Why Are We Here?

I thought to let you know that the 4 part series I have been making is now finished and available in most parts of the world (including, it now seems, the UK) on Curiosity Stream.

The series is called “Why are We Here?”

Roughly the series asks if ideas of meaning and morality are compatible with a purely reductionistic view of our material universe? I co-present the series with Prof. Ard Louis who is a physicist at University of Oxford. He is a believer and thinks the only way to honestly hang on to meaning and moral absolutes is to believe in God. I, as a non-believer, tried to explore if meaning and morality can be defended by searching for a different, less reductionistic, but still purely material world view.

The people we interviewed are a who’s who of great thinkers from physics, biology, mathematics and philosophy. And so far the feedback we’ve had from them is that they all, both sides of the argument, believers and non-believers, really liked and respected what we have done. So in case any of you are interested, there are some links below.

You might also be interested to know that none of the UK or US broadcasters took the series. They all said it was too highbrow. It isn’t. It’s just thoughtful. What it doesn’t do is pretend that there are easy answers to any of the questions.  The series doesn’t provide easy certainties and glib answers. At least I don’t think it does. Our aim was not to convince either side but hopefully to engage in a far more nuanced and interesting conversation than the usual Television fare.

The series was funded by the Templeton Foundation. Which might  concern some of you. Initially, before I took the job, it concerned me too. But the Foundation said they would give us (read me and Ard and the production company Tern Television) complete editorial control.  And they were as good as their word. The gave us the funding and not one word, not an email nor a phone call came from the foundation. They saw no cuts of the series nor any scripts before it was finished and delivered.

Ard and I, David Strachan and Mark Tanner, who were the production team set out to make a series in which all sides were given the chance to fully put their argument. And given that Ard and I disagreed from the outset about God, I think we managed.

Perhaps some of you will agree. I hope so.

The four films are:

1) Meaning Seeking Beings

2) The Reality of Ideas

3) The Animal Within

4) The Moral Compass

Here is the link to the first part.

There is also a brilliant web site that contains all the complete, raw interviews broken down by person and topic. It will be on-line in a couple of weeks. It’s still being finished off. So anyone interested in any of the people we interviewed or wishing to hear more of what was said on any particular topic will be able to find it all at their finger-tips on the web site.

I’ll post the link to the website as soon as it’s online.

I would be glad to hear any reactions or thoughts you might have about the series, good or bad.

 

180 thoughts on “Why Are We Here?”

    1. The same to you Spartacus Rex.
      We are coming to it aren’t we? All the signs are around us. The end of a social economic form. Confusing,painful but also hopeful times.

  1. I’m very rational and find believing in God difficult, but I also find a world without spiritually difficult too. Going for a mindful walk one night recently and feeling a bit overwhelmed with stress a bird suddenly flew out of some bushes and nearly went into me and then it shot back into the bushes again scared out of its wits. But I felt compassion for it and there was a connection between us as I was upset and worried too. I felt we were both troubled souls living in a harsh and difficult world that neither of us chose to be in.

    I’ve been reading books on Buddhism recently and I read about the interconnection of all living creatures and that separation is an illusion. When I felt compassion for the bird I felt that everything was connected. Then I suddenly felt I could have a spirituality too and that the world was not meaningless. I felt joy and happiness. It was a rainy night and I love the rain, it was magical. I had been depressed but now I felt some small enlightenment.

    The buddhists say that faith brings on its counterpart which is doubt. But through a lifetime of much inner work the Buddhists don’t have faith, they have knowing. That fascinates me. You see, I can’t have faith either, but could I learn to know? I’m going to explore more Buddhism.

    1. Faith is only part of the path to knowing, and doubt is that which shows us what we might want, but isn’t real. Establish one element of reality in your life and you will find that this knowledge is what makes faith redundant – and the certainty you found will grow with the happiness of knowing the blessing of rain.

      I want to add that the interconnectedness you speak of is not something that you can even touch. The blackbird scattering the leaves to find seeds is part of this: plants have more than one seed that life may exist through eating them.

    2. Yes. I feel like that, too, Kavy. What a lovely experience you had there. Actually, I think knowing and kindness are interlinked. Real, truly felt kindness, not one borne out of obligation or guilt or peer pressure. And that kindness enables us to feel and know the connection, that, indeed, we are all interconnected parts of one vast knowledge, and co-creators of our own fate. Without kindness, to my mind, there can never be meaning, and as kindness and love are much of the same, well, to me the meaning of life is much about the ability to give and receive love as co-creative base. Good luck with your Buddhism journey, if I HAD to choose between religions, I’d choose Buddhism, but as I don’t have to I just concentrate on what I feel within and try my best. And meditate when I know I’m getting lost.

      1. Thank you, April. Yes, it seemed that compassion joined everything together, and for a moment I understood Buddhist bliss. I saw how compassion negated fear. It’s hard for me to understand now, but I felt it in an inspirational moment, so much more inner work is needed. But no rush as striving is not part of the Buddhist tradition either. They learn to non strive and yet slowly achieve things. After a lifetime of hectic rushing around, that appeals to me too. I might one day go to a Buddhist group, but I’m quite happy doing my own thing and being part of the Quakers. The Quakers are liberal and very gentle. I’m much impressed with them.

        1. Hello Kevin (Kavy),
          Thought I’d just mention that I am a Quaker. A non-theist Quaker. So I don’t believe in a god but do think the spiritual and those feelings and needs that the spiritual points at, are real and important to who and what we are.

          1. That’s amazing, David. I go to Purley Meeting, Surrey, near Croydon. I used to be a Quaker but I let it lapse, but now I’m back again. It’s as good as ever.

            I’m non theist too, but I’m working on a spirituality. That would be the icing on the cake.

            It amazing how modern physics, like the Holographic Universe, and that ‘all time is here at once’, adds to the mystery of life. And some of it fits in with Buddhist spirituality. That the world is an illusion.

    3. This connectedness does exist. I have a (very bad) phone video of proof. A pair of Dunnocks nested in the bank opposite my office window. I’m certain one of them stopped to ask me to go with them when they moved on. The chicks were raised, his(her?) job done. “Our job” actually, I shooed off the cats, put up a cat scarer eventually. My reward was seeing the fledling chicks tumble down, scramble up and down and eventually (took a couple of days) fly off. One of them ( let’s say her) would stop now and again and tap on my window to say hello.
      Then one day a big “hello” display(or actually goodbye/it’s time to go, are you coming?) tapping on the window, marching up and down the cill, the bird also went around to another window and repeated the procedure for the benefit of my wife!
      Next day she was back, loooking at me and marching up and down the cill “talking” to me (I have over 1Min 20 sec video of this display). I now know this display was “are you coming or not?”. Well, I can’t fly. Never saw the pair again unfortunately, I waited for them in November, I think, when they should have returned. They didn’t. but they don’t live very long either.

      My First Comment. been lurking for years – a great Blog David. Thanks.

      This was supposed to be a reply to Kevin!

      1. Hello Timbo614,

        Thank you for your comment. What a lovely experience. Kindness between species. And I am glad you decided to comment. The people who comment are the life of this blog. They (you) give me hope that in a world where righteous intolerance seems to be rising on every side , there are still people who remember how to be civilised and compassionate in their thoughts,discussion and most of all with those with whom they disagree. To be kind to your friends is rather trivial. To be kind to your enemies is a lot harder. But that is what has made this bog such a pleasure for me. People of very different opinion managing to talk openly and without rancour.

  2. Firstly a thankyou for having a go at what is an extremely thorny issue.

    You say, “He is a believer and thinks the only way to honestly hang on to meaning and moral absolutes is to believe in God. I, as a non-believer, tried to explore if meaning and morality can be defended by searching for a different, less reductionistic, but still purely material world view.”

    On my own blog, I have looked at this from a practical, day to day point of view. Not with an interest in answering the problem you have posed yourself, but rather to arm those who can, to be able to engage with others and so clearly determine their own viewpoint on the world.

    One issue that is lacking in most approaches today is the understanding of the subconscious from a practical point of view. That is to say, how it manifests itself and how we can come to perceive that which cannot even be smelt, leave alone imagined.

    I will add that without a clear understanding of what one’s own subconscious is will lead to a great number of riddles. It is for this reason that so many have backed off from reasoning it out for themselves. Without this clarity that comes with understanding what your own subconscious actually is, the meaning of life will remain a subjective, intellectual opinion. Rather than something established out of the veracity of the world we live in.

    The link to my website will take you to the category titled ‘Our Subconscious’ which has my publicly published posts. There are as many more on my private blog for those who can demonstrate that they understand the concepts involved.

    1. Thank you Gemma. I agree about the subconscious. I would like to take a look at your blog. You forgot to add the link. Also be interested to know if you have read Iain McGilchrist’s book “The Master and his Emmissary”. And if so, what you think of it.

      1. I didn’t forget the link, it’s from my name; I chose that link when I signed in. That is to say, click my name and you’ll be taken there.

        I haven’t read The Master And His Emmissary, but it looks like I’m going to.

        [Edit] I took a peek at the review on Google Books and it says “not just this or that function, but two whole, coherent, but incompatible ways of experiencing the world [regarding the two brain hemispheres]” – at a first glance I would say that wasn’t true. However, the book takes a very different standpoint to my own which given its approach to the subject has my ears pricked.

        Now I would say that the two hemispheres deal with two different areas of our lives, which need not interact. That doesn’t mean that they cannot…

        … ordering book now (give me ten seconds to close this window, okay?)

      2. Please bear in mind that I haven’t read it yet; I have a nice long train journey to Berlin to enjoy the book if it arrives in time.

        I want to suggest that what the book is about is a phenomenon I dubbed ‘the disconnect’ – where feeling and thinking are separated. From the things McGilchrist has written on his website, it seems that he is approaching this from the standpoint of the workings of the brain.

        That, however, will take one only so far. My main interest is how to reunite these two disparate realms of our inner life.

        I forgot that I had published a post on the subject of the subconscious a few days ago. Here’s the link, it’s a little easier to find this way.

        https://gemmasponderings.wordpress.com/2016/12/23/coming-clean-on-the-subconscious/

  3. Signed up to Curiosity Stream and just watched ‘Why Are We Here’. What a shame this series won’t be broadcast in the UK. No worries, will watch it pre-armed after watching all the raw interviews. Congratulations David.

    Cheers, Joe

      1. I’ve watched all four episodes and will do that again before long. There’s too much for me to absorb in one sitting – and I want to fully absorb everything contained. .

        Two brief points:

        (1) It’s the most interesting and instructive documentary I’ve ever seen. The clarity of expression by the interviewees on such profound topics was remarkable. The death of the chimpanzee from a broken heart was particularly moving.

        (2) On signing up to Curiosity Stream to see the series (at trivial cost) I discovered a platform containing lots of similar documentaries – most welcome in this era of ‘false news’.

        David, I’ll also post you off the blog.

        1. Joe,

          thank you mate. I’m hoping the series gets an audience from Curiosity Stream because the terrestrial broadcasters have turned their back on this sort of thing. Even BBC4 said no.

  4. “separation is an illusion”

    In 1982 a remarkable event took place. At the University of Paris a research team led by physicist Alain Aspect performed what may turn out to be one of the most important experiments of the 20th century.

    Aspect and his team discovered that under certain circumstances subatomic particles such as electrons are able to instantaneously communicate with each other regardless of the distance separating them.

    It doesn’t matter whether they are 10 feet or 10 billion miles apart. Somehow each particle always seems to know what the other is doing.

    Bohm believes the reason subatomic particles are able to remain in contact with one another regardless of the distance separating them is not because they are sending some sort of mysterious signal back and forth but because their separateness is an illusion.

    He argues that at some deeper level of reality such particles are not individual entities but are actually extensions of the same fundamental something.

    According to Bohm, the apparent faster-than-light connection between subatomic particles is really telling us that there is a deeper level of reality we are not privy to, a more complex dimension beyond our own.

    And, he adds, we view objects such as subatomic particles as separate from one another because we are seeing only a portion of their reality.

    Such particles are not separate “parts” but facets of a deeper and more underlying unity.

    If the apparent separateness of subatomic particles is illusory, it means that at a deeper level of reality all things in the universe are infinitely interconnected.

    From: “Does Objective reality Exist, or is the Universe a Phantasm?” by Michael Talbot

    1. Objective reality most certainly does exist: it is no illusion to hurt your foot if you kick a stone with your bare feet.

      The point here is that this is a subjective experience… but if you argue with this, can you tell me anything that isn’t a subjective experience? Just because everybody in the room sees the rainbow form as white light is poured through a prism does not mean that this is an ‘objective’ experience. Each person experiences that sight in their own mind.

      They only claim it to be objective because they each see the same phenomenon.

      I would, however, question the scientist’s ability to test two sub-atomic particles ability to communicate over 10 billion miles. Few – if any – spacecraft have yet travelled that distance.

      What is really needed here is not experiments, but the kind of thinking Plato used. He reasoned things through for himself, using his own imagination, and that without flying into the realms of fancy.

        1. Kevin, you use the word ‘probably’ that tells me that you’re not an expert in sub-atomic physics. You’d have to be one to know if he actually did get it right.

          Either that or you understand the world well enough to know if atoms actually exist at all…

        1. Certainly. We don’t quite know how to describe how they exist, as quantum entities wave and particle, as in twister theory (Penrose) or as in string theory. But they certainly exist. We also don’t really know what exactly matter entails. I know of no proof that pan-psycism is impossible. Though I don’t find it attractive. So for me the material is real, and is ‘out there’. But i don;t think we have more than a provisional understanding of it.

          1. So it’s certain that they DO EXIST, it’s just that there’s a certain problem with describing the actuality of well, quite how they exist.

            I have a series of posts in preparation that deals with this issue from a direct, observational point of view.

            What I will say is that whilst pan-psychism isn’t impossible, there might just be another explanation for the phenomenon, one that is close to the quantum computer in which all the answers are to be found at once (which means its very, very fast),

            The problem isn’t that atoms exist or not… after all, they’re rather small. It’s not as if one of them is going to make an adequate breakast. For that you need countless zillions of them. And you do it every time you drink a glass of water.

            Well, that is if you believe the scientists. But they’re all left-brainers who believe that quantums exist in the world around us. If you’re a right brainer, you’ll know that it’s the left brain that needs to isolate things to work with them: thus the concept of the quantum arises.

            If you have a balance between the two hemispheres, you will know how the right brain comes to a decision, and you’ll be able to use that when needed – and the yes/no decision of the left brain when it comes to the traffic light that’s just turned red.

            Let’s just say that if you can get your head around my post on the subconscious, you might have a chance of getting your head around my thoughts on how quanta arise out of left-brain thinking.

            Because if you see someone trying to count something, you know they’re in for a hard time when it comes to reality.

            Because as you know, the reality is that there are no two snowflakes that are ever the same. The truth is this: in nature, NOTHING EVER HAPPENS TWICE.

            Ever.

            You really need some right brain thinking to grasp something like this, because if no two snowflakes are ever alike, how can we have two of ANYTHING? Leave alone zillions of the same atoms! That’s just left-brain thinking trying to force itself onto reality.

            If it’s complex, it’s because someone is thinking with their left brain. That means reality is difficult for the left brainer to understand. But that’s not the point: we have to learn how to employ each hemisphere at the appropriate moment, because using the wrong one will lead to one colossal mess!

