Post on 26-Jul-2020
transcript
A History Of Knowledge
What The Modern Age Knew
Chapter 18: 1932-5
Piero Scaruffi (2004) www.scaruffi.com
Edited and revised by Chris Hastings (2013)
“An eye for an eye
makes the whole world
blind”
- Mahatma Gandhi "The size of the lie is a
definite factor
in causing it to be
believed”
- Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf
“We are not shooting
enough professors”
- Lenin’s telegram
"Pacifism is objectively
pro-Fascist.”
- George Orwell, 1942
“What good fortune for
governments that the
people do not think”
- Adolf Hitler
Part 1: The Age Of World Wars
2
What the Modern Age knew
Flow of time is mysteriously altered by measurements
Classical world emerges from quantum world thanks to measurement
John Von Neumann (1932)
3
What the Modern Age knew
Continuous process of probabilistic kind gives rise to discontinuous process of the deterministic kind
John Von Neumann (1932)
4
What the Modern Age knew
Measurement of system consists of chain of interactions between instrument and system, whereby states instrument become dependent on states of system
John Von Neumann (1932)
5
What the Modern Age knew
Eventually, states of observer’s consciousness are made dependent on states of system and observer “knows” what value of observable is
John Von Neumann (1932)
6
What the Modern Age knew
Somewhere between system and observer’s consciousness: “Collapse” occurs
John Von Neumann (1932)
7
What the Modern Age knew
Game theory
Zero-sum games (one player’s win is other player’s loss) and Non-zero sum games (both stand to gain or lose)
John Von Neumann (1932)
8
What the Modern Age knew
Game theory cont’d
Prisoner’s dilemma (non-zero sum)
Any n-person non-zero-sum game can be reduced to n + 1 zero-sum game
John Von Neumann (1932)
9
What the Modern Age knew
Game theory cont’d
Such n + 1 person games can be generalized from special case of two-person zero-sum game
John Von Neumann (1932)
10
What the Modern Age knew
Intuitive absolute idealism
“The successive emergence of the material, the animal, the organic, the animal, the human and the spiritual” (as told by Evolution theories) highlight “cosmic evolution to reveal the Spirit”
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1932)
11
What the Modern Age knew
Evolution does not end with emergence of human consciousness
Evolution continues with emergence of super-consciousness capable of realizing union with reality that science cannot grasp
Sarvepalli Radharkrishnan Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1932)
12
What the Modern Age knew
Empirical world exists (not illusion/maya) and it is “the Absolute in action… as creator” (Isvara, of whom Visna, Siva, etc. are different aspects)
Sarvepalli Radharkrishnan Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1932)
13
What the Modern Age knew
3 forms of pramana (knowledge)
Perception
Logic
Intuition
Sarvepalli Radharkrishnan Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1932)
14
What the Modern Age knew
Intuition is fundamental form of cognition, when mind works as whole to grasp essence of reality (knowledge by being)
Sarvepalli Radharkrishnan Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1932)
15
What the Modern Age knew
Humans are imperfect egos
God is the absolute ego
God is supreme ideal for all other egos (see: Nietzsche’s Übermensch)
Muhammad Iqbal (1932)
16
What the Modern Age knew
Process that leads to perfection is process not of passive acceptance of God’s will but of active social life
Muhammad Iqbal (1932)
17
What the Modern Age knew
Existence (Dasein) is existence in world (“situated” existence)
Existence is orientation in world
It is impossible to transcend human experience
Karl Jaspers (1932)
18
What the Modern Age knew
Freedom of individual: To choose another existence and risks that come with it
Real freedom of choice is impossible because we are what we are (historically, socially, etc.)
Karl Jaspers (1932)
19
What the Modern Age knew
Freedom is only acceptance of one’s destiny
Communication is way existence realizes itself, but even communication is mirage: An existence cannot truly join with other existences
Karl Jaspers (1932)
20
What the Modern Age knew
Existence is contradiction in terms
Each existence can only glimpse essence of its own existence (it cannot change it)
Karl Jaspers (1932)
21
What the Modern Age knew
Axial age of 600-300 BC: Confucius, Lao-Tze, Buddha, Zoroaster, Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, etc.
