Entropy

Entropy – definition in the language of music:
The last movement of Gustav Mahler’s 9th Symphony offers an irresistible suggestion!
Warning: 27 minutes of high concentration listening required

WHAT IS A HOMO SAPIENS?

WHAT IS, REALLY, A HOMO SAPIENS? (supersummary)

Suggestion 1: She is a very intelligent, talented, caring and good women
Suggestion 2: She is an organization of protons, neutrons and electrons on a certain complexity level.
BOTH DEFINITIONS ARE ADEQUATE but not complete, DEPENDING ON WHICH SET OF DEFINITIONS IS USED.
1 is using definitions from the world formed by the Cultural Evolution and number 2 from the world of physics.
So,
for better clarity it is helpful, if not necessary, to state which set of DEFINITIONS is used when making a statement. This is especially necessary when trying to describe such a complex organism as a Homo Sapiens(HS).
In the case of a HS, definitions from Physics Biology, The human domain, like Philosophy, Medicine, Law, Religion, Arts and more can be used.
A HS is often referred to as an Organism who is ALIVE.
It is important to know that there are a number of definitions of ‘being alive’ and that, in the world of physics, the distinction ‘living’ is not needed in order to explain what a HS is.
Still some physicists busy themselves with search for reasons for the distinction. Recently (late 2020) Jeremy England has published a book: Every life is on fire, that is giving interesting new views on how ‘life’ could have started through longterm interaction between Energy and Materia. Quantum mechanics necessarily enter the picture!
Jeremy’s exposé of ideas and experimental results supporting the conclusion that LIFE is a process involving, mainly, Energy that is and is changing Materia, seems strong; the dissipative adaption – theory of Jeremy forms a well illustrated background but advances in quantum field mechanics during the latest 100 years also indicate more to come, still.
Damasio, in his 2018 book observes that even in very ‘primitive’ life, like that of a bacteria, activities resembling life in much more complicated organisms with a complex nervous system, are frequent; indicating that the appearance of ‘life’ is an (evolutionary) process and not a sudden flash – happening. This view also seems to be supported by Jeremy.
To qualify a human as ‘electro-chemical PROCESSs’ on many levels, from nano to multicellular, where emotions and homeostasis are creating conscious feelings on the macro level, is narrowing down the issue a bit but is certainly not the whole story. We simply do not have the full knowledge/set of definitions to describe this very complex phenomenon called A HUMAN BEING, using definitions from Physics. Not even the material side of her.
Recent findings by group M LEVIN, Tuft University indicates that the electric functions may be challenging the high ranking of the genome as motor of most of life’s functions; electric direct connections between cells are predicted to allow the making of ‘brains’ by integrating living cells with AI and robotic components within a few decades.

Much is known and lots of research is ongoing with the aim to learn more about the human organism/THE PROCESS’ and to nail down more definitions i e to get us out of those illusions, who are residing in everybody’s subjective reality.
Known is: She is under the spell of Entropy as a main driver; ageing, is another way of expressing it. The end of life of every human is unavoidable because her ability to process energy is steadily decreasing i e Entropy-increase is the game in town. Ekvilibrium is the, so far, unnavoidable end.
She is characterized as LIVING but lifelike behavior, even w/o a nervous system, exists also on bacterial level (since close to 4 B years) and is reacting to incoming information much in the same way as does the Organism we call a human, with her very complex nervous system. This fact is supporting many other indications pointing in the direction that all materia in Universe, incl the human body exist in a materia/energy continuum (quantum field/wave) with many levels of macro-molecular complexity and density.

Anyhow, the definition of LIFE is just a MANMADE qualification/definition that encourages further inquiry into what a human really IS.

DIFFERENT SETS OF DEFINITIONS

In the world of BIOLOGY
The dominating story in biology is the Biological Evolution (and it is one of the expressions of Entropy!) and the specie Homo Sapiens (existing since only about 300 K years) is bravely considered (by herself) the most complex of its products; constituting its pinnacle.
Darwin started the understanding (in the mid-1800s) by defining the tree of life and classification by visual observations, then, with increasing knowledge about the genes, Evolution by vertical genetranfer took over as the dominant story w/o debunking Darwin’s basic thinking; but recently the tree-like structure is under scrutiny; maybe it is not a tree at all? Rather a mozaic? Due to horizontal genetransmission w/in and between species, that, until recently, was presumed not to happen.
The set of Biological definitions do not allow a full and clear description of what a human IS.

In the world of MEDICINE
a HS is foremost an organism in need of repair.
The knowledge about the human organism ‘s ailments is huge and growing daily; it would request a superhuman to keep all facts in working memory and to be able to diagnose them all. AI and biotechnology is on offensive to take over and/or assist any MDs’ important task of diagnosing and ‘repairing’.
But there is still a lot of knowledge waiting to be uncovered and systemized before the book of HS and her ailments can be written.

In the world of RELIGION .
For the Christian believers i e in their realm of DEFINITIONS, a human is their God’s creation and continuous care and they also believe in some supernatural ways of HS’s acquiring other properties and abilities which have so little support by observation and reasonable discussion that I refrain from saying more about it here.
The refusal of the believer to discriminate between subjective and objective reality, or rather to put an equal sign between them, renders all discussion with hen remote and meaningless.

