GOP Dream Ticket (update)

Four years ago I wrote about the apparent insanity of the GOP candidates.  I thought at the time that it was as bad as it could get.  Wrong.  Things are really getting even stranger. 

Mike Huckabee has said that President Obama was raised in Kenya, sympathized with Mau Mau’s anti colonialism all because he wasn't a boy scout and there were no Rotary Clubs there, only madrasahs.... Wow, Mike that's amazing! The facts are: President Obama was raised in Hawaii, not Kenya. He was raised by his (WHITE) Kansas Republican grandparents. He was a boy scout. There are plenty of Rotary Clubs in Hawaii, and as for anti colonialism sentiments; The Tea Party folks, one assumes, also sympathize with anti colonialism; last I heard, that's what The Original Tea Party was all about. But never mind the facts; make up stuff if it serves your purpose. 

What we, the rationally thinking people, must remember is that; 51% of Republicans don't believe that Obama is an American citizen. And, some 50 % of the GOP voting base doesn’t believe in evolution, or planet earth more than 6,000 years old, or likely that the earth is a sphere that circles the sun in a galaxy in an immense universe.  Adam and Eve rode dinosaurs (somehow Noah missed them), but climate change is a hoax.

We must remember that the "polling" of likely Republican voters is a fraction of the American electorate, and that people that make up their minds early... well, their minds are made up; they're not necessarily paying attention to the complexity of planet earth.  Plus, if you look to the Bible for your science, you can't be rational.  The Bible was written by a committee trying to please King James in 1611.  They didn't even use original texts.

I can't imagine where the GOP's votes are coming from. Apparently, their dream ticket is an amalgam of Huchabee's truthfulness, Trump’s understanding of the Bill of Rights, Carson’s view of reality, Ann Coulter's compassion, Ted Cruz’s consistency (immigration), or Jeb Bush’s belief that his brother was a good president. At some point these kinds of beliefs (opinions) have to matter, at least unless you're willing to disregard all religious belief. 

That's something that I fervently wish we could do. After all, any and all religions are equally ridiculous (See: http://somelightsomeserious.blogspot.com/2009/10/if-you-think-that-belief-in-god-should.html). But oh boy, can they cause troubles for us all.   I give up.

When the best just isn’t good enough number 2

I found myself shouting at the radio again.  (Chris even came out to my shop wondering if there were people in distress in our woods).   I was listening to Science Friday (one of the best programs on NPR, the best network radio station in America)... and it just wasn’t good enough... again.  There he was, a respected, highly intelligent and educated expert pontificating on the future of artificial intelligence and robots. I kept hearing his premise that AI’s and robots would be able to learn ethical behavior and empathy from human beings...   I expect just a little push back from the interviewer when an a priori position of the guest has massive flaws.

I had a problem with this sort of thing way back in 2002,  (see: http://somelightsomeserious.blogspot.com/2010/04/end-of-war.html ).  

In this recent case the speaker seemed to be ignorant of a few obvious facts.  1).  Presumably, most humans are born with emotions and at least some capability for empathy.  These two things lead to compassion and hopefully, ethical behavior. AI’s are supposed to be able to learn these “higher functions” from us, their creators.  HAHAHAHAHA.  This gentleman was ignoring the fact that even given our innate (human) ability for emotion, empathy, the concepts of ethical behavior, and rational thought; we humans are slaughtering each other’s children all over the world.  Which system of ethics?  Which human beings?  Empathy for which group of people?  When do we start?

Asimov had it figured out 70 years ago.  He knew that robots would have to have better ethics than we humans have.  All these years later the experts don’t seem to have recognized the reality of their logic.  IA and robots are unlikely to be any better than humans, their creators. And look, you can buy game controller dog robots with flame throwers NOW.

  

Sometimes we have to say that we're sorry

 I realize that I have been in error.  I’ve committed a terrible lapse in personal moral behavior, and I have to apologize for every negative thing that I have ever said about Dick Cheney, the former Vice President of the United States of America. 

