History, Evolution, and the Darwin Debate
Three different reef-building corals in coastal waters of the Great
Barrier Reef, Australia. They are smothered by terrigenous sediment,
which was imported by rivers to the coral reefs. M. Weber/HYDRA
Institute/Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology
http://www.alternet.org/economy/155456/capitalism_has_failed%3A_5_bold_ways_to_build_a_new_world/
We linked to this already today, and it is a good piece on something we have discussed here a lot: renewal along theory lines of the left, and a lot of new stuff emerges in this article, e.g. ideas about Marxism 2.0, which we have pursued here. Let the article speak for itself.
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I think that the moment has arrived to recreate the theory and practive of activist movements, in the process trying to discover what works, as the crisis point nears.
When that crisis emerges into the open, havig a movement in place will be crucial, crucial then to start now.
The failure of capitalism was always obvious to me: the system is promoted as a set of efficient markets, but in reality the whole thing is totally inefficient, and wastes an immense number of talented people. For myself, I have always felt myself outside capitalism. Penniless students of Greek are an old joke, but not too funny when you consider the realities. Yet I had a tremendous number of talents. I could at five minutes notice teach Greek, Latin, French, English (literature), any type of mathematics up to advanced calculus, Newtonian mechanics, and a half a dozen other things. And yet I never had any opportunity in this system, none. I was always totally refused at the door, keep your resume, no interviews, nothing, whatsoever, except the usual fringe stuff. Not a single organization (except the Peace Corps, which actually wrecked my ‘resume’ with a three year void) could ever offer anything. The sheer idiocy of the capitalist job market is a striking enigma. Being self-taught in mathematics (I once taught A level mathematical mechanics in Africa, self-taught), I had nothing to show to employers, on and on like that. I was good at computer programming, but noone wanted that either from an older generation with holes in their resume, despite the public hype about needed skills. Drop dead is all the system offers, and this is true of millions. The system wants dumb people with ‘smarts’, a peculiar type. The Darwinian metaphor is grimly off: all these ‘survival of the fittest’ types are dodos in the end. The confusion with evolution is a grim and sick joke. The real survivors are the outsiders, who are not faustianized into creepy capitalist damnation in the moral sausage machine of capitalism.
This situation is actually a blessing in disguise for the ‘rogue buddhist’ who needs to live outside of society, so for myself, a healthy bronx cheer, and goodbye is better. But in general the capitalist lie deserves exposure for what it is.
A basic socialist system can solve a lot of this on the spot. Period, over and out. I am well aware of the limitations of socialism, blah blah blah, so don’t misunderstand me.
But capitalism’s vaunted market allocation is a crude frankenstein approximation.
I was thus actually better off to have been an outsider, so my statements are not a complaint, for myself, rather for others: my experience made it obvious how inefficient the capitalist system really is. Sorry, a close look at the system will show this to be so. In an earlier age, high degrees of employment (and comparisons with failed pseudo-communist systems) disguised the reality, but now that millions, tens of millions, are simply discarded to permanent unemployment, a point of crisis, and no return, has been reached.
The capitalist system stinks: so much sacrifice of the environment, and now the system wants to destroy the middle classes that it created.
We should be clear that ALL the wealth created by exploiting the commons belongs not to the wealthy but to the whole of society.
So, therefore, ALL of the wealth of the exploitation process should be declared public property.
The abolition of private property, properly defined, is the only option, in the end, but, of course, the elite is already aware of this and means to create a new class system, with all the powers of domination we see emerging in, for example, the war on terror.
So the clock is ticking.
Someone asked what is the difference between the ‘theory’ in Descent of Man Revisited and WHEE:
I think that the ironic renewed interest in WHEE created by the publication of DMR is good, and I hope to proceed with still another edition to that book, using the new software and under a new imprint.
The treatment in DMR is the same as that in WHEE but the book starts to become more intuitive in its portrayal, replacing ‘eonic effect’ with ‘macro effect’ and by moving beyond theory to simply pointing to the non-random.
And it is more out front on the issue of teleology, suggesting that directionality driven by a cyclical process at the macro level is the ‘phenomenal aspect’ of the noumenal teleology. This insight has totally escaped the scientific camp, and everyone freezes in stunned silence and ostracization at the mere suggestion.
But it it clear that current biology is simply off the mark completely on evolution.