A TRY TO SUMMERIZE:

A Homo Sapiens is like a mathematics function with many variables. All are time variables starting at conception and ending when the organism is ceasing to function i e reaching ekvilibrium. Something like: HS(t) = f(f1(t), f2(t),….. fn(t)). The variables she is concerned about are created by the Biological (BE)
AND
the Cultural Evolution (CE)!
In our daily activities we are mostly concerned with with the ones created by the CE and we easily forget that the basic physic’s laws, which can explain a lot of the happenings and act as causes for actions, normally are the strongest and most long-lived i e the ones created by the BE.
Many of the subfunctions have a limited lifetime like e g a love episod that ended of one or another reason; its relative influence on the total raised fast, stayed high for a while and lost momentum gradually or suddenly; thereby changing the elektro-chemical balance of the organism and give rise to Emotions; of which some are experienced as feelings. The functions connected to the Biological Evolution are usually slow-changing and lasting a long time; and possess a higher degree of survival power than the ones from the Cultural Evolution, which are MANMADE and frequently flimsy, self-serving and short lived. Memes.
I feel that it is motivated to regard the biological , social, economic e t c definitions as tries to explain a physical process, like a human, with another set of DEFINITIONS; to their own advantage. BUT, they are frequently only descriptions of one of the sub-variables in the Totality of what a Human really is.
The description of a human is also depending on WHO is doing the describing and her set of definitions and access to data. When you try to describe yourself you have access to more and different information than when describing another person, where you have to rely on your sensors, and their very limited scope, to collect information, plus, what you add of wishthinking. That’s one reason why you, one day, may detect new ‘sides’ of your long time partner.
EVERYBODY LIVES IN A WORLD BUILT BY HER DEFINITIONS; i e IN HER OWN WORLD.
Also, MY definitions reside in MY subjective reality which means that they are not necessarily congruent with yours and, definitely not with objective reality.
This adds to the difficulties to find a unified description of exactly what a human IS.
Nobody can live her life outside of her consciousness! That statement is giving consciousness a fundamental role in the human organism’s interaction with her environment.
ALSO
It is very difficult to find words with precise definition; most of them leave space for subjective interpretation i e multiple ways of understanding is frequent (Derrida).
FURTHERMORE :
It is difficult to avoid the logical conclusion that a HS is the temporary expression of only that very small part of the quantum wave/field that a human can observe with her senses and describe with her own set of definitions. AND THAT IS A THIN SLICE!

OTHER ANGLEs OF VIEW

To use different sets of definitions in order to describe the human organism is still a not very ‘deep’ probe. Maybe not even leading the thinking in a senseful direction because the definitions are only Codenames that human organisms have given to macrostructures that can be experienced by the human senses. The definitions are typically a product of the Cultural Evolution and exist only since a few 1000s of years (most of them only in the 100s) , while the perspective has to be at least 300 K years or rather Billions of years and also embrace what happens on micro, nano and, maybe, still smaller scales, to close in on a possible objective reality considering that the human organism is a part of a total happening, but characterized by special abilities (intelligence of a special kind, language, sensors) that enable her to observe her own situation in relation to the environment and to describe a part of it. Maybe the definitions of quantum mechanics are closest to describe objective reality?

One path to understanding would be to accept that ‘everything’ IS an energy PROCESS where Entropy is the main driver.
In such a study the human organism’s tools for info gathering and processing are totally inadequate and the reasoning is getting speculative and believing, lacking observed data with high probability, to represent a possible objective reality?
There Consciousness (C) is a fundamental path to understanding: The only existing reality is what my C allows me to observe i e everything exists only through my C and the environment is only what exists there.
C IS ALL and a human organism has no own identity.
The Indian guru Ramesh Balsekar is promoting that kind of thinking. Read his book: ‘Consciousness speaks’ if you are interested in trying to deep-penetrate.

THESE ARE THE TIMES FOR THE BELIEVERS!

The knowledge about COVID-19 is not (yet) enough to stop its devastating actions.
Contrary, the fundamental believers KNOW EXACTLY what is really going on: it is their God’s punishment for mankind’s refusal to believe in him and follow his rulings. The believers even know how to stop the menace:repent, pray.
And…. if and when sciences have dug out enough knowledge to be able to control the pest, don’t expect the BELIEVERS to give in; they can not be wrong! They will tell us that God had decided that it is enough or something like that; he had caused enough suffering and death, even among his worshippers.
THE BELIEVERS ARE CONVINCED THAT THEY KNOW….but, do they…?

But it is a dangerous proposal and irresponsible because it may lure people not to protect themselves. In July more than 40 people got infected at a religious gathering in Bataan i.e.

Homo Sapiens and her world

HOW HUMAN’s CULTURAL ENDEAVORS STARTED AND DEVELOPED
(inspired by Damasio’s 2018 book: The Strange Order of Things and a few own thoughts)

The human organism (HS) and her activities may be looked at through different lenses: e.g.A. As a product of the Biological Evolution (BEvo) B. As a product of the Cultural Evolution (CEvo) A. A Human as a Biological Organism with specific and unique properties