It has become clear to us from many of his recent statements, that we who are rational beings have criticized Mr. Cheney by holding him responsible for his statements, actions, and positions on current events.  Although Mr. Cheney undoubtedly took advantage of his powerful position to commit terrible transgressions against humanity; we must not hold him responsible nor judge him by our simple moral standards.  This would be as ridiculous as holding a 10 year old deranged child who has killed his parents, his siblings, and all of his childhood friends in a paroxysm of glorious self delusional drama.  That would be wrong.  We should never judge nor punish those individuals who are incapable of discerning good from evil.  

I have been insensitive in my judgments about Mr. Cheney.  I regret that I have lacked compassion in my past statements about him.  I sincerely apologize for my short comings.   I can only hope that you will all join me in this sincere change in our behavior towards this poor man.  I believe that he needs our love and understanding far more than any other human being on earth.  He doesn't deserve it, he just needs it.

So you don't believe in Resistentialism?

“ARRGH!” you say, or maybe “drat, darn, damn, crap,” or something stronger as you missed that springtime housefly with your swatter.  Is this an example of the religion/philosophy of Resistentialism?*?   Maybe it’s that insecure grip on your $0.89 fly swatter.  Is the Universe mocking you?  DO DO DO DO DO DO DIDLY DO, Look!  Up ahead, there’s a sign post…. You’ve just entered the “Niggle Zone”.  Why miss that fly with your cheapo swatter when you can buy a cheapo swatter and spend just three hours of your time crafting a beautifully customized fine hardwood handle?  And then miss the fly!

Ah, and *Resistentialism?  Resistentialism is as rational a philosophy as any that may be derived from thought or religion.  If you have ever been angered by an inanimate object, then like or not, you are an adherent of the creed.  Modern credit must be given to M.R. James' horror story "The Malice of Inanimate Objects", first published in 1933, and Paul Jennings for his article titled "Report on Resistentialism", written in 1948.  Even Stephen Vincent Benét paid homage to the concept in his poem; “Nightmare Number Three".  But to believe that the ancient Romans, Hittites, and Abyssinians didn’t gnash their teeth when apparently simple things went terribly wrong is to deny the universality of the human condition.  Thank you, Sir Terry Pratchett for “Anoia” the Goddess of things that stick in drawers.  Anoia is summoned by rattling a drawer and crying: "How can it close on the damned thing but not open with it in there?”  She shows up smoking cigarettes like a chimney and telling you bluntly that she doesn’t really give a shit about your problems.

There are numerous corollaries to Resistentialism, such as Murphy’s Law (that which can go wrong, will go wrong), Coat’s Axiom (the interesting parts are just off the edge of the map) and, “Why me, Why now”? 

I feel really sorry for all those people that don’t embrace the essential truth of these concepts.  I am tempted to invoke the names of Polly Anna and Pangloss.  How can anyone deny the reality that is before their very eyes, every day of the year?  I suppose that wishing and hoping that wars, murderers, and global warming will go away will be sufficient to keep us all safe and happy.  Good luck with that.

How do you judge the vectors of disease?

Do you hate or blame the person who has a cold and you end up catching it?  What do you do when you contract a communicable disease from someone, do you seek revenge?  How do you feel about exotic parasites or viruses or bacterial and fungal infections?   Here’s an ethical question:

You are in the largest and fanciest hotel in a large city and you (as an observant and knowledgeable biologist), find and capture a live bed bug in your room.  You knew immediately what you had captured, but you took a minute to Google it and were now 99.99% sure…  What do you do?  What do you expect the hotel staff to do?

I recently found myself in this position.  I dropped the little bugger into a vial of 70% isopropyl alcohol (something that we biologists always carry), and took it down to the desk concierge (someone of whom I had no knowledge of the extent of his authoritative powers).  I suggested that he or his superior might want to speak with me confidentially (my thoughts were to not set off a panic among the other guests if in the crowded lobby they overheard us use the term: “bed bug”). 

Surprisingly, my suggestion of confidentiality was rejected (possibly in retrospect, ruefully) and I explained the situation and displayed the obligate parasite of Homo sapiens,  Cimex lectularius  - the common beg bug, right there at the desk.  I will say that at this point Mr. Gilbert X became very attentive and began to deal with the situation promptly and professionally.  We were offered the resources of the hotel to move us to a presumably uncontaminated room and to clean our luggage and personal effects.  All well and good but we had to surrender all but the clothes on our backs for a 24 hour period and then repeat the process the next day in order to not go naked during a conference (I am fine with nakedness in certain situations but this wasn’t one of them).  During this inconvenience we missed a significant part of the proceedings.