I am glad for the sudden new interest in WHEE and hope to have a new edition by the end of the year. It will be designed by me (I should have had this software from Indesign ten years ago), and printed by South Fork Books at a dirt cheap price. I have been advised to keep the old title and the term ‘eonic effect’, and I think that is right, but the interior text should mostly replace the old terminology with a new one.
Life is hard: the entire scientific gang can get evolution wrong, leaving it to ‘outside agitators’ like me to set them straight, free of charge. That’s the problem, people sing to the tune of money, in professional does of green backs.
Poor beggars on the outside are left to do the work.
The new style of DMR can be seen in the following, in the chapter, World History: A Hidden Teleology?
A frequency hypothesis works beautifully!
We stumble on a stunning discovery (as we predicted in the
Introduction): the data of world history since the invention of
writing correlates with a frequency hypothesis:
We see three clusters in a punctuated equilibrium pattern:
Just before -3000, several centuries leading up
Just before -600, this is the Axial Age median
Just before 1800, the period from 1500 is clear
Try a series of period timelines, using intervals of 2000 to 3000
years: there is a bull’s eye wavelength of 2400 years. How can this
be? Only a macro effect can explain it. This pattern is too strongly
correlated to be chance, and explains why we see civilization go
into decline twice, as it moves away from its ‘jumpstart’ phase.
The ‘Middle Ages’ is thus clearly an aspect of this cycling (as many
suspected, but couldn’t understand why). Still, three beat series
are not enough to conclude a long-term frequency. Therefore, you
can stick with the incontrovertible second phase, the Axial Age,
to start. The larger gestalt will jump out with time (and study).
Note that this only makes sense if a mainline sequence sets the
advance region for the whole. Again, that is precisely what we
see: a series of transition zones (often in parallel) that trigger
a new era of civlization, as the results diffuse. Israel, Archaic
Greece show clearly this mainline directionality.
Too strange? Unbelievable? Perhaps, but a pattern this strongly
correlated is impossible to dismiss. The hypothesis of randomness
fails badly. A closer look shows a dead-ringer system tinkertoy at
work, an intermittent driver moving down a mainline. The term
‘punctuated equilibrium’ would be perfect here, but is already
used with a different meaning by Darwinists.
This is how ‘evolution’ would have to act on an amorphous
entity, a civilization, or a species. So, even though the result is
like science fiction, and defies belief at first, it is empirical and
sits there out in the open, awaiting observation. It is the random
evolution hypothesis that is actually counterintuitive.
http://www.alternet.org/economy/155456/capitalism_has_failed%3A_5_bold_ways_to_build_a_new_world/
Capitalism Has Failed: 5 Bold Ways to Build a New World
Some new ideas and big questions are defining our economic future.
:
As our political system sputters, a wave of innovative thinking and bold experimentation is quietly sweeping away outmoded economic models. In New Economic Visions, a special five-part AlterNet series edited by economics editor Lynn Parramore in partnership with political economist Gar Alperovitz of the Democracy Collaborative, creative thinkers come together to explore the exciting ideas and projects that are shaping the philosophical and political vision of the movement that could take our economy back.
The problem, in a nutshell, is this: The old economic model has utterly failed us. It has destroyed our communities, our democracy, our economic security, and the planet we live on. The old industrial-age systems — state communism, fascism, free-market capitalism — have all let us down hard, and growing numbers of us understand that going back there isn’t an option.
http://www.alternet.org/rights/155581/has_the_fbi_launched_a_war_of_entrapment_against_the_occupy_movement/ :
Has the FBI Launched a War of Entrapment Against the Occupy Movement?
Is the government unleashing the same methods of entrapment against OWS that it has used against left movements and Muslim-Americans?
Dawkins on Wilson is a curious absurd spectacle, a typical scenario where controversy arises over two errors, the failure of the general paradigm of Darwinism being unmentionable.
The confusion here springs from Wilson’s disillusion with kin selection. A remarkable development, but the basic problem is with the theory of Darwinism. The bickering over group/kin selection (which has an ideological slant) is a completely fruitless one: both theories are wrong, and, applied to altruism, create the master stroke of illusion needed for economic ideology.
Hopefull these two idiots, the masters of the paradigm, can eliminate each other in a grand finale of bad evolutionary theory.
http://www.evolutionnews.org/2012/05/biologists_reth060001.html
Dear Friends of NCSE,
Are private school scholarship programs promoting creationism at the
expense of the public schools? Plus a poll on attitudes toward
evolution in New Jersey, and the two antievolution bills in Missouri
are dead.
