in reply to Re^4: Organizational Culture (Part I): Introduction -- prevarication
in thread Organizational Culture (Part I): Introduction

> Capitalism although it has always been brutal to a varying number people although, sometimes, it balanced out with its positive effects, like driving economy and technology to a max. Today it is brutal to a maximum number of people.
Yes, I suspect an ancient hunter-gatherer had a more satisfying, varied and enjoyable life than either the agricultural revolution farm labourer or the industrial revolution factory worker. Once you make "progress" it seems impossible to say "hey, that was a bad idea, let's go back to being hunter-gatherers!". :)

OTOH, if we remained hunter-gatherers indefinitely we'd certainly become extinct within a billion years or so, while now we have a chance of longer-term survival by becoming a spacefaring civilization (while admittedly facing a good chance of self-destruction in the next few hundred years if we fail to gain a foothold in space).

> Back to the point of "Codes of Conduct", they are embellishments to the brutality we feel all around us
I am not at all comfortable with them but ... as a chess fan, this morning I was disgusted by yet another cheating scandal, this time in a Covid charity fund raising event, which resulted in chess.com banning this user with the message:
This account has been closed for violating our Fair Play Policy. These rules help keep chess fair for everyone.
I was so disgusted with the disrespect this billionaire showed to the great Vishy Anand that I leapt out of my chair and punched the air with my fist when he got banned! Curiously, it seems casual chess players do not understand this emotion, at least most of the chess cheaters are not part of the serious chess culture.

The rise of Covid has forced most chess to be played from home, where it's impossible to know, for sure, if someone is using a chess computer. Sadly, chess.com's desperate policy of banning "cheats", based on statistical likelihood that they are using a computer, sometimes results in innocent folks getting banned. OTOH, chess computers have become so strong that they risk totally destroying the game of chess unless stern measures are taken.

Update: More links on the recent Covid charity chess cheating scandal:

See also: Cancel culture (wikipedia)

  • Comment on Re^5: Organizational Culture (Part I): Introduction -- prevarication

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Re^6: Organizational Culture (Part I): Introduction -- prevarication
by Discipulus (Canon) on Jun 17, 2021 at 08:55 UTC
    Hello again eyepopslikeamosquito,

    the point is not "let's go back to being hunter-gatherers!" the point is to evolve in a different way. Capitalism is founded on conquist: new markets, new products, new needs to create.. an having overhelmed geographically the whole planet now points its craveness toward new frontiers. It always reminds me an old Polish pun:

    > Capitalism is the explotation by a man over a man. Real Socialism is exactly the opposite.

    About the space faring civilization I'm completely against this idea: it is a fairy tale aimed to distract the attention on the sad fact we are destroying our dear blue planet: "Ok we failed with this planet, let's try another one" is not what I'd call a progress. If longer term survivial means to live into a metal box on the surface of Io or Europa, I'm not volunteering :)

    Sci-fi is nice and fun, but until we brake the Universe Laws being able to travel in the iper-space and being able to terraform planets, there is nothing good for us at our reach. For me this is just the myth of Colonization era projected into the space.

    I m strongly for a better consideration of the wonderful planet we walk on and, why not?, of their mad inhabitants :)

    L*

    There are no rules, there are no thumbs..
    Reinvent the wheel, then learn The Wheel; may be one day you reinvent one of THE WHEELS.
[reply]
[d/l]

      About the space faring civilization I'm completely against this idea: it is a fairy tale aimed to distract the attention on the sad fact we are destroying our dear blue planet: "Ok we failed with this planet, let's try another one" is not what I'd call a progress. If longer term survival means to live into a metal box on the surface of Io or Europa, I'm not volunteering

      The Total Perspective Vortex is a small, featureless steel box, the most horrifying torture/punishment in the known Universe. The hopeless victim stands in the Vortex, and suddenly shown, for the merest instant, the whole of the Universe: the whole infinity of creation, spanning over several trillion light years, and countless millennia, with an insignificant dot saying "You Are Here".

      -- Total Perspective Vortex

      As indicated by the Total Perspective Vortex, it's hard for us puny humans to get our head around the vast time scales involved ... but, given enough time and peaceful cooperation on Earth, becoming a spacefaring civilization is not a fairy tale, it's a certainty. As for not enjoying living in a metal box on Europa, your descendants will be genetically engineered to enjoy that. :)

      I doubt that a successful interstellar spacefaring civilisation will be Homo sapiens though. A new species, genetically engineered for longer life spans and living in high radiation, low gravity environments (and metal boxes on Europa) would stand a better chance of success. And being supported by an army of self-replicating AI robots would also make a huge difference (e.g. to build infrastructure on a terraformed Mars) ... albeit with a risk they'll turn against us and wipe us out.

      I suppose we might try using these long time scales to persuade folks to please stop destroying our dear blue planet now, though I doubt boffins speculating on interstellar space travel would have any impact on our current global warming crisis.

      I just took a peek at an estimate of our chances of survival which scarily predicts:

      an informal survey of experts on different global catastrophic risks at the Global Catastrophic Risk Conference at the University of Oxford suggested a 19% chance of human extinction by the year 2100 ... enumerating the risks as:

      Anthropogenic:

      • AI
      • Biotechnology
      • Cyberattack
      • Environmental disaster
      • Experimental technology accident
      • Global warming
      • Mineral resource exhaustion
      • Nanotechnology
      • Warfare and mass destruction
      • World population and agricultural crisis

      Non-anthropogenic:

      • Asteroid impact
      • Cosmic threats
      • Extraterrestrial invasion
      • Pandemic
      • Natural climate change
      • Volcanism

      After we survive by becoming a glorious spacefaring civilisation, our next challenge will be to escape the heat death of the universe via a wormhole to another Universe. :)

      References Added Later

[reply]
        Hello again,

        sci-fata is a syncretic neologsim for science fairy tales :)

        I like too much your posts eyepopslikeamosquito and I always upvote them; this time I was tempted to downvote as I totatlly disagree with your point of view :) Then I thougth "he is a sympathic good fellow" and I upvoted you as always: small acts can have big consequences in long time terms. Infact:

        > .. your descendants will be genetically engineered ..

        I hope my descendants will be part of the Resistence sabotaging this fool plan. I hope also your and mine descendants will find a shared point of view or an agreement in memory of our ancient friendship dating just after the end of the Analogic Era :)

        L*

        There are no rules, there are no thumbs..
        Reinvent the wheel, then learn The Wheel; may be one day you reinvent one of THE WHEELS.
[reply]
[d/l]

In Section Meditations