Before check out time, I requested a meeting (again quiet and confidential) with the concierge to discuss our bill.  I suggested that I might have done them a large favor with my observant and quick and effective action.  I suggested that, had I been a lawyer or someone out to make the most of every situation, they might have had an even bigger problem.  Much like a negotiation with a car salesman, he offered nothing except: “What are you willing to pay?”  Not a good negotiator, I was waiting for his offer…  We ended up paying half price for our stay.  Probably a great deal for them… then again, I’m not a lawyer or the other names you often hear them called.  I’m satisfied.

However, I hope that I get a letter of thanks from the parent company.  I know that I saved their asses and didn’t even try to get a free drink at the bar.

What would you have done?

What planet do you live on?

What planet do I live on?  I’ve been asking myself this question for years.  What planet do you live on?  Do you live on a planet where so-called educators in Texas are paid good money to write text books stating that Adam and Eve rode around on dinosaurs?  Does your planet then have schools adopt these texts and with the full authority of teachers and adults, make little children read these books?  How about text books suggesting that slavery in America was a pretty good deal for Native Americans and the blacks kidnapped by the tens of thousands from Africa?  Is this the best history that money can buy?  I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to live on that planet. 

Do you live on a planet where hundreds of millions of dollars earned by fossil fuel companies are spent telling you that climate change, AKA global warming, is a plot by scientists who are getting rich by lying to us all about it?  Oh, the horror of the conspiracies by people that actually pay attention to verifiable data!  You don't ever want to trust someone who actually pays attention to something that isn't in the fossil fuel propaganda stream.  Unfortunately, I live on that planet, but I'm not happy about it.

Does your planet have people that are more upset about “rude behavior” on FB than they seem to be about Ukraine, Palestine, ISIS in Iraq, or the governor of Texas with a 50 caliber machine gun on the Mexican border?  Do they unfriend you for saying that you don’t understand what Rick Perry even thinks that he is saying?  If you question things that you believe to be obviously indefensible, do you get push back from people that you thought were rational?  That’s not a planet I want to live on.

Does your planet have people that think that George W. Bush/Dick Cheney was/were better presidents than Barack Obama?  If you ask them to explain why they think this way can you discuss with them the merits of their facts/beliefs?  Can you really understand anything that they are saying?  Can they understand anything that you are saying?  

If money is speech, the more money you have, the more you get to speak.  Therefore, you get to shop for the kind of speech that you want to be true.  And if you have enough money; you can make anything true.

Rupert Murdoch lives on this planet and he has confused way too many people, and they are making me wonder where I want to live.

I've got a Question; If you could get away with it....

Let’s do a thought experiment!  

Let us suppose that every one of the seven billion plus humans on planet earth are instantly given the individual ability to have just one other person on earth die (and disappear without a trace) immediately, and that there can, and never will be, any repercussions of any kind, to any person who has accepted this power and used it, neither on Earth nor in Heaven, Forever and Ever, Amen.  Even God will ignore it.

How many people do you think “we” would get rid of?  

How many people would be still around?  

Would you be one of them?  

Are you sure?

It seems to me that even given the in-place Laws against killing, against vigilante actions, and even simple revenge in the heat of the moment, (not to mention, the religion based promises of either "paradise" or severe eternal damnation and retribution for willful murder [depending on your religion of choice]), there still seem to be too many folks out there that are just OK with other people being killed, if not by them personally then by “the good guys”.  This includes complicity with, or inaction against, or self-convenient support of local conditions and/or governmental policies: WAR.  The ways that we presently rationalize killing people are well documented, if varied dependent on one's country of religion of choice.

But that's another question.

Could it be that it is really the getting away with it, that is allowing this to happen?  Does your God or government let you get away with it?  The majority of the earth’s people say that they believe in God.  Is He on the side of killers?  If not, where does this all come from?  The majority of people on earth obey their governments' laws.  Is your government on the side of the killers?  Which side, which killers?  

If all the governments say that they are right, and all the various “Gods” are right, who is  doing all this wrong killing?

It probably won't keep me alive, but I've decided to not kill anybody, even given a guaranteed chance to get away with it.  What are your thoughts?