Karl Jaspers (1932)
22
What the Modern Age knew
Nazism was last avatar of German nationalism that, starting with Reformation, assumed increasingly aggressive forms as reaction to difficulty in achieving political unity
Karl Jaspers (1932)
23
What the Modern Age knew
Homeostasis: Living organisms are capable of self-maintenance
Walter Cannon (1932)
24
What the Modern Age knew
Animals: Hunters and gatherers are bound to territory (i.e., "space-binders”)
Humans: Agriculture is bound to memory of past and prediction of future (i.e., "time-binders”)
Alford Korzybski (1933)
25
What the Modern Age knew
Time-binding is enabled by nervous system that is capable of constructing and manipulating symbols
Time-binding allows for transmission of knowledge to succeeding generations
Alford Korzybski (1933)
26
What the Modern Age knew
Rate of growth of human knowledge is exponential
Language allows time-binders to categorize and generalize experiences and communicate them to others
Alford Korzybski (1933)
27
What the Modern Age knew
Human knowledge is limited by
Structure of nervous systems
Structure of language
Alford Korzybski (1933)
28
What the Modern Age knew
Human beings cannot experience world directly, but only through "abstractions" that are due to nervous system and language
What humans “know” is not necessarily what truly happens
Alford Korzybski (1933)
29
What the Modern Age knew
General Semantics to remedy limits of language
We have fewer words and concepts than experiences: We "confuse" similar situations
Alford Korzybski (1933)
30
What the Modern Age knew
General Semantics to remedy limits of language cont’d
We must evaluate situation less by intension (its category) and more by extension (its unique features)
Alford Korzybski (1933)
31
What the Modern Age knew
General Semantics to remedy limits of language cont’d
We must avoid categorization and generalization, and spot unique characteristics of situation
Alford Korzybski (1933)
32
What the Modern Age knew
Language provides semiotic mediation of knowledge, guides a child's cognitive growth
Cognitive faculties are internalized versions of social processes
Lev Vygotsky (1934)
33
What the Modern Age knew
An individual is result of dialectical cooperation between nature and history, between biological sphere and social sphere
Individual is product of culture as well as product of nature
Lev Vygotsky (1934)
34
What the Modern Age knew
Children develop under influence of both biology and society
"Zone of proximal development:” Difference between unguided (independent) problem solving skills and guided (coached) problem solving skills
Lev Vygotsky (1934)
35
What the Modern Age knew
Language is way to organize world internally
Lev Vygotsky (1934)
36
What the Modern Age knew
Language is also way to transmit a mind to less mentally-able individuals and across generations
The byproducts of this “coaching” process are arts and sciences
Lev Vygotsky (1934)
37
What the Modern Age knew
Acquisition of language itself is process of transmitting mind: Teaching children to speak is way of coaching their minds
Humans solve problems by speaking as well as by using their body and tools
Lev Vygotsky (1934)
38
What the Modern Age knew
Process of "learning" from coach is mostly unconscious (just like child is not conscious that s/he is learning to speak)
We become conscious of function only after we have mastered it by practicing it unconsciously
Lev Vygotsky (1934)
39
What the Modern Age knew
Civilization is due to “response to a challenge”
Civilizations occur not in environments where human life is easy (e.g., Nyasaland) but in environments where human life is difficult
Arnold Toynbee (1934)
40
What the Modern Age knew
Humans are doomed to
unhappiness
Philosophers ignore suffering of
body (most obvious of realities)
Emil Cioran (1934)
41
What the Modern Age knew
Mystical revelation gives answers
to questions that philosophers
can't even ask
History is procession of false
absolutes
Emil Cioran (1934)
42
What the Modern Age knew
Science is discontinuous process (e.g., Relativity and Quantum Mechanics)
Objective stance for Science
Subjective stance for Art
Gaston Bachelard (1934)
43
What the Modern Age knew
Scientists communicate via abstract mathematics
Artists communicate through Jung's collective unconscious
Gaston Bachelard (1934)
44
What the Modern Age knew
Science is not inductive
Science is hypothetico-deductive
Truth is relative to a theory
Karl Popper (1934)
45
What the Modern Age knew
Scientific theory provides means to falsify claims of truth
No definition of absolute truth is possible
Karl Popper (1934)
46
What the Modern Age knew
Democracy is form of government that embodies scientific trial-and-error method
Democracy is form of government that allows for change in form of government
Karl Popper (1934)
47
What the Modern Age knew
Consciousness is not separate substance, but the world in its relationship with the organism
Consciousness is in world, outside the organism
George Herbert Mead (1934)
48
What the Modern Age knew
Objects of environment are colored, beautiful, etc.: That "is" consciousness
Objects do not exist per se, they are just way organisms perceive environment
George Herbert Mead (1934)
49
What the Modern Age knew
It is our acting in environments that determines what we perceive as objects
Different organisms may perceive different objects
George Herbert Mead (1934)
50
What the Modern Age knew
Environment results from actions of organism
We are actors as well as observers (of consequences of our actions)
George Herbert Mead (1934)
51
What the Modern Age knew
Any change in organism results in change of environment
Those objects have qualities and values that constitute what we call "consciousness”
George Herbert Mead (1934)
52
What the Modern Age knew
Consciousness is not brain process: The switch that turns consciousness on or off is brain process
Consciousness is pervasive but only social species can report on their conscious experiences
George Herbert Mead (1934)
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What the Modern Age knew
A self always belongs to society of selves
Consciousness is product of socialization among biological organisms
George Herbert Mead (1934)
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What the Modern Age knew
Mind is socially constructed: Society constitutes individuals as much as individuals constitute society
George Herbert Mead (1934)
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What the Modern Age knew
Network of “electric telescopes” that would allow people to search and browse through millions of interlinked documents, and to send messages to each other
Paperless future
Paul Otlet (1934)
56
Truth is defined in meta-language
Replace universal and intuitive notion of "truth" with infinite series of rules which define truth in language relative to truth in another language
Alfred Tarski (1935)
57
Correspondence theory of truth: Definition of truth is in world
Truth as correspondence with facts
Alfred Tarski (1935)
58
“Model-theoretic” semantics: Models of world yield interpretations of sentences in that world
Meaning of proposition is set of situations in which it is true
Alfred Tarski (1935)
This is a chapter in Piero Scaruffi’s “A
History Of Knowledge:”
http://www.scaruffi.com/know