Monday, August 30, 2021

A Pioneer in Systems Theory and Sustainability for Spaceship Earth

Boulding's work goes all the way back to the 1960's.

 https://www.inspiringquotes.us/author/3917-kenneth-e-boulding

A sample of his thoughts---

-- Kenneth E. Boulding



Sunday, August 29, 2021

For 20 Years - "One Lie After Another"

https://twitter.com/ScottHa85992272/status/1432141855588769793?s=20 
Link to a piece by the well respected journalist, James Risen.  Finally, what really happened in Afghanistan for 20 years.  Imperial hubris, opium trade, killing of civilians, warlords, corruption, horrendous mistakes, and lies about it all.  When will we ever learn?  A paradigm shift is needed.  We the People don't want perpetual war.
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Not only my opinion.  Be Well
p.s.  Surprisingly quickly, Twitter unblocked my account.  [For context, see the posts immediately previous to this one.]

Twitter Update

Found a way to contact Twit even when you're blocked from Twit.  It's convoluted and somewhat hidden; I really just stumbled upon it.  Once you find the "Contact Us" button, it's still convoluted...and more hidden.  If anyone really needs all the excruciating details, contact me.  Here's the message I finally was able to submit to Twit  ---edited a bit:  [It's a lot like the last post, but don't miss my commentary after the quote.]
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 "1. As a senior citizen & a night owl, I do not have regular sleep hours.  Plus, I get only 4 -6 hours of sleep per 24.  Those are not any more than 2 consecutive hrs of sleep at a time.  Much of my awake time is online.  I SUSPECT all that has caused your algorithms to block me from Twitter because of SUSPECTED AUTOMATION.
2.  Apparently, your algorithms were programmed in such a way as to make them incapable of handling this:  I DON'T HAVE A CELL PHONE, & don't want one.  That means I can't give you a MOBILE number to get a code to verify my acct.  HELLO.
3.  Just prior to being blocked for suspected automation, I passed the "I am not a robot test" by ID-ing "taxis" in a series of photos.  Still blocked.  Really, Twitter?!  That action on the part of your algorithms MAKES NO SENSE WHATSOEVER.
4. You have a problem.  Those algorithms in that scenario are incapable of handling a simple situation.  I am NOT automated in any way.  I have NOT violated any of your policies as far as I can determine.  All I have is a land line for a phone. My email is abstractcowboy@gmail.com.  I live in NM, USA.  I'm a former Biology & Ecology teacher, & a former employee of Sacramento Environmental Management Dept., HazMat Div.
5.  Stop blocking me from your site.  Unlike your algorithms, I AM NOT A ROBOT.   I've passed that "not a robot" test on Twitter a gazillion times.  If you don't believe the results of those tests, why even have them?  This is not rocket science.  Sincerely, Scott Haley"
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We'll see how they respond.  I realize this is a somewhat trivial matter; however, it is indicative of the mindset of High Tech companies.  For the most part, they don't seem to care one whit about folks who use their venues.  It doesn't seem to matter that we're the only reason they have paying ad clients.  They make it as difficult as they can for someone to contact Support.  Then you wait an ungodly amount of time to hear back.  Why?  Most likely because the companies haven't hired enough CSRs to handle the load.  Or, like some companies, they refer you to a "Discussion Forum" where nonprofessionals give helping you a shot.  That's often nothing but a nightmare.  C'est la vie in an overpopulated world, eh?

Back when I was a young man (1960), the population of the USA was HALF of what it is now.  Fewer customers for Biz.  Companies bent over backwards to help you, and keep you coming back to their operation.  You younger folks have no idea of how different it was then in that regard as compared to now.  It's astounding.
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Not only my opinion.  Happy Trails

Saturday, August 28, 2021

A Question & a Hunch: Is TWITTER discriminating against or censoring accounts which DO NOT violate their policies?

 I've been on Twitter for a bit over a year.  There and elsewhere online, I've often been critical of High Tech companies, Mega Biz in general, neoliberalism, and corporatism.  A few times in the past, Twitter has stopped me from accessing my account because they suspect its "automated".  That may be because I'm a senior citizen and don't have regular sleep hours.  Plus, I'm a night owl, not an early bird.  In any 24-hour period, I get maybe 4 - 6 hours of sleep.

