[...] Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth – http://www.zacharyburt.com/2010/06/operating-manual-for-spaceship-earth/ [...]

Thanks for this overview and for the link to the online work.I’ve always enjoyed Bucky’s works from afar, it’s high time I gave him a more in depth read.

Thanks!

Thanks for the recommendation; I’ll let you know if any other insights bubble up. What did you find to be most significant about the work?

Thanks for this overview and for the link to the online work.

I've always enjoyed Bucky's works from afar, it's high time I gave him a more in depth read.

Thanks!

Thanks for the recommendation; I'll let you know if any other insights bubble up. What did you find to be most significant about the work?

Grasshopper,
Although the “arrow of time” moves in one direction for us, human growth is not a linear guarantee. Hawkin’s work fails to realize that “enlightenment” (or spiritual progress” in the case of K. Wilbur) is in itself a product of this thinking in his model. In some ways Hawkins reasserts a type of Platonic hierarchy, where individual “enlightened masters” replace philosopher kings. Both frameworks set up the possibility for soft totalitarianism. This is a shocking thought to those that are sympathetic to the systems of Gurus. What all these forms of “soft idealism” suffer from is a type of spiritual expungment of what could be described as “human nature”.
For example, philosopher, physicist, Amit Goswami, of recent “What the Bleep” fame, furthers the idea of “monistic idealism” in an attempt to show the narrow neurological path through which humans should pass so as to become “unified”. The wholeness game has one major design flaw: We did not evolve to this point without the dialectical contigency that SEPARATES. That is not to say that we should be bound by a fierce materialism similar to the one that dominated the Enlightenment but rather that we should be aware that monistic idealism and the like could also be reexpressions of a certain type of nuerological disposition that is in every way as wayward as Descartes Mind Body schism–just its opposite expression.
It seems more prudent to admit that our evolution and adaptability (a thing that as a species we selected for as well as were impacted by) features both holistic thinking and the ability to cognate, locate and recognize difference. This is the driving dynamic of our species, its pendulum like duality and flexibility.
One truly cannot exist independently of the other or exist as a singular entity–for better or worse.
A peek through the history of intellectual movements clearly shows how both instincts i have mentioned arise and dominate in different historical periods only to diminish and be replaced by its opposite instinct in others, (while some periods show a blend.)
Understanding this dynamic seems much more important than favoring one over the other at this point.

We have just begun to harness the reigns of technology and the responsibilty of our own stewardship of each other and the planet. Is it possible that there are boundaries to our knowledge and our own biological sytems at the present time, one that prevents us from going beyond the domain of non-locality or even the realm of the proverbial “Event Horizon” of our universe or psyches?
Buckminster Fuller’s idealism unfortunately resulted in highly INEFFICIENT circular archtectectural domes, i.e., “The Geodesic Dome” (which leaked) that were not cost effective of even economical in their use of space. The idealism of the circle (or PHI) did not work for humans in scale or practice at that time architecturally. (His buckyballs at the smaller scales of physics did, (see carbon 60) and at the very large, i.e., the soccer ball –12 phi based pentagons–version of the universe)
Scale is everything isnt it? or is it?
Benoit Mandlebrot warned us: “Clouds are not spheres, mountains are not cones, coastlines are not circles.”
I applaud B Fuller for his zeal and his compulsion. Humans will no doubt use his knowledge in the future.

Suggested reading:
James Gleick, “Chaos”
Julian Jaynes, “The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind”
Peter Woit, Not Even Wrong, The Failure of String Theory and the Search for Unity in Physical Law”
Randall Collins, A Sociological History of Intellectual Movements.(see also “Conflict Theory”

“Man is the Measure of All Things.”
-Protagoras

Kind Regards,
Matthew Swann

* I am aware of how unfashionable my commentary seems to “true believers”. My intention is to warn in the service of clarity.

