For People that are Concerned about These Types of Things by William Amos Carine

William Carine

Essay Abstract

This essay is about finding a balance between pursuing the major goal of science now and the concern for humanity, which really is something to worry about currently. The writing is motivated by the will that it will make some difference in these trying times, but the author is entirely aware that it may be a minuscule one. Also mentioned is an attitude of quality over quantity, so that is no matter if it is so. The writing tries to relate the striving for a better adjusted society with the resolution that nature performs regardless of humanity. More than anything, aimed at is setting the tone for future efforts towards a common end.

Author Bio

I have recently been doing volunteer work as a farmhand through WWOOF and may or may not continue with this. This is the first semester of classes I have not been to since I started at Wright State University in the fall of 2011. I like to play acoustic guitar covers and do art mostly from my head as pastimes or hobbies. I currently feel privileged to be able to express to an audience of such quality these plain thoughts and to people that also are capable in being influential in whatever they do.

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Hasmukh Tank

Dear William Amos Carine,

For such reforms, more and more intelligent and honest people should join polotics; and for that, with particular reference to India, salaries of politicians need to be made most attractive, so that they do not have to indulge in corruption; as was proposed by me, in the following write-up:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnx0aGV1bHRpbWF0ZXJlYWxpdHlzaXRlfGd4OjlmMzUwNGZmZjgwMzQ0Mg

Hasmukh K. Tank

William Carine

Dear Tank,

Thank you for posting relevant material! Perhaps readers with an interest in India in particular will find it worthwhile to read. For some reason, not being involved in politics is a flaw in the picture of a scientist. I don't know why, as Einstein said some time must go there, and also since (good or bad aside) there was a large participation of scientists, even theoreticians, in the politics of war. Either way, this faulty concept of an isolated, eccentric aside, India will need such politicians as your short pap. here entails in the next decade or two.

Joe Fisher

My Dear Mr. Carine,

I found your exceptionally well written essay truly engrossing, and I do hope that it scores as highly as it deserves to do so in the competition.

You wrote: "Common nonscientists deserve a basic or an-as-advanced-as-they-wish idea of how the universe works." Do you think my explanation of how the real Universe works would fulfill that requirement?

Based only on my observation, I have concluded that all of the stars, all of the planets, all of the asteroids, all of the comets, all of the specks of astral dust and all real things have one and only one thing in common. Each real thing has a material surface and an attached material sub-surface. All material surfaces must travel at the constant "speed" of light. All material sub-surfaces must travel at an inconsistent "speed" that is less than the "speed" of light. Einstein was completely wrong. It would be physically impossible for light to move as it does not have a surface. Abstract theory cannot ever have unification. Only reality is unified because there is only one reality.

If not, do let me know.

With the heartiest of regards,

Joe Fisher

William Carine

Dear J. Fisher,

I went to read your fine essay a second time, as I took this message to imply that I should, and I was delighted again to see the fantastic questions raised in it! I think that Einstein's main working principle in his revolutionary work , reduced to the most basic way of putting it, is that physics should work adequately for the depiction of all phenomenon equally and from any vantage point, though it might be mentioned that he always had a hankering for relativising acceleration that he just couldn't seem to figure out. Perhaps this could apply to your inside/outside surface considerations.

I think that everyone can get that the universe happens only once, just like a snowflake Florida girl caught on the tongue in that snow globe-perfect first experience. People who are reflective at all will note that every experience that they have witnessed and been a part of is unlike any other that will occur again or that has in the past. So the understandability requirement is graciously fulfilled by your words. The how is the real kicker in any study of nature, from deep space astrophysics to the branching veins of a sugar maple leaf. There is also an established idea of what a unification will have to satisfy now that so many theories have been tried, and have failed in completeness, or can't seem to be able to. So one can either not care about the details, like A. Einstein, and hope they fall into place because the overall structure is correct, or one can do away with battling the devil all together and avoid grand schemes. So either one gets the main idea, and the rest works itself out, or one focuses on the little interactions and hopes to seed the big picture later.

With sincere respect,

Best regards,

Amos

I will comment some on your essay!

John Hodge

Dear WC

I would have liked to have made some of your points in my contest entry.

"Next, natural phenomenon too can be looked at as having desires and potentials. This object moves here after applied stimulus or force, this other falls because a potential well exists by the warp of space-time by mass."

"Doing what works is the bottom line with both science and interactions with any number in society."