          2. David

            Just thought I’d flag up something. You probably know this but nearing ten years ago, Galen Strawson (a one time guest of yours) wrote a paper in the Journal of Consciousness Studies entitled, ‘Does physicalism entail panpsychism?’, which was very interesting to me. The Journal devoted the entire issue to it with many responses and Strawon’s counter-responses. I have copies somewhere if you want them…

        2. @Gemma – Truth be told it appears that two snowflakes can be indentical

          http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/03/snowflakes-35-different-shapes-infographic_n_6401274.html

          Also for those who still believe in left right/brain ? It seems to be somewhat of a popular myth. We may have an inclination but all of us seem to need both sides to be working and they are far more connected and linked.

          https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/16/left-right-brain-distinction-myth

          I hope you don’t perceive either of those to be any criticism of you personally, I assure you they are not. I like the term Kevin used ‘probably’ as either of the two things you raised could be correct and the studies questioning them incorrect. But I think probably based on the evidence the articles are correct.

          1. James,

            thirty five different manners of forming a snowflake only means that a snowflake in its individuality will form according to one of these patterns.

            If you are unhappy with the thought of unique happenings, that is up to you.

            When you say, “I like the term Kevin used ‘probably’ as either of the two things you raised could be correct and the studies questioning them incorrect. But I think probably based on the evidence the articles are correct.”

            Evidence is very much a right brain phenomenon. Whatever the arguments over left-right, there is a style of thinking that uses pure reason rather than observational experimenting and the evidence this yields.

            It is essential that if one is to have a realistic view, one balances the one against the other. Without the observational powers of the right brain, the left has nothing to stop it imagining any number of things.

            The link from my name will take you to a series of posts that deal with the shortcomings of a science that is based on evidence alone.

          2. James, I’m finding your comment confusing. Many have a belief that the two sides act in a L/R way. You say this is a myth, and go on to say we need both sides to be working. In the link you give, it has a section on hemispherectomy surgery, i.e. one half of the brain is either removed or prevented from functioning.

            As I understand it, the operation has little effect on memory, personality, or humor. It may even improve cognitive function. There are side effects, and these indicate a modest L/R function.

            So I believe if you had to make a binary choice on the options, the truth is that L/R is largely, but certainly not entirely, a myth, but you only really need one side.

            And at that point, I’d suggest further surgery unwise…

  5. David Malone well I will watch your new documentary then, I too am a non-believer, but I also suspect we need to improve our thinking about matter and materialism, science needs to embrace the dynamic, the open, the felt, over and beyond the extent to which causality is regular and patterned, some processes if not all processes in our cosmos are active, open, feeling, meaningful and alive.

    Too high brow – the shame of it!

  6. David Bohm interview. This is something like how I experience the unity of everything recently:

    Omni: Can you recall when you first experienced the sense of the wholeness that you now express as the implicate order? Bohm: When I was a boy a certain prayer we said every day in Hebrew contained the words to love God with all your heart all your soul, and all your mind. My understanding of these words, that is, this notion of wholeness–not necessarily directed toward God but as a way of living–had a tremendous impact on me. I also felt a sense of nature being whole very early. I felt internally related to trees, mountains, and stars in a way I wasn’t to all the chaos of the cities.

    When I first studied quantum mechanics I felt again that sense of internal relationship–that it was describing something that I was experiencing directly rather than just thinking about.

    The notion of spin particularly fascinated me: the idea that when something is spinning in a certain direction, it could also spin in the other direction but that somehow the two directions together would be a spin in a third direction. I felt that somehow that described experience with the processes of the mind. In thinking about spin I felt I was in a direct relationship to nature. In quantum mechanics I came closer to my intuitive sense of nature.

    Interview with David Bohm:

    http://www.fdavidpeat.com/interviews/bohm.htm

  7. Such a great first episode, great structure, perfect talking heads. I am totally with you, yes science is fantastic, but so much more to life and existence, because so much of life is not patterned, it is full of contingency and context, there is only one you, only one me, each born in a unique time and place, such is meaning and history, and what is possible but never becomes actual is full of meaning to us too. Yes we are a bubble from one abyss to another, such is transience, but it is life, full of meaning, becoming, being, begoing. Looks great, well done. Will a DVD be available in the future? What should we call our kind?Joyously devout nihilists? Plato started the meaning equals stasis and permanence rubbish, down with all the fundamentalists I say, let us value openness, kindness, etc. And let us realise our judgement comes down to values, the fundamentalists can go their way if they like, they think they have no choice, but we embrace the open and know that we are freely chosing our values. Openness over closure, in the end, is politically key. Then you know we can print money, we can have a UBI, we can retire at 50, we can fully fund the state and its services, etc.

    1. I’m with you. Openess over closure. Uncertainty over certainty. If you can bear it please let me know your thoughts ohh any further episodes of the series. Thanks David.

  8. Happy New Year to you and your family David. Thank you for your latest work, I always find your documentaries to be challenging and interesting, and in the ‘contest towards the lowest denominator’ often put to us all as entertainment, a welcome antidote.

    I find the ‘too high brow’ critique to be both comedic and patronising to the general public, who are largely and deliberately kept uneducated, stressed and given little opportunity to think without duress. I am quite sure you have gone ahead with this project in your own unique way and see your explanation of the funding to be refreshingly honest.

    Clearly some who have finance and integrity, also find them interesting. As to “believing in God” I am very open but think there is within all of us some type of deep question or calling, which we may dismiss as being anxiety in the face of our mortality. Personally I think as we question the world we live in rationally, through science and mathematics we open ever more questions. For me they are questions that cannot be answered through logical analysis alone.

    In that regard, I very much feel there may be more than meets the eye in what we are experiencing. I look forward to seeing these. Take care and warm regards.

    James

  9. God, well God is everything, everything human beings have projected onto the world and the abyss, God is the meaning of all the process, all the becoming, being and begoing. Where do things come from, why, and where do they go? And such is the transcendent, mathematics, the possible, the beyond. Call it God, call it the abyss or the nothing (as I prefer), but it is both nothing and everything, the possible and impossible, ruleless yet full of all rules, totally open, all possibility. But us, we have to live with the finite and the actual, where much but not all is possible, and much is impossible, but beyond the actual there is nothing, unbound, but explorable non-physically as mathematics and imagination show. God perhaps is possible but not actual, at least not yet.

    1. “we have to live with the finite and the actual” That is the world from the exclusive point of view of the right, reductionist, brain.

      That doesn’t make it any less true; only it forgets something we do every day. Which is the left brain stuff: the way in which we do things. Like the old music hall song “it’s not what you do, it’s the way that you do it.”

      That way will be unique to you. Develop that and you will find that the day to day realities of the world come to have a different meaning.

  10. Nope nothing high brow that I could spot, but what do I know, I am just a Millwall supporter, I did not do PPE at Oxbridge, as we say in Peckham: plonkers!

  11. Hmmm, hoping to dive in tomorrow if the chaos that is my usual environment allows. Judging by the appetiser provided by the comments, it sounds like a feast to look forward to.

    Quantum physics has been mentioned, which is something I do not pretend to understand, but it’s mystery fascinates me. I listened to Edward Witton’s explanation of basic string theory & although most of it was lost on me, I very much liked his analogy of the strings to those of a violin or a piano & how they & the theory work in terms of harmonics.

    I like the thought of the everything being an unimaginably sized & complex symphony, from which we & blackbirds etc, arrange & create tiny & in comparison very simple threads. Perhaps that is why that what we call music can stir such deep feelings within us, as these compositions are tiny echoes of fundamental creation, born out of a magnificent all encompassing mother,

    1. Stevie,

      when you understand the right brain from the point of view of the left, you will understand why when anybody speaks of a ‘quantum’ they have imposed right-brain thinking on reality.

      The problem with our modern world is that we are taught from very early on to see the world through the lens of our right, logically based, brain. The capacities we have from our left brain are then forgotten, to be lost in the subconscious (see my link above). Getting these back is no easy matter, especially if one thinks that right brain thinking is all there is, and more importantly, all there can be.

      The things you describe using string theory – and it is very much a right-brain theory that takes no account of their capacities to balance this point of view with the generalizing rationality of the left hemisphere – have other and far more meaningful explanations that are far more satisfying.

      After all, music affects us through left brain thinking.

      I do hope I got my terminology right… or the right brainers will fall on me like a pack of wolves! The right brain, discrimination and intolerance all go hand in hand.

      That doesn’t mean we don’t need it: we all need a filing cabinet where right brain thinking rules. That doesn’t mean it’s healthy when it comes to conversing with others. Especially the others that a right brain thinker will have already decided are beneath them.

      1. Could David Bohm be saying the same thing here? He rejected quantum physics like Einstein did, but where Einstein remained very much cause and effect, Bohm took a different view. He viewed the universe as holistic and filled with meaning

        ‘Bucking this tide of modern physics for more than 30 years, Bohm has been more than a gadfly. His objections to the foundations of quantum mechanics have gradually coalesced into an extension of the theory so sweeping that it amounts to a new view of reality. Believing that the nature of things is not reducible to fragments or particles, he argues for a holistic view of the universe. He demands that we learn to regard matter and life as a whole, coherent domain, which he calls the implicate order.

        Most other physicists discard Bohm’s logic without bothering to scrutinize it. Part of the difficulty is that his implicate order is rife with paradox. Another problem is the sheer range of his ideas, which encompass such hitherto nonphysical subjects as consciousness, society, truth, language, and the process of scientific theory making itself.’

      2. I think you are generalising using something which in itself is only a theory & as far as I can tell from what i have looked up, someone like Witten & probably many other scientists could fit many aspects of both sides.

        In any case the work on ST is part way up a ladder which has been built on a carefully constructed largely accepted physics, unless of course one happens to think the whole thing is hogwash.

        As I said….I like the idea, but it is only, if at all valid as being part of the story, something into which many things could be added, like a planter of the seed, a composer, mystery or just pure reductionism, but Witten & others are just doing a job, & as far as I am concerned they are the best people for it, assuming that it is considered that the job needs or should be done.

        The problem it seems is when people want to push there own interpretation of what is basically mechanics, at the expense of other viewpoints as being the only valid choice, through whatever tools of justification they have used to build their set beliefs on.

        I am not certain of very much, but some things appear to chime more for me than others & I like it that way as I think it gives me freedom to be sometimes wrong, sometimes right, hardly ever painted into a corner & therefore adaptable within a universe of multiple shades.

          1. I am both, in as much as this world & my age allows – am just about to start parts 3 & 4…..a tour de force matey.

  12. 3 experiencial facts challenge us to make sense of the actual in the context of what lies beyond the actual, the fact of becoming (the non-being of future things now and in the past) , the fact of begoing (death and everything past) and that we have to make moral choices, some events we will to occur, others we leave to never occur, how to make choices? On what basis? We care about all events, whether that caring feels good, evil or indifferent.

    1. Speak with anybody and everybody you have the time to speak with. Listen to what they have to say and consider their viewpoints as valid.

      That, if considered fully afterwards, will teach you all you need to know. It’s why we need a society – and the lack of conversation is what has led to its being torn apart.

  13. Hi David

    I look forward to seeing the film.

    “No finite point has meaning without an infinite reference point”

    . Jean-Paul Sartre

    I’m not sure you can win me over to your side without my head exploding.

    Happy New Year

    1. Hello Bill K,

      Funnily enough that is pretty much what did happen. I was surprised and it was a joy.

      As for y hard work I wish I could find the energy and time to write a lot more than I have done. Perhaps this year I will.

  14. Prompted by that profound section within the work named ” A Tale of Two Brothers “, I thought I would post this interview from a series called ” Of beauty & Consolation ” made for Dutch TV, by the journalist Wim Kayser which features that very bright light, who goes by the name of Jane Goodall.

    It is 1hr 28 in length, the intro is all Dutch to me & the rest is in English, with some occasional chimpanzee. including a very impressive pant-hoot from Jane. Magical in my opinion & it seems it kind of takes us back to an earlier state of being for mankind within the once forest. It also struck a chord with me in terms of what might be described as mystical experiences she had after suffering a bereavement, of which I had my own version. It also I think strengthens by comparison with the chimps, the case for success through cooperation.

    There are around 20 interviews in English of the series on youtube, of which i have found many to be fascinating, including part of an interview with neuroscientist Gary Lynch, particularly when he talks about mystery in terms of Art, as in the case of his visit to the caves of Altamira in Southern France to view the 20,000 year old cave paintings, which according to him have to be experienced directly, as they are designed to to flow with the form & contours of the cave walls, which brings them almost alive, something I imagine that would be even more pronounced if viewed by the flickering light of tallow candles.

    Here’s that sweet Jane :

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JoFphwJRxs

  15. Hi David,
    For sheer breadth of covering all the issues, without slipping into all the technicalities (metaphysical, scientific or theological) or attempting to be decisive or definitive, this is a great piece of work and a great resource. Give the scope, lots of points for constructive criticism and possible improvement if you get future opportunity.

    Rather than being “high-brow” my guess is that the lack of conclusive “message” is probably why it didn’t appeal to mainstream media channels.

    My own initial rough notes here: http://www.psybertron.org/archives/10497
    But I will also try a more coherent critique and suggestions for where next?

    Regards
    Ian

    1. Really glad you liked what we did. Yes, films 3 and 4 were much less directly science and more about morality and ideas. I wondered when we were making it how people would react to the inclusion of the idea of narrative.

      Thank you both for watching as closely as you evidently did and for putting it on your blog. The life of the series will depend almost entirely on word of mouth.

      Thanks again.

      1. Thanks to you David for creating it & doing so in a way which was informative, surprising, beautiful to look at & challenging. I am not surprised that the BBC & C4 didn’t take it on as in my view their science & other documentaries have it seems to me, to have increasingly become more based around the personality of the presenter(s) rather than the subject & in some cases I feel that there has been a certain amount of dumbing down – perhaps it has to do with an attempt to boost ratings.

        I watch ( or listen to ) a lot of BBC docus on i-player & they do still I think produce some great work & some of the regular presenters do a very good job, but as in one example of a series I was watching recently, I felt that the whole effort was undermined by a lady professor declaring that humans never bred with neanderthals because she didn’t think she would fancy any of them. I think I am right in saying that since then, DnA has proved that there was inter-breeding, which might illustrate the fact that, perhaps some females didn’t have much say in the matter.

        I get annoyed particularly in terms of an obviously media trained chatty, happy smiley couple do the presenting, but in the case of WAWH, you & Ard showed that a couple could work really well, if there is as I think was the case, a natural & largely comfortable meeting of two open minds who with honesty, struggled with huge & important subjects.

        I suppose it is with a sense of wonder that i am interested in science, which I also suppose is like how early man might have viewed the stars & nature, which was perhaps in the ultimate sense of the sublime, a total mystery to them. I think that the mystery has simply expanded with our reach & is still sublime.

        I hope it stays that way & I simply cannot accept that I am not receiving a reality that comes from a perceived whole, that should be described as mine & everybody else’s self generated illusion. I believe that this position is based on information very cleverly picked from the currently available fruit on the tree of scientific knowledge in order to suit a certain narrow point of view. Some of it based it seems on the current state of neuroscience, but I do think it is foolish to be so certain on such things & hopefully science itself will bring forward a new crop to dispel what I see as a form of reductionism in what it means to be human.

