20050920

A Beautiful Mind

That movie sucked. This article in the Guardian does a much better job, but its about a different guy. The science is also more accessible and more interesting.

The kindness of strangers
THE GUARDIAN by ANDREW BROWN, August 27, 2005

"Despite switching disciplines - from maths to law to history then the sciences - Robert Trivers profoundly influenced evolutionary biology with his theory that our sense of justice has Darwinian explanations. But he suffered severe mental breakdowns and his career at Harvard was dogged by controversy. After 15 years in genetics he has now turned to anthropology..."

Cooperation and justice are also powerful memes, regardless of whether they have a basis in our genes.

h/t Kottke
Posted by slickdpdx at 12:16:00 PM

8 comments:

pepektheassassin said...

Has nobody out there reading this site looked into this? This is SCAREY and FASCINATING! Why has no one commented on Bloom's dark ideas??? The Big Bad Wolf is knocking at our doors calling "Let me come in!"

8:46 AM, September 23, 2005
pepektheassassin said...

PS Maybe "the Better Angels" of our nature Abe Lincoln spoke of are more like those Rainer Maria Rilke writes of when he says "Every angel is terrible...."

8:49 AM, September 23, 2005
slickdpdx said...

The Bloom book is more interesting than his site makes it sound. And not so all about evil.

9:21 AM, September 24, 2005
pepektheassassin said...

I hear from some who have read this that he used to be the publicity manager for Prince, and is very anti-Muslim.

11:42 AM, September 25, 2005
slickdpdx said...

Who? Bloom?

The book is not about islam or terrorism. It was published in 1996. I'm not sure what "some" are talking about, a different book, perhaps.

Its a good book if you feel like a wide-ranging conversation with a bright and warm person.

Anyhow, I feel pretty comfortable criticizing christian beleifs, so I wouldn't shy away from a critique of an even more backward, intolerant and repressive religion (especially as presently constituted).

5:18 PM, September 25, 2005
pepektheassassin said...

My source of info says: "Oh, that's a godawful book! Devolves into a diatribe about Islam being an evil meme that must be stamped out!"

As for myself, all is heresay.

8:40 AM, September 26, 2005
slickdpdx said...

Écrasez l'Infâme.

Oh, you said hereSAY? Sorry!

See how engaging that book is? Your source read it all the way to the end! Although s/he seems to have forgotten the criticism of every other culture including Chrisitanity and Maoism.

The book is not really about religion anyhow. It is about the durability and transformative power of ideas (religion being one). I am not sure why your source is so offended...

6:51 PM, September 26, 2005
pepektheassassin said...

Me neither.

8:48 AM, September 27, 2005

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