"...finding a balance between pursuing the major goal of science now and the concern for humanity, ..."

"...nature performs regardless of humanity."

Very insightful.

Your point about diversity helping survival and (I paraphrase) intolerance being contrary to nature are also very insightful. I share this opinion.

Your description about awareness must come from your farm experience. For example, when squirrels and birds are feeding together, if one species is startled, the other reacts the same. The squirrels and birds have evolved to share the food because their different senses help each survive. Humans and Mac help each other also.

Hodge

William Carine

Dear Hodge,

Thank you for your kind comments here! I am glad that there are like minds about simple topics and ideas like survivability going in hand with diversity and the variety of life forms around to consume or be near to. Humanity should take this lesson from biology, no doubt! Understanding in biology may be applied to social issues, though I don't know if this is being actively pursued anywhere. In my own thoughts, much could be learned from the behavior of even bacteria cultures when it comes to resource use and population. So contributions like this may be very beneficial if applied to the issues humanity is facing as a species. It is one way that science can directly steer the human race in the future, however bleak it may look now.

With warm wishes,

Amos C.

John Hodge

Dear WC (cont.)

I offer an expansion of your observations on human stress. Stress is necessary for evolution. Stress is caused by change. I'd be hard pressed for a reference, but I recall that at some time in the distant past, the Earth climate changed little for several thousand years. Humanity advanced very little also.

Some people want to he happy (live with hope, love, and mercy). Others want to be fulfilled (live with understanding, truth, and justice). Happy people seem little fulfilled and fulfilled (accomplished) people seem unhappy. The wise (genius) is to be both.

Hodge

William Carine

Hodge,

I think that I did actually read something about how humans advance most when there is trying time around them. I don't think this is so much an evolution or a change, a metamorphism so much as it is comparable to parts of a body that are odd and jagged, sticking out, getting broken off and left as the box or whatever continues its slide along the dirt or path. If one can think of evolution or change in very abstract, yet basic terms, I regard the development in hard times of a group of organisms as a mechanical evolution, a bodily one. I do not think that it is a good idea to justify living stressed out when most of the stress in modern life is self created. We may be running out of resources, but for most people in the U.S.A. and other like countries, it is not yet a physically, that is in terms of food and water, trying time. It is extremely unfortunate that those who have made it in our society are not the most happy and loving. If those at the top were more kind in their hearts, distribution for those who are not so well on the physical level would not be a problem. This change in attitude could do wonders for current problems if it was had on a larger scale among peoples who are experiencing the comforts of the modern age. Until then, your point of evolution holds merit, but I see it more directed at those in developing countries who still struggle and die more often than the people participating and reading these essays do. They will be hungry for most of their day, if not all, they already feel the crunch of resource scarcity, and we will eat fine. That is the only difference between a problem and solution.

James Hoover

William,

Good thoughts, but how these reasonable policies can be executed is another consideration that is only our speculation. Looking at your suggestions below, as we both know, we have government programs and agencies like the FDA, the EPA, and so on, to accomplish this but money and power seem to influence their execution. Technology we have but it is captured by the corporate culture. Some is applied to learning like the "Dawn" probe to discover our cosmic origins, but not enough. I certainly don't have all the answers either.

"Another way help guide the route humanity takes is to adjust the preference of quantity to quality. A way to do this would be to use chemistry to test the

healthfulness of foods by looking for contaminants. Then set apart the most nourishing and safe products while giving the motivation to the consumer of

the superiority of the product, while the backing of science will raise the price.Or one could use technology to better help people pick locations

to live or visit."

Jim

William Carine

Dear Jim Hoover,

Your response tells me that you know or have read many of the trespasses of the FDA and at the least, the shortcomings of government organizations meant to keep the public safe as far as land usage and food extraction is concerned. The only solution in this sector that comes to mind is that small business must team up with science in a way that provides scientific data about, say, heavy metal ppb or how the food affects other pollutants in the body. A way to do this would to have scientific data be posted on food itself, or at least available to the customer, and this would be a sort of endorsement that would end up carrying more power than current food labels as regards the safety of food in the U.S. and also other countries exposed to high levels of environmental pollutions and poisons that no doubt are about in the air and water regardless of what one does or where they go to live, for the most part. I could imagine a pure mountain or cave, but chances are there would be some necessary food/supply shipments to there. Food reaches everyone, and everybody gets food, so if it was evaluated more scientifically on a scale that did not involve big sums of money, the abuse of power would be limited. A non-profit food lab could act as a sorting port for quality and pollution control for the food supply in partnership with a more local group of farms. This is a way that science could help reduce the pollution risk from the foods that are consumed, a risk that is building up, but not to my knowledge well studied.