Zach,
Please forgive me, but the comment “The extinction of most species has actually come from overspecialization.” is highly problematic if not downright wrong. The dinosaurs, were a HIGHLY successful species showing specialization traits throughout the species for a period of time understood as 135 MILLION YEARS.
Wiki shares: Dinosaurs were a diverse and varied group of animals; birds, at over 9,000 species, were the most diverse group of vertebrate besides perciform fish.[2] Paleontologists have identified over 500 distinct genera[3] and more than 1,000 different species of non-avian dinosaurs.[4] Dinosaurs are represented on every continent by both extant species and fossil remains.[5] Some dinosaurs were herbivorous, others carnivorous. Some have been bipedal, others quadrupedal, and others have been able to shift between these body postures. Many non-avian species developed elaborate skeletal modifications such as bony armor, horns or crests. Avian dinosaurs have been the planet’s dominant flying vertebrate since the extinction of the pterosaurs. Although generally known for the large size of some species, most dinosaurs were human-sized or even smaller. Most groups of dinosaurs are known to have built nests and laid eggs.”

The fact is that the major event that saw the extinction of the dinosaurs (and practically every other species at that time) is believed to be the Asteroid impact off the Yucatan Peninsula aka “Chicxulube” 65 million years ago.
This mass extinction is known as the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event. It eliminated ALL species without regard to their specialization. In fact it is believed that the highly specialized mammal/rodent, animal populations that burrowed underground were able to survive this mass extinction due to their DIFFERENT habitat and specialized form of adaptation; a thing that possibly evolved to defend against the widespread predation from other species.
-Matthew Swann

I agree completely and without hesitation. The sentence “The extinction of most species has actually come from overspecialization” was a product of a certain sloppiness in my writing; what I perhaps could have said is “Overspecialization has led to the extinction of many species.” To aim for more precision in my writing and precision in my speech would serve me well, as ambiguity is one of my more protuberant intellectual flaws.

Zach,
I cant help but recall the SPECIALIZATION OF ARCHEA, EUKARYOTIC CELLS, PROKARYOTIC CELLS and BACTERIA. THEY ARE HIGHLY SPECIALIZED AND HAVE SURVIVED BOTH ASTEROIDAL EVENTS AND EVEN COSMIC RADIATION ON THE SURFACE OF THE PLANET.
They are the great specialists (while being flexible to conditions) that have endured every extinction event.
Matthew Swann

Grasshopper,
Although the “arrow of time” moves in one direction for us, human growth is not a linear guarantee. Hawkin's work fails to realize that “enlightenment” (or spiritual progress” in the case of K. Wilbur) is in itself a product of this thinking in his model. In some ways Hawkins reasserts a type of Platonic hierarchy, where individual “enlightened masters” replace philosopher kings. Both frameworks set up the possibility for soft totalitarianism. This is a shocking thought to those that are sympathetic to the systems of Gurus. What all these forms of “soft idealism” suffer from is a type of spiritual expungment of what could be described as “human nature”.
For example, philosopher, physicist, Amit Goswami, of recent “What the Bleep” fame, furthers the idea of “monistic idealism” in an attempt to show the narrow neurological path through which humans should pass so as to become “unified”. The wholeness game has one major design flaw: We did not evolve to this point without the dialectical contigency that SEPARATES. That is not to say that we should be bound by a fierce materialism similar to the one that dominated the Enlightenment but rather that we should be aware that monistic idealism and the like could also be reexpressions of a certain type of nuerological disposition that is in every way as wayward as Descartes Mind Body schism–just its opposite expression.
It seems more prudent to admit that our evolution and adaptability (a thing that as a species we selected for as well as were impacted by) features both holistic thinking and the ability to cognate, locate and recognize difference. This is the driving dynamic of our species, its pendulum like duality and flexibility.
One truly cannot exist independently of the other or exist as a singular entity–for better or worse.
A peek through the history of intellectual movements clearly shows how both instincts i have mentioned arise and dominate in different historical periods only to diminish and be replaced by its opposite instinct in others, (while some periods show a blend.)
Understanding this dynamic seems much more important than favoring one over the other at this point.

We have just begun to harness the reigns of technology and the responsibilty of our own stewardship of each other and the planet. Is it possible that there are boundaries to our knowledge and our own biological sytems at the present time, one that prevents us from going beyond the domain of non-locality or even the realm of the proverbial “Event Horizon” of our universe or psyches?
Buckminster Fuller's idealism unfortunately resulted in highly INEFFICIENT circular archtectectural domes, i.e., “The Geodesic Dome” (which leaked) that were not cost effective of even economical in their use of space. The idealism of the circle (or PHI) did not work for humans in scale or practice at that time architecturally. (His buckyballs at the smaller scales of physics did, (see carbon 60) and at the very large, i.e., the soccer ball –12 phi based pentagons–version of the universe)
Scale is everything isnt it? or is it?
Benoit Mandlebrot warned us: “Clouds are not spheres, mountains are not cones, coastlines are not circles.”
I applaud B Fuller for his zeal and his compulsion. Humans will no doubt use his knowledge in the future.