While a lot of changes to living Organisms (O) have been brought forward by the BEvo, seen over close to 4 B years, many of its features and functions of today were already present in Os from the beginning of LIFE; e g in bacteria where the fight for survival and cooperation abilities were present even w/o intelligence and a nervous system. In one way or another many of these abilities are still present and involved and even dominant in human life processes but using much more sofisticated machinery. Life, even on very basic levels, can act as if it had intelligence and a complex nervous system! Life on current highest levels of complexity had Precursor already in very primitiv life.
Much of a humans unique status among the Organisms can be attributed to her special kind of intelligens and verbal language contributes a lot to her dominance in various fields. Not so frequently however, is the following bundle of functionalities emphasized:
Every Organism is equipped with a very sofisticated regulating system: Homeostasis. It can do much more than a standard regulating system; it not only detects and reacts to her right/wrong states but can also distinguish different levels of the O’s states/emotions on a scale from pain to pleasure/flourishing, meaning that activities with pleasurable outcome are favored and even promoted. The regulation is also adapted to that situation. This makes emotions>homeostasis>feelings an essential part of the human life-process. Not only internal states are engaging Homeostasis; miscellaneous signals from the external environment change the O’s status and get involved via the Emotions>Homeostasis>Feelings interface. One example is how music is affecting the O. Try, consentrated, listening to Mahler’s 9th symphony, the 4th movement and experience how the intensity of the music is squeezing your body? That is emotions caused by music in ways that we do not know all about.
The working of feelings constitute the conscious effects of the Homeostatic regulation. Isn’t this the way use of e g drugs is favored by the human organism? And why a drug war aiming at killing the Suppliers has no chanses to succeed? As long as there is a market there will be suppliers.
Lots of emotions have also subconscious effects.
– The intrinsic yearning to survive, flourish and replicate
Against which criteria is the Homeostasis regulation done? I can only offer the informed guess that the purpose of the/any O supplies the target points and that the ultimate target point/purpose is the mission to accelerate Entropy. An indicator supporting that assumption is the prominent, if not superior status of the emotion of orgasm. A high Replication rate is the most efficient way of increasing Life’s contribution to the Universe’s Entropy-race and the O’s orgasm yearning are very much involved therein.
There are good reasons to also include the part of an O that we know exists but we can not grasp with our senses; the human organism consists of about 10 times as many microorganisms and energy/quantum fields as those we are aware of! And, of course, homeostasis works also on and with them; with emotions happening and at least some floating up into feelings i .e. into the conscious realm. I have not seen much research about this and, thus, have nothing more to say about it.
Recently a, not known in detail, communicationsystem directly between cells has been reported. But I have not seen any details on my level of understanding. 2019 Nobel price in Medicine indicates direct influence by an environmental property (the quality of oxygen) and the functioning of the human body. Let us have respect for what could be?
Coherent experimental observations suggest that there are at least one more basic power beside the 4 traditional’ ones.
It is motivated to be very cautious about conclusions on how Universe is working.
– Consciousness
I assumed, in Mar 2018, after reading Damasio’s book: ‘The Strange Order of Things’, a first time, that the discussion about Consciousness (C) would ebb out and
I felt that no further explanations were needed following Damasio’s concept on the body- brain connection including the identification of the role of subjectivity in what is normally referred to as consciousness. But, of course, I have no need for detailed explanations in academic terms; but that is, as I suspect, the main occupation for some participants of the debate. So, read this with the appropriate reservation : it is scientifically supported common sense
C is a WHOLE BODY – experience, not only something emanating from the most advanced cortex functionality. And it is a subjective experience! Nobody can (yet! ) register w/o your consent what you are conscious about in a certain moment.
The most forceful triggers of C are homeostatically registered/promoted emotions, converted to feelings, by participation of many of the body’s systems: the nervous system, of course, then the endocrine system with lots of contributions, the immune system and many more.
The fact that many of the humans so called high C functions are not late evolutionary add ons but had it’s precursors in primitive life, down to one cell organisms at the time when life started is, as Damasio writes….’ Very strange’ , indeed. E. g . bacteria have the ability to sense the presense of and chose to cooperate or fight other bacteria in the neighbourhood. This is also what occupies HS every day on another scale of complexity (due to the CEvo) and shouldn’t it motivate some ‘soul-searching’?
E. G:
– The Biblical concept of Homo Sapiens general supremacy among living Organisms, incl. special rights, is not well founded in many, probably most, cases. It has many consequences that only might be motivated as ‘traditions’ but when studied more in detail reveals a blatant consequence of the ‘might is right’-principle of the BEvo. E g in so called sports hunting, medical testing on animals using Nature as a big waste basket and other. In his 2019 book, Frans de Waal presents lots of strong Indications rendering many of traditional HS claims dubious. Frans draws on a lifelong study of chimps and bonobos who act very ‘human’ in many respects.
– There are strong reasons to look at a HS as one integrated unit but also to extend that view to other parts of Life as an integrated/embedded part of the Universe. We are all made of the same particles and the possibility that we are just an integrated part of a larger Totality, but on a different organizational level should not be dismissed lightly; it may just be that we do not have the apparatus to register and understand it.
– Since 30 K years the human brain is decreasing in volum! In his latest book ‘The Goodness Paradox’, Richard Wrangham presents new views, from quite interesting angles on how HS evolved/was ‘domesticated’ to what she is – and is still evolving to be . Dare to read it with an open mind. (YouTube has interesting interviews with Wrangham.)-

IT WOULD NOT BE EASY TO FIND TWO ORGANISMS WHO HAVE THE SAME CONSCIOUS EXPERIENCE OF THE UNIVERSE OR EVEN THE HUMAN DOMAIN!

I guess that no O has a true representation of the total objectivity, if there is one. The fact that we know very little about the true objective status of Universe and all that is therein and that it is changeing continuously is , of course, the main reason, but also the degree to which credible facts are stored in the actual organism is strongly contributing to the variation. Through miscellaneous activities in the Culturally Evolved Human Domain we are presented with not only observed facts but also pure believes that are presented as facts. (by religions, philosophers etc). One big problem is that many O do not even discriminate between Belief and observed Facts (that always have to be attached a certain probability, indicating its supposed level of correctness.)
Miscellaneous reports from the science community (mid 2019) makes it risky to base one’s worldview on what can be perceived by one’s senses, only. Because, probably I, seen as physical organism (O) can also pick up information from activities that are not in my subjective experience/conscious realm? We know already that a lot of information processing is going on in subconsciousness. Now, there are reports about communication systems between cells in the body that we still can not describe. There are still many functions of the human Organism that await full disclosure.
How to deal with all the uncertainty?
In his celebrated metod, Bayes is offering a constructive way of handling this matter. Especially his method for incorporating new knowledge into held opinions (which could be a mix of belief and facts with different probailities attached) thereby in(de)creasing the probability that the opinion is correct, at least temporary, is very helpful. On a subjective level, as always.
Now, Oct 2019, a Nobel price was awarded to the researchers who found out that our CELLS can detect and react to changes in the oxygen concentration/quality around. I use Bayes to increase my probability that a HS Organism is, indeed, an organization in the Totality of Energy fields/particles with subconscious sensitivity and reaction to the environment.B. As a product of the Cultural Evolution (CEvo)