Yesterday they blocked/throttled me again, saying the account "appears to be automated".  [This time, I can't find a way to get around it.]  I've tried to contact them, but as you know, High Tech companies don't want you to contact them.  That would require them to hire support staff.  After unsuccessfully trying different things to reach them, I sent the following email to this  address:  tweet@twittermail.com...found it online, don't know what it is ---
"Twitter thinks I'm a robot...even after ID-ing "taxis" in a series of photos.  They won't let me into my acct.  They want a mobile phone number so a code can be sent.  I guess the robot algorithms of Twitter were not programmed to be capable of dealing with this:  some people, like me, don't have a cell phone; and don't want one.  Let me into my acct...am not a robot.  Obviously, your algorithms are the robots."  😀

High Tech companies utilize algorithms which often are not capable of handling the myriad of situations arising in online scenarios such as the one above.  That's why they need live people as support staff.  But the Head Honchos of some of these companies appear to not care much at all about their users, only about their advertising clients.

One analytic website (I didn't note the name) says Twitter has done this - blocked access because of "suspected automation" - to thousands of T. accounts.  We're not suspended for violations, but blocked temporarily because of Twit suspicions.  "Try again later", they say.  For those with cell phones it's a brief glitch; although, I don't know that for certain.  Trying again later has not worked for me this time.

What's really ignorant on Twit's part is:  to prove you're not automated (a "robot"), you're given a series of photos from which you have to ID the ones with a bus, a train, or a taxi, etc.  Even if you pass that test, sometimes the algorithms still prevent you from accessing your account... because of suspected automation.  That makes no sense whatsoever.  [I hope Twitter isn't one of the companies claiming to have Artificial Intelligence:]

All the above generates the title of this essay.  I'm NOT suggesting that Twitter is, for a fact, discriminating.  I'm saying this:  I SUSPECT they might be.  Their blocking of people who moments ago passed the "I'm not a robot" test is highly suspicious activity on their part.  [Sometimes you're required to pass that test three times in a row, & then you still get blocked.  That's either really faulty algorithms or massively bad policy, or maybe, attempts to rid the site of some people & their ideas.  People who have not violated any of Twit's policies.]  That's just a hunch, not a fact.  Given the scenario above, it's a plausible guess, or at least, a remote possibility.

If anyone knows how to contact whatever paltry support Twitter has, please let me know.  Keep in mind, though, I can't get on their site at all, so the method of contact must be email or a toll free telephone number (I do have a land line).  Also, please let me know if any of you have had similar problems.

Thanks.  Be Well

Friday, August 27, 2021

INTOLERANCE on the Political Right and the Political Left

 https://theintercept.com/2021/08/23/portland-police-proud-boys-protest/
Portland's bizarre experiment, indeed.  The Portland, OR Police Chief apparently is not aware of this:  when protesters and counter protesters are in the same place at the same time, the job of the police is to keep the two groups separated.  Hello.

Instead, there were multiple incidents of physical attacks, and even a bit of shooting at one another.  So, what's all this hate, lack of civility, and idiocy about?  From an email of mine (edited)--

The Criminal Childish Boys (AKA, proud boys) are not insisting on individual rights; they are insisting on totalitarianism - they expect everyone to believe & act as they do, even if it contravenes other peoples' rights (e.g., the right to wear a mask during a pandemic, or the right to voice an opinion, or the right to be in public without being attacked).  The Left has a much milder version with something similar to totalitarianism - their "Political Correctness" and "Cancel Culture".  

Intolerance spans the entire political spectrum.  "Think & act as we do, or we'll denigrate & harass you... because we know what's best for everyone."  On the one hand (the Right), "God told us"; and on the other hand (the Left), social evolution told us.  In either case:  "We're right, & you're wrong.  Period.".


Both the Right & the Left are "True Believers" in the worst sense, although, the Right is a tad worse about it than the Left.  Not too much worse, though.  One thing is clear to me after being a keen observer of American politics since Mr. Benson's American Gov't class at HPHS in 1956:  both the Right & Left are intolerant of "the other side", and almost totally so.  Of course, that's a general statement; I'm sure there are a few exceptions.  Those exceptions do not invalidate the general statement.  