      2. Hi David, just to be clear I am absolutely fine with the idea of non-scientific, but nevertheless real, truth in fictional narrative. My concern with 3 and 4 was not that they were less scientific and more subjective (direct empirical experience), but that the argument as to why this was real and valuable didn’t seem to be made clear to anyone new to that idea.

        The other “omission” for me, for those believing in God, was that other than Ard and others “witnessing” their own conclusions for beleving, there didn’t seem to be any “expert” theological input – or maybe I missed it. As I say I intend to go through again and more constructive and coherentg criticism. Thanks again.

        1. Hello Ian,

          No you didn’t miss it. We did not interview any theologians other than Nottingham who is more a philosopher. We made this decision because we felt the argument was not about the specifics of any particular kind of belief requiring any articular theological expertise. It was more a philosophical argument with scientism. It was about kinds of knowledge and ways of defining what counts as truth. The arguments ranged around the relative value of proof, truth, belief, meaning. Fro me the centre of the series was meaning.

          But it is such a deep and extensive subject that I have n doubt we ignored a great many very important ideas and approaches. Which is why I remain saddened that there are not more of these sorts of series being made by more people with different outlooks.

          I would be delighted to learn more about your thoughts. If you have the time or inclination.

    1. Interesting stuff Roger & you mention Rupert Sheldrake who must be the antithesis of scientism – a debate between him & Rosenberg would I think be worth the entrance fee. The RS experiments on dogs appearing to know when their owners set off for home are I think fascinating, & I have had some personal experience of this through my late wife’s journeys home from work, in the form of the reaction of our then companion, a golden retriever, who went by the name of Jesse – not to mention our then raggamuffin cat’s always disappearance before a vet visit.

      I am half way through my 2nd journey through the series & my conclusion for what it is worth, is that the goal of achieving ‘ A theory of Everything ” is from just a mechanical point of view an enormous undertaking & is perhaps beyond the abilities of those even with the aptitude for such a massive effort. Add to this all this pesky stuff about mystery, the soul, God, Art, Love etc, which it could be said, would be even harder to explain than the mechanics, perhaps it is simply convenient for certain people to dismiss all this as airy-fairy rubbish & place it in a big bag labelled illusions, therefore ( they think ) ensuring that the fuzziness doesn’t fog up the expected nice clean workings of the machine.

      I checked out the comments on an AR article & it seems that hard core atheists are just lapping it up.

      Liked your poems mate & I will add this line nicked from Eden Ahbez :

      ” The greatest thing you will ever learn, is just to love, & be loved in return “.

      1. Hi Stevie,
        Love is the thing, on the science and all the clever stuff who really knows could be a bunch of snake oil, may be may be not?
        I am a fairly practical sort of chap and do like to speak as I find I am a great Fan of Wal Thornhill who has a different take on the elemental basis of the Universe.
        Heres one of Wals lectures on Stars in the electric Universe.
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Usz28nAYdT0

        Now wal is not the only one who gives the String Theory boys a bit of a leg pull, Claes Johnson , Swedens own bad boy of applied mathematics has a fresh take on these things avoiding the faith based statistical imaginings necessary to hold up the current institutionalised eddifice.

        http://claesjohnson.blogspot.se/2016/12/new-quantum-mechanics-20-micro-as-macro.html

        I would not bet against Wal, Claes or Maurice Cotteral, in fact I would back them over the likes of Hawking, Penrose and any of the Establishment crowd.

        Rupert Sheldrake is great, I also like Graham Hancock who also had a talk banned on Ted at the same event as Rupert.
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0c5nIvJH7w

        The Science republic point from Polyani is very real there is lots of examples of how the Establishment protects its own pet theories. Institutions are just not set up to adapt to new or opossing views, taking one self seriously and demanding that others take you seriously involves a sort of solidification of thought.

        When it comes to electricity and Electro Magnetism we know very much less than we should or would have if Bohr had not succeeded in shutting down scientific enquiry way back when. Of course Science consensus has only got worse 97% of scientists and all that??

        Try this talk about Electro Magnetism , fascinating guy Eric Dollard.Its long at 3 and a half hours, but it really is a very good talk from a brilliant man who hardly anyone has ever heard of.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TttHkDRuyZw

        1. Thanks for the links & the article Roger, the latter I’m afraid is above my pay scale, like complex equations which might as well for me be written in Arabic. Will watch, or rather listen to the videos though & if i get a foothold, will repeat in the hope that I can reach the summit.

          I am fortunate in my work that I can listen to videos while working, so repeating the dose isn’t a problem as i have the time. I have a long list of favourites which I often watch, in an effort to keep some of the mud that has stuck from repeated viewings from falling away – some of them are ones that you have previously provided.

          As for ‘ String Theory ‘, i really have no idea how valid it is, but what grabbed my attention was how Witten described it in terms of harmonics issuing from a single perfect note, which as with a tuning fork, sounds as he said as being garish, but it is the overtones that are interesting as is i think the case with music. – maybe it is an illustration of how the symmetric works with the asymetric ????

          He also drew a diagram in chalk of how the strings split & branch out, which it seemed to me formed a pattern that is seen throughout nature, as with the branches of trees, their roots, cracks in ice, the blood vessels in our bodies etc – Anyhow, it was that aspect which appealed to me…kind of the seed of a fractal sort of thing.

        2. Hi Roger – Curiouser & curiouser……especially the Thornhill presentation, perhaps it explains the confusion that the elder statesman Weinberg is fretting about. Also perhaps as has always been the case of many scientists who were left out in the wilderness, as their work did not fit the existing paradigm, if the theory is valid, at some time in the future this might be recognised as such & some great minds who are currently lost in a labyrinth will be able to add their shoulders to the cart, but as we know in many fields, many do not easily give up on their ” Precious “.

          Thank you…..my uncertainty has increased as have the possibilities.

          “All is a procession,
          The universe is a procession with measured and perfect motion “.

          Walt Whitman – ” I Sing the Body Electric “.

    2. You point about the either/or choices I completely agree with. If you haven’t read AN Whitehead’s essays on Science and philosophy you might really enjoy them. They are from a by-gone age but he too is deeply concerned – it was the centre of his own philosophy – with finding an alternative to the either/or. In his case the either or of process and object.

      A lot of what you write reminds me of his views.

      1. Hi David, I haven´t read whitehead, but have encountered bits of him given how influential he was and still is. Ken Wilbers Integral theory has probably influenced me most of all regarding multiple view points , All Quadrants All Levels, its the opposite to adversarial debate , sadly in propagandised science the process becomes adversarial, I do not think is advances human thought or scientific enquiry it does though support vested interests and hierarchical power structures.
        Pierce is the one that floats my boat more than most others, him and Epictetus, both would know the world today as well as they did their own very little has changed in what matters to quality of life, I do wonder if they would be rejected as to high brow as well? I think the problem the BBC have with the series David is not high browness but truthfulness. Your films raise consciousness the Establishments Job has become to dull it.

  16. Hi David,
    Just watched the first episode and sitting here assimilating it all. Now for EP 2.
    Wonderfully done and thought provoking.
    In a way, it’s better viewing uninterrupted from ads, which would have been the case on mainstream TV, even if they did think it’s too highbrow.
    Best wishes for the coming year,
    Jane

    1. Thank you Jane Sinclair. Next I am oping to write a book. I have started it and just need to find the discipline and inspiration to see it through.

      Best to you and yours Jane.

  17. Discussions about God are useless because nobody EVER defines what
    that word actually means. If someone actually did define the word, then others would disagree with the definition. So the word “GOD” either has no definition or too many definitions which is the same thing as NO DEFINITION.

    ONE definition of a BELIEVER is someone with a closed mind.
    ONE definition of a NON BELIEVER is someone with a closed mind.

    So why waste time discussing the UNDEFINED with the CLOSED MINDED?

    1. Hello Jaques Redou,

      I agree if you can’t have any definition with the person you are discussing with then it does seem a bit pointless. We didn’t define what Ard meant by God at the very outset mainly because we hoped to draw along with us, a broader range of people who might, as you say, be open minded enough to be interested in the discussion even if it was not of their own particular definition. There’s little point in only talking to those who already agree with you.

      Ard and Rosenberg did eventually spell out what kind go God Ard was talking about when I asked Rosenberg directly how he defined Theism. Which is the kind of god Ard believes in.

      But beyond that question, of what kind of god, the series was not really dependant on an agreed definition of god. The series was more concerned with meaning, purpose and the basis of moral beliefs. In those debates what-kind-of-god, is not really important. What both Ard and Rosenberg agreed on, and disagreed with me, was that for them, to be rigorous, you had to believe in God if you wanted to have meaning purpose and a firm basis for moral belief.

      I was left trying to defend those things without God.

      In the end we offered no QED pat answer. The point was to explore the ideas not insist on any one view or answer. And the main thing is none of the people in the film were so closed minded that they could not contribute to the discussion. We did not interview the closed minded for exactly the reasons you mentioned.

      Where I think I might disagree with you is on defined and undefined. I am less concerned to define things. It seems to me that few things can really be defined in that “this and only this” way. Most of the really important things can’t be defined in that way and I wonder if that is part of their importance.

      Anyway, thank you for commenting. I hope you will again.

      1. Isn’t the point about God that it’s impossible to define him/her/it???

        If someone needs to define things, isn’t this then part of the problem? That the left (intellectual) brain is trying to establish its viewpoint on a world where such definitions rarely exist?

        The right brain doesn’t need this kind of delineation, but lacks the ability to make useful decisions.

        You say, “The point was to explore the ideas not insist on any one view or answer.”

        The problem is that no one person can define the truth… therefore to those who need definitions, all definitions are equally valid. That’s left brain thinking allowed to go feral.

        We have to recognize from within ourselves where we allow our left brain to rule.

  18. I, like you David, consider myself to be an atheist who, nevertheless, also considers that the underlying matter on which we are built does not, in itself, explain the complexity of what we are and so I am inevitably drawn to theories of emergence as an apparent route out of this paradox. But, I have always simultaneously felt uneasy about this since it still doesn’t allow escape from the ultimate trap of causality and, after watching the first episode of your outstanding documentary, I am even more confused than I was before.

    Thank you.

    1. Hello Stephen Cook,

      What a brilliant real! Thank you. Causality has, of course, to still be there. But I wonder if the emergence , not just of new levels of organisation, but of new rules which govern those levels, means causality is not completely reductive?

      I cannot really see how it could be otherwise. For me, if one insists on complete reductionism, then surely Natural Selection does;t really happen. It would all be being ’caused’ and determined at the level of atoms. Not at the level of any competition between animals.

      I think Dennis Noble’s point is something like mine when he talks about the new level constraining the level from which it emerges. His new book goes in to more depth and so far is splendid. I have also been reading A.N. WHItehead, the great British mathematician and philosopher. He talks about Process and Reality and I think much of his philosophy, though expressed in very different language, strikes me as offering another way through the same questions.

      Anyway thanks for your wonderful response.

      1. Yes, it was Rosenberg. Told us all off in no uncertain terms. In the cutting room his nickname was ‘The Shark’. It’s his predatory smile that does it. But we got an email to say he was watching it and loved it. So given that the arch reductionist and atheist likes it and the Templeton people like it, I feel we must have got something right.

  19. It is fortunate that there is seemingly solid ground on which to base alternatives to this theory of reductionism, else I for one would consider that there would be no point in continuing with what is for me, mainly a constant struggle. It certainly wouldn’t help anyway if I were to realise that I am basically just a collection of nuts & bolts & that everything I hold dear & motivates me is a mere fiction, & of course there are many millions who are in a worse position than me, for whom the so called illusion is there only consolation.

    I cannot understand how someone can describe something as an illusion, & then declare that these things can still be enjoyed as if they were something real. R appears to have no problem with weeping along with the ” Ode to Joy “, but surely believing that what produces the tears is illusory, at the very least would add a taint to the experience That piece of music has never done anything for me which is fortunate due to what I would describe as the taint added to that work by it’s appropriation by the EU. Perhaps it means joy to those running the show, but to an increasing amount of the not welcomed to the party, maybe the adagietto from Mahler’s 5th might have been a more apt choice.

    I would also worry very much about R’s assertion that it will all be fine, as people are basically pretty good to each other. From a comfortable ivory tower perhaps that is perhaps believable, but except I think within small communities, in a world where people are increasingly being valued only as commodities, where there is constant warfare in many parts with the constant threat of more of it, on a planet where decreasing resources will likely lead to more competition for ever diminishing returns, all tied to an economic system that is shaky to say the least – I believe that is more likely a recipe that we are following has the potential to produce that historical dish of us collectively hacking each other apart.

    I don’t think that abandoning religion would change much, as the bad people who tend to run the major shows, do not follow there own handbooks but rather twist them to their own ends & as someone who has seen a person nearly kicked to death just because he supported another football team thirty miles down the road, I am sure people would find plenty of other things to fight over. Judging from what I have read over the last few days on various religious & atheist blogs where the fight against & for scientism is raging, those with the most extreme views will not give an inch & that fight will continue, despite any evidence to dispel either sides position, especially one which simply writes of many persons nearest & dearest as being nothing but an illusion.

    I suppose that my main worry about scientism is that it could if read in a sort of way be used by the powerful to bolster what increasingly strikes me as their feeling, that the lower orders as mere cogs in a machine would become in their estimation, even more expendable & unlike the rulers of old, who had at least some sort of moral code as given by religion with it’s fear of possible consequences, their own moral behavior without restraint would inevitably worsen – probably unlikely as in my view, they are now for the most part a bunch of snakes of whom the only important variation seems to be how big they are & how much venom they carry.

    At the end of the day, after many hours of fretting about the above & being worried that my window on the cosmos had been reduced to nothing but it’s mechanical parts, I have come to the conclusion that I am OK, because ironically, I cannot imagine that everything besides the machinery is an illusion…..it is all just too real for me.

    1. Me too Steve.

      For me meaning is something we make. The fact that we make it doesn’t for me, lessen its value one jot. The fact that we are able to make meaning is what makes me feel a great sense of hope and wonder.

      I also don’t need my beliefs or my meanings to be certain. I am happy that they are shifting and contested. For me contested also means shared. And I would rather share my uncertain beliefs than be merely renting certainties from God.

      Take care Steve.

      Your Friend,

      David

      1. You nicely summed up my ramblings there.

        I remember lying in an ambulance staring through the skylight at what appeared to be an infinite beautiful sky in a kind of morphine soaked Prince Bolkonsky moment ( a story i re-discovered with a shock afterwards after having forgotten it ) & thinking that it would be nice to just drift away, no more troubles & pain etc.

        There was no fear at all during those two hours or so & I never once thought of God or prayed during that whole period, but the things that I subsequently hung onto which shone through as being the only matters worth living for, were the meaning of why I wanted to survive & are my continuing conclusion to why it was & is important that I am here.

        I have no idea whether it helped to get me through, as without the paramedics, I would now be yesterdays toast.

        I am taking care……just getting grumpier,

  20. I have only watched ‘Meaning-Seeking Beings’ so far, and expect that some of these themes will be continued in the next 3 films. It’s difficult to dip your toes into the pool of deep questions through the medium of film, but you manage it remarkably well, without it becoming a kind of ‘Open University’ programme. Arguments for and against reductionism were well aired and hopefully all the protagonists felt that their views were properly represented in the clips that you showed.