William Carine

In places where radiation fall out is a problem, in nuclear disaster zones, some privy shop owners bought a radiation scanner and then labeled the food accordingly, to reassure the consumers, and certainly increase sales as well. Something like this, but with metals could be done in the groceries if there was a way for food to be evaluated for its chemistry. A lab teaming up with farms would provide this service.

James Hoover

William,

Time is growing short, so I am revisiting essays I have read and assuring I have rated them. I find that I rated yours on 5/13. Have you had a chance to read and comment on mine? I would like to hear your views, considering your interests and your activist background.

Jim

William Carine

Jim,

While I was very active as a kid in the woods, I did not participate ever in any protests or movements besides what I think the flow of the day should go. This comes from a sense of being alive more than any activist sentiments. I will look over your essay. Thank you for reading this one and commenting. Time is short for idle people, doesn't relativity say so for v?

Best regards,

Amos

Gbenga Ogungbuyi

Fellow comrade,

I found an interesting compatibility in your view and mine. I wrote about the misuse of technology to include the effect of the greenhouse emission which I found logically presented. I found out that you also offered possible solutions to some of these negative outcome of human's technology.

In particular you wrote "someone who is mature in his emotion and that exists in a caring manner will lend a hand to disadvantaged people if his needs are met

and he has extra". This is an idea of Walt Whitman's quote in my entry. As I wrote the people who abuse technology to terrorize the global peace are likely to follow your observation of not being secured themselves.

I wish to state that you matched your theory with appropriate relevant examples which allow logical inference- I do this in my submission as well! However, in a world where we have all the peace we want and even have adaptive control over our innovations such that we enjoy the rewards of science as I also emphasized, what do we expect from the uncertain natural phenomenon? Please find the answer in my write-up. Stay lifted!

William Carine

Hi Ogungbuyi,

Walt Whitman truly was a blessed soul, and I am glad he cultivated his gift! I read your essay. Thank you for contributing such a nice piece! I don't think technology is inherently bad, but when science becomes all about using the scalpel to understand, and when finding application with technology as the end goal takes over, that is where I see human waste most despicable in this sector.

Wilhelmus de Wilde

Dear William,

Indeed the problems on short time are very well described in your essay. It was a pleasure reading it because when mankind accepted to revise yjeir thinking on short time we all would be living in a better world.

In STEERING THE FUTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS" I try to explain that the "short" term solutions are perhaps not enough (but very desirable), it si the consciousness of mankind that has to become aware of its possibilities , these ar untill now not yet fully understood.

So I hope that someone like you with its positive convictions will find some time to read my entrance and perhaps leave a comment on my thread, and eventually give it a rating.

best regards

Wilhelmus.

Georgina Woodward

Hi William,

a very down to Earth , practical essay dealing with human nature.You wrote "A person who says that they do not know what to do, but will do what they can is at least being reasonable." Well said.

You also wrote "Everyone must see to it that they are an employee of saving the earth, and this means first taking care of the loan they have checked out from it. After this, one can talk about further growth. It is only then that humanity may avoid the continual reaping and sowing of quick fixes and a mutual disaster of ecological and human life". A good sentiment. Some of Earth's inhabitants are consuming far more than others and some are causing more damage than others but everyone can contribute by doing their part.

I like this Quote" Doing what works is the bottom line with both science and interactions with any number in society. For instance, mediation if required by for a company to offer payrolls would do wonders for lowering agitation levels and bills for headaches!"

Tejinder Siongh has suggested teaching mindfulness in schools and work places, I have suggested that in the future stress relief activities will be given higher priority and approval. I think we are all on the same wavelength there".

You wrote:" These two examples, [testing and feedback of food for nutritional value and appointed best suited holiday homes]GP insert, are simple and may or may not be in use currently... They also both arise from a sense of the self being content with less when less is better. When the major contribution to world catastrophe is excess- of indulgence......." Again very well said. There will perhaps be a continuing trend for people to have less material possessions as they live more and more of their lives on line.As there is an emotional component to overeating with stress relief people may be inclined to eat less food.

