Minus 1...

The Religion of Academia

Revisado: 04-07-19

A microscopic focus upon a particular issue may perpetuate a type of blindness to other major issues.

In this case the subject being interviewed lives in an ideological world in which living forever with the assistance of A.I. is the inevitable future of humanity.

The obvious lessons of history throughout millennia are seemingly ignored.

Is this professor the equivalent of a prophet, foretelling that which awaits mankind? Or is he so enamored with the amazing reach of the technology that he cannot comprehend the lessons which are so evident from thousands of years of recorded history?

I presume that the audience of this interview will decide for themselves, likely well before the end of the interview.

Is humanity bound for god-like lives both in our creative power and potential abilities to prolong life indefinitely?

Or shall the power and longevity of humans continue on as it has been throughout history?

The problem of pain, while almost entirely absent from this conversation, is a massive elephant in the room.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

An Exercise in Myopia

Revisado: 04-06-19

First I'll cut this guy some slack, we have divergent world views and extraordinarily different life experiences.

The points he fails to make are astounding.

He states that he's a man of graphs and statistics. This interview is an example of a view of the world from atop the ivory tower of intellectualism and higher education. Mr. Pinker has a positive outlook on the world, despite the fact that he admits that a fifth or sixth of the world is at war. He says this almost flippantly as if it is a small thing that this is the case on a planet of seven billion inhabitants. I wonder how much time he's spent in the inner cities of our country, let alone investigating conditions in third world countries.

His big point is that from a humanist perspective, humanity is moving forward and progressing.

Meanwhile, untold numbers starve, are victims of horrendous crimes both in the U.S. and all over the world. Perhaps it has escaped his attention that in the last one hundred years there have been two wars that encompassed nearly the entire world. Some estimates indicate that approximately one hundred million people have been killed by their own governments during that same period of time. Progress?

I can't help but ponder the possible impact on such a perspective on the world, would be powerfully impacted after a few months abroad in several third world countries and in a few inner city environments.

Oh, the massive difference between real life experience and that of an educator, who transitions straight from graduation to college professor. (I'm not saying he did this, because I don't know, yet it is an extremely common practice.)

Come walk a mile in the shoes of others. Come and see the orphan children digging through piles of garbage for their next meal. Come and spend some time with a homicide detective in a major American city. Knock on the door of the FBI and ask to examine some of their crime statistics, especially those of the most despicable nature.

Significant and contrary statistics also exist. Information from Amnesty International alone might be weighty enough to sink this gentleman's happy sailboat.

I presume Mr. Pinker is a very nice man. I'd shake his hand and buy him lunch. No doubt the conversation would be lively. Perhaps he'd have some question marks afterward.

The two-star review was simply being kind.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas