Dear Jonathan,

I agree with your comments on my point 8). Another key point is that it is very difficult, for people who are famous as they work in a particular theory, to accept that theory could be partial, if not completely wrong. On the other hand, there are various crackpots who claim that an important theory is wrong without really understanding nothing of that theory. In fact, being open mind in science is a good thing, but accepting crackpot nonsense is evil instead. Notice that I also criticize some points of modern mainstream science and I am all in favour of being open minded about alternatives, but they must be properly formulated and plausible scientific proposals.

Cheers and have fun, Ch.

P. S. I hope you will find the time to read my Essay.

Absolutely!

People must do their homework, and give the subject due diligence, before asserting that their alternative formulation is better than the model the mainstream endorses. In today's Physics, however, we are at a point where a large percentage of the questions we seek answers for require knowledge that spans the traditional boundaries of disciplines, so tackling these problems (like questions about Black Holes) requires one to know Relativity well and also Quantum Mechanics - because the nature of the problem necessarily involves both streams of thought.

I look forward to reading your essay soon!

All the Best,

Jonathan

Thanks dear Jonathan,

Let us keep in touch then.

Cheers and have fun, Ch.

Jonathan,

Wonderful to finally run across your fine essay. I fully support play as a way to make a difference and playing, in particular, with science.

You can find my essay here that proposes getting everyone playing with science.

- Ajay

    Dear Jonathan,

    Congratulations on being at the top of the heap. Apparently your focus on play as the essential aspect of life appeals to many, as it should. Your abstract says you "never grew up". In grad school I bought my first motorbike, a 90 cc wonder, and let my major professor ride it. When he came putt-putting back from a short jaunt his wife asked, "do little boys ever grow up?" He responded, "if they do, they never amount to anything." I believe Newton said something like this--and sea shells.

    My essay focused on avoiding the totalitarian future, based on a false premise, (no play in the totalitarian world) and at the end I propose a system whereby one is paid to learn. That is, if done right, almost indistinguishable from being paid to play. To get a sense of what I have in mind, if you have an iPad check out "The Room" and "The Room Two" by Fireproof Games.

    And I fully agree with your appreciation of Steven Kenneth Kauffmann. Thanks for mentioning him. I also hope you find time to read and comment on my essay.

    With best regards and wishes for good luck,

    Have fun,

    Edwin Eugene Klingman

      Thanks very much Ed,

      I enjoyed the story; it is priceless actually. And your essay is near the top of my heap of reading material, at this point. I hope we can avoid a totalitarian future, and most totalitarian societies are based on false premises, but it may be difficult - considering the present day world political climate. The idea of being paid to learn sounds appealing, though. This seems hard to justify in the modern world, however.

      There was an author who wrote an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, a year or so ago, talking about the tragedy of the over-educated. He cited statistics showing that a large percentage of people with advanced degrees now find themselves working as store clerks, auto mechanics, and so on; and argued that this shows that a lot of money is being wasted to train people with skills they can't use on the job, or use to find a better job. I think he has some things backward.

      While there should be some attention given to learning skills that will help you on the job, or in your chosen profession, there is also a need for learning more in general, or acquiring a general knowledge about a broad range of things and disciplines, in order to see how each thing fits with the larger whole, or is part of a spectrum. This is sadly what is most lacking, and what leads folks like James Dunn to propose that people need training and certification in common sense. I think that attribute only comes from a broader, less vocation-centered approach to learning.

      All the Best,

      Jonathan

      Thanks very much Ajay!

      I noticed your essay right away, but I have been busy, and I had already picked out some to read before it appeared. But I am very pleased that we are both champions of play, as a way to increase innovation and enhance people's interest in Science. I hope to visit your page soon, and I am sure I will have something good to say, after reading your paper.

      All the Best,

      Jonathan

      Hello to all,

      One individual who expressed his approval of this essay, in private correspondence, is play researcher Dr. Stuart Brown. I'd like to return the favor, by introducing you to his work.

      He is the author of a book Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul which I would have included as a reference, if I'd read it before finishing this essay. I would recommend his TED talk Play is more than just fun which is just wonderful. Dr. Brown is also the director of the National Institute for Play.

      All the Best,

      Jonathan

      Jonathen,

      If only. But money is my lowest motivator.

      Congrats for hitting the top spot. Very well done. I hope you're holding on tight for the roller coaster ride. Mine's suddenly sunk without trace under a hail of 1's without the decency of a comment. I don't think the rule of the game; "won't be tolerated" is applied. Perhaps all 1's should be removed with a week to go!

      I look forward to your comments on mine. The science is geometrically self apparent and the implications fundamental. The problem seems to be with embedded beliefs (including in voodoo!).

      Hang in there.

      Best wishes

      Peter

      This looks interesting John..

      I'll look closer when I am back at home tomorrow.

      All the Best,

      Jonathan

      Thanks Aaron,

      What you propose sounds pretty cool, if it could be made to work. I'll be sure to have a look at your essay soon, and be assured I always rate on merit - or try to anyway. I'm glad you could stop by.

      All the Best,

      Jonathan

      Thanks, Jonathan. I'm glad I stopped by too. I'm looking forward to your essay as well. When you get to my paper, I also suggest reading my conversations with Michael Allan, Tommy Anderberg, and Robert de Neufville on my page. A great deal of clarification is available in those stimulating conversations.