Many of the recent developments in the Human Domain are directed by the strong, so called CEvo.
The CEvo accelerates evolution in specific locals of the human domain, enormously, and gives Homo Sapiens (HS) a unique position among life on Earth.
HS CEvo is based on the BEvo and is foremost defined by HS intelligence, sociality and language capacities. That’s the most common explanation to her endeavors in Arts, Philosophy, Justice, Politics, Religion, Governance, Economics, Technology , Sciences, Tourism, Sports incl. Competitions, (Binge)drinking, Gastronomy, other celebrations of different kinds, weapon development’s skills and Organisations for conducting wars etc; all happened very recently; on the Universal time scale. I prefer to see the CEvo as different colors sprayed upon the more stable background of the BEvo. Relatively easy to wash off and normally not staying long time (on the cosmic timescale).
– Why and how did this start?
Written Language, Intelligence and Natural Selection (genes) are , of course, main drivers but could , according to Damasio, not have done it alone; needed were also Motives, Monitors and Negotiators!
ANSWER: Affects i. e. emotions, supply the needed drivers. Homeostasis supplies the monitoring and regulating. And the resulting feelings are involved in running the daily business of the HS Organism and her Groups. The CEvo is, thus, very much influenced and defined by the BEvo.
Motives
Not only the Organisms’ survival but also their strive towards ‘ free from pain’ or at the opposite pole, a pleasurable life or future prosperity, supply the Motives for the actions of the ‘cultural mind’. Probably, all of it is created by Homeostasis, reacting to emotions, which are then experienced as feelings. (Feelings are the conscious representation of emotions.)
Damasio sees a much wider particpation of affects > feelings in all human’s cultural endeavors than is usually acknowledged. Of course, the nervous system plays a central role but the common attitude that ‘ the body supplies a ‘pole’ on which the brain is playing out its master’s role is thoroughly refuted by Damasio. Instead, he insists, that the whole body participates in the game and emotions and homeostasis has a very important, integrating role in all the activities.
The electro-chemical ++ internal communications systems, (of which we still don’t know very much) between different parts and systems of the body indeed makes the nervous system/brain, while still very important, just a part of the whole happening.
Exemples of EMOTIONS role in different CEvo devellopments:
-In dentistry the PAIN factor has played a big role in the Evo of metods and instrumentation. PROFIT, even GREED are drivers.
-Diagnosing sicknesses in Medicin did not Evolve as an intelligent play but was driven by freedom-of-PAIN Emotions, caused by Homeostatic monitoring and regulating of the organism itself; and creating the feelings that makes the organism take additional conscious corrective action.
-Modern diagnostic methods of conscious patients attach high value , for the initial decision, to the ‘history’ of the patient. At least in the Philippines. I understand this as a recognition of the role of Homeostasis, induced by emotions, made feelings, and what they tell about the status of the organism. (Damasio goes as far as to state that there is really no need to go to the doctor to find out if everyting is OK with your organism; listening to your homeostasis takes you a long way)
Adding further measurements(lab tests) is, in fact, a practical use of Bayes methods in order to improve the diagnostic . When gene-therapy technology has been develloped further it will replace the neccesity to ask questions about ‘the history’, because the genes will reveal it all.
-CURIOSITY was/is the motivation for miscellaneous scientific and philosophical efforts.
-FEAR of the unknown, of angry Gods, of LOVING benevolent Gods etc helped create religions. The market for religions was very fertile and soon they took on a life on their own, and still do. A Religion is a typical (inter)subjective reality but given a status of objektivity in the business of religions. (Priests need income to survive! God is not feeding them) Religions are possible because our brain can, relatively easy be convinced to believe. The more unbelievable the easier the selling … (see also my blog Nov 2018:TUR – The Ultimate Religion; also Michael Shermer’s book: The Believing Brain delivers many interesting aspects)
-The need/feeling of SECURITY was one reason for the CEvo of governance/defence systems; so also of the feeling of POWER over the situation/other Os, to ones own advantage.
The Institution of Marriage is mainly built on emotions, in many cultures with a degree of personal freedom; mainly physical attraction, not least sexual, common interests which are often emotionally controlled and, thus, not very stable. Chinese attitudes are more down to earth: marriage is business… love is….
-Technology was helped by many different Feelings to get off the ground: live a more COMFORTABLE and CONVENIANT life, do things with less EFFORT etc Help to satisfy the CURIOSITY about the Universe.
-A successful hunt e g started the feeling of HAPPINESS and resulted often in dance and music expressions. Music and the art expressions were also often a tool to express SADNESS.
-Politics did not started in order to give juicy and high prestige positions to politicians! It started as a down<up movement when a group was formed to fend for the members interests, in competition with others. Somebody was more clever or dominant and was the leader and his BEvo status helped him to gain from it and politics took on its own life as. That is why survival, with expansions, is one of the most important motivations of politics and a point of basic rang in group-homeostatic regulation. Thus, control of the resources and the feeling of power over others are the motivators still now when politics has taken on a life of its own. Lots of emotions are in play. Greed is also frequently involved. Try to convince yourself that top politicians are working for you, the voter!?! Religions are, one way or another, in the same game and has also taken on a life of its own.
– TRY YOUR OWN ANALYSIS:
Search Internet on ‘Emotion’ and you can find an initial list of some 70 of them; then ‘play’ by trying to connect some of them with human CEvo endeavors. It is fascinating to detect how wide the grasp of Emotions/Feelings is, i. e. how close to the material structure/expression of the O much of human’s, what we like to call sofisticated thinking and behavior is. Much of what we do was familiar to the bacteria, some 4 B years ago.

The human body with its emotions is indeed so much more than a support for the nervous system aka brain.
– Bonus products
Damasio’s findings also make it easier to examine and explain functions of supernatural or mysterious character in the Human Domain. E. G. the so commonly celebrated human soul as an objective reality did not survive the scrutiny. But it has a good life in the realm of Subjective Reality, fired up by religious organizations I e the place where priests of religious Organisations are dwelling.
Religions that try to sell you the idea that God is an objective reality have a hard time when confronted with Damasio`s findings.

So far so good ……. Any attempt by me to give justice to Damasios book in a summary would be futile. His way of explaining things is so rich and so beautiful that I would put a shame on myself in trying to summarize it all. I have now- march 2019 – listened to his book > 4 times and I like it more and more.C. FURTHER EVOLUTION OF THE HUMAN DOMAIN?

The present trend, according to Pinker, when counting number of killed people, is, towards more civility. He gives no guarantee for a continuation of this trend.
But it is necessary to disregard the high —probability proposal that a human is an Organism existing under the laws of physics, evolving through Natural Selection pressures and is only temporarily and partly influenced by different CEvo happenings in order to believe that she will, ever, live in a world where The Golden (GR), or even Silver Rule (SR) rules. (CEvo Happenings normally survive only a blink on the cosmic time scale) and maybe a Golden Rule state would not even be a desirable development ? Because:
Humanity’s embracing of the GR could lead to less competition and stagnation in many fields of its activities and this could mean unheard-of negative consequences; not least, because it would collide with Entropy’s aim.
The success of LIFE, especially HS, (due to its Entropy-acceleration efficiency) is weighing hard on the Earth and may have the power to change basic functions of the system. What About how plastics waste is destroying a lot. The current so called climate debate is using that possibility to encourage the masses to corrective actions.

