OT: NYT article on, among other things, the limits of our ability to acknowledge what we don’t know

[Arraya]

[quote=jpinpb]
For years, I have had my own version of the story of the expulsion from the Garden of Eden. In my version, God appears before Adam and Eve, and tells them that they have disobeyed Him. He admonishes them, and they will have to leave immediately. Everything will be completely grotesque, grim, ghastly and gruesome outside of Eden. God spares them no detail.

Adam and Eve, both crestfallen and fearful, prepare to leave, but God, feeling perhaps a little guilty for the severity of his decision, looks at them and says, “Yes, things will be bad out there, but I’m giving you self-deception so you’ll never notice.”

Gives meaning to ignorance is bliss, right?[/quote]

If you subscribe to the idea that religious or spiritual beliefs contain self-deceptive aspects, then the first archeological evidence of self-deception occurs in Western Europe approximately 30,000 to 40,000 years ago. A profound change in behavior took place at this time. In fact, this segment of human development has been referred to as ‘the creative explosion’ or ‘cultural takeoff.’ In addition to evidence of ritualized religious behavior, art, music, jewelry for personal adornment, trappings of status, and even the concept of inherited status, suddenly appears in the archeological record.

“We have physically evolved very little in the past one hundred thousand years—and certainly not in the past 30,000. So I would have to say that self-deception had little or nothing to do with our physical evolution. Self-deception, no doubt, played a substantial role in our cultural evolution.

“Humans are the only animals known to self-deceive. There is no evidence to suggest that any other species besides our own possesses this capability. At a conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences in 1991, Washington University anthropologist Robert Sussman said, ‘Self-deception is what separates us qualitatively from all other animals and even early hominids.’

“Hierachies certainly exist within animal groups. But, a hierachial system does not need deception or self-deception to exist. Science generally recognizes two types of thinking. Concrete thinking—thought that occurs within the realm of the senses—is the form of thinking found in most animals. Concrete thinking is a linear progression like beads on a string or rungs on a ladder.

“Abstract reasoning is the second form of thinking and is found in only a few species: humans, chimps, gorillas, dolphins, etc. Since an intentional lie is an abstraction, only animals with brains complex enough for abstract reasoning can intentionally deceive. A chimpanzee is a notorious liar. But it takes the even more complex brain of a human to self-deceive. Self-deception is a relative newcomer on the behavioral scene. It didn’t help make us human. Self-deception didn’t exist until human brains reached their current level of complexity. In short, self-deception had no part in making us—we made self-deception.”

[eavesdropper]

[quote=jpinpb]eavesdropper – nice Star Trek exchange!

I wish you wouldn’t have picked Palin as an example. I agree w/the example, but I can see this turning to politics. I hope not. I got the point, which was anosognosia.[/quote]

I did agonize over that decision, jpinpb. However, the only case of disability-level anosognosia I could think of that was even more glaring was my brother-in-law, and, being unknown to Piggs, he would not have been an educational example. I do hope that it doesn’t turn into a political flame-war, because the topic is a worthy one.

BTW, davelj, thanks for posting the link to the article.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=jpinpb]eavesdropper – nice Star Trek exchange!

I wish you wouldn’t have picked Palin as an example. I agree w/the example, but I can see this turning to politics. I hope not. I got the point, which was anosognosia.[/quote]

I did agonize over that decision, jpinpb. However, the only case of disability-level anosognosia I could think of that was even more glaring was my brother-in-law, and, being unknown to Piggs, he would not have been an educational example. I do hope that it doesn’t turn into a political flame-war, because the topic is a worthy one.

BTW, davelj, thanks for posting the link to the article.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=jpinpb]eavesdropper – nice Star Trek exchange!

I wish you wouldn’t have picked Palin as an example. I agree w/the example, but I can see this turning to politics. I hope not. I got the point, which was anosognosia.[/quote]

I did agonize over that decision, jpinpb. However, the only case of disability-level anosognosia I could think of that was even more glaring was my brother-in-law, and, being unknown to Piggs, he would not have been an educational example. I do hope that it doesn’t turn into a political flame-war, because the topic is a worthy one.

