tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post8192071123251278960..comments2023-09-27T07:44:19.769-04:00Comments on Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction: WorriesSabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-38581325772179379502010-08-23T19:06:58.535-04:002010-08-23T19:06:58.535-04:00Hi Bee,
As far as closing the gulf between the ri...Hi Bee,<br /><br />As far as closing the gulf between the rich poor goes, I think that was a very valid question ... pre Oct 2007 when the NYSE peaked at 13500.<br /><br />Today? Today, I'd just like to know how to keep that gulf from widening, cuz it doesn't seem to me to be stopping. The gulf grows larger each day. A small percentage of the middle class has been added to the rich, a Steven Colyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10435759210177642257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-69159198296213153552010-08-20T09:47:14.250-04:002010-08-20T09:47:14.250-04:00From Wiki:
Desiderata (Latin: "desired thing...From Wiki:<br /><br />Desiderata (Latin: "desired things", plural of desideratum) is a prose poem by German-American writer Max Ehrmann. It exhorts the reader to "be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be", and to "keep peace with your soul". "With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams," wrote Ehrmann, "it is still a beautiful world.&Steven Colyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10435759210177642257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-3492324579365484672010-08-19T13:46:21.236-04:002010-08-19T13:46:21.236-04:00But it's a treacherous fallacy to believe that...<i>But it's a treacherous fallacy to believe that for that reason progress must continue no matter what.</i><br /><br />Ah, so THAT's your greatest fear. So I see, said the blind man.<br /><br />Relax. Technically, you are correct, if you study European History too much. Al.-Q. wants to suicide bomb us back to the 13th Century. I was 4 miles away from WTC1 and WTC2 when they were Steven Colyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10435759210177642257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-53633827647302564142010-08-19T13:12:44.697-04:002010-08-19T13:12:44.697-04:00All I'm saying is that we should use our brain...<i>All I'm saying is that we should use our brains (...)</i><br /><br />Hi Bee,<br /><br />I think that the question above is the central point. <br /><br />Throughout history, only a *small* fraction of mankind have really "used" their brains. The rest is either ignorant and/or do not care, they do not make "use of their brains" like you do in a daily basis. 99% or more Christine Cordula Dantashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05271747374185459530noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-37121532920535890372010-08-19T12:22:14.968-04:002010-08-19T12:22:14.968-04:00Steven, tspin,
I suspect you want to believe that...Steven, tspin,<br /><br />I suspect you want to believe that we have no control over many things because then you don't have to think about it. Yes, mankind has without doubt made a lot of amazing achievements. But it's a treacherous fallacy to believe that for that reason progress must continue no matter what. All I'm saying is that we should use our brains and not sit around and saySabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-21743918792440557412010-08-19T11:37:20.007-04:002010-08-19T11:37:20.007-04:00Steven said:
Bee, are you old enough to remember ...Steven said:<br /><i><br />Bee, are you old enough to remember when there were 2 Germanys, and they re-united? Did that have an effect on the improvement? The thing I most remember was, great as the knocking down of the Berlin Wall was, that West Germany feared East Germans, given their massively lower standard of living (that being a Communist country can uniquely provide), would drag the whole Tim van Beekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00620855422265823494noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-12181605188082129302010-08-19T11:26:36.221-04:002010-08-19T11:26:36.221-04:00Hi tspin,
You wrote:
And finally don't forget...Hi tspin,<br /><br />You wrote:<br /><i>And finally don't forget that we are all going to die soon enough anyway, it's stupid to spend the time we have left worrying about things we have no control over.</i><br /><br />Well said, I was wondering when SOMEbody would invoke some version of The Serenity Prayer, which, for the young-uns, is:<br /><br />God grant me the serenity to accept the Steven Colyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10435759210177642257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-16483439633779406452010-08-19T09:16:15.202-04:002010-08-19T09:16:15.202-04:00Bee: "...I find it dangerous, the believe tha...Bee: "...I find it dangerous, the believe that we're too intelligent to suffer a hard blow."<br /><br />We are certainly not too intelligent to suffer a hard blow, for example the right kind of a virus could wipe billions if we were unlucky but I don't see how it ties to anything I said and worrying about such possibilities won't help us anyway way.<br /><br />Bee: "I Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-46816096164332031182010-08-19T08:43:44.508-04:002010-08-19T08:43:44.508-04:00Hi Phil,
Yes, of course. The point I was trying t...Hi Phil,<br /><br />Yes, of course. The point I was trying to make in reply to your comment is not that worry in particular is essential to make a decision, but that the mere fact that the world might be deterministic doesn't render it (or any other decision making process) useless. Best,<br /><br />B.Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-75504249972695311072010-08-19T07:49:02.213-04:002010-08-19T07:49:02.213-04:00Hi Bee,
In some respect I think perhaps we are ta...Hi Bee,<br /><br />In some respect I think perhaps we are talking past one another, as I find that people can be motivated to decision without the need to worry, as it being formed out of one’s aspirations rather than concern. Perhaps concern may be a primal motivator, yet I would like to think expectation and desire also to be at least an emergent aspect of intellect aided consciousness, havingPhil Warnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15671311338712852659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-1602564998581402072010-08-19T07:22:07.421-04:002010-08-19T07:22:07.421-04:00Hi Phil,
As I already said above, if the world is...Hi Phil,<br /><br />As I already said above, if the world is deterministic it doesn't render worry superfluous. Try to understand it as a phase that a system has to undergo before doing some action. It doesn't matter whether the time evolution is deterministic or is not for that phase to be necessary (or at least helpful) for the outcome. <br /><br />If there is a fundamental theory that Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-19586393500113585922010-08-19T07:11:24.149-04:002010-08-19T07:11:24.149-04:00Hi Steven,