SOME OTHER POSSIBLE HAPPENINGS
1. HS may destroy herself by accident – nuclear catastrophy; war with other WMD e g biotechnological, chemical, with potential to destroy all human’s and more.
2. General AI or ASI may take over and ‘resign’ the humans
3. AI will continue to introduce benefits to the humans; cyberhumans will enter the stage. And Homo Sapiens will learn how to live a great life supported by AI on different levels but totally other than the the work-for-your-own-sustaing-concept.
4. We will learn enough to be able to eradicate all causes of malfunctioning of the human Organism, including the ability to enhance its functions; consequences could be very variated; the whole, health care system would be revolutionized. Genetechnology will take over and genelabs will replace most hospitals..
5. Human relationships may continue to change in line with what S Pinker has concluded i e towards less physical violence for still some time?
6. Pinker’s findings may still stand but what Natural Selection has planted will not eradicate humans drive to excert power over the ‘others’ and, thereby, gain benefits. The Entropy goal stands. Wars will still be there but sometimes change face; less blood and more mental destruction.
7. And many more …..

Some people tell me:’ …. don’t think so much…’. Instead: Just enjoy life as much as possible….
MY ANSWER: I ENJOY DOING THE LEARNING AND THINKING. It is kind of relief from what has happened earlier in life when I mainly was running after commercial success’ in order to satisfy the owners of the capital.

Entropy

ENTROPY as I use the concept

Saturday, 26 October 2019
4:16 pm

I guess that it is kind of brave to use the Concept of Entropy w/o further qualification? On the other hand, a Googling reveals that there are many uses of the word. The wide range of ways to understand the concept fits into my worldview i e that everything is a specific organization of Energy fields/the same 3 particles that are the building stones of everything and that the disorganization of any organism (=Entropy) starts as soon as it is organized and continues till the bitter end/equilibrium. An example is the human body; the disorganization of which is called its ageing which is called its death when it reaches equilibrium of its energi content = Entropy has fulfilled its mission.
LIFE seems to negate the rule that Entropy only works in one direction but it is, in fact, a very efficient accelerator of Entropy’s effects on a large range of organisms.
There are speculations in the worlds of philosophy and medical research that humans would once be able to stop this disorganization caused by Entropy i e that a human body could be given eternal life. I very much distrust such speculations as I believe that Entropy is an ur-power that can not be changed by man.
The biological Evolution is caused by Entropy rendering it a fundamental concept, indeed.
Much more could be said about Entropy.

Climate Debate Vinkling SEP 30 what the climate debate is about!

THE CLIMATE DEBATE IS NOT ABOUT THE CLIMATE!

TEASER: THE WORD WAR ABOUT WHAT TO DO WITH THE PRESENT SITUATION OF WARMING OF THE EARTH IS A PROXY WAR; IN EFFECT, IT IS INSTEAD ABOUT WHICH GROUPs CAN GRAB MORE POWER! (What is new under the Sun?)

Please, remember that we, Homo Sapiens (HS) are what we are, by Evolution through Natural Selection of Organisms consisting of protons, neutrons and electrons! (As everything)
This has, through billions of years years, created us as Organisms, who are overwhelmingly egoistic. We, then, Grouped together in increasingly complicated Groups in order to secure power in the eternal fight about power and wealth.
The Greta – movement makes sense seen in that perspective,
BECAUSE
Evolutionary powers made us form Groups in order to protect our survival and prosperity as organisms, by competing with other Groups. Groups pushing at other Groups in order to secure survival and max. prosperity are the story of the 300 K years of Homo Sapiens existens. Some of these pushings have been very bloody, indeed. Some trends, however, indicate improvements in the reduction in number of people who are killed in violent encounters; as if improved civility is a Natural devellopment. But if HS ability to live together harmoneously is studied, then, improvements are not that easy to identify. Egoism works also w/o killing. Enter: Trump on the stage and egoistic thought is visibly in the driving seat in the (still) greatest power center of the Human Domain, as an example.
Greta is trying to create a new Group for all of us who had little say in this world happenings before. Kind of new world governing. With Greta we suddenly got voice. That is one reason for her success. Lots of HS stand up and march to the tune of the Greta music; hynotized; like what happened in Nazi Germany in the century that passed. Great power and happiness is waiting around the corner, is the hidden promise! Haha…
Her Group is trying to limit the powers of those who she has identified as creators of a threat to the lives of all others, by limiting their business-success (reduce flying, use pedals instead of your car, eat veggies, buy less new cloths etc). She believes that serious research proves that HS use of fossil fuel is the main culprit and that she, thus, has found the real cause/causers of the problems. It is a true Group against Group issue. But it builds on a very simplified model and credible, more nuanced, opposing opinions can and have been launched but the Greta-followers are using all means to try to discredit the opposition. It is, however, increasingly difficult to set probability of correctness on the arguments used in the debate.
There are plenty of possible causes and ways on the table on how to solve the pure climate problems, if they can be solved at all! And technology most certainly has still unknown solutions under devellopment, especially if engineers can get funding for their evolving projects. It seems, however, that ‘the Gretas’ are not interested to include those in the discussion. Greta even denies that we are living in the best period HS ever had. I take that as a strong Indication that her action is a proxy. (she may not be aware of that)
But, of course, if the paradigm of the Greta-movement will manage to dictate the future of world economy there will be only very limited resources available for the engineers, because her kind of remedies will weight heavily on the present economic system.
And…. HS may , instead of prosper, see a very bleak future in the hands of the steadily pushing Natural Selection; instead of prosper through clever inventions by the Cultural Evolution.
THERE ARE PROBLEMS THAT HAVE NO MANMADE SOLUTION!
Why? Because Natural Selection (the force, behind all life) is working directly under the power that is the main player in Universe: which is Entropy; Evolution/Natural Selection will always drive in the direction that makes organisms fight each other (or cooperate temporarily) for a prime position in the best part of the niesch; which is where Entropy is accelerated most. Life is fitting in very nicely there; and especially HS. (More about Entropy in another blog,today)
This has created her great success in populating the planet. Life is a most efficient accelerator of Entropy. That is probably why there is no real discussion about how to reduce the number of live HS organisms, in spite they are one main reason why overuse of Earth’s resources is happening.
This is also the reason why happenings like this Greta – movement can gain worldwide appreciation like a wildfire, w/o even having a credible plan for how to solve the total problem.
Form a Group that claims superior knowledge and cause and the masses will gather under your demagogic banner if serious and easy to understand arguing is difficult due to big uncertainties about the basics or that understanding the causes requests educated analytic training; and the control of the situation is easily lost in the storm-winds of what the masses WANT to believe in. Christianity e g has survived 2 K years in that way.
Can there be an implementable organization for HS management of her domain, that HS can direct? Or… are there other, stronger, influencing factors that have to be considered?
We can only hope that the efforts to install a better world management system will succeed!