BTW, davelj, thanks for posting the link to the article.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=jpinpb]eavesdropper – nice Star Trek exchange!

I wish you wouldn’t have picked Palin as an example. I agree w/the example, but I can see this turning to politics. I hope not. I got the point, which was anosognosia.[/quote]

I did agonize over that decision, jpinpb. However, the only case of disability-level anosognosia I could think of that was even more glaring was my brother-in-law, and, being unknown to Piggs, he would not have been an educational example. I do hope that it doesn’t turn into a political flame-war, because the topic is a worthy one.

BTW, davelj, thanks for posting the link to the article.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=jpinpb]eavesdropper – nice Star Trek exchange!

I wish you wouldn’t have picked Palin as an example. I agree w/the example, but I can see this turning to politics. I hope not. I got the point, which was anosognosia.[/quote]

I did agonize over that decision, jpinpb. However, the only case of disability-level anosognosia I could think of that was even more glaring was my brother-in-law, and, being unknown to Piggs, he would not have been an educational example. I do hope that it doesn’t turn into a political flame-war, because the topic is a worthy one.

BTW, davelj, thanks for posting the link to the article.

[blahblahblah]

The unofficial poet laureate of the Bush administration, Donald Rumsfeld, wrote a stirring piece on this very idea in 2002:

The Unknown, by Donald Rumsfeld (2002)

As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don’t know
We don’t know.

I have always been a fan of Don Rumsfeld’s poetry. If the English language still exists 500 years from now, people will still be studying his poems. In addition to his work with the English language, he has also been a pioneer in the field of martial arts and has developed a variety of innovative fighting techniques.

[blahblahblah]

The unofficial poet laureate of the Bush administration, Donald Rumsfeld, wrote a stirring piece on this very idea in 2002:

The Unknown, by Donald Rumsfeld (2002)

As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don’t know
We don’t know.

I have always been a fan of Don Rumsfeld’s poetry. If the English language still exists 500 years from now, people will still be studying his poems. In addition to his work with the English language, he has also been a pioneer in the field of martial arts and has developed a variety of innovative fighting techniques.

[blahblahblah]

The unofficial poet laureate of the Bush administration, Donald Rumsfeld, wrote a stirring piece on this very idea in 2002:

The Unknown, by Donald Rumsfeld (2002)

As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don’t know
We don’t know.

I have always been a fan of Don Rumsfeld’s poetry. If the English language still exists 500 years from now, people will still be studying his poems. In addition to his work with the English language, he has also been a pioneer in the field of martial arts and has developed a variety of innovative fighting techniques.

[blahblahblah]

The unofficial poet laureate of the Bush administration, Donald Rumsfeld, wrote a stirring piece on this very idea in 2002:

The Unknown, by Donald Rumsfeld (2002)

As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don’t know
We don’t know.

I have always been a fan of Don Rumsfeld’s poetry. If the English language still exists 500 years from now, people will still be studying his poems. In addition to his work with the English language, he has also been a pioneer in the field of martial arts and has developed a variety of innovative fighting techniques.

[blahblahblah]

The unofficial poet laureate of the Bush administration, Donald Rumsfeld, wrote a stirring piece on this very idea in 2002:

The Unknown, by Donald Rumsfeld (2002)

As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don’t know
We don’t know.

I have always been a fan of Don Rumsfeld’s poetry. If the English language still exists 500 years from now, people will still be studying his poems. In addition to his work with the English language, he has also been a pioneer in the field of martial arts and has developed a variety of innovative fighting techniques.

[Arraya]

Good article

Social anosognosia is when a group of people, perhaps even society at large, devolve into a state of destructive cluelessness.

are we there yet?

[Arraya]

Good article

Social anosognosia is when a group of people, perhaps even society at large, devolve into a state of destructive cluelessness.

are we there yet?

[Arraya]

Good article

Social anosognosia is when a group of people, perhaps even society at large, devolve into a state of destructive cluelessness.

are we there yet?

[Arraya]

Good article

Social anosognosia is when a group of people, perhaps even society at large, devolve into a state of destructive cluelessness.

are we there yet?

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