    What also came across was the passion with which the protagonists made their arguments, and the notion that this might just be a dry debate between scientists was quickly dispelled. My background is psychology and it is reassuring to see that the same debates about free will, the existence of a self, and the role of evidence in establishing ‘truth’ are as alive in the hard sciences, as they are in psychology. For the record, I don’t agree that psychology is a science but I do think that it is an area of study which is capable of being studied scientifically – or not.

    Reductionism has its adherents in psychology, as summed up in the proposition that the mind IS the brain, ie that, once we have the techniques to prove it, all phenomena of mind will be shown to have a physical correlate in brain structure and function. Opponents of this view rely on the concept of emergent properties, which cannot be reduced to the sum of their parts. Despite a big surge in the influence of neuroscience in recent decades, many areas of psychology continue to flourish without making any reference at all to brain processes, eg social psychology, organisational psychology, developmental psychology, and so you could argue that the influence of reductionism is quite limited. Indeed, you could widen the scope to consider anthropology, sociology, economics and history to appreciate that there are many levels of explanation. ‘Reality’ turns out to contain many different kinds of pattern at different levels, and surely the level of explanation that is required is the one which is best suited to answer the particular questions that are being asked.

    What can be annoying is when a scientist steps out of his discipline to make an assertion which properly belongs to a different level of enquiry. For example, Dr Rosenberg stated ‘You think you have a self but this has no foundation in the nature of psychological reality’. Here is a physicist claiming that he knows the nature of psychological reality! Had he used instead the expression ‘physiological reality’, he might be standing on firmer ground, although that could still be contested.

    Maybe the debate could do with an injection of philosophical thinking, most especially philosophers of science who have wrestled with these ideas for ages. They may well be featured in the other 3 programmes. I very much look forward to watching these. Again, thank you for a most interesting introduction to the topic.

    1. Hello Philco,

      Thank you so much for your thoughtful comments. I look forward to reading your thoughts on the others.

      So far all those in the film have indicted they are happy with how they came across. As you will have noted we avoided cutting people’s contributions and instead chose to let people put their views avoid at length. The whole way we did the interviews was designed to make them much more conversational and avoid cutting in the now sadly normal Discovery channel style.

      Although I do not agree with Rosenberg’s very reductionist position I felt he was in many ways the star of the series and hugely enjoyed his contributions. I think he was definitely one of the interviewees who most engaged with the conversational style. For me some of the best bits are those when he challenges Ard or me and tells us off.

      I am now just finishing off a theatrical release version of the series – i.e. a single 104 minute film. In many ways I like it best of all. It uses much of the same material as the series but does also use some very important bits of interview which were not in the 4 part series. The single film manages to tell a somewhat different story. I am hoping that it too will be made available on Curiosity Stream.

      I think you might find film 2 to move nearer to your own area of particular interest. Rosenberg is especially gracious in admitting that major problem of his Scientistic position – though in his usual robust way.

      Thanks again for commenting.

  21. T’is hard the kinds of Knowledge are but two,
    The One erroneous, the Other true.
    The former profits nothing when ’tis gain’d,
    The other’s difficult to be attain’d.

    http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16831/16831-h/16831-h.htm

    Hi Philco,

    I enjoyed your comment and it brought to mind an old philosopher friend now sadly, no longer with us. Jud was a Positive eliminatiivist, which is way out there in the reductionist spectrum but even with that Juds position was very nuanced and strangely un dogmatic.

    http://letthemconfectsweeterlies.blogspot.se/2016/08/in-memory-of-jud-evans-addendum-ravello_8.html

    In this first link JUd explains his eliminativism.

    And in this second Link is to Juds discourse on Ethics.

    I often recall this bit of the series of posts he made in a philosophy group I used to participate in.

    ´´In the limited sense that morality is an illusion of course I agree with Ruse’s comments.

    Where I disagree strongly with Ruse regards his suggestion that our genes fob us off with our concept of ‘morality’ in order to conceal an underlying carnal agenda or sexual dimension of good behaviour. I do not believe that our genes have developed stratagems designed to falsely present human reproduction as morals.

    Evolution is an unconscious, incognisant, uncaring, unplanned process. If it were true, that genes used morals as a cloak for sex then ironically it would position the very advocates and organisations which urge decent moral behaviour upon us as the very ones promoting strategies leading to sexual behaviour – that such sexual intercourse should remain within the parameters of couplings sanctioned by the church makes little difference to the incongruity of such a situation for the Rusean message:

    ‘Be nice to others and you will get more nookie,’ has the same message whichever way you look at it.´´

    http://letthemconfectsweeterlies.blogspot.se/2016/08/posthumous-guest-post-jud-evans-ripjud.html

    1. I agree with your friend’s critique of the gene centred view. The ‘Selfish Gene’ was an immensely powerful metaphor which in many ways, in its day, served as a clarifying idea for thinking about the purely genetic level. But it did also bring with it a confusion about what genes can be said to do at the level of behaviour. And has in the later years of the 20th century been, I feel, more of an impediment than a help.

      I have felt this particularly in the unthinking habit of assuming that if we have a word for something this word will map on to a gene for that behaviour or trait. A gene for homosexuality or a gene for maternal love. All silly and leading to endless confused argument.

      Back in 1982 I tried in a course I was taking on Sociobiology, to offer a critique of the selfish gene idea. Was told by my professor to drop the critique and concentrate on applying the idea to animal behaviour. I should have been braver and stuck to my critique.

      Hope you are well.

      1. Grappling with Man Flu David. Otherwise mooching along in mid winter low gear.Trying to get back into the voice I have chosen to write my Novel The Conquest of Dough, As it ends in contemporary time and events I am waiting to see if and When Trumps inauguration takes place and take that as my full stop.

      2. They tried to apply the gene theory to mental illness and personality. Hans Eysenck, a leading psychologist in the 1960’s who wrote the book, The Inequality of Man, said that our personalities are 99% inherited. The Over Class loved him because he said that they had superior intelligence and skills which is the reason they had climbed to the top, the fact that they might be more cooked, and some psychopathic, was not considered. Later research of neuroplasticity and epigenetics (our genes our programmable) showed that Professor Eysenck got his theories 99% wrong, but he is still widely esteemed by the Over Class and intellectuals who want to believe in his theories.

        1. That is the problem with science, that it can be twisted to suit an agenda. I read an article the other day which I wish i had saved, which basically made the case that the word racism has no real meaning, as genetically we are all pretty much all the same & that our differences besides appearance, are cultural. I cannot verify the information as I do not know enough about it, but the conclusion was that there is only one race for mankind, that of course being the human race.

          It strikes me that race is being used by certain interests as a part of Identity politics to divide & conquer & to avoid identity being replaced by class. After all working class people, to which I personally include all of those who have to work for a living, are a mixture of different colours, religions, sexuality or whatever & keeping them in a situation that accentuates their difference, is obviously a good thing for the parasitic class.

          In terms of religion – I watched an i-player documentary about a man I was first aware of in the 70’s when I was working on a construction site. He had received a 2 year sentence for basically trying to get something done about the then appalling accident rate within that industry. I can remember the posters that went up on the site, which stated that one man died for every day of the year, due to a total lack of health & safety. This was partly due to the men themselves who resented the enforcement, when it finally began, & to counter this, there was a health & safety office equipped with a trials bike & binoculars, who would spy from a distance & on spotting an infraction of the new rules, would speed over & deliver an on the spot fine.

          Anyhow – the man in question later became famous as the actor Ricky Tomlinson, which meant he was considered interesting enough for an episode of ” Who do you think you are “. but the history of his family would be very similar to that of very many people. It turned out that he came from a long line of Carters, whose job it was to shift the produce from the Liverpool docks, which was for part of that period, one of the busiest on the planet.

          Ironically it turned out that 2 of his ancestors were killed through accidents, leaving their families destitute. When these workers finally through unions, managed to put up some sort of fight, because they were split by trades & later when the Irish arrived who had to take the worst job, of being a docker, they were even more divided, but more so due to the addition of a sectarian divide.

          Things didn’t change until around 1910, with the arrival of Tom Mann, who succeeded in uniting both sides, which then led to an improvement in conditions, but only after Churchill had sent troops to break a strike, which led to 2 dead & I think 12 injured when hussars opened up on strikers. It mirrors to a certain extent what was happening at the time with James Connolly’s efforts in Belfast to unite workers across the sectarian divide, but that was always likely to be a much harder task & fell apart due to the setting up of paramilitary groups from both sides in Ireland, as a reaction to the home rule bill. Ironically most of both these groups volunteered to fight in WW1, where maxim machine gun bullets, didn’t give a damn about youe religion, rank or anything else.

    1. Interesting stuff, Stevie, although I rather like quantum physics and it’s strangeness. I hope it stays that way.

      1. I don’t think it will go away, but the article appears to strengthen my suspicion that the universe is something of a trickster.

  22. All the best David- surely faith or without faith; the worst blight of life is to allow the despair. of failure to quench the embers of hope.

  23. I’ve just watched the ‘Reality of Ideas’. There’s so much in it, and, with contributions from a range of scientists and writers, it must have been quite tricky to edit it so that it coheres. Here’s what I got out of it –
    – the structure of our brains constrains what we know.
    – our brains’ preference for narrative, for example, is a constraint on knowledge.
    – non-narrative kinds of thinking such as mathematics offer the possibility of transcending the brain’s limitations, and enable us to know truths that would exist irrespective of the humans who discover them (ie aliens would also have to discover these truths whatever their physical makeup, in order to understand the universe)
    – mathematical thinking has no subject-matter and can be thought of as pure abstraction.
    – the existence of mathematical thinking presents a difficulty for reductionism, in that it admits of non-physical entities such as imaginary numbers.
    [-however, I think that this only applies to certain kinds of mathematical thinking, eg the use of a base 10 notation surely relates to the fact that humans possess 10 digits]
    – the beauty/order/symmetry of mathematical thinking can be appreciated by those who are capable of such higher order thinking as a kind of religious experience.
    – the ‘reality of ideas’ can also be demonstrated in the accounts of writers and artists when talking about their own creative processes. Quite often, they talk as if they were translators rather than creators, seeking to transpose what they ‘see’ and ‘hear’ into poetry/prose/music/painting. They speak as if they have access to a reality which has no counterpart in everyday reality, ie a separate realm of ideas.

    I expect that there is a lot that I missed, too, but what a fascinating film!

  24. Foucalt Tudoux Wimay

    I believe there is a fight between good and evil, it goes on forever and we have to maintain eternal vigilance. That is a big enough reason to be alive.

    I don’t need there to be a God to make enough sense out of life for me, in fact my understanding of other peoples’ faith is that their God has to be a fallible God. If he was infallible, he didn’t need to make any of us at all, unless it was to relieve his boredom.
    If his brilliance passeth all understanding, and he made each of fallible in a clever way, then we are no longer individual, just pawns in a game.

    Our free will would therefore not really free. Individually, we cant save the child, eradicate the hunger, or make any difference to the major traumas that beset each and every one of us during the course of our lives. We can only make a tiny contribution to something bigger -while we dodge what look like random bullets.

    Why should I be selected to have a relatively blessed time on this planet, and other family members or neighbours get horrible deals out of life?

    On balance of course, maybe 5% of the world’s people since the dawn of time have had a good draw (and most of them as Western and lived in the past 100 years). The rest have had what they call a short and brutal one.

    If God was infallible and all-powerful, he didn’t need to make all the world’s religions incompatible, and the root cause of most misery. The “many mansions” message relayed to the Christians, wasn’t very clear to everyone else.

    In the little sect I was brought up in, we were told we could talk direct to God, didn’t need a trained middleman, and we were responsible for our own actions. Couldn’t get free weekly out of jail cards when we backslid. The clergy were chosen from among us, and were to be considered as no more ‘chosen’ than we were. But by the same token, we weren’t, individually as smart as we thought we were. Oh, and life wasn’t a punishment, but a gift. The rest was mostly tolerance and forgiveness.
    I thought that was a good start.

    I hope to find your programmes, I am sure they will be uniformly excellent.
    Staggering to find that the mainstream channels don’t admit that they have an obligation to broadcast to minorities (like highbrow) just as to other audiences. They have enough channels for goodness sake.

    and glad to see you have managed to squeeze in a couple of posts lately. Much missed.

  25. I’ve just watched the ‘Animal Within’. This was a trenchant examination of the Selfish Gene hypothesis, showing that what you see in the natural world depends on the lens through which you look- if you expect selfishness, selfishness is what you see.

    if on the other hand you factor co-operation into a mathematical model of evolution, as Martin Novak does, you get an increasing emergence (and dominance) of co-operation over time.

    We see community and altruism in the fossil record – cells cluster together, coral reefs form, fish shoal, and land animals group together in herds. We cannot of course infer altruism from this. We need to look at living animals. Franz de Waal’s observations of a chimp refusing a grape until a fellow chimp also gets one demonstrates empathy/altruism. We might call it a sense of fairness, although we don’t want to be accused of anthropomorphism!

    It was interesting to get Molly Crockett’s take on the famous Stanley Milgram experiments of the 1960’s, which are generally taken to illustrate just how easy it is to get people to obey authority, a conclusion which she challenges. She is also known for her work using an experimental paradigm called the Ultimatum Game. In this, Player A (the Proposer) is given a set amount of money and must decide how much to share with Player B (the Responder). Player B knows how much money Player A started with, and must decide whether to accept or decline the offer. If B chooses to decline A’s offer, then neither party gets anything. It is found that Responders frequently choose to reject unfair offers, even if this means they lose out on money which they would otherwise have received for free.

    A sense of fairness, therefore, seems to be as much a part of human psychology as selfishness. It is quite possible that a sense of unfairness motivated Brexit voters’ decision. If they believed that the way the country has been run is basically unfair, then they voted to reject the status quo – even if it involves costs to them and their communities in the future (eg Sunderland with its Nissan factory).

    Is this sense of fairness an emotion or a cognition? I think it is the former. Current psychological thinking is turning towards a view of the human as a feeling being that thinks, rather than a thinking being that feels. The model of rational economic man that neo-classical economics promotes is a myth that has been crumbling for a long time, but the profession of economics has a hard time in accepting this – despite the fact that the Nobel committee awarded psychologist Daniel Kahneman the prize for ECONOMICS for his work on decision-making.

    1. I saw a good documentary once, but I have never been able to find it again. It was made by some liberal scientists who showed how the plants in the rainforest all cooperated with each other. Some grew their roots low to dig up nutrients, some grew tall to get energy from the sun. All of this energy and nutrients would feed back into the top soil supplying all the plants with what they need. All the plants had their own unique ways of contributing to the biosphere, making a fertile place for plants to grow. The scientists showed that the world was not all competition, and that cooperation was very important too.

  26. https://consentfactory.org/about/ an amusing read,https://consentfactory.org/2017/01/13/why-ridiculous-official-propaganda-still-works/
    ´´The primary aim of official propaganda is to generate an “official narrative” that can be mindlessly repeated by the ruling classes and those who support and identify with them. This official narrative does not have to make sense, or to stand up to any sort of serious scrutiny. Its factualness is not the point. The point is to draw a Maginot line, a defensive ideological boundary, between “the truth” as defined by the ruling classes and any other “truth” that contradicts their narrative.´´
    I am glad its not just me, I have become almost despairing of the level of mindless incantation of crap by people I know to be caring thinking people, A freind of Facebook the other day deleted some posts I made saying he felt it would deter other people from joining the discussion, I know his real concern was that he may be associated with my heretical views on Brexit and Climate Change that do not chime with his freinds and neighbours in one of the posher parts of Cardiff ( I do not blame my old school freind and we continued our conversation in private, I do worry how that makes a person feel inside). My reaction is just concern that a climate of fear is so apparent now that mere suspicion of associating with those of unclean or im pure thoughts is enough to be drummed out of the Scouts.