THE ULTIMATE RELIGION

THE ULTIMATE RELIGION (TUR)
Or
How will Homo Sapiens handle the rapid growth of knowledge?

Increasing knowledge of Nature/the Universe has constantly katapulted man into new worlds during the 2 to 300T years of her existence. Her Intelligence and creativity are the main engines. Knowledge growth is now exponential and threatens to have its own life outside of humanity’s control.

Background
In a world full of dangers, life has had to protect itself in the best possible way, since close to 4 billion years. Man has often given names to the forces that were inhabiting the dangerous, unknown; and also to the good forces. They were often personified and Gods (good and evil) came onto the scene.
It was not long until the human imagination had organized structures of various kinds around the Gods: religions. Hierarchies arose that offered religious services; Against reasonable compensation! There we are: Human fantasies!
This is the situation in which we find ourselves.
Because Homo Sapiens knew very little about the Universe incl. herself, religions were given a superb gateway to bind individuals to their beliefskonstruktions/organisational structures. Enormously powerful church communities were created that still live albeit with diminishing influence.
It could be about: if you obey our rules, D v s do not sin, you will come to heaven when you die. Or: God can punish you with sickness… Sacrifice to God and he will provide enough rain for your crop….. God sees all what you do…. There are lots of quirks; All with the purpose of capturing and retaining a particular human being in the ‘ (prison) community ‘.
There is a correlation between the power of religions and human’s level of knowledge about nature.
Quite recently, human curiosity and capacity to investigate has given better answers to Nature’s secrets than the pure conjecture/beliefs of religions. In Sweden, there are today not many farmers who believe that prayer can give him better harvest? But here in the Philippines it may be quite different. The difference depends on the degree of knowledge……. knowledge of how nature really works.
Such knowledge limits the bushy supply as religions, philosophies, medicine parades, and has paraded through the times.
If you get stomach ache today, go to a doctor who may be operating an inflamed appendicitis; For not so long you had sought out a medicine man or priest. Knowledge growth makes the difference.
There is still a great deal that we do not know about our own organism and that is one reason why religions are still thriving. And there are a multitude of things that are explored but not known by the Common Man, which also is a reason for the still strong going of the religions of mankind.
But the dissemination of information becomes more effective every day and soon many will understand how homeostasis and emotions are crucial to how a human works. The road for TUR is getting better planed .
What will happen when the sciences have almost complete knowledge of how the human organism works?
Those, who today, when their doctor does not understand what is wrong, go back to their religion and seek answers in prayer to their God or perhaps consult their priest will, tomorrow, not have to go empty- handed from the clinic. The doctor will have tools that can tell you what is going on. They will even know which genes are causing the problems and have opportunities to do something about the origin of the problem. Quickly and efficiently. In many cases, even a clinic visit will not be needed, answers and advice can be available on the Internet.
Similar situations will occur with the so-called mind diseases; What the nervous system/brain does is already today well known but it will take some time to find out exactly how. But then the job is taken from the psychoanalyst and priest
When, what we are guessing today will be replaced with knowledge great things should happen in the human world? Especially when AI is added.
In that world there will only be one religion: TUR. Its ‘ God ‘ is called knowledge.
The move to this stage will take time for established religions and other organizations will fight for their life, i.e. still trying to find ways to sell faith as knowledge i.e. survive.
What IS TUR?
TUR is an individual development process that can only happen if the acceptance of new knowledge takes place. New serious knowledge that can replace faith. The process reduces the likelihood that traditional beliefs are correct and replaces it with new beliefs that are more likely to be correct. Since 0 or 100% does not exist, we will, for some time, be satisfied to find out how the probabilities between ‘ competing knowledge ‘ vary. But even when TUR is fully established, knowledge will be temporary; the Entropy ensures that.
How?
It is exciting to speculate on what will happen?
1 The one who needs repair of a bodily function will be exposed early in the TUR process and has already experienced this. An appendicitis infection was very recently a life-threatening condition; Now it’s a simple routine operation.
The number of such situations, increasingly complex, will increase drastically.
2 Christianity has recently lost a great deal of confidence in the fact that many of its basic beliefs have been found completely without reasonable fact-support. From May 2018, for example, the word Father should not be used in ecclesiastical rituals according to theSwedish Church Council’s decision. It is an acceptance of modern research that tries to take the mystique out of the concept of God and classify it as a subjective reality. It is probably too early to measure how this decision affects the Swedish church?
3 As it becomes accepted that God is an invention of man and a subjective-and not objective reality – the fear of God’s punishment and the belief that God can protect you will have a break and make membership in churches less attractive. Even those who ‘ believe’ secretly, will see more question marks.
4 In the past, religions enlisted the people hard to control them and lived well at it. During the development of TUR, the potential of religions will diminish as beliefs is becoming increasingly difficult to peddle. But all new knowledge will probably not be directly accessible to the common man because the established structures will guard their turf. It is deeply human to avoid unemployment.
5 The expectations on new knowledge in Medicine and Biotechnology are immense and will give rise to a revolution in the field of Medicine. Together with AI, much of this knowledge could be used directly (via the Internet) by the people. But the doctors will not give up their privileged position but rather contribute to the delay in TUR-establishment.
6 TUR aims to incorporate the Golden Rule as a goal for people’s coexistence. But it goes against human nature and its victory cannot be taken for granted, because Entropy is still the strongest force and strengthens the selfishness of individuals. But TUR will bring more logical realism into the human domain so short-term victories cannot be ruled out.
7 We learn how to teach silicon-material to perform activities that were previously reserved for people. Human Outsourcing can you possibly call it? It promises many benefits, security, speed but creates also problems with people who can not find jobs. The risk is also that the siliconorganism becomes so intelligent (GAI, SAI) that it takes over man’s not very clever management of her domain. Preventing AI from taking over is an important safety measure for mankind. But perhaps the hidden dark human forces will win the race…. with completely unpredictable consequences for man. Don’t forget what happened to 65000 horses in the United States when the car took over, less than a century ago.
8 TUR is nagging the traditional belief that external forces have equipped man with a meaning of life.
It is a positive side of TUR because it encourages the individual to work, herself, with the question. My 23 years as a pensioner show that most meaningful life is possible even without a job.
9 and much more……
What do you think?