      Aaron

      Thanks again John,

      Back at you soon, once I've had time to digest.

      Regards,

      Jonathan

      Jonathan,

      No need to respond. I just thought they would be interesting from the point of view of further integrating your thesis. As I noted obliquely in my bio, I don't approach this from an academic perspective, but as one who starts from that bottom up, life to be experienced dynamic. It's just that having been smacked back down in all number of ways, I'm more cautious in my older self.

      Regards,

      John

      Dear Jonathan,

      Your essay is great.

      The curious mind has the capacity to solve human's problem. And to do this we need to employ the playful approach that is, scientific approach. Quite understandable. Your idea is commendable and somewhat original. I have rated you!

      Since I have an adventure spirit as you may want to love to hear, kindly read my article STRIKING A BALANCE BETWEEN TECHNOLOGY AND ECOSYSTEM and leave a comment and rating as I have done. It is here http://fqxi.org/community/forum/topic/2020

      Wishing you the very best in this forum and in your life endeavors

      Regards

      Gbenga

        Thanks greatly Gbenga,

        I am glad you found the time to read my essay, and that it spoke to you. Yes my friend; we must remain curious, and encourage that curiosity in our young people - as well as the not so young - if we are to solve the world's problems. I'm glad you can appreciate the value of a playful approach, in this endeavor.

        I shall read your essay, as it sounds interesting. The realization of a balance between technological growth and ecosystem preservation is important to me as well. I live close to nature, and I try to be a faithful steward, but I also live side by side with other humans and this presents challenges.

        More later,

        Jonathan

        Jonathan,

        This was a reply I'm cross posting from my own thread. To a certain extent it goes deeper into the argument I'm trying to make, given the further insights from various conversations in this contest:

        "It's not so much a question of life being unequal and often unfair, but the much more specific dynamics of why this current situation is going parabolic and how can it be logically addressed.

        Society is always going to have winners and losers and different strata and both friction and exchange between them all. As I keep saying, much of human activity on the surface of this planet can be modeled by the same thermodynamic convection cycles which pretty much explain most of the abiotic and much of the biotic activity.

        Much as our body has cells which are of the feet and of the brain, so too does society have different functions, with different uses, even fat cells. Yet if you had a brain which didn't listen to what the feet had to say, it would have serious problems and it is this lack of feedback between the different parts of society which leads to break downs, not the various differences.

        Money originated in many forms and situations. Some were actual commodities, like the salt paid to Roman soldiers. Others originated as a form of contract, like the clay token Sumerians used as receipts for grain, which were then traded around. Much of what we think of as money today, is various forms of contracts. Promises of some value for which the certificate can be exchanged. National currencies, now that they are completely backed by the debt of the issuing country, are based on the future health, wealth and productivity of that country.

        Remember when many banks had the term "Trust" as part of the name? The problem is that since we all want money, not just the rich, because it signifies security and stability for most, it creates a strong incentive to produce more than there are resources to back it with. Now that the situation has grown completely out of control and the very function of the economy is to produce ever more of these increasingly unsupported and unsupportable promises, which become ever more leveraged and ethereal, that the actual health, wealth and productivity of the world is being sacrificed to manufacture them.

        When you really stand back and think it through, it is as ultimately illogical as those Easter Islanders who destroyed their island to manufacture those stone monoliths, because they signified some overriding ideal, that became meaningless when the society collapsed.

        The fact is that we do need a medium of exchange for large societies to function, but it is a public medium, like a road system and to the extent it is based on public debt, ie. obligations, it is a contract between a community and its members, that one's services will be rewarded.

        Now in some ways, it is like blood in the civic body and like blood, it needs to keep flowing evenly around and large pools of it are extremely unhealthy and functionally unnecessary.

        Since the main reason most people save money is for large purchases, retirement, eduction, etc. Then other, more effective social mechanisms need to evolve around those needs, leaving the conventional monetary system to handle the more liquid aspects. For one thing, if we understood strong communities and a healthy environment are a valuable resource and time and effort should be invested in maintaining them, such activities as elder, youth care and education might function much more as organic expressions of society. Not to mention having manufacturing produce products which could be maintained and last a long time and not simply be thrown away, it would create a significant local servicing capacity.

        Since it would be acknowledged as a contract, those caught abusing the system would consequently have the value of their notes penalized.

        Essentially all this requires is acknowledging these notes are not personal property, but public contracts and that is exactly what they are in the first place!! Your picture is not on them, nor are you individually responsible for guaranteeing their value. Consider that if the average Joe Sixpack understood those bills in his pocket were no more his property than the section of road he was driving on, he would be far less impressed with possessing as many of them as possible and would be careful what tangible value he would exchange for them. His efforts would have to go to making his family life more important, his social relations stronger and his environment healthier, because he would know that this is what would matter, not how many zeros are in his bank account. Then consider what this would do to the governments and financial industries currently drunk on all this power we subconsciously give them.

        The fact is that since the system has gone parabolic and every time it has another heart attack, the response is more of the same and so the problem grows even bigger. When the next crisis occurs, it is going to start to be obvious to pretty much everyone that it is unsustainable. Then people will be looking for other answers."

        Sorry if this cross cuts between different concepts, but I figure making it short is preferable to filling in every gap.

        Regards,

        John

          7 days later

          Hi Jonathan,

          It has been a few contests, and it is still fun to play.

          What is really important is not all that serious.

          Thanks,

          Don Limuti