  27. Just finishing off a cinema release version of the series – running at 105 minutes. It’s a joy.

    The funny thing is, while it uses much of the same material, with some really brilliant new pieces of the interviews that weren’t in the series, this film tells a really quite different story. And I like it better.

    I’m not sure where we will get to show it. I’m hoping some smaller independent cinemas will take it and maybe they will be interested if we/I can offer to do a Q&A afterwards. Do you think that might be of interest?

    Other than that I am hoping that eventually we will put it too, up on Curiosity Stream. But after we have entered it into various festivals. You never know. Even to be short listed would be great.

    1. Sometimes reduction works very well with the addition of some added spice – good luck with the new concentrated sauce.

  28. In the fourth and final part ‘The Moral Compass’, the case for/against God was evenly set out. What was particularly reassuring to see was two people (AL and DM) disagreeing about the existence of God without any rancour and clearly respecting one another’s arguments. The subject of religion has become so polarising that there is an understandable reluctance in polite (and not so polite) society to even broach it. I have to admit that some of the discussion went over my head (eg the difference between deism and theism).

    The problem is succinctly stated: where does morality come from? Dr Rosenberg is unequivocal – there are no universal moral values. He accepts that the human race would not have survived evolutionarily speaking if co-operation had not been a basic driver of life, but he is unwilling to concede more than that. Ard Louis points out that morality has to include both selfishness and co-operation, faced with the fact of unspeakably cruel acts meted out to those who are not members of the tribe (the out-group). What the Christian has to acknowledge is the retribution and punishment that seems to be justified by God in his commands to the Hebrews in dealing with their enemies in the Old Testament.

    In this context, David, your belief that it is possible to create a common good (and morality) without recourse to God seems eminently sensible. ‘Why can’t I just make it up?’ you ask. The problem with that approach is that you can easily fall into a kind of cultural determinism that is no more satisfying than the scientism that you’re criticising. One can’t just make up one’s own morality without acknowledging the powerful force that one’s socialisation has hitherto exerted.

    Where you both agree is that it is one thing to have moral values but it is another to have the motivation to care enough to ensure that everyone (in-group and out-group) falls within their remit. This reference to motivation brings psychology into the picture, and the role of emotions in human motivation. Jonathan Haidt postulates 5 innate (ie universal) foundations for morality (1) care and harm (2) reciprocity (fairness) (3) in-group loyalty (4) authority/respect (5) purity and sanctity. The claim that these are universal across cultures is one that needs to be empirically tested. The other thing to say is that these are foundations of morality and not absolute values in themselves, and each can lead to either ‘good’ or ‘bad’ outcomes. To illustrate this, look how Trump used care and harm to elicit sympathy for the alleged rape victims of ‘undocumented migrants’. The Daily Mail does this all the time, using emotional appeals to support political agendas.

    The basic point is that the place to look for a moral compass is in the emotions, and I think that this came through somewhat in the contributions of Franz de Waal. You did poke fun at the absurd idea of morality as somehow being the invention of some clever French philosophers, and generally the amusing exchanges and glances between you made for entertaining viewing.

    It was also pleasing to see Ben Okri have a chance to put forward the writers/artists viewpoint that stories can be a way to understand the lives and thoughts of others, and are a way to expand our minds and our sympathies. It reminded me of Raymond Chandler’s distinction between the truth that lights the way (science) and the truth that warms the heart (art).

    Thanks for this brilliant series of films, David. I look forward to seeing the cinema release of the shorter version. I know it’s not going to have mass appeal, but there is definitely a hunger for an honest examination of fundamental questions – treated in a way that respects a variety of different views. In this increasingly ideological age, the search for truth is becoming increasingly important.

    1. Scary article. Trump seems to have lied about most things. He said he was going to reform banking, but then he puts two ex Goldman Sachs bankers in charge of financial reform who say there are too many regulations which stops lending. In other words, they want more debt so they can increase profits. Many, like Paul Craig Roberts, thought that Trump was the beginning of the end of neoliberalism, but neoliberalism is back even worse than before. How do politicians get away with lying and then they go and do the opposite of what they said?

      The electorate are left in dark, unknowing. Many read the mainstream papers and believe what’s written in them, and end up voting for right wing governments. Years ago the Daily Mirror was a real campaign newspaper informing its readers of the real news. Yet, most people seem indifferent today.

      Let’s hope people catch on and start to realise they’ve been had. Lets hope the centre left make a resurgence. Corbyn is working from the ground up, spreading out a base movement sidelining the mainstream media with people knocking on doors spreading the word.

      1. Gerard

        I’m not sure that Brexit will guarantee us becoming the 51st state in the present climate in which events are it seems increasingly accelerating. If anything I think that the election of Trump might have given us some breathing space. Without Mr. T we would likely have TTIP forced onto us, something that the Tories & the EU powers that be would be fine with. The Donald seems to favour Bi-lateral deals which unless they can use the present TTIP with a bit of tinkering, would mean starting afresh, which I think I am right in believing is a process that can take years.

        The main worry at the moment is I think CETA, which due to some strong resistance in the EU might well be delayed, but could be taken up in the UK – although that might only happen in the case of achieving a full Brexit. One thing I do believe ( perhaps incorrectly ) is that after Brexit, there might be more of a chance of overturning these deals.

        As for your second link – I suppose that social media might have had an effect, & will be added to the Russians did it & all the other excuses that are being used to essentially avoid having to give some serious considerations to the real causes, which are that in the US – even if you only count those on food stamps, there are around 45 million people who have not been invited to the Neoliberal party.

        And as for Brexit – our ” Deplorables ” are in a similar boat, although they are more fortunate, as they can hang on by their finger nails, to what is left of the welfare state & are not also suffering from an opioid academic fueled by the Duterte corporation, which has been recently shown to have colluded with criminal gangs to aid distribution. Apparently Oxycontin is killing a 100,000 people a year & maybe us Brits should bring back 19th century gin palaces to help clear away what someone termed as ” The Unecessecariat “.

        As for who should learn – is that those who are imitating the austerity ridden Germans who voted for Hitler in desperation, or is it those in charge who brought about similar conditions that led to the above ?

  29. If the left could catch on about Modern Money Theory it could become unstoppable. Hopefully neoliberalism will one day soon finally burn itself out and the Conservatives will be left as the high tax and austerity party. Austerity is unnecessary and taxes can be low in an economy run on MMT principles. Labour, and other left leaning parties, like the Greens, could become the low tax parties. Positive Money propose something similar.

    What Are Taxes For: An MMT Approach

    Professor Randolph Wray:

    But in the case of a government that issues its own sovereign currency without a promise to convert at a fixed value to gold or foreign currency (that is, the government “floats” its currency), we need to think about the role of taxes in an entirely different way. Taxes are not needed to “pay for” government spending. Further, the logic is reversed: government must spend (or lend) the currency into the economy before taxpayers can pay taxes in the form of the currency. Spend first, tax later is the logical sequence.

    http://neweconomicperspectives.org/2014/05/taxes-mmt-approach.html

    1. Hi Kavy, The question of money creation is not a left / right one. Politicians of all persuasions regarding human nature and social structures are ignorant of the money creation process. Money is a political choice that is all we really need to know about money and that the political choices have been outsourced or privatised as regards profits and Socialised as far as profits go.
      The idea of debunking some one elses political preferences is kind of absurd .
      How ever one stumbles upon the basis by which monetary value is interjected into our political economy and social relations and reified to a religious import of ´Debt Forgiveness´and wealth creation is immaterial even when we all understand it we will still be left with our political choices.My first political choice would be for the prohibition of usury, that is any interest on debt instruments or rent seeking. For details see Henry George or Proudhon.

        1. Agreed with Roger….deal with it at the root.

          At one time their were furious debates here on MMT, most of which went totally over my head. A bit like my short time on a business studies course very many moons ago, when the economics & accounting parts were totally lost on my at that time head, which was much more concerned with the flowing locks of the female sitting in front of me. However, the course introduced me to Social History which turned out to be a long term love, unlike the girl mentioned.

          I like Steve Keen who has a model that actually has some bearing on the real world, as well as that other Aussie Bill Mitchel, who I think talks a lot of sense. I like the sound of QE for the people for selfish reasons, but seeing as trillions have been used as QE for the elites in order to supposedly get the economy going, while the top baboons have applied methods that actually crush the people who do actually fuel an economy, at least the little people version might be a way to reduce the debt overload…..I don’t really know & am probably the worst person to talk about it.

          It seems as though the Central banks are shifting gear away from NIRP & I am not sure what to make of it ( no surprise there ) but some seem to think that it would take away one of the justifications for demonetisation, which if true, I am relieved about, as I believe that would lead to a complete control of what we spend & what we can buy…..more than one way to burn a book.

          I am trying to avoid FB at the moment as it appears to mainly consist of posts screaming out that Trump is evil incarnate. I don’t like him, & much of what he will do will probably be very bad but I would prefer him to the Neo-Con puppet Marco Rubio & ” Carpet bomb the Middle East ( excluding Israel of course ) gargoyle that is Ted Cruz that the Dems in their hubris also left the door open for. Appearance seems to count for a lot, & I was thinking the other day that Ted Bundy ( if they could control his unfortunate hobbies ) would have made an ideal presidential candidate – If you can while being charged for torturing to death around 20 young women, have a mob of the same peer group turn up in court to support you, with one of their number actually marrying you, then you shouldn’t have any problem being handsome & cool while sleeping easy at night after giving the go aheads for countless bombing raids.People sure like bandwagons on which to ride on the only charge is to leave your critical thinking behind.

          Some talk from Nomi Prins & others of another possible crash late this year & others saying that CB policy in terms of non performing mortgage loans will result in something of a housing crash. Trouble at mill in the form what appears to be a possible rejection from the people of one member of that somewhat shadowy area, whose main export seems to be it’s people, to years of Neoliberal shock therapy in order to repay European banks, while also becoming a handy cheap labour forces for German car parts, so called ” Made in Ireland ” crystal & other things.

          I have a nagging suspicion that the real powers that be, or maybe one part of it, might want to let certain things slide onto Trump’s doorstep, so as people would then look back to the good ol’ days of the cool guy – probably my feverish imagination, but I am sure you can understand why it can get you like that.

          I shall leave you with that old Chinese curse :

          ” May you live in interesting times “.

          1. Trump seems to be going back in his word on everything. I got this from Antiwar. Com.

            STOP ELLIOTT ABRAMS!
            TO: ALL PEACE ADVOCATES
            FROM: THE STAFF OF ANTIWAR.COM
            RE: STOP ELLIOTT ABRAMS!

            Dear friend of Antiwar.com,

            The news that President Trump is considering neoconservative Elliott Abrams for the key position of Deputy Secretary of State should alarm all Americans who want to “avoid the mistakes of the past,” as Trump put it in his major foreign policy speech. Abrams stands for everything the President said he opposes: regime change, globalism, hostility to Russia, endless wars on behalf of ungrateful “allies.”

            No matter what you think of Trump, Abrams in a key State Department position represents a grave threat to peace.

            In addition, Abrams was indicted and convicted in the infamous “Contra-gate” scandal of the 1980s, when he collaborated in a plot to cover up paying ransom to Iran for the hostages they had taken.

            Although he was pardoned by Ronald Reagan, this hardly alters his criminal status – and that’s the least of his crimes. During that same period he was instrumental in supporting not only the Nicaraguan contras, but also the terrorist “death squads” that wreaked devastation on El Salvador – a horrific phenomenon that led directly to the chaos that has turned that country into a killing field ruled by criminals.

            Tens of thousands of Salvadorans are today showing up at our southern border due to Abrams’ activities in the Reagan era.

            Abrams is a prominent member of a faction that has been responsible for most of the devastation that the United States has wrought throughout the Middle East and the world since 9/11. He supported the Iraq war: he supports regime change in Syria. His entire career exemplifies all that is wrong with the conduct of US foreign policy in recent times.

            In short, Abrams must be stopped.

            The post of Deputy Secretary of State is subject to confirmation by the Senate. Although as of this writing Abrams’ appointment is by no means certain, now is the time to act.

            No matter what you think of Trump, this must be stopped. Contact the White House and call your Senators. Tell them: No on Abrams!

          2. Yes… Max Keiser & Michael Hudson’s optimism soon faded & the possible silver linings appear to be increasingly diminishing. The loon known as Betsy Davos has got the job, Trump has cosied up to the likes of Jamie Dimon & as you have stated – he has the seemingly obligatory Neo-Con ready to step forward into the breech, while making lots of aggressive noises against Iran & China.

            I don’t see how how he can pick a fight with either of those two without Russia getting involved, as their strength relies on solidarity. He has at least put the stoppers on Porkyschenko in Ukraine & from what I have read from US sites, his core support is happy with his efforts to keep his campaign promises.

            The Democrat courtiers are wanting to continue as if nothing has happened & so far I cannot see much sign of a resistance from the Sanderistas in an effort to reform that party. Early days yet though & we are as always looking through a glass darkly.

            Meanwhile Draghi is back on ( if he was ever off ) QE to infinity & has stated that Trump through his scrapping of Dodd-Frank has sown the seeds of the next crisis, which might be seen as blaming a penguin for sitting on a certain iceberg. All we can do is hope for the best, which perhaps selfishly for me, is to hope that we don’t get vapourised by an ICBM, or a massive global warming tipping point doesn’t suddenly become apparent. I don’t like the look of that split in Antarctica & there have been reports that at current temperatures, world sea level should be 20 ft higher – I don’t know, but I would prefer Trump’s hubris to be illustrated by something a lot less drastic than either of those two hopefully small possibilities.

          3. On Trump,
            I decided to take the time to watch all of Steve Bannons movies and to take in a little Brietbart as well, I also spent some time on the Citizens United Site and found the first and most recent video which has a Trump talking head, mentioning ´Ámerican Exceptionalism´ http://www.citizensunited.org/latest-updates.aspx?article=10730

            The Bannon and Brietbart stuff goes back to the Occupy movement and two films Generation Zero and Occupy unmasked.

            Bannon has two themes, € Turnings of empire and The Rules for Radicals.
            The Turnings is a sort of Determinism or Calvanist pre ordination doctrines and Rules for Radicals is a sort of paranoia that all non conservatives are Anarchists.
            Lastly, the main theme throughout Rules for Radicals and Alinsky’s work was empowerment of the poor.[5] Alinsky used symbol construction and nonviolent conflict to create a structured organization with a clearly defined goal that could take direct action against a common enemy. At this point, Alinsky would withdraw from the organization to allow their progress to be powered by the community itself.[3] This empowered the organizations to create change.[2]

            The Rules[edit]
            “Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have.” Power is derived from 2 main sources – money and people. “Have-Nots” must build power from flesh and blood.
            “Never go outside the expertise of your people.” It results in confusion, fear and retreat. Feeling secure adds to the backbone of anyone.
            “Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy.” Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty.
            “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.” If the rule is that every letter gets a reply, send 30,000 letters. You can kill them with this because no one can possibly obey all of their own rules.
            “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.” There is no defense. It’s irrational. It’s infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions.
            “A good tactic is one your people enjoy.” They’ll keep doing it without urging and come back to do more. They’re doing their thing, and will even suggest better ones.
            “A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.” Don’t become old news.
            “Keep the pressure on. Never let up.” Keep trying new things to keep the opposition off balance. As the opposition masters one approach, hit them from the flank with something new.
            “The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.” Imagination and ego can dream up many more consequences than any activist.
            “The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition.” It is this unceasing pressure that results in the reactions from the opposition that are essential for the success of the campaign.
            “If you push a negative hard enough, it will push through and become a positive.” Violence from the other side can win the public to your side because the public sympathizes with the underdog.
            “The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.” Never let the enemy score points because you’re caught without a solution to the problem.
            “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions.
            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rules_for_Radicals

            Bannon is one side of the Story, Ryan and Pries the other side.

