to distributed intelligence. Because of our trust in the people, our trust in representative democracy, our trust in distributed intelligence if you will, we have an inherent capacity to absorb and draw out the energy from these kinds of revolutions. In the United States we are the only nation bound together not by some common ethnicity or national heritage, but by a unifying vision, a set of goals, a set of values. "We believe these truths to be self evident." This form of national identity is the seed for the new national aspirations everywhere on the globe. We are extremely fortunate at the moment of globalization to be living in the one nation that is seen by most as the model for the future.

To: Dr. Id who wrote (225)	10/27/2000 9:04:44 AM
From: unclewest	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 414

hey Doc...maybe you can help them. > Goron's > > > What is a Goron? > 1. Gorons sincerely believe that Vice President Gore is a true > environmentalist, when he has an environmental disaster on his own farm: a > polluting zinc mine, from which he received $500,000 of income last year. > > 2. Gorons likewise believe that the VP is anti-smoking and anti-tobacco when > he has operated a tobacco farm for decades and accepted government > subsidies. > > 3. Gorons truly believe that Gore is a Vietnam War hero, when in fact he was > placed by family influence in a "cushy correspondent's job and the only > action he saw was that of his Brownie camera! > > 4. Gorons actually believe that Mr. Gore is justified in illegally raising > political funds from the Office of the VP, simply because the Vanderbilt > Law-educated VP claims he was ignorant of the illegality. > > 5. Gorons further believe that it was OK for Al to accept large sums of > political money from China through Buddhist monks who had taken vows of > poverty, since he again claimed ignorance. > > 6. Gorons also believe that the man who claimed to "invent the Internet" > would be so computationally ignorant that he could lose weeks of potentially > incriminating e-mail! > > 7. Gorons, incredibly, believe Gore's claim that he and Tipper were the > models for the book and movie, "Love Story" even though the book's author, > Erich Segal, says not. > > 8. Gorons, amazingly, believe that Gore will be the consumer's champion > against high gasoline prices although Gore holds a million dollars in > Occidental Petroleum stock. > > 9. Gorons applaud Mr. Lieberman's open rejection of President Clinton's > immorality, but believe it was fine for Mr. Gore to remain silent on the > subject, while simultaneously declaring Mr. Clinton "one of the greatest > Presidents of our history." > > 10. Gorons believe that Al Gore is an effective leader, when they won't > bother to look at his record as a Tennessee Senator a record so ineffective > that it has led to the election of Republicans as BOTH of Tennessee's > Senators! > > 11. Gorons hold the belief that Gore is a compassionate man who will be the > working man's friend, in spite of the eviction notice he served to the poor > family who complained about the conditions of the run down slum house that > he was renting to them. > > CAUTIONARY NOTE: Medical researchers acknowledge that Gorons are generally > harmless, except when allowed into a voting booth. There, unfortunately, > overcome by their gullibility syndrome, they are apt to actually vote for > Gore! They should be carefully protected from their ailment, since it may be > harmful to their well-being, yours, mine and that of the USA therefore, > PLEASE heed the Surgeon General's warning, Reach out to aid the Gorons in > overcoming the syndrome, and PLEASE, pass this on to your normal friends, > who might also know Gorons who need immediate treatment.