Re: LIMITS TO BRAINS

On Wed, 25 Aug 1999, Boris Stremlin wrote:
> Tell me, doctor, how is it the case that the world is on the brink of
> disaster due to outmoded "social thinking", when it was only after our
> "physical world knowledge" began expanding exponentially that we arrived
> at where we are today?  Physician, heal thyself.


There is a problem here with the notion of exponential. This is an
approximation that is very handy in experimental work since the course of a
process follows the exponent very closely at the half way stage. A process
does not begin with some infinite quantity and it does not take an infinite
time to reach completion. The difficulty is that the true course of a
process, or the values observed, cannot be integrated so mathematically
there is a problem. For instance, knowing something about the mid course of
a process will not tell you when it will end. Only when the process does end
is it possible to carry out an analysis of its nature.
Since the idea of the exponent has been borrowed from natural science, where
experimental work can be repeated and often the approximation is good
enough, I tend to wonder if many 'believe' in the notion. I'd say this is a
serious mistake. Nothing expands exponentially, everything diminishes
approximately to the exponent. So when anyone is looking at a process that
is near its end approximations cannot give answers.

W. Kirk.

----- Original Message -----
From: Boris Stremlin <bc70219@binghamton.edu>
To: WORLD SYSTEMS NETWORK <wsn@csf.colorado.edu>
Sent: 25 August 1999 19:51
Subject: RE: LIMITS TO BRAINS


> On Tue, 24 Aug 1999, Jay Hanson wrote:
>
> > Seriously Boris, if you think your social world operates
> > independently of the physical world, then you are in for
> > a whopper of a surprise.
>
> You know, a little reading in the social sciences may clue you in as to
> what students of the "social world" actually think about the
> interrelations between the two spheres.   It really beats relying on
> God-given (or "physical-world" given) ignorance.
>
> > >outlined (but if civilization is coming to an end, does it really
matter
> > >if we disagree as to the reasons?)
>
> > It's fairly elementary Boris.  Any prescription for a cure
> > depends entirely on an accurate description of the disease.
>
> Tell me, doctor, how is it the case that the world is on the brink of
> disaster due to outmoded "social thinking", when it was only after our
> "physical world knowledge" began expanding exponentially that we arrived
> at where we are today?  Physician, heal thyself.
>
> --
> Boris Stremlin
> bc70219@binghamton.edu
>
>