[FoRK] Faith and/or Science dingding redux

[Luis Villa]

On Nov 28, 2007 6:42 PM, Tom Higgins <tomhiggins at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Nov 28, 2007 3:25 PM, Luis Villa <luis at tieguy.org> wrote:
> > On Nov 28, 2007 6:19 PM, Bill Humphries <whump at mac.com> wrote:
> > > Cognition is expensive. How do we make it cheaper?
> >
> > Or more pleasurable, either way.
>
> In the ways any act or thing becomes cheaper and more
> pleasurable......good marketing.
>
> Ok or put a little less glibly, its a problem of use. The more it gets
> used the more it becomes both easier and more pleasurable....sure sure
> limits and diminishing returns but that just speaks to the idea that
> variety is the spice of X

I think that helps a little bit; certainly our kindergartens and
elementary schools could do with more stimulation of doing and
critical thinking.[1] But at some point you run up against very basic
animal bits that are long evolved inside our brains, and which compel
us at very deep, instinctive levels to hate those who aren't in the
tribe and to follow our leaders. These might hide, but they don't
completely go away- they get activated by leaders of all stripes, all
the time. Recommended reading on the subject is Karen Stenner's
'Authoritarian Dynamic'; I am looking forward to her upcoming 'Tall
Man Talking'.

Luis

[1] I think Roger Schank does some really interesting work in this
space; I wish I could get him appointed Secretary of Education with
god-like powers to reform curricula.