THE ULTIMATE RELIGION (TUR) svensk version

THE ULTIMATE RELIGION (TUR)
ELLER
Hur kommer Homo Sapiens att hantera den snabba tillväxten av kunskap?

Ökande kunskap om Naturen/Universum har ständigt katapulterat människan in i nya världar under de 2 till 300T åren av hennes existens. Hens intelligens och kreativitet är de främsta motorerna. Kunskapstillväxten är nu exponentiell och hotar att få ett eget liv utanför mänsklighetens kontroll.

BAKGRUND
I en värld full av faror har Liv haft att skydda sig självt på bästa sätt, se`n nära 4 miljarder år. Människan har ofta gett namn till de krafter som antogs bebo det farliga, okända; och även till de goda krafterna. Dom personifierades ofta och Gudar (goda och onda) kom in på scenen.
Det dröjde inte länge till dess människans fantasi hade organiserat strukturer av olika slag kring Gudarna: religioner. Hierarkier uppstod som erbjöd religiösa tjänster; mot skälig ersättning!
Det är skeendet vi befinner oss i.
Eftersom mäniskan visste väldigt lite om Universum inkl. Sig själv fick religionerna en superb inkörsport för att binda fast enskilda vid sina troskonstruktioner/organisationsstrukturer. Enormt kraftfulla kyrkosamfund skapades som lever fortfarande, om än med minskande inflytande.
Det kunde handla om: Om Du lyder våra regler d v s inte syndar kommer Du till himlen när du dör. Eller: Gud kan straffa Dig med sjukdom … Offra till Gud och han kommer att ge tillräckligt med regn för din gröda ….. Gud ser allt vad Du gör …. Det finns mängder med påhitt; alla med syftet att fånga in och behålla en viss människa i `(fången)gemenskapen`.
DET FINNS EN KORRELATION MELLAN RELIGIONERS MAKT OCH MÄNNISKANS NIVÅ AV KUNSKAP OM NATUREN.
Ganska nyligen har människans nyfikenhet och kapacitet att undersöka gett bättre svar på naturens hemligheter än religionernas rena gissningar/trossatser. I Sverige finns det idag inte många bönder som tror att bön kan ge honom bättre skörd? Men här i Filippinerna kan det vara helt annorlunda. Skillnaden beror på graden av kunskap……. kunskap om hur Naturen verkligen fungerar.
Sådan kunskap begränsar det yviga utbudet som religioner, filosofier, medicin ståtar, och har ståtat med genom tiderna.
Om Du får ont i magen idag går du till en läkare som kanske opererar bort en inflammerad blindtarm; för inte så länge se´n hade du sökt upp en medicinman eller präst. Kunskapstillväxt gör skillnaden.
Det finns fortfarande en hel del som vi inte vet om vår egen organism och det är ett skäl till att religioner fortfarande frodas. Och det finns mängder av ting som är utforskade men inte kända av gemene man vilket ochså är en anledning till religionernas alltjämt starka grepp om mänskligheten.
Men informationsspridningen blir mer effektiv för var dag som går och snart kommer många att förstå hur homeostasis och känslor är avgörande för hur en människa fungerar. Vägen för TUR blir allt bättre planerad.
VAD KOMMER ATT HÄNDA NÄR VETENSKAPERNA HAR NÄSTAN KOMPLETT KUNSKAP OM HUR DEN MÄNSKLIGA ORGANISMEN FUNGERAR?
De människor som idag, när hennes läkare inte förstår vad som är fel, går tillbaka till sin religion och söker svar i bön till sin Gud eller kanske rådfrågar sin präst kommer, i morron inte att behöva gå tomhänta ur kliniken. Läkaren kommer att ha verktyg som kan tala om vad som är på gång. Hen kommer t o m att veta vilka gener som förorsakar problemen och ha möjligheter att göra något åt ursprunget till problemet. Snabbt och effektivt. I många fall kommer inte ens ett klinikbesök att behövas, svar och råd kan får på Internet.
Liknande situationer kommer att uppstå med s k sinnes-sjukdomar; VAD nervsystemet/ hjärnan gör är redan i dag väl känt men det kommer att ta viss tid at ta reda på exakt HUR. Men då är jobbet taget från psykoanalytiker och själasörjare.
NÄR, VAD VI IDAG GISSAR BLIR ERSATT MED KUNSKAP BORDE STORA SAKER HÄNDA I MÄNNISKANS Värld? Speciellt när AI adderas.
I den världen kommer det bara att finnas EN religion: TUR. Dess ‘Gud’ heter KUNSKAP.
Övergången till detta stadium kommer att ta tid för etablerade religioner och andra organisationer kommer att kämpa för sitt liv, d v s fortfarande försöka hitta vägar att sälja tro som vetande d v s överleva.
VAD ÄR TUR?
TUR är en individuell utvecklingsprocess som bara kan hända om acceptans av ny kunskap sker. Ny seriös kunskap som ersätter tro. Processen minskar sannolikheten för att traditionell tro är korrekt och ersätter den med ny tro som har högre sannolikhet att vara korrekt. Eftersom 0 eller 100 % inte existerar får vi, under viss tid, ge oss till tåls med att finna ut hur sannolikheterna mellan konkurrerande ‘kunskaper’ varierar. Men även när TUR är fullt etablerad kommer kunskap att vara temporär ; det ombesörjer Entropin.
HUR?
Det är spännande att spekulera i vad som kommer att ske?
1 Den som behöver reparation av en kroppslig funktion kommer att exponeras tidigt i TUR processen och har redan erfarit detta. En blindtarminfektion var intill helt nyligen ett livshotande tillstånd ; nu är det en enkel rutinoperation.
Antalet sådana SITUATIONER, alltmer komplexa, kommer att öka drastiskt.
2 Kristendomenen har nyligen förlorat en hel del tilltro i och med att många av dess grundläggande trossatser har befunnits helt utan rimligt fakta-understöd. Från maj 2018 ska t ex inte ordet fader användas i kyrkliga ritualer enligt Kyrkomötets beslut. Det är en acceptance av modern forskning som tar mystiken ur Gudsbegreppet och klassar det som en subjektiv realitet. Det är nog för tidigt att mäta hur detta beslut påverkar Svenska Kyrkan?
3 Efterhand som det blir accepterat att Gud är en uppfinning av människan och en subjektiv – och inte objektiv – realitet kommer dels rädslan för Guds straff och dels tron att Gud kan skydda att få en knäck och göra medlemskap i kyrkor mindre attraktivt. Även dom som ‘tror’ hemligt kommer att se fler frågetecken.
4 Tidigare, religioner värvade hårt om människorna för att kunna kontrollera dem och leva gott på det. Under utvecklingen av TUR kommer religionernas möjligheter att minska eftersom trossatserna blir alltmer svårsålda. Men ny kunskap kommer nog inte att bli direkt tillgänglig för gemene man eftersom insuttna strukturer kommer att vakta sin turf. Det är djupt mänskligt att försöka undvika arbetslöshet.
5 Förväntningarna på ny kunskap inom Medicin och Biotechnology är enorma och kommer att ge upphov till en revolution inom medicin området. Tillsammans med AI skulle mycket av denna kunskap kunna användas direkt (via Internet) av människorna. Men doktorerna kommer inte att ge upp sin privilegierade ställning utan snarare bidra till att TUR-etablering fördröjs.
6 TUR har som mål att införliva DEN GYLLENE REGELN som ett mål för människornas samexistens. Men den går emot den mänskliga Naturen och dess seger kan inte tas för självklar eftersom Entropin fortfarande är den starkaste kraften och stärker individernas själviskhet. Men TUR kommer att tillföra mer logisk realism i människans domän så kortvariga segrar kan inte uteslutas.
7 Vi lär oss lära silikonbaserade material att utföra aktiviteter som tidigare var reserverade för människor. Mänsklig Outsourcing kan man kanske kalla det? Det lovar många fördelar, säkerhet, snabbhet men skapar ochså problem med folk som inte kan finna jobb. Risken finns ochså att silikonorganismen blir så intelligent (GAI, SAI) att den tar över människans inte särskilt smarta management av sin domain. Att hindra AI att ta över är en viktig säkerhetsåtgärd för mänskligheten. Men kanske dolda mörka mänskliga krafter kommer att vinna racet…. med helt oförutsägbara konsekvenser för människan. Glöm inte vad som hände med 65000 hästar i USA när bilen tog över.
8 TUR naggar hårt på den traditionella tron att externa krafter har utrustat människan med en mening med livet. Det är väl en positiv sida av TUR eftersom det uppmuntrar individen att jobba själv med frågan. Mina 23 år som pensionär visar att högst meningsfullt liv är möjligt även utan ett jobb.
9 Och mycket mer……
VAD TROR DU?