PRIVATE SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIPS “A BOON TO CREATIONISM”?
Read the rest of this entry »
In “The descent of Edward Wilson” (Prospect, May 24, 2012), Richard Dawkins strikes back at Wilson’s The Social Conquest of Earth, payback, presumably, for Wilson retracting his own kin selection theory.
What Dawkins offers, in the age of epigenetics, is a long rant for genetic fundamentalism:
The essential point to grasp is that the gene doesn’t belong in the hierarchy I listed. It is on its own as a “replicator,” with its own unique status as a unit of Darwinian selection. Genes, but no other units in life’s hierarchy, make exact copies of themselves in a pool of such copies. It therefore makes a long-term difference which genes are good at surviving and which ones bad. You cannot say the same of individual organisms (they die after passing on their genes and never make copies of themselves). Nor does it apply to groups or species or ecosystems. None make copies of themselves. None are replicators. Genes have that unique status.
The living fossils of brain evolution
http://richarddawkins.net/articles/646019-the-living-fossils-of-brain-evolution
By – - PHYSORG.COM
Added: Thursday, 24 May 2012 at 10:13 PM
(Phys.org) — In the course of its evolution, the architecture of the mouse brain may have barely changed. Similar to the tiny ancestors of modern mammals that lived about 80 million years ago, nerve cells in the mouse visual cortex are densely packed in a small area of ??the brain. However, during the subsequent evolution of larger brains the architecture of the cerebral cortex was radically restructured. This is the conclusion of an international team of researchers led by scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, the University of Göttingen and the Bernstein Center Göttingen. The brains of larger mammals, such as humans, however, have a completely different structure to those of mice. Processes of self-organisation led to the emergence of modules in which neurons conjointly are responsible for specific tasks.
‘Personality Genes’ May Help Account for Longevity
ScienceDaily (May 24, 2012) — “It’s in their genes” is a common refrain from scientists when asked about factors that allow centenarians to reach age 100 and beyond. Up until now, research has focused on genetic variations that offer a physiological advantage such as high levels of HDL (“good”) cholesterol. But researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology of Yeshiva University have found that personality traits like being outgoing, optimistic, easygoing, and enjoying laughter as well as staying engaged in activities may also be part of the longevity genes mix.
Robots Will Quickly Recognize and Respond to Human Gestures, With New Algorithms
ScienceDaily (May 24, 2012) — New intelligent algorithms could help robots to quickly recognize and respond to human gestures. Researchers at A*STAR Institute for Infocomm Research in Singapore have created a computer program which recognizes human gestures quickly and accurately, and requires very little training.
Published on Friday, May 25, 2012 by Common Dreams
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/05/25-2
Why a Growing Movement of Young People Could Ignite a Workers’ Revolution
Published on Friday, May 25, 2012 by The Guardian/UK
Sadly Barack Obama, Like Mitt Romney, Is an Apologist for the 1%
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/05/25-4
It may be to a lesser extend than the Republican candidate, but the US president is a frontman for financial interests
Planting Evidence to Sow Fear
Chicago Cops are the Terrorists
by DAVE LINDORFF
It seems pretty clear by now that the three young “domestic terrorists” arrested by Chicago police in a warrantless house invasion reminiscent of what US military forces are doing on a daily basis in Afghanistan, are the victims of planted evidence — part of the police-state-style crackdown on anti-NATO protesters in Chicago last week.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/05/24/chicago-cops-are-the-terrorists/
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Occupy Wall Street sues NYC over confiscated books Chicago Tribune NEW YORK (Reuters) – Occupy Wall Street filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against New York City, claiming authorities destroyed $47000 worth of books, computers and other equipment confiscated from the protesters' encampment in lower Manhattan last fall … See all stories on this topic » |
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Occupy Wall Street sues city for ruining 'People's Library' during Zuccotti … New York Daily News (blog) Now, a lawsuit has been filed regarding the fate of the thousands of books donated to the Occupy Wall Street encampment. (Photo: Getty Images) "You don't nuke books," said civil rights lawyer Norman Siegel as he filed the lawsuit in Manhattan Federal … See all stories on this topic » |