One quibble; you wrote "It is just that a dog cannot reflect on his current situation, realize he is thinking, and then consciously influence or create a future scenario." How do you know? I think that is a serious underestimation. The ability to reflect on a current situation and consciously influence or create a future scenario is imperative to effective pack hunting. My own dog is very aware when he is unable to catch prey alone and will through body language communicate where the prey is located while standing guard at a particular position, in anticipation of assistance in trapping or flushing out the prey.

A good read, and good ideas, Georgina

William Carine

Hi Parry,

I would like to clarify alert and aware. Alert is being cognizant of the location of items in a surrounding or the environment. Dogs are way more alert than people. Your pups hunting habits show that they can pinpoint better than we can (at least without practice). But I don't think the dog can get deep with his catch, think that the food that enters his stomach affects everyone else on the planet. It may, but the dog wouldn't realize it second to partaking in it. Humans can at least think of disadvantaged or world food problems before eating. That is the difference I would like to highlight.

Best of luck,

Amos

Aaron Feeney

P.S., I will use the following rating scale to rate the essays of authors who tell me that they have rated my essay:

10 - the essay is perfection and I learned a tremendous amount

9 - the essay was extremely good, and I learned a lot

8 - the essay was very good, and I learned something

7 - the essay was good, and it had some helpful suggestions

6 - slightly favorable indifference

5 - unfavorable indifference

4 - the essay was pretty shoddy and boring

3 - the essay was of poor quality and boring

2 - the essay was of very poor quality and boring

1 - the essay was of shockingly poor quality and extremely flawed

After all, that is essentially what the numbers mean.

The following is a general observation:

Is it not ironic that so many authors who have written about how we should improve our future as a species, to a certain extent, appear to be motivated by self-interest in their rating practices? (As evidence, I offer the observation that no article under 3 deserves such a rating, and nearly every article above 4 deserves a higher rating.)

Vladimir Rogozhin

Dear William,

Very interesting and deep analytical essay in the spirit of Cartesian doubt with deep conclusions and proposals, which are very close to me:

«The author is supportive of the view that interdisciplinary research is very important, actually.»

«Still, in order to get a general idea of nature, a sense of how the cosmos unfold in the things that exist without the human factor present, or an observation, telltale distractions evolve and pop through the surface of even people who are well regarded experts in their fields.»

«Issues like these still abound in the anything but unified spread of theories, and we are yet groping about in the dark for a deeper understanding of the workings of the universe.»

«In a world driven by science, where science has come to be an unquestioned advisor in everyday issues like how to eat or brush ones teeth, there must be incorporated in a world-view of the future a sense of a scientist as someone who feels and internalizes their understanding. An intellectual knowing that this study of nature can reveal must be accompanied by an experienced spiritual basis, of also knowing from within that which is outside. There is a need for unification in the world-view, showcased as it were, by the tremendous efforts exhorted by the opportunity to take a final crack at the exemplary challenges long faced in the learned circles. But it is deeper than that. Common nonscientist people deserve a basic or an as-advanced-as-they-wish idea of how the universe works. This alongside a deprivation of inner quiet and peacefulness present the greatest longings in this age, and also the largest opportunity for growth on a global level.»

«Another way help guide the route humanity takes is to adjust the preference of quantity to quality.»

Indeed, the world situation is very alarming (politics, ecology, science and all existential risks) and therefore our responsibility to future Generations requires action. We need to hear the voice of the Earth, voice of the People to give up Hope to New Generation of Earthlings. We need a new "Big Common Cause" to save Peace, Nature and Humanity. Time has come and we start the path together with the new Generation of the Information age, going ahead... Indeed, your essay "For People that are Concerned about These Types of Things"... High score.

I invite you to comment and appreciate my ideas and my essays from Contests FQXi 2012-2013, in which I give the integrative conceptual structure of the Universe, based on ontological unification of matter at all levels of being of the Universe as a whole, model of the Universe, unified for physicists and lyricists and filled with the ultimate meaning of the «LifeWorld» (E.Husserl).

Best regards,

Vladimir

Vladimir Rogozhin

Sorry, William! Correct link: voice of the People

William Carine

Hey Validmir,

Thanks for quoting what parts you liked the most! That song packs a lot of thought into an easy digestible form.... I think Einstein said something along the lines of humankind needing a shift in consciousness for our survival, or development further.