Yes, I'm old enough to remember th...Hi Steven,<br /><br />Yes, I'm old enough to remember that, though it didn't have any influence on my life. I have distant relatives in the Eastern part of Germany but actually didn't know of them till after the fall of the wall (difficult family tree). Yes, that has of course had an effect in that you can't spend money twice, and it's changed people's priorities at least Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-69456659779423382712010-08-19T06:14:09.856-04:002010-08-19T06:14:09.856-04:00Hi Bee,
” What I'm trying to say is basicall...Hi Bee,<br /><br /><br /><i>” What I'm trying to say is basically that whether our fundamental theories are deterministic or not doesn't change anything about the way the human brain works. In any case, maybe that's topic for another post.”</i><br /><br /><br />I would say as all things are rooted at the quantum level (or sub quantum) that it would have to make a difference in one wayPhil Warnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15671311338712852659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-29622881727345978832010-08-19T05:29:35.935-04:002010-08-19T05:29:35.935-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Phil Warnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15671311338712852659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-23590037887570341902010-08-18T22:09:40.590-04:002010-08-18T22:09:40.590-04:00Hi Bee,
You're looking for the prefrontal cor...Hi Bee,<br /><br />You're looking for the prefrontal cortex of society? <br /><br />It exists, but is still in the early stages of evolution :) <br /><br />Also, consider the problem of a brain in which each neuron is conscious, too. There is a reason why our brains do not themselves feel pain - probably the neural circuitry would end up endless preoccupied with itself. Which is exactly theArunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03451666670728177970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-27462732967900952532010-08-18T18:41:29.922-04:002010-08-18T18:41:29.922-04:00This seems like an appropriate place to ask what i...This seems like an appropriate place to ask what is sociophysics. Just out of curiosity I was wondering what It was.Jacob Woodshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04083005136024000667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-87926707877141809772010-08-18T18:15:56.956-04:002010-08-18T18:15:56.956-04:00/*...if some brainless slime mould will remain ahe.../*...if some brainless slime mould will remain ahead of us...*/<br /><br />Just an evidence, one doesn't need to be very brilliant or even physicist for being able to find the correct solution reliably...Zephirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06010623752049244967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-49122279171125194542010-08-18T15:19:31.666-04:002010-08-18T15:19:31.666-04:00Life among physicist's? I'd lost hope.
T...Life among physicist's? I'd lost hope. <br /><br />Thanks for showing me wrong :)Nidnus Rephttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05546386977444641442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-46788727703084269472010-08-18T11:13:23.546-04:002010-08-18T11:13:23.546-04:00It makes me worry when physicists and mathematicia...It makes me worry when physicists and mathematicians want to save the planet. They can't even figure out what is missing with the Standard Model. Without that we are surely doomed - even more doomed than usual.joel ricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06048310899055838262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-21684725861149773122010-08-18T09:10:01.741-04:002010-08-18T09:10:01.741-04:00I think there's more pressing questions that n...<i>I think there's more pressing questions that need an answer than what's the last phase of black hole evaporation. </i><br /><br />There's always the possibility then of joining John Baez in Singapore, or at least reading his new blog, Azimuth, hm?<br /><br />Bee, are you old enough to remember when there were 2 Germanys, and they re-united? Did that have an effect on the Steven Colyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10435759210177642257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-81367945402308391952010-08-18T08:37:51.240-04:002010-08-18T08:37:51.240-04:00Hi Sean,
Yes, there is of course the question whe...Hi Sean,<br /><br />Yes, there is of course the question whether I would be any good would I be doing something else than physics. I don't know. But it is somewhat more complicated than this in that I think the sort of research that I am doing is a luxury of advanced societies. It is a very long term investment. It is not that I don't think it is not good for anything, just that the Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-77968015548429410812010-08-18T08:18:46.575-04:002010-08-18T08:18:46.575-04:00Hi Phil,
The question whether worry has "uti...Hi Phil,<br /><br />The question whether worry has "utility" or not is not the same as whether we can change the future or not. Maybe think about worry as a phase of a system that precedes change. It doesn't matter whether these phases are deterministic or not. The question whether we "really" have a free will or not is complicated. It's something I've been chewingSabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-75110337459954742652010-08-18T08:17:05.077-04:002010-08-18T08:17:05.077-04:00Sean, you ARE aware are you not that many of the f...Sean, you ARE aware are you not that many of the finest Mathematicians and Scientists were pushed into Law by their fathers, only to rebel and follow those paths that led to our knowing of them today?<br /><br />You just took the opposite path. Which is fine. Keep worrying. Worry, or to use its technical name: "anxiety", is the impetus for getting things done.<br /><br />Anxiety is alsoSteven Colyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10435759210177642257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-82910282616161051112010-08-18T08:16:03.404-04:002010-08-18T08:16:03.404-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Steven Colyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10435759210177642257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-51672892293553725602010-08-18T07:05:38.277-04:002010-08-18T07:05:38.277-04:00Hi Bee,
” Determinism is usually thought to mean ...Hi Bee,<br /><br /><i>” Determinism is usually thought to mean that the past entirely determines the future, but you could equally say that it means the present entirely determines the future (or the past for that matter). In any case, it remains the question where is mankind in their evolution?”</i><br /><br />Well put, which actually addresses my point about worry as to whether it is something Phil Warnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15671311338712852659noreply@blogger.com