Suggested reading:
James Gleick, “Chaos”
Julian Jaynes, “The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind”
Peter Woit, Not Even Wrong, The Failure of String Theory and the Search for Unity in Physical Law”
Randall Collins, A Sociological History of Intellectual Movements.(see also “Conflict Theory”

“Man is the Measure of All Things.”
-Protagoras

Kind Regards,
Matthew Swann

* I am aware of how unfashionable my commentary seems to “true believers”. My intention is to warn in the service of clarity.

Zach,
Please forgive me, but the comment “The extinction of most species has actually come from overspecialization.” is highly problematic if not downright wrong. The dinosaurs, were a HIGHLY successful species showing specialization traits throughout the species for a period of time understood as 135 MILLION YEARS.
Wiki shares: Dinosaurs were a diverse and varied group of animals; birds, at over 9,000 species, were the most diverse group of vertebrate besides perciform fish.[2] Paleontologists have identified over 500 distinct genera[3] and more than 1,000 different species of non-avian dinosaurs.[4] Dinosaurs are represented on every continent by both extant species and fossil remains.[5] Some dinosaurs were herbivorous, others carnivorous. Some have been bipedal, others quadrupedal, and others have been able to shift between these body postures. Many non-avian species developed elaborate skeletal modifications such as bony armor, horns or crests. Avian dinosaurs have been the planet's dominant flying vertebrate since the extinction of the pterosaurs. Although generally known for the large size of some species, most dinosaurs were human-sized or even smaller. Most groups of dinosaurs are known to have built nests and laid eggs.”

The fact is that the major event that saw the extinction of the dinosaurs (and practically every other species at that time) is believed to be the Asteroid impact off the Yucatan Peninsula aka “Chicxulube” 65 million years ago.
This mass extinction is known as the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event. It eliminated ALL species without regard to their specialization. In fact it is believed that the highly specialized mammal/rodent, animal populations that burrowed underground were able to survive this mass extinction due to their DIFFERENT habitat and specialized form of adaptation; a thing that possibly evolved to defend against the widespread predation from other species.
-Matthew Swann

I agree completely and without hesitation. The sentence “The extinction of most species has actually come from overspecialization” was a product of a certain sloppiness in my writing; what I perhaps could have said is “Overspecialization has led to the extinction of many species.” To aim for more precision in my writing and precision in my speech would serve me well, as ambiguity is one of my more protuberant intellectual flaws.

Zach,
I cant help but recall the SPECIALIZATION OF ARCHEA, EUKARYOTIC CELLS, PROKARYOTIC CELLS and BACTERIA. THEY ARE HIGHLY SPECIALIZED AND HAVE SURVIVED BOTH ASTEROIDAL EVENTS AND EVEN COSMIC RADIATION ON THE SURFACE OF THE PLANET.
They are the great specialists (while being flexible to conditions) that have endured every extinction event.
Matthew Swann

The book turned me upside down then blew my mind. I’m going to find the time, soon, to reread and account for how it hit me. I’ll post it on here, email or link to it.

Dear Zach,
Thank you for your reply and your intention to aim for more precision in your thinking and writing. The problem is that your recant has placed you in an even more difficult semantic position. I would strongly urge you to abandon this idea of “overspecialization” completely. It is only in hindsight that one deems an adaptation unworthy. The fact is that events that precipitate a failure to survive many times are random and catastrophic in nature. A specialization in the sense that you mean it, takes a considerable time to develop even within, say, Stephan Jay Gould’s notion of punctuated equilibrium. What i mean to convey is that rarely does a specialization lead to extinction but rather the opposite, toward survival, e.g., The duck billed platypus, which has numerous adaptations (“specializations” if you will) that allowed it to survive in its environment. (feathers emerging on reptiles and their appearance on birds later are a great example too)
As i stated earlier, extinctions typically, but not exclusively, arise from catastrophic events. (among other causes are predation) The survivors many times lived simply because of a random niche they filled in the environment; one that wasn’t devastated and allowed survival e.g., burrowing mammals after the asteroid impact 