Re: Scooping Up & Blending Knowledge

Robin Hanson (hanson@econ.berkeley.edu)
Tue, 29 Sep 1998 09:22:36 -0700

Natasha writes:
>... artists ... Nine out of ten, science was thought of as an intruder
>dominating life and sticking its nose where it didn't belong.

Having as you do a sense about how both worlds think, you have a good opportunity to distill the essense of one mindset and explain it to the other. I for one am very curious to understand exactly what they mean by science sticking its nose where it doesn't belong.

>Gary Snyder's essay in his book _A Place In Space_ ... "The Porous World":
>"When asked 'What is finally over the top of all the information chains?'
>one might reply that it must be the artists and writers, because they are
>among the most ruthless and efficient information predators. ...

It is striking to me how artists, who appear to others as tending to lambast the inequities in our world and the tragic losses from competition, revel in competition in their own world. They might write plays about what terrible things come from someone setting themselves as Gods compared to others, but those who do this well become writer-Gods whorshiped by their minions, and seem quite comfortable with this arrangement.

Robin Hanson
hanson@econ.berkeley.edu http://hanson.berkeley.edu/ RWJF Health Policy Scholar, Sch. of Public Health 510-643-1884 140 Warren Hall, UC Berkeley, CA 94720-7360 FAX: 510-643-8614