            The Corbett report did a good job called filling the Swamp.
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs0BfPDvUQg

            Mnuchin( treasury Guy ) Seems the worse pick of Course Dimon is on the committee of industrialists ands bankers but so is Elon Musk.

            Trump is at best another Reagan possibly Andrew Jackson. Bannon is a fiscal Conservative, Will Trump go the Fight The Fed route? several US presidents have , or will he go the George Osbourne first coalition route?
            Trump is both learning oin the Job but has talked in the past about a few issues economically.

            Has Bannon learnt much in the past 6 year? I know I have learned a lot and expect Trump and Bannon have as well, as we all have here.

            The EU , The Green PArty , Remoaners, Traditionalist Brexiteers, Old paradigmers we might call them have not learned much at all.

            Biggest lesson though is prediction is a tricky thing and being right is always more luck than judgement. When the Die is already cast early on set algorithms can give a better idea of Trajectory, what we have so far though is a few practice swings by the Trump administration.

            Watched this last night a very recent Soros Interview ? Yesterday´s man I think.
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS4WOF4E-FM

            Trump may be adopting Keep your freinds close and your enemies closer strategy, I think he is a lot smarter than commentators give him credoit for. At this point I still do not see a clear picture but worrying signs and Trump is keeping us all guessing, Thats precisely what he would want.

            I do like his EU ambassador Pick who is a very high value addition.

  30. Hi guys, if you don’t know about it Evonomics is a great site. What I like about it is that the articles always tend to be positive. These are some of the latest ones:

    It’s Time for New Economic Thinking Based on the Best Science Available, Not Ideology: A new narrative for a complex age

    Why the Maximize Shareholder Value Theory Is Bogus: It produces short-termism, underinvestment, and a preoccupation with image management

    http://evonomics.com/

  31. Starter for 10 on the turnings theory.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strauss%E2%80%93Howe_generational_theory

    And here someting interesting.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commission_on_Global_Governance
    https://web.archive.org/web/20121019090306/http://www.sovereignty.net/p/gov/gganalysis.htm
    http://www.gdrc.org/u-gov/global-neighbourhood/
    The Commission’s refusal to recommend taxing power for the UN while advancing dozens of global revenue-raising schemes is similar to declaring that “global governance” is not “world government.” The Commission says “It would be appropriate to charge for the use of some common global resources. Another idea would be for corporate taxation of multinational companies.” The favored scheme was first advanced by Nobel Prize winner, James Tobin. He has proposed a tax on international monetary exchange which would yield an estimated $1.5 trillion per year. “Charges for use of the global commons have a broad appeal on grounds of conservation and economic efficiency as well as for political and revenue reasons.” The Commission supports a $2 per barrel tax on oil, which automatically escalates to $10 per barrel in 10 years. “A carbon tax introduced across a large number of countries or a system of traded permits for carbon emissions would yield very large revenues indeed.”
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoBcgwb0kCQ

    It feels like 2008 all over again Except Palin is Trump and Mc Cain is Pence? or was that 2012 no that was Romney and Paul Ryan, OK so Ryan we need to look at him.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoBcgwb0kCQ

    Coming full circle then to climate change and Climate Gate 2.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4192182/World-leaders-duped-manipulated-global-warming-data.html

    1. I know this is somewhat off the main subject but as you mentioned James Tobin I do think his proposal could be used for an overhaul of the taxation system itself. I believe that income tax is a relic of the past and with its myriad of deductions and exceptions has created a monster unproductive industry designed to exploit those deductions and exceptions. If we look at the premise that everybody should contribute to the running of their country then it is failing dramatically. The extreme is the large international companies exploiting those loopholes but it happens at every level of society. Unfortunately the tax burden falls mainly on the wage and salary earners. With fewer and fewer people being wage and salary earners with many being required to be independent contractors, a new system of tax collection must be looked at. In a world where we are now told that cash is to be replaced with electronic transactions then the system I would like to see, based on Prof Tobin’s FTT of 1% of the 1970s, would be a gradual replacement of the existing tax system in its entirety with an FTT one. It would attach to all Bank electronic amd cash deposits, with the word ‘Bank’ being widely defined. It would be collected by the Banks and paid directly to Government. So, imagine, each time you paid someone then that amount would recorded in their bank statement as such and then the statement would show an amount of tax deducted and paid to Government. Now look at that from the very real picture of your and every persons grocery shopping at their local super market. The amount collected by the supermarkets alone each and every day is huge and would attract, even at a tax rate of 1%, a large revenue for Government. Then look at that nationwide for all businesses. Businesses would not be adversely affected because remember they would not be paying any other taxes and even if they tried to recover that revenue and increased prices it would be futile and not matter anyway because people would have more money in their pockets and any increase in prices would attract more tax revenue. An FTT is not difficult and is a simple and elegant system of taxation. The aim is to clean up the existing structure. There would be no income tax, no deductions, no VAT (which hurts the lower income people) and no taxes of any sort, only a FTT. The politics of how to spend the money comes later. My politics would look at an UBI and the FTT percentage rate to achieve that. A UBI would not only help our grandchildren but everybody who is being affected by the technological changes that are being foisted on us. I believe a UBI should be indexed to inflation and wages. With a FTT system of taxation we could have a world class hospital system, a world class education system etcetera. I would also impose a progressive tax on all income over $100,000.00 and reintroduce the inheritance tax but that would be for the purpose of reducing inequality not revenue.

      1. Hi Patricia, the Tobin Tax is a good idea as also was Georges Single Land Tax. I do think they need to be coupled with provisions against usury in the money creation process for the reasons explained by Proudhon and paraphrased by Kropotkin, Thus.
        ´´Proudhon was the first to use, in 1840 (Qu’est-ce que la propriete? first memoir), the name of anarchy with application to the no government state of society. The name of ‘anarchists’ had been freely applied during the French Revolution by the Girondists to those revolutionaries who did not consider that the task of the Revolution was accomplished with the overthrow of Louis XVI, and insisted upon a series of economical measures being taken (the abolition of feudal rights without redemption, the return to the village communities of the communal lands enclosed since 1669, the limitation of landed property to 120 acres, progressive income-tax, the national organization of exchanges on a just value basis, which already received a beginning of practical realization, and so on).

        Now Proudhon advocated a society without government, and used the word anarchy to describe it. Proudhon repudiated, as is known, all schemes of communism, according to which mankind would be driven into communistic monasteries or barracks, as also all the schemes of state or state-aided socialism which were advocated by Louis Blanc and the collectivists. When he proclaimed in his first memoir on property that ‘Property is theft’, he meant only property in its present, Roman-law, sense of ‘right of use and abuse’; in property-rights, on the other hand, understood in the limited sense of possession, he saw the best protection against the encroachments of the state. At the same time he did not want violently to dispossess the present owners of land, dwelling-houses, mines, factories and so on. He preferred to attain the same end by rendering capital incapable of earning interest; and this he proposed to obtain by means of a national bank, based on the mutual confidence of all those who are engaged in production, who would agree to exchange among themselves their produces at cost-value, by means of labour cheques representing the hours of labour required to produce every given commodity. Under such a system, which Proudhon described as ‘Mutuellisme’, all the exchanges of services would be strictly equivalent. Besides, such a bank would be enabled to lend money without interest, levying only something like I per cent, or even less, for covering the cost of administration. Everyone being thus enabled to borrow the money that would be required to buy a house, nobody would agree to pay any more a yearly rent for the use of it. A general ‘social liquidation’ would thus be rendered easy, without violent expropriation. The same applied to mines, railways, factories and so on.

        In a society of this type the state would be useless. The chief relations between citizens would be based on free agreement and regulated by mere account keeping. The contests might be settled by arbitration. A penetrating criticism of the state and all possible forms of government, and a deep insight into all economic problems, were well-known characteristics of Proudhon’s work.´´

        https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/kropotkin-peter/1910/britannica.htm

        my latest on Article 50 and why we need to factor in the Money Power.
        https://letthemconfectsweeterlies.blogspot.se/2017/02/article-50-globalisation-and-real-seat.html

        1. I suppose that with demonetisation like much of everything else, it depends on who is running it. From what I have read on the Indian effort, it is those at the bottom who as usual have taken the rap. If by chance it was installed by a government who applied Patricia’s sound ideas, then it might work well enough, but in a democracy, there is always the chance that it can be perverted to better suit the usual suspects.

          I would worry about those who scrape by, as cash for them is flexible. Waiting staff, the homeless, buskers & as is the case around here – the people who collect for local charities in buckets & others who raise money from raffles etc for community projects. There is also quite a lot of evidence of people who do a bit of cash work in order to make ends meet.

          As things stand now – I reckon it would just be another way of squeezing blood from stones & would only help the rise of the likes of Google etc, who i think when they achieve full monopoly, in time honoured fashion, would start to turn the screw & also due to their political position – as has been shown by their rabid support for Clinton, we would eventually arrive at a situation of ever more screwing of their suppliers & a control of what is available for purchase.

          I also do not like the idea of every transaction i make being recorded & of course, like in the case of the Euro, if it didn’t work out, it would very likely be a nightmare to try to get out of. This old Luddite would prefer if we actually went the other way & were less reliant on cyberspace, which is a large part of what holds globalisation together.

          I don’t like all my eggs being put in one basket, but i suppose those that are still doing Ok wont worry too much about it. It does all seem to be a lot more fragile than people realise & after all, reliant on a national grid- The banks for instance, especially Deutsche have very outdated & basically crappy IT systems, which it seems would take years & a huge sum to update. Something that would likely need to be a constant process, in order to keep up with malware & hackers, who according to this are ready to become modern day versions of the James Gang.

          ATM’s shutting down, would be nothing compared to a system like the above going down.

          https://arstechnica.co.uk/security/2017/02/a-rash-of-invisible-fileless-malware-is-infecting-banks-around-the-globe/

          1. I am writing from New Zealand and I don’t know where you live Steviefinn but here my bank statement shows money deposited into my bank account and by whom and money withdrawn from my bank account and by whom. Withholding tax is deducted from interest paid to me, no matter how small, and is recorded on my statement. My view is that as much as I like how some things were done in the past, and I am old, we are living in a very controled financial society and, with the abolition of cash, will become even more so. My view is that the taxation system we have should be structured so that all, individuals and businesses, contribute to the country they are living in or are doing business in. I have heard of George’s Land tax but in today’s world I cannot see how that could replace all taxes while a FTT could. My problem is that while I can find the amount of tax our Government collects, apart from writing to every bank in the country, I cannot find their daily turnover. The other problem I have is MMT. If a sovereign country can print money, then other than to reduce inequality, why do we need taxation?

          2. Hello Patricia

            I am an English exile living in Northern Ireland, who is also somewhat long in the tooth ( those that I have left ). I don’t disagree with you on any of the above, my problem is with demonetisation which it seems to to me is something being planned by our current rancid elites in order to help keep the banks afloat, by stopping bank runs & giving them the potential to more easily shift around & control capital with the added bonus of being better able to control us.

            Maybe i am just paranoid, but i feel that we already have too many strings attached & I personally don’t want anymore which it seems to be in terms of the survellance of my life, would be in a way not too dissimilar to that of a person in a prison.

            Wishing you well – Stevie.

      2. Some good points there, Patricia. I like the idea of the UBI and Yanis Varoufakis is arguing for that too, as well as some of the MMTers. Some of the progressive left are now becoming more active in the US fighting to win back the Democratic Party from the corporate Democrats. I used to feel concerned because the right seemed so powerful, but there are plenty of people working for change, and David Malone is doing lots of good stuff too.

        Only 25% of the electorate voted for Trump. There’s loads of people who want something different. Paul Mason is on our side and there are lots of others. Brian Eno works alongside Yanis Varoufakis for Democracy in Europe, DiEM25. Warren Mosler was an hedge fund manager and a serial entrepreneur, but he figured out Modern Money Theory which believes in massive public provision, like free health care, free university education, and the job guarantee, etc. And Jamie Johnson, heir to the Johnson and Johnson fortune, is a massive liberal too wanting a fairer, more just society.

        This is a great interview, Debbie Lusignan is working hard to change the Democratic Party.

        Real Progressives LIVE with Debbie Lusignan, The Sane Progressive, talking about the road forward!

        https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RGjQ1PaJ5ek

        1. I like the idea of UBI, but I feel that if it is installed with demonetisation by those who are presently running the show – it will be a carrot with a big stick.

  32. http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/02/steve-bannon-books-reading-list-214745

    Blimey someone had the same idea. Actually rather a lot of folk I guess.

    This made me laugh.

    Bannon, described by one associate as “the most well-read person in Washington,” is known for recommending books to colleagues and friends, according to multiple people who have worked alongside him. He is a voracious reader who devours works of history and political theory “in like an hour,”

    Having read this on Wikipedia earlier.
    ´´Former U.S Vice President Al Gore (who graduated from Harvard University with Mr. Strauss) called Generations: The History of America’s Future, 1584 to 2069 the most stimulating book on American history he’d ever read. He even sent a copy to each member of Congress.[9]´´

    AL Gore, almost as big a criminal as Tony Blair in my book, as sleezy as Clinton as well.

    I do not think you can believe anything anymore except as it says in the old adage. Never believe anything until its been officiallly denied.

  33. Lots to chew over there Roger & a fine list of variations of evil, to which i would add the likes of the empty suited technocrats who are preparing to further screw the Greeks into the ground. The IMF it seems wants none of this, which I think is an illustration of how vicious the Euro cardboard cutouts actually are – Trump might actually let the IMF off the hook – we shall see.

    On a bright note, I think I have discovered someone who in comparison to the above gougers was & is a very bright light. Unfortunately this discovery was only due to his death, but I feel that a small flake of him has now been born in me. I spent a day on the sofa, wrapped in a duvet with a hat on exploring some of the works of this man. This was due to our heating breaking down on a very cold day, which turned out to be a fortunate accident. I first watched his ” Ways of Seeing ” documentary on art from 1972, which truly opened my eyes in 2hrs of more useful information than i have probably received from a hundred other efforts.

    You might already know him as John Berger, a Marxist with a heart. a fairly good round up of a big life here, & below that something which I personally believe is very profound :

    https://www.mediapart.fr/en/journal/france/040117/john-berger-writer-who-changed-how-we-look-things-view-paris

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O13oDMvR02Q&t=4s

    ” I propose a conspiracy of orphans. We exchange winks. We reject hierarchies. All hierarchies. We take the shit of the world for granted and we exchange stories about how we nevertheless get by. We are impertinent. More than half the stars in the universe are orphan-stars belonging to no constellation. And they give off more light than all the constellation stars “.

