Make It So

The new year is coming. 2024 is over and I spent a chunk of it reading Robert Sapolsky's book Determined in which he argues convincingly that there is no such thing as free will. Yes, but... you may have noticed that I am triggered by claims of absolute truth. 

Previously I proposed that Robert was using equivocation fallacy or a conflation of paradigms to have some fun with us and sell a book. Anyway, I fell for it, which is proof that Robert may be onto something. If I had free will, I could have read another Agatha Raisin mystery instead. Look what happened.

So Robert might be right; but just in case, here is one last whack at this straw man to finish off 2024.

This time round, my objection is epistemological. There, that's my big word for this note, proof that I know what I'm talking about. (Just kidding. I'm not sure, as usual.) Epistemology is knowledge about knowledge. In my opinion, knowledge is information (the way things are, objective facts, science) plus affect (what the mind does with information, subjective emotions, values, ideas, opinions, beliefs, poetry). 

Sapolsky's thesis on determinism has this blind spot. As far as I remember, Robert does not tell us explicitly when he is speaking objectively or subjectively although he does a persuasive job of both. Each perspective is useful, but confusing them is just confusing. For example, his abhorrence of vengeance is not science, although information about cultures evolving beyond vengeance comes close to science if you can ignore the associated passionate opinions. Without saying so, Robert combines information and affect. He offers objective science wrapped in subjective passion and invites us to choose objective determinism because subjective free will is not on offer.

Now that is a confusing suggestion. To make sense of it, I propose that objectively we are sort-of determined and subjectively we are sort-of free, but things work better when our choices have both objective and subjective input, full-featured knowledge. 

The sort-of modifier acknowledges that the objective and subjective perspectives are interdependent. Subjective consciousness is an emergent reality determined by its evolution, developmental history, circumstances. Murmurings of approval from Sapolsky. Objective determinism is system of thought emerging from subjective consciousness where the thinker decides what information gets included, what metaphor makes sense of it, what value to place on competing theories. Do I hear muttering?

Thinking about thinking is like two mirrors facing, an infinite recursion of the subjective reflecting the objective reflecting the subjective.... So each emerges from the other and they converge as knowledge.

New thought: knowledge, objective and subjective, is the foundation of free will.*

Thinking objectively about the human situation, we sapiens would do better if we knew how to manage circumstances to help people (including ourselves) make better choices. That would be a good application of determinism. It would make us better parents, teachers, psychologists, criminals, police, judges, legislators. It would make us better people.

But when it comes down to actually making a choice, being too objective could make things worse. If it's all predetermined and beyond our control, if we don't have a choice, we won't waste much time or effort on choosing. And if there's trouble, rather than take responsibility we will blame it on Sapolsky; I mean Robert, not the other one. (Just kidding. There's only one Sapolsky, and he says you don't get a choice.)

But I object. The subjective belief that one has a choice is the motive and permission to choose. If you don't believe in it, you don't get to do it, which makes you a turnip or a mushroom, your choice... Sorry. If you don't believe, you can't choose, so I'll choose for you. You can trust me. I'm good at it. Tinker Bell would live if it depended on me believing. I believe that you are human and can make a choice. Now, make a choice. Turnip, mushroom or human? Come on. You can do it... 

Good! You did it. Let me guess. You're human.

So believing that you have free will is subjective. Go ahead and choose. However, a choice without good information may generate trouble. You need objective information about circumstances and about yourself. Otherwise you might be elected President by people who don't care about facts; and when they find out what you are up to, you're going to need bodyguards. Way too subjective.

Life is complicated. Making choices is a slow, effortful, recursive process in which the outcomes of current choices inform future choices over and over until we pass it all on to the grandchildren, who are free to choose better if it isn't too late. Then vengeance may be replaced by respect, inclusiveness,  empathy, understanding, equity, compassion, fairness, responsibility, restraint, all the good subjective stuff. And they will be better people.

Free will is poetry.
Determinism is science.
Together they work just fine,
although a little slowly sometimes.

Happy New Year.
That is more than a wish.
Believe that we can make it a happy new year.
Then make it so. 
Or not. Your choice.

****************

*Hey Bing: compose a ballad about knowledge as the foundation of free choice.

Bing: Here's a ballad for you:

In a world where shadows dance and play,
Where choices come at break of day,
There lies a truth, both bold and bright,
That knowledge lights the path of right.

Upon the hills of thought we climb,
To seek the wisdom of our time,
For in the mind, so vast and grand,
Free will and choice begin to stand.

When ignorance would blind the heart,
And keep the soul in chains apart,
'Tis knowledge that shall set it free,
Unveiling worlds we yearn to see.

The stars above, they whisper low,
Of secrets that we strive to know,
For every fact, a hidden key,
Unlocks the door to liberty.

So let us drink from wisdom's well,
And break the bonds of doubt's dark spell,
With every lesson, choice is born,
As night gives way to golden morn.

In every mind, a light doth gleam,
A beacon for our fondest dream,
For knowledge, like a guiding star,
Shall lead us, free, both near and far.

May you find the truth you seek
and let it guide you on your journey!

*************

Dennis: That was lovely. I almost believe.
  Thanks, Bing.
  Happy New Year.

Bing: Make it so. Or not. Your choice.

*******************

This is the last note for The Basket Overflow.
Next year I will start fresh with Words Gather Here.
You can access any of the previous blogs by opening the profile About Me displayed in any note. And you can use the search bar to find any notes in a blog that contain a particular word or phrase; for example, if you search "climate" you will get notes in this blog containing that word (there are 23 such notes).

Keep on reading next year. Or not. Your choice.

Merry Lovemas

Dorothy told me over breakfast that when she fed the fish today she wished them Merry Christmas. As for me, I never look at the aquarium. Merry Fishmas doesn't spring to mind.

Dorothy is my better half. She has enough empathy for both of us, projecting consciousness and agency and feelings in improbable places. As a child, she would kiss a pig. Good for her. Even I get some of that. She gets it back.

And that is the spirit of Christmas,
that the world and all its children
get some love
and give some love. 

Merry Lovemas.

Entropy in the Kitchen

I do go on about entropy, don't I. Entropy is an erudite term that means something like disorder or chaos. The opposite of entropy is order, or if you want to sound like a professor, call it syntropy or negentropy. 

According to thermodynamics, whenever work is done (like scrubbing the porridge pot), the net chaos of the universe increases. When chaos increases, complex things are broken into simple bits (porridge bits scrubbed off the pot), and/or things get muddled (the kitchen drain gets plugged), and/or stuff gets hot (stuff like the guy plunging the drain) and/or heat is radiated from a hot object (phew). 

The cost of putting things in order is even more chaos than you started with (now I call the plumber).  The professor says that doing work to increase syntropy causes an even larger increase in entropy. Simply put, when we do work making things the way we want them, we must get rid of the resultant chaos through regeneration of materials and radiation of heat into space, or else we wind up in a hot mess. 

That is not an opinion. It is what we owe the plumber. Or you could just forget the clogged drain, leave the porridge stuck in the pot and add it to breakfast tomorrow. Let's see how that works.

Speaking of tomorrow. We have been busily accumulating a hot mess here on planet Earth. We have interfered with regeneration by depleting biomass and accelerating the extinction of species. We have reduced the radiation of heat into space by increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Burning fossil fuel is a cheap way to put our lives in order for awhile, and we can delay paying the entropy bill. But not forever. Now the hot mess is coming and we have to pay what we owe today or fail to pay an impossible debt tomorrow. That's not just an opinion.

***************

P.S. If you want my opinion: entropy is how God gets things done; deal with it.

While I write this, I'm waiting for the plumber to call back.

***************

P.P.S. He's coming tomorrow morning. Meanwhile there's entropy here. We're washing pots in the laundry tub.