 Until that intolerance is overcome, our country will continue to be divisive and often violent.  What a genuine tragedy.  The Big Picture is way beyond Right & Left, but it seems too few see it.  The Media don't help.  Whether corporate or noncorporate, ALL of them are slanted one way or another.  Most likely, that's because of intolerance for "the other".  There's no objective News at all anymore.  Perhaps there never was.

Political prejudice reigns supreme (in general) among people on the Right & the Left, which means each views "the other side" as ALL (or at least, an overwhelming majority) having the same characteristics as the few who are running the show on each side.  As long as that continues, we will not have a civil society.  Ever. 
 The truth is, no group ever has been as homogeneous as what the Right & Left say the other side is today.  I've known some super fine people in my life.  About half were on the Right, & half were on the Left.  They all were civil to each other.  The younger folks of today could take a lesson from that.
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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Friday, August 13, 2021

MULTIPLE APPROACHES and TOOLS are required to attain sustainability

The articles below propose that it may not be wise to focus on only a single approach when tackling the implementation of sustainability.  The complexity of a paradigm shift in this arena requires multiple approaches and tools.  Specifics are given.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800921002019

[Integrating the green economy, circular economy and bioeconomy in a strategic sustainability framework]


https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2210422416300843?dgcid=raven_sd_recommender_email

Exploring the governance and politics of transformations towards sustainability


From watching/reading the Corporate Media, one would rarely ever be aware of the tremendous comprehensive work being done in the field of sustainability...for at least the last twenty years.  Some of it goes back forty years plus.  More writers and activists should spread the word.  Once in awhile, I get the feeling that some people think "Going Green" is simply a matter of passing laws.  Passing laws may not be easy, but it's a picnic compared to the research and implementation of sustainability for Spaceship Earth. 
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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Saturday, August 7, 2021

Consciousness, Nature, the Myth of A.I., & Reality

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyu7v7nWzfo&list=WL&index=68 

 Research on Consciousness has exploded in the last quarter century. The piece at the link above relates some of the surprising discoveries. One of them is that it's highly likely an organism does not have to be as intelligent as Homo sapiens to possess Consciousness. Another is that it's even more likely something has to be biologically alive in order to possess Consciousness. 

 That means: don't believe the hype being promulgated by Mega Corporations about Artificial Intelligence . The original definition of A.I. was:  an artificial machine conscious of itself as a separate "being". Tech Whiz Kids are nowhere near creating such a machine. A bunch of algorithms which can predict certain outcomes or make certain choices based on input does not constitute a conscious being.  A.I. does not presently exist... and likely never will. I leave it to you to guess as to why certain large corporations want us to believe it does exist. 

 The research also shows that, despite some people believing otherwise, human beings are a part of Nature. We are not separate from, superior to, or in any way above Nature. We are Nature.  That is one of the core principles of ecoethics and ecocentrism.  To believe we must conquer Nature gives us license to destroy Nature, and too many people appear to be doing exactly that... often at will.

 Finally, what the brain perceives are energy impulses coming from objects. Everything is energy. Matter consists of bundles of energy vibrating much more slowly than light, or gamma rays, or radio waves, etc. The implication of it all is clear: all things are made of one thing, and it's all part of a whole. 

 It's encouraging to live in a time when researchers in all fields of Natural Science are seriously studying Reality, and discovering (or confirming) its intrinsic properties. 

 The real mystery is Consciousness. If it only exists in sentient beings, or there as well as elsewhere, then does that mean all sentient beings have intrinsic value? I think it does, which means we humans need to discard our hubris and view all beings possessing sentience as having much more than only utilitarian value.*** That's another core principle of ecoethics  and ecocentrism. 
***For example, the way in which elephants and certain other domesticated and wild animals are treated by some humans (all around the world) is outrageous, immoral, and unethical.

Going Green without adopting an ecocentric (as opposed to anthropocentric) worldview is, in my opinion, an oxymoron.  It's counterintuitive.  It will result in failure.  No sustainability for Spaceship Earth.  Luckily for us, many people appear to be recognizing such.
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Not only my opinion. Be Well