  34. Ever since I discovered the Real Progressives I’ve been watching all their videos ever since. In this one Ellis Winningham describes why the 2008 financial crisis occurred and what to do about it. He describes how Bill Clinton, Bush, and Obama messed it up while enriching Wall Street. A terrific and interesting video which came out on the 30th of Jan 2017 which is also a good a good introduction to MMT. It’s a shame to see professional politicians mess up our economy. None of this is necessary.

    Real Progressives LIVE with Ellis Winningham: Sectoral Balances, Destroying Neoliberalism & more:

    ·Real Progressives LIVE: Steve Grumbine speaks with Ellis Winningham about Sectoral Balances, Destroying Neoliberalism and Democratic Double Speak

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tPupNqVNdS0

    1. From the Real Progressives youtube page of the video:

      How the Clinton’s wrecked the economy and how we fix it”

      Tonight we keep with macroeconomic reality and focus on sectoral balances while we drive home with surgical precision how the Clinton economic policies killed the nation and continue to this day. As progressives, this is an absoute MUST SEE.

      Notes for Tonight’s Discussion of the Sectoral Balances:

      1.) Primary Rule of Macroeconomics: Somebody’s spending is somebody’s income.

      Please note: There is absolutely no possible way around this rule.

      2.) Background information on how the sectoral balances equation is derived:

      Financial Accounts (Flow of Funds): Federal Reserve

      https://www.federalreserve.gov/releas

      https://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/f

      From the Federal Reserve: “The Financial Accounts of the United States includes data on the flow of funds and levels of financial assets and liabilities, by sector and financial instrument; full balance sheets, including net worth, for households and nonprofit organizations, nonfinancial corporate businesses, and nonfinancial noncorporate businesses; Integrated Macroeconomic Accounts; and additional supplemental detail.”

      In other words, the Financial Accounts provide us with information concerning the financial flows within the economy by sector.

      The Federal Reserve uses the flow of funds to examine and estimate the effects of alterations in the flow of credit in the US economy.

      We can also use this information to facilitate an understanding of:

      a. Debt levels of each sector in the economy.
      b. Gross capital formation.
      c. How each sector is using savings.

      The most important aspect of the Financial Accounts as it applies to our discussion concerning sectoral balances, is that on the macro level of the economy, the sources of funds must equal the uses of funds.

      National Accounts: Bureau of Economic Analysis

      https://www.bea.gov/national/index.htm

      From the Bureau of Economic Analysis: “BEA’s national economic statistics provide a comprehensive view of U.S. production, consumption, investment, exports and imports, and income and saving. These statistics are best known by summary measures such as gross domestic product (GDP), corporate profits, personal income and spending, and personal saving.”

      The National Accounts measure non-financial transactions while the Financial Accounts measure financial transactions.

      The National Accounts separate the US economy into various expenditure categories:

      a. Government spending
      b. Consumption
      c. Investment
      d. Exports and Imports

      The National Accounts provide us with a view of the sources and uses of Gross Domestic Product, which is the national income.

      a. Sources: Government spending, consumption, investment, and exports minus imports.
      b. Uses: Consumption, savings and taxation.

      From the National Accounts information, we can derive the Sectoral Balances equation.

      3.) The Form of the Sectoral Balances Equation For Tonight’s Discussion

      (G – T) = (S – I) – (X – M)

      What you must understand and come to terms with is that:

      a. The Sectoral Balances equation is an accounting identity.
      b. The Sectoral Balances demonstrate the fundamental differences between the currency issuer and currency users, and how the fiscal stance of the issuer impacts the macroeconomy.

      and most importantly…

      c. The Sectoral Balances equation is not subject to opinion.

      Write for Real Progressives
      http://www.realprogressivesusa.com/pa

    1. I like Mark Blythe but I wish he could be a bit more optimistic. Yanis Varoufakis says how a French Socialist leader is making great strides to become the Socialist Party leader and is very popular. He wants the UBI. Mark Blythe doesn’t believe that people within the Democratic Party are fighting hard enough against the corporate Democrats, but have put out loads of stuff here by The Real Progressives who really fighting to reclaim the Democratic Party.

      1. Kevin.

        In terms of the French socialist leader that you don’t name, here is the opinion from a Parisienne due to my request, who has been consistently correct ( or at least thereabouts ) on the political siuation in France for at least 3 years. Of course he could be wrong as could the polls, but Varoufakis has no great claims to being the fortunate receiver of wisdom from a crystal ball & in terms of his own battles with the Eurocrats when Syriza were elected, he seriously underestimated what he & Tspirus were up against :

        ” For me Macron is not a socialist but a conservative (under the “fresh young outside of the parties” thin varnish he is the real dusty candidate of the establishment : pro Europe, pro Globalization, pro Status quo etc etc. He is actually Hollande’s candidate).

        In my opinion Hamon just cannot win because the people who really want a Left candidate will rather vote Mélenchon, not Hamon. And the people who want a Center Left candidate Hollande-like, will vote Macron so I think he will and up with 10-15% max (and even if Hamon did win, I indeed think it will be mostly business as usual).

        The only real Left candidate is Mélenchon. If he wins it would be a big change, but I doubt he can reach the second round (and I doubt there will be an alliance between him and Hamon. Mélenchon will not step back and Hamon can argue that he has won the primary).

        If we are talking about real changes, for me there only 2 candidates : Marine Le Pen and Mélenchon “.

        I agree that there is evidence that Progressives are building up a resistance, as there is some evidence from what you have posted which is backed up by information received from places like Naked Capitalism.

        In terms of Blythe’s pessimism, that might indeed be the case, but after spending 3 days watching every video i could find of his – I don’t really think that is the case. in longer vids he does suggest ideas that could be put in place, but i think that his main role is as an educator on the WHY of our present situation, which is something he appears to do tirelessly through many appearances, given to many different groups, in many different formats, from the Jimmy Dore show ( somewhere your normal Ivory Tower academics would see as being beneath their dignity) to student bodies in universities.

        His explanations that describe the complicity of the last 3 Democrat governments, is something that will hopefully pull aside the cognitive veil that many of their supporters suffer from, in terms of the reality of these fakes.

        He gets large viewing numbers which are steadily increasing – a video he did in Greece on the shitstorm there went viral some time ago with 1.2 million views.

        When asked to state off the top of his head his suggestions were basically as follows :

        1. Everybody without exception pays their taxes,

        2. Do we have to work ?……UBI, problem is funding, so use the 29 trillion in tax havens to pay for it.

        3. Also use some of that money as a form of infrastructure investment to combat the effects of global warming.

        I do not think he is the be all & end all, but he is out there producing ever larger waves containing knowledge that is needed for people who have not been hanging around a joint like this.

        1. Yes, it was Hamon that Yanis Varoufakis spoke about who he said was a left winger running on a Basic Income ticket. You say he is more mainstream than left, so I will have to read up more about him.

          I’ve watched many of Mark Blythe’s videos and they are riveting. He knows how to talk straight and keep you interested. He’s right on the button and I do like him. I’m glad he is picking up lots of views talking about the perils of neoliberalism.

          I sent Mark Blythe an email yesterday talking about how some Democrats are fighting back and I put in links to two The Real Progressives videos all about this. Whether these pockets of resistance can make a difference, I don’t know, but they think they can. They spoke about strategies and I felt encouraged.

          The Trump administration it’s very hawkish and this video describes how dangerous it is, and also how the Democratic Party has become taken over by corporate Democrats.

          Real Progressives LIVE with Former Green Party US Senate candidate, Arn Menconi

          Published on 30 Jan 2017·Real Progressives LIVE with Former Green Party U.S. Senate candidate & Activist, Arn Menconi: Muslim Bans, Bigotry, Fascism and Fighting Back

          https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KWS3otBVumo

    2. This is good. But getting out of this mess is easy, says Mark Blyth, the elites need to end austerity.

      On Contact Cost of austerity with Mark Blyth

      Published on 12 Jan 2017·On this week’s episode of On Contact, Chris Hedges sits down with economist Mark Blyth to discuss the detrimental ramifications of austerity programs following the 2008 financial crisis. Professor Blyth, author of Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea, addresses the political effects of the spending cuts and considers why the elites will not take responsibility for the fallout

      https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=A46XYUNd-74

      1. I suppose Greece is the ultimate example of at least the European power elite’s determination to force through a policy that is obviously going nowhere good. If they had enforced it with the barrel of a gun & killed people with bullets rather than austerity measures then it would be seen as a crime against humanity, but most prefer to look the other way & since Brexit, most comfortable Lefties have preferred to totally ignore the fact that all their precious progressive policies are slowly being crushed by Neoliberals who are only too happy to install trade deals which will help them to do so.

        Barrosa gets a nice job with Goldman – no real outrage as far as i could tell & that leader of the technocrats screwing the Greeks & others, whose supposedly Left wing party in Holland is now the 7th least popular party – Mr. Disselbloom ( not spelt right, he doesn’t deserve the effort ) is all set it seems to be rewarded by being given a nice cushy bank job. Chris Hedges summed up these careerists quite a while back, who are the same type of people who below the top line gangsters enabled the Holocaust.

        It’s a shame that they have destroyed what i think was a fine idea with a bridge too far in the form of the EZ, Going back to topic for a moment – I hope Rupert Sheldrake’s idea that when we die, we become part of a larger much more vivid dream than the ones we experience while asleep, which is made up of our experiences & behaviour while we were alive. Maybe it is a bit like a waiting room in which we get to really chew over our lives, which includes the full extent of it’s chain reaction. To be in a state where power & material things have no significance would I think be enough to become hell for most of these shits, but the idea itself is of course only a dream – one I only wish were true because there appears to be so little justice in this world, except perhaps what shows on the faces & in the dead fish eyes of many of these alpha baboons.

  35. Blythe is the kind of left winger who can never address the issue of culture, identity and immigration. Indeed, he is the type who is very quick to throw the ‘r’ word around. His is the neo-materialist school which says that if we were just more equal economically, everything else would be fine.

    Hopefully David Goodhart’s next book will put that to bed.
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Road-Somewhere-Populist-Revolt-Politics/dp/1849047995/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1486757468&sr=8-2&keywords=david+goodhart

    1. Phil.

      OK so he is not perfect, but at least he does make serious attempts to disprove the all the deplorables are racist mantra issuing forth from those who would rather not look at the real causes, of which they were a part. As a political economist, i don’t think he should be expected to talk about culture & I for one wouldn’t expect him to.

      Another aspect of the immigration problem is that within the current hysterical climate in the US due to the actions of Trump, & previous to that, the rigid mindset of identity politics which at the very mention of the possibility that immigration might not be a good thing, often results in a kind of burn the witch reaction – might it be the case that in order to get the majority of a message out, it is perhaps wise for the time being to proceed cautiously on the subject ?

      That is the case with both Bernie Sanders & Naomi Klein who both used to talk about the problems with mass immigration in their criticisms of globalisation, but over the past few years they have kept their mouths shut on the subject. This is probably because they rightly feared that opining on the subject would be like giving their opponents a club to hit them over the heads with & could possibly leave them in a situation of being discredited to many.

      Solving the economic problems would I think in itself lead to a diminishment of the immigration issues, if it meant that countries who now have to export a good part of their workforce’s, no longer had to do so. Stopping ceaseless bombing & at least examining the potential affects of climate change on places like the Middle East & North Africa, would also hopefully help to stop that potential approaching tide.

      I’m sure that David Goodheart’s analysis is a good one, but I suspect it wont get much of a hearing within the mainstream, whereas Blythe’s however flawed analysis is for the time at least, the best we can hope for in terms of at least getting good information out to as many people as possible & the man is very good at it By using an almost stand up comic style & keeping it simple but extremely informative, which makes it approachable to a bigger audience, who from what i have seen hang onto his every word. Quite an achievement for someone in a foreign country who talks pretty fast with a Dundee accent. He also gets paid to do it, which unfortunately many of those who also have important things to say, do not have the luxury of.

      There will hopefully be a time when the subject is no longer taboo & a culture can be strengthened on a no longer shaky foundation, which is hopefully in the process of being repaired in order to safely build on……baby steps.

  36. I’ve just been reading about the Justice Democrats who are trying to reclaim the Democratic Party. They were started by Cenk Uygur who runs The Young Turks network which has gone from starting in a bedroom 12 years ago to become the world’s largest online news media outlet. There’s a big demand for progressive politics.

    The Young Turks and the Justice Democrats are very progressive and are Bernie Sanders guys. Except they were all disappointed when Bernie gave up after he got cheated out of the leadership but his movement lives on. The Justice Democrats take no donations from corporations.

    Cenk Uygur once worked for CNN and supported the Republican Party, but when he thought it through he found he disliked the Republicans more and more. CNN fired him when he started reporting the alternative news. He’s inspirational and really knocks the Right for six. He has the comedian Jimmy Dore on his show who is just as progressive as me. The Jimmy Dore show is good too.

    Then there are the Real Progressives I mentioned here. Americans are fighting back. I hope it helps Corbyn.

    The media is owned by 6 corporations who will try to discredit the Justice Democrats like they do to Corbyn. But I’m optimistic they’re onto something big.

    Cenk’s Rousing Speech On Getting Money Out of Politics

    The Young Turks

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HgsXpaBRieQ

    1. We/ they sure as hell need something, as it appears that the present course is leading nowhere good.

      Not good vibes coming from the US in terms of Democracy, as it appears that Trump & Co. are fighting what is referred to as the ” Deep State “. A coalition of spooks, Neo-cons, certain parts of the media & the Corporate Democrats, who appear to believe that bringing back the Cold War is a good idea. Perhaps it’s just as well for him that he is not threatening the Wall St. trough.

      It kind of illustrates the battle Sanders would have had if he had been elected, although the forces that would be attacking him, would probably be of a slightly different mixture.

      A good summing up of Trump’s battle with something that is in my opinion ( so far ) a whole lot worse :

      http://kunstler.com/clusterfuck-nation/that-war-you-ordered/

      1. I’ve been talking about this on YouTube. The Young Turks, Secular Report, Micheal Moore are all using neoliberal, imperialistic, anti Russian propaganda to beat Trump with. The liberals are being used as pawns by the neoliberal right to start a new cold war. This is far more dangerous than trump. How could the liberals be so stupid?

  37. From Greenwald’s article:
    A failed, collapsed party cannot form an effective resistance. Trump did not become president and the Republicans do not dominate virtually all levels of government because there is some sort of massive surge in enthusiasm for right-wing extremism. Quite the contrary: This all happened because the Democrats are perceived — with good reason — to be out of touch, artificial, talking points-spouting automatons who serve Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and the agenda of endless war, led by millionaires and funded by oligarchs to do the least amount possible for ordinary, powerless citizens while still keeping their votes.

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-02-17/glenn-greenwald-tells-truth-about-dnc-nancy-pelosi-and-chuck-schumer-leading-collaps

    1. Yes, I hated the Democrats, if only they had elected Bernie. He was using MMT and was going to come in with a 13 $trillion spending plan to rejuvenate the economy.

      1. Roger – very good article which sums it up.

        Kevin – Perhaps it is just as well Sanders wasn’t elected as he would also be up to his neck in the swamp Trump said he wanted to drain. One big thing that has come from the Donald’s election is the parlous state of US Democracy, which is ever more looking like a construction that has developed overtime into a vehicle that can only drive in one direction. Something that has evolved into a system that for the sake of the Democracy show, is designed for a possible new driver every four years who can at best only tinker with the controls, which in terms of direction has been for a long period, only to the right.