***************

P.P.P.S. It's tomorrow morning. The plumber came. Syntropy. He will send the bill by email because of the postal strike. You always have to pay, sooner or later; but it's worth it. Now the pots can go into the dishwasher where they belong. 

***************

P.P.P.P.S. In my opinion, we should not go extinct. We should just pay what we owe.

***************

Doomsday Glacier: Just Have a Think, Dec 1, 2024

Industry Hijacks Climate and Biodiversity Summits: David Suzuki Foundation, Dec 5, 2024

Renewable Energy Domination: Just Have a Think, Dec 8, 2024

Canada's Plan to Slash Emissions: Jordan Ormstead, The Canadian Press, Dec 12, 2024

Words Gather Here

I retrieved an old poem from the basket and reworked it with new words.

This demonstrates
that authoring's not done until it's done. 
And then the words are history.
So let us write new poems while we can.

Read the latest here >>  To Look At Dust  <<

Time Flies

but reindeer and Santa don't. That was just a story first read to kids 200 years ago.

Then there was Wilbur and Orville Wright in 1903, for real.

And so on as flight technology improved over a century, for real.

In 2019 (pre-pandemic) there were
4.46 billion flight passengers worldwide, for real.

This note is about how fantasy can be made real if there is time and we have the will.

I don't remember what I was thinking about Santa and reindeer back in 1945. I presume I was a typical juvenile sponge soaking up stories and experience without worrying about what was real, just because it was fun. Ron and I would jump off Gram and Poppy's porch into the snow all afternoon pretending we could fly. Reality would catch up the next morning, but a brief moment in the air during each jump was magically worth all of the pain and stiffness the next day. So we were back at it the next afternoon. We didn't give a thought to the biology of repairing strained muscles.

Time flew. I grew a PFC, became more risk averse, stopped jumping off the porch, learned some science; and now I am more interested in solving problems like climate change. 

Confession. We flew to England for fun to be with family a couple of times in the new century. Between Dorothy and I, those flights added about 2.344 tonnes* of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, and that will contribute to global warming for years to come. Back then global warming wasn't on my mind.

Here is the problem. I have direct personal experience of the consequences of jumping off a porch. I have little direct experience of climate change except for a few hot spells in summer and shorter winters. Through the media, I am aware of problems elsewhere: wildfires, floods, droughts, more frequent and powerful storms, bleaching of coral reefs, melting glaciers and permafrost. I am also aware that life on earth is on track for disaster; but none of that is urgent for me personally. I'm having fun with family here in my temperate bubble in southern Ontario. No worries. I'll be gone before the crash. 

On second thought, my family is going to feel the pain. I am worried. How about you?

My individual contribution to the climate emergency seems insignificant. So does yours and each of the other 8,192,074,686 persons on the planet, and the dozen more that were born while I was typing this sentence. Because we think of ourselves more as individuals and less as part of a global community, even if we can imagine a better future, we can't see how to make it happen. Furthermore, when we feel threatened, we withdraw from the global community into nations or tribes to protect ourselves, which is exactly the opposite of what is needed. We need to fix this one person at a time joining the growing crowd of those trying to make things better.

Powered flight began with an idea and some tinkering by the Wright brothers. It continued with the work of many and took more than a century to make flying a fairly painless experience. Now we need to imagine a future for the planet that will fly. We have just a few years of tinkering to avoid the crash. Although we aren't sure what we are doing, we should try, even if it hurts. Maybe we can make the fun last a bit longer.

*****************
* This is an International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) estimate based on today's more efficient flights, two economy passengers making two round trips Toronto to London. You can use this tool to evaluate emissions for your own flights.

Aviation accounts for 2.5% of global CO₂ emissions. But it has contributed around 4% to global warming to date: Our World in Data

Flying is Worse For the Climate Than You Think: ClimateAdam, 2022

Fossil Fuel Subsidies Total 7 Trillion: IMF

UN Climate Summit Settles for 300 Billion in Support For Developing Nations: CBC What On Earth