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Philosophy here simply means
how we view human life, the world and the universe, both physically and
mentally. To counter bullshit, we need
to adopt a stance that is free from pre-judged typecasting and outdated
groupthink. I'm not suggesting we need a philosophy that covers all the
bases - just a selection to address the problem. |
| From the individual's point of view, I reckon the X factor we need is
a simplified form of Existentialism - something on the lines of
Gary Cox's
definition: Living as "you really are when all the nonsense and bullshit
that is talked at you by scientists, preachers, parents and school
teachers is binned, rather than living as though you are a robot
programmed by other people, social convention, religious dogma, morality,
guilt and all the other age-old forces of oppression". |
| Another angle we need is Pragmatism. This means that we have to judge
everything that happens - or that we plan to happen - by the difference
it makes to the world - peoples' lives, the environment and so on.
Making a difference has to be justified by hard evidence, not by promises
or forecasts. And
we need to concentrate on what makes a difference in this life -
rather than whatever future lives as taught by traditional religions. |
| A third element is what some people call "As If".
We don't know everything we need to know, so we have to take on some assumptions.
In particular it makes practical sense to act
"as if" we have free will, rather than plead that we are destined to act
in a certain way because of our genes, upbringing or bad habits. We can't
use as an excuse "My brain made me do it". |
| We cannot live without adopting some other "models" of how the
world works. But we have to be prepared to update
our models when experience and evidence shows that we need to. The As-If models
we take on board are essentially someone
else's models. This certainly applies to social media, and -
topically - to whatever
we get from an AI system. |
| To read more on Philosophy, you need go on to wide screen 'B'pages -
here's the link |