        A bull in a china shop is obviously a bad thing, but if that place is full of garbage, then perhaps it needs to be torn apart in order for it to be put to better use, if not by the instigator of the alterations, then at least by a future manager who then has the freedom to make more positive changes.

        I remember the Dork of Cork who used to comment here posting a funny video about the same sort of thing which happens in the Irish Dail, whereby new arrivals full of ideological zeal enter a bear pit of a system, which with the help of the old guard & the established bureaucracy takes them in & spits them out. I imagine it is probably much the same to different degrees everywhere else.

        Democracy appears to have become a rigged system that favours only vested interest & TINA, as can be seen within the EU, as coalition governments are it seems used as blocking mechanisms to keep out populist parties & then if that fails ( as with Greece ) an unelected Central bank is then sent in as a financial enforcer which then basically stomps all over the wishes of the electorate.

        I don’t think that the above is sustainable in a world where barring a miracle, it does not look like there is going to be much of an improvement in prospects for the discontented & I have a suspicion that if the US establishment succeed in dumping Trump, they might if not sooner than later, regret it.

        1. This came through today by Yanis Varaofakis.

          Kevin,

          Today we’re launching #TheGreekFiles, a targeted campaign on EU transparency, one of the key values of our movement.

          Here’s Yanis explaining the campaign in three minutes. Or read on below.

          https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Qttt9OHiGG8

          #TheGreekFiles campaign | DiEM25
          Mr Draghi was not sure that closing the Greek banks would be legal…

          Deep in a vault in the headquarters of the European Central Bank (ECB) lie #TheGreekFiles, a legal opinion about the ECB’s role in snuffing out the Athens Spring in 2015.

          If released, these documents could send shockwaves across Europe. And as a European taxpayer, you paid for them. But the ECB’s boss, ex-Goldman Sachs head Mario Draghi, says you can’t see them!

          So former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis and MEP Fabio de Masi, together with a broad alliance of politicians and academics, have announced they will file a mass freedom of information request to the ECB to uncover #TheGreekFiles once and for all.

          If Mario says no, they’ll take the campaign to the next level, and consider all options – including legal action – to make this vital information public.

          How can you help?
          1.Sign and share our Change.org petition
          2.Visit #TheGreekFiles campaign page to learn more about this action, including why its success is vital for our Union’s future
          3.Share this campaign with your contacts and through social media using #TheGreekFiles hashtag
          4.Contribute to DiEM25, so that we can continue this fight for as long as it takes.

          We must all throw light on the lawfulness and propriety of ECB decision-making – starting with this case – to give European democracy a chance, as well as to make the ECB less vulnerable to power politics.

          Will you, Kevin, join this campaign and add your name to our struggle?

          YES, I want to help unlock #TheGreekFiles!

          Carpe DiEM25!
          Luis Martín
          DiEM25 Communications Coordinator

          https://www.change.org/p/mr-draghi-what-are-you-afraid-of-release-thegreekfiles

  38. Just got this :

    BEAT BACK BOLTON!
    TO: ALL PEACE ADVOCATES
    FROM: THE STAFF OF ANTIWAR.COM
    RE: STOP JOHN BOLTON!

    John Bolton as National Security Advisor?!!

    If it seems like we’ve already been through this – well, we have.

    There was that time Bolton was up for Secretary of State. As we all know, he didn’t get it, thanks in part to a vigorous “No to Bolton” online campaign that may have influenced our Twitter-friendly President and/or his advisors.

    Then there was the specter of Elliott Abrams as Deputy Secretary of State, which we here at Antiwar.com met with a full on campaign of opposition. Now, I’m not saying we were entirely responsible for the fact that Abrams was bypassed – but, hey, it didn’t hurt.

    Now we’re faced with yet another Bolton offensive: he’s on the short list for National Security Advisor.

    Are we to be spared nothing?

    Sen. Rand Paul put it well when he told the media:

    “John Bolton still believes the Iraq War was a good idea, he still believes regime change is a good idea, he still believes that nation-building is a good idea.”

    As UN ambassador under George W. Bush, Bolton, said Paul, had a worrying habit of “acting on his own,” adding: “My fear is that secret wars would be developing around the globe.”

    This is important: Bolton as National Security Advisor would be a disaster for the cause of peace. His well-known antipathy for Iran would have us involved in yet another horrific Middle Eastern quagmire in no time.

    We here at Antiwar.com are mounting yet another public campaign to nix Bolton’s nomination – but we need your help.

    We need your help to stop Bolton. Please contact the White House and call your US Senators. We need you to take action now – before it’s too late.

    Peace,

    The Staff of Antiwar.com

    1. Well he didn’t get the job Lt. Gen. HR McMaster did, which is hopefully a more positive result. I came across the Draghi petition on FB & signed it – worth a try & I think that for the Goldman boy, things are going to get ever tougher. Bond redemptions from the can that they thought had been kicked far enough down the road, will start to become an issue in July, although i have no idea of the importance & the effect of this.

  39. I’m glad to see that Trump is taking on the MSM and it’s fake news.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0W_rwFDBjLU

    Donald Trump Calls Out the Media For Fake News

    The Jimmy Dore Show ·

    Published on 17 Feb 2017·In his most recent press conference, President Trump calls out the mainstream media for spreading fake news on sensitive topics. Jimmy Dore breaks it down

    1. Fake News

      Bill Moran was a young journalist who worked for the Sputnik News outlet but lost his job when two journalists at Newsweek said he was a Russian agent after he put out a story with an error in it. He pulled the story down within minutes but Newsweek spun it framing him, calling him a traitor. They thought they could destroy him but he fought back because he had a law degree and so knew what to do and what his rights were. So he’s suing them for$100,000. Now the journalists are saying they got the story from the CIA which means the CIA is now in question for spreading fake news.

      I hope this and the Trump investigation exposes this whole ‘fake new’ BS. I hope it backfires on the MSM. Even the Guardian, a paper I now despise, was peddling this fake news rubbish. It’s been peddling anti Russian propaganda for years and it supported the evil neoliberal, Hilary Clinton over Bernie Sanders.

      Bill Moran says Newsweek will have to pay up otherwise he will destroy them because has a watertight case.

      Real Progressives LIVE with Mike Sainato feat. Journalist Bill Moran

      https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KjVROgl6WJI

  40. This is a very good broadcast on how the neoliberals and the CIA are not accountable to the public and they are trying to start a could war with Russia.

    WEB EXCLUSIVE: We’re Facing A Deep State Coup And The Mainstream Media Is Cheering!

    Redacted Tonight ·

    Published on 22 Feb 2017·In this web exclusive segment, Lee Camp explains how the Deep State is quite likely perpetrating a soft coup against the elected government. Everyone needs to wake up to this reality. Lee has a little help from Glenn Greenwald and Dennis Kucinich

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UCWtLzeFHLo

  41. https://thebaffler.com/salvos/despair-fatigue-david-graeber great piece by David Graeber in the Baffler.
    ´On one level, the pundits were probably right: Corbynmania was just a way of giving the finger to the establishment. The man’s appeal rests largely on a complete absence of conventional charisma. He has no rhetorical flair whatsoever. He simply tells you what he thinks. In a political field so corrupt that it often seems the moral spectrum for public figures runs roughly from calculating cynic to actual child molester, the idea that a genuinely honest man could successfully run for public office was a kind of revelation. Corbyn is rooted in the socialist tradition, but lacks any specific ideology or agenda. To vote for him was simply to vote for a set of values. ´´

    ´´Finally, the very fact that Corbyn is something of a tabula rasa has inspired an onrush of contesting visions, an eager concatenation of new economic and political models vying for attention, which has begun to reveal just how rich and diverse possible left-wing visions of the future might actually be. It’s not just the predictable arrival of the economic luminaries to hold court with the new shadow chancellor—everyone from Joseph Stiglitz and Ann Pettifor, to Yanis Varoufakis and Thomas Piketty. Genuinely radical ideas are being debated and proposed. Should the left be pursuing accelerationism, pushing the contradictions of capitalism forward with rapid growth and development, or should it aim toward a total shift of values and radical de-growth? Or should we be moving toward what Novara, the media initiative that emerged from the 2010 student movement, began cheerfully referring to as FALC—or Fully Automated Luxury Communism—encouraging technologies like 3-D printing to aim for a world of Star Trek–style replicators where everything is free? Should the central bank enact “quantitative easing for the people,” or a universal citizen’s income policy, or should we go the way of Modern Money Theory and universal jobs guarantees?´´

    1. skwawkbox is a whistleblower site where people can go anonymously and get facts released. skwawkbox say’s that the Labour right are deliberately trying to lose by-elections so they can blame it on Corbyn to get him removed. The press go along with it.

      https://skwawkbox.org/2017/01/23/labour-right-are-trying-to-lose-two-by-elections-but-oldham-west-applies/

      Excerpt:

      First, we had Richard Angell of Progress – he of the fake NHS campaigning – showing his true colours by taking to one of the worst right-wing rags to attack Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in classic ‘straw man’ fashion. The article, a mishmash of assumptions that he can see inside people’s heads and then attacking what he tells you he finds there and simply making stuff up, attempts to portray Corbyn as copying what he supposedly disdains (there goes that straw-man again).

      It’s a woeful, snide little article – entirely in keeping with its author, sadly, but it shows how desperate the Labour right are to seize even the most tenuous opportunity to undermine Corbyn’s leadership.

      And one suspects Angell knows it – at the first suggestion of even a question on social media, Angell was immediately on his frequent ‘attack-is-the-best-form-of-defensive’ modus operandi:

      angell troll.jpg

      So much for Mr Angell, only useful as a weathercock, to see which way the right-wing flatulence is blowing.

      Next was an attempt by a nameless Blairite MP to sow doubt and demoralisation, as reported by the Politicshome website under this headline:

      .According to an anonymous ‘senior Labour source’,

      Internal documents seen by the Daily Telegraph show dwindling support for Jeremy Corbyn is behind the drop.

      Support for Labour is believed to have dropped by a third since the 2015 general election.

      A senior Labour source said Mr Corbyn’s “incompetence” as a party leader was repeatedly coming up as a concern for voters on the doorstep.

      The returns suggest that the Tories will take Copeland – a seat held by Labour for 80 years – when voters pick their new MP next month.

      It would be the first time the Government has won a seat off the official opposition since the Tories tookMitcham and Morden, London, in 1982.

      So far, so predictable. The clearly Blairite ‘senior Labour source’ gives away the game by over-egging the pudding with talk of Corbyn’s ‘incompetence’. ‘Internal documents’ could easily be emails or similar between two Blairites, specifically for the purpose of giving substance to a ridiculous article.

      And, of course, there’s the prediction of doom: a 33% fall in Labour support handing victory to the Tories.

      All couched in a suggestion of inevitability that would – if believed – tend to suppress the Labour turnout. Why bother going to vote if you’re sure you’re going to lose?

      If all this seems familiar, that’s because it is.

      In 2015, the Oldham West by-election, was triggered by the sad death of veteran Labour MP Michael Meacher and this Express headline was typical:

      1. I was sad to see Meacher go as he was something of a lone voice warning of the evils of fractional reserve banking & seemed like a decent sort of fella.

        Much similarity on both sides of the Atlantic as the largely discredited Neo-Left plot to preserve their privileges as the cup bearers of globalised Neoliberalism. Tom Perez chosen by Obama etc to head off the Sanderista threat of Ellison, while that empty shell case Hillary Clinton pops up again in a Tony Blair ghastly Jack in a box style, to deliver the same old empty platitudes.

        As for Trump, the spooks & Neo-cons appear to have forced him to back down, by using nothing more than innuendo constantly spewed out hysterically, by a bunch of hack lackeys who appear to think that a nuclear standoff against Russia or anyone else is a very good idea.

        https://consortiumnews.com/2017/02/25/how-new-cold-warriors-cornered-trump/

      2. Were it not for some of the ‘Right wing rags’ many of the most important stories wouldn’t have been broken.

  42. Just a thought – Inflation appears to on the rise again which in terms of Egypt has skyrocketed to almost 30%, which is likely to be felt by the usual suspects in terms of fuel & food, which I think i am right in saying was at the root of the Arab Spring.

    1. https://hat4uk.wordpress.com/2017/03/04/the-weekend-essay-who-are-the-heirs-of-hitler-trump-and-farage-or-soros-and-brussels/

      Phil this is spot on I think. Thanks for posting the link.

      Contrast this
      http://www.panarchy.org/wells/conspiracy.1933.html

      I am speed reading through Wells at the moment.
      http://gutenberg.net.au/plusfifty-n-z.html#wellshg

      I am currently writing a juxtaposition of Putin De Gloabalisation of Russia, Brexit as a wish to De Globalise Britain with a rear guard from the Boris Johnson wing of the Tories, ínternational Rules Based Order´. And of President Trumps de globalisation of the USA.

      http://carnegie.ru/2015/12/16/deglobalizing-russia/in6d?mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRouvqjPZKXonjHpfsX56O0rUKCg38431UFwdcjKPmjr1YsCTsZ0aPyQAgobGp5I5FEIQ7XYTLB2t60MWA%3D%3D

      ´´From the Mass Media perspective, therefore, that which is traditionally Good is re-presented as bad; and vice versa.
      People and events presented by the media as Good are always in reality bad; and people or events presented by the media as bad are usually (but not always) Good – and when bad people or events are not presented as Good, then they are condemned as bad for the wrong reasons.
      Also, if genuinely Good things happen to be presented as Good by the Mass Media; then it will invariably be the case that they also are said to be Good for the wrong reasons.
      Thus, the major output of the modern international Mass Media consists of only four categories:
      1. Good presented as bad
      2. Bad presented as Good
      (That is to say simple inversion)
      3. Good presented as Good for a bad reason
      4. Bad presented as bad for a bad reason
      (That is to say explanatory inversion)
      These four categories, which can be summarized as either simple or explanatory inversion, account for all sustained and high impact modern major Mass Media stories without any exceptions.
      Therefore those who want to free their minds from the Mass Media must first avoid as much Mass Media output as possible, and secondly develop automatic negativistic behaviour towards the Mass Media output which they cannot avoid.´´

      Bruce Charlton.http://addictedtodistraction.blogspot.se/

  43. Hi David
    Having watched your ‘Metamorphosis’ film earlier last evening, here I am in the middle of the night watching the ‘why are we here’ films. Well, I will take the time another time to watch them. I was curious about you as the maker of the first mentioned, so I followed up…

    I am very interested in all these questions as a psychotherapist, and up to this point at least, you don’t seem to have included this as a perspective, although I note an earlier reference in this thread to Iain McGilchrist’s book, which is not irrelevant to my field.

    I see my work as a psychotherapist as transformational, or aspiring to be at least. I have been involved in the training of psychotherapists for many years, and see the process of change in this way. My friend and colleague, Harriett Goldenberg and I co-wrote a book with the title ‘Cradling the Chrysalis: Teaching and learning Psychotherapy’, which, to an extent, approaches the undertaking of psychotherapy as an ethical endeavour. Harriett’s background is Jewish, and she practises as such, while mine is ‘post-Christian’, and as such I was struck by your partnership with Ard in making the films…

    I note also your political engagement, in which I am similar, as a local community councillor….

    More later, maybe. It’s too late now, and I ‘m going to try to sleep…

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