[PREV - GOOD]    [TOP]

SELF

        
A common vision of human                     Another common vision of        
nature:                                      human nature: 
                                                                          

We choose to do the                          The self is a product of        
things we do.  The self is                   physical processes, it          
responsible for actions.                     is determined by                
                                             environmental and               
Ideas are created inside of                  genetic inheritance.            
the self.                                                                    
                                             Ideas are the product of     
Individuals must be given                    individuals circumstances       
the credit they deserve                      and histories.               
for having ideas.                            A reflection of the zeitgeist.
                                             Output is recycled input.       
An idea that you create is                                                   
your property.                               Intellectual property           
                                             must belong to society,      
                                             for the benefit of society.  
                                                                          
                                                                          
                                
                     At a guess, everyone switches between 
                     these two doctrines, whenever         
                     it seems convenient.
                                         
                     Arguments based on them surface 
                     continually, under many names:
                     "free will" vs. "determinism",
                     "justice" vs. "mercy"... 
                                              
The first vision here, seems                
to have little factual                      
basis.  How can an "idea" be                
expected to magically emerge                The second vision, seems more 
from a single mind, without                 "scientific", in that it postulates
reference to anything that                  some natural mechanism behind 
has gone before?                            individual thought.  No     
                                            mysticism here.       
At best, this view seems to be 
a reflection of our ignorance 
of how the mind works.                      And yet, this view is 
                                            disastrous wherever implemented.
And yet it seems necessary                  It undermines the incentive 
for any functional system of                structure that keeps human 
ethics.                                     society working. 



                                      Note issue amongst libertarians:
                                      is alcoholism a "disease" (and   
                                      hence the alcoholic is out 
                                      of control, not responsible) 
                                      or are they guilty of lapses 
Someday: add note on                  of self-control (people who 
Free Will as                          need to take responsibility for 
something which is                    their actions).  
experienced, rather                                      
than an abstraction                                   ADDICTION    
to be "proved".     
                                             	      BATESON 
    					              
Side issue: environmentally or   
genetically determined?  To some 
extent it hardly matters: either     
way it's still determinism.  The      
perception that environmentally        
determined things are easier to  
change may be a misconception                  
(thou art Mrs. Grundy).  Would it             STRANGER
be better if human behavior were  
random?  But it's interesting to 
watch people manipulate the issue       
as seems convenient.  E.g. racial
issues vs. sexual preference.    

                      
Further note: idea that
grounding humanity in
physical mechanisms
somehow demeans it.
   
   If love is just       
   biochemistry, then it 
   is worthless: "merely" 
   physical, not         
   spiritual.            
                         
   Alternate view:         
   The soul considered as  
   a complex pattern.      
   (as opposed to mystical, 
   vitalist notions).      
                  
                                April 17, 1992

if you drop the model of human behavior as being
goal-directed and rational, then what is it?  i mean, we
don't really create ideas within us, right? we don't really
"choose goals" though we talk as though we do.  so the self
is like a node in an information network, or something.
        
But what do you do with this vision? 
                             
--------
    
[NEXT - MANIACS]