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Occupy Wall Street Sues New York Over Books Seized by Police BusinessWeek By Bob Van Voris on May 24, 2012 Occupy Wall Street sued New York City over almost 2800 books that were damaged or not returned when police ejected protestors from Zuccotti Park in November. Occupy Wall Street, a group involved in protesting against … See all stories on this topic » |
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Occupy Wall Street lawsuit seeks damages for NYC raid that destroyed 'People's … Minneapolis Star Tribune Article by: LARRY NEUMEISTER , AP NEW YORK – The city of New York violated the Constitution by raiding an Occupy Wall Street site last year, destroying the "People's Library" and seizing its 3600 books, a new lawsuit charged Thursday. See all stories on this topic » |
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Occupy Wall Street-Affiliated Group Sides With Federal Judge Jed Rakoff In SEC … Huffington Post A group affiliated with Occupy Wall Street has come to the defense of a federal judge who is on the ropes in his fight with the Securities and Exchange Commission over whether he can reject a settlement he thinks is unfair. In an amicus "friend of the … See all stories on this topic » |
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UPDATE 1-Occupy Wall Street sues NYC over confiscated books Chicago Tribune (Adds details from lawsuit, quotes from plaintiffs and city spokeswoman) By Joseph Ax NEW YORK, May 24 (Reuters) – Occupy Wall Street filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against New York City, claiming authorities destroyed $47000 worth of books, … See all stories on this topic » |
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Occupy Wall Street Sues Bloomberg And New York City Over Library Destruction Village Voice (blog) By Nick Pinto Thu., May 24 2012 at 2:12 PM Six months after the New York Police Department launched a secretive dead-of-night military-style operation to evict Occupy Wall Street protesters from Zuccotti Park, conducting mass arrests and destroying … See all stories on this topic » |
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Lawsuit decries raid on Occupy 'People's Library' The Seattle Times The city of New York violated the Constitution by raiding an Occupy Wall Street site last year, destroying the "People's Library" and seizing its 3600 books, a new lawsuit charged Thursday. By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press No comments have been … See all stories on this topic » |
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Occupy Wall Street Lawsuit, Manhattan Federal Court ParamusPost.com By Mel Fabrikant Thursday, May 24, 2012, 06:51 AM EDT Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Wall Street Librarians to file Federal Court lawsuit against Bloomberg, the City of New York and NYPD — legal effort to uncover November 15 raid details. See all stories on this topic » |
Robert C. Koehler: The (Burn) Pits of Hell
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/05/24-8
Amy Goodman: Memorial Day: Honor the Dead, Heal the Wounded, Stop the Wars
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/05/24-3
Tom Engelhardt: The Road to Amnesia: How to Forget on Memorial Day
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/05/24-6
Amnesty Report Slams UN as Failure in the Wake of Global Uprisings
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/05/24-4
Thousands March in Mexico, Outraged Over Corporate Media Bias
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/05/24-3
TEPCO: 2-1/2 Times More Fukushima Radiation Released Than Previously Announced
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/05/24-1
Ignoring Protest and Warnings, Obama Ushers in Era of Unprecedented Arctic Drilling
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/05/24-5
US Neo-Conservatives Assail Possible Compromise on Iran Talks
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/05/24
Exclusive Post-Mortem Interview With Lucy Parsons, Rosa Luxemburg, and Emma Goldman
Posted 6 hours ago on May 24, 2012, 7:17 a.m. EST by
OccupyWallSt
During the recent NATO counter-summit in Chicago, we sat down for tea
with the ghosts of Emma Goldman, Lucy Parsons, and Rosa Luxemburg, who granted us a rare interview. (The ghost of
Mikhail Bakunin,
crashing on the couch while in town for the protests, also chimed in.) We discussed Occupy Wall Street, NATO, the demonization of anarchists, May Day, the crisis in the European Union, prison reform, the U.S. Presidential elections, and more.
Descent of Man Revisited actually has a better philosophy of history than that of Hegel, because it embraces a larger dimension of the evolutionary history of man, and is based on the new findings of archaeology that have left us the spectacle of the Axial Age. The riddle of world history is sensed by Hegel, but DMR, taking a step backward to Kant’s classic essay on history, travels that ground again in a new way. But in a period where Darwinism seems to have answered all questions in the religion of scientism, the question of ‘freedom in history’ is not even addressed by scientists, who have lost the key to understanding. Hegel can produce still another confusion.