The C word again

Finally I read something on Consciousness that makes the definition of this hotly contested word much clearer. Damasio has, in his 2018 book: The Strange Order of Things, an excellent chapter on Consciousness. Don’t miss that one.
I find it helpful to place his explanation into the BIG frame of the Universe where everything is made of the same basic components which are steadily changing under the laws of Entropy. The differences between organisms are due to their mode of organization : e g galaxies, planets and a Homo Sapiens. There is no one hierarchy in the complexity of ORGANISMS rather are the differences a matter of different abilities on different arenas. Alive organisms occupy a unique niche. And Homo Sapiens (HS), indeed, has properties that makes her unique in her domain, mainly those that allow the evolution of the Cultural Mind. The main force is the life-regulating Homeostasis and its deputy Feelings, having a deciding role in the human condition.
A frequently seen definition of Consciousness is: ‘Subjective experience’. Damasio appoints Homeostasis as the creator; you can not have a subjective experience w/o Homeostasis and Feelings.
The brain enjoys traditionally a reputation of supremacy in the organism of Homo Sapiens. But with which right? Damasio is questioning this opinion mercilessly.
Instead Damasio is promoting the total integration between all systems of the body as what a HS is: emotions, created by the homeostatic system’s regulatory tries are, when they get conscious, our feelings and thereby the presenter of the total situation of the organism: e.g. the degree of pain and pleasure, frustration and satisfaction, stress or relax, etc
The whole nervous system is a two way road for surveillance and regulation serving the conscious mind.
It is necessary to read the book to get access to the logic and understanding in Damasio’s new revelations.
PS. Damasio takes on ‘the hard-problem’ of Chalmers and makes it look much less ‘hard’.

THE CULTURAL EVOLUTION HAS NOT COME VERY FAR

Homo Sapiens, indeed, does not deserve the epihtet Civilized or as Freeman Dyson expresses it: we just came down from the trees.
Nobels Peace Price 2018 delivers the evidence!
The unbelievably grotesque behavior by some HS that caused the price-choice would not be possible if HS was only half ways ‘Civilized’.
Thus the Price is a good indicator on where we are and that is nothing to be proud of.