Re: faith
Posted by
Steve Smith on
URL: http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/Faith-tp7580633p7580694.html
Nick -
Good point, however we all probably agree that hyperbole is as
common on this list as is cynicism.
I actually find myself leaving my driveway less and less... but
not because I think anyone is out to get me, but in fact, as you
point out, I'm more and more aware how much of a S--T no one
gives?
I think one of the things that motivated me in my youth around
riding a motorcycle was the actual exhiliration I felt every time
I anticipated some numbskull's poor judgement or execution... I
feel something somewhat different now. Especially realizing that
as often as not, I *don't* anticipate them all.
- Steve
D.
Argumentative
positioning aside, you could not get out your drive way if
you actually believed any of that. In the first place, the
world isn’t interested in harming you. That’s the hardest
part. REAllizing that they don’t love you AND they don’t
hate you. THEY JUST DON’T GIVE A S—T.
n
From:
[hidden email]
[[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Prof
David West
Sent: Monday, September 24, 2012 10:21 AM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee
Group
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] faith
As
another rider (only 44 years) - my faith is that
every other driver out there is incompetent, blind,
deaf, and out to get me. I credit that faith with
my continuing existence!
On
Sun, Sep 23, 2012, at 06:23 PM, Douglas Roberts
wrote:
Yeah,
well: that philosophy will get you dead if you are a
motorcycle rider. Maybe not the first year, but the
longer you maintain "faith" that the other diver
will stay in his lane, the more likely it becomes
that you won't make it home one night.
I've
been riding for 48 years, still alive...
--Doug
On
Sun, Sep 23, 2012 at 6:13 PM, ERIC P. CHARLES
<[hidden email]>
wrote:
Since
this thread is still going... Curt said:
"Faith:
that the other drivers will stay on their
side of the road. I don't have to track
every one exactly."
----
Exactly!
It is faith when you stop monitoring the
other cars when driving, stop looking at the
ground you are about to step on when
walking, etc. It is faith when you get out
of bed without checking to see that the
ground is still there. The actions
themselves entail the faith; they do not
result from faith, they are the faith. An
interesting additional issue is when we do
and do not explicitly talk about the things
we have faith in. It might also be an
additional issue on what basis some people
have faith in a "super-natural"
"higher-power". (Both scare-quotes seem
necessary, because pretty everyone has faith
in higher powers, and most people have faith
in things they don't have natural
explanations for, but we seem to be focusing
primarily on the times when those faiths
overlap.)
Eric
P.S. Curt, if you are into Power's
Perceptual Control Theory, do you know
Richard Marken and Warren Manell's work?
They wrote a great article for a journal
issue I am putting together.
P.P.S. The notion of "blind" faith is really
very modern. Certainly it was not long ago
that faith in the Judeo-Christian God was
primarily supported by experiential
evidence. "Behold the wonders," "experience
God in every blade of grass," "check out
this amazing cathedral," "our army won,"
etc. The fact that we sometimes meaningfully
talk about "blind faith" seems to indicate
that the normal meaning of the term "faith"
is not inherently blind.
I
had been nicely ignoring this thread
in the belief (faith?) that it would
go away without affecting me. Alas,
the need for a distraction from
grading has drawn me back into its
basin of (strange) attraction.
Faith: that the other drivers will
stay on their side of the road. I
don't have to track every one exactly.
Action based on belief: ref. William
Powers: Behavior, the Control of
Perception.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perceptual_control_theory
Faith or belief: my mental models of
the world will still be true tomorrow.
These models have been built over time
by hypothesis, testing, and adjustment
(toddler and stairs example).
Curt
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
------------
Eric Charles
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Penn State University
Altoona, PA 16601
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's
College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
--
Doug Roberts
[hidden email]
[hidden email]
505-455-7333 - Office
505-670-8195 - Cell
============================================================
FRIAM
Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets
Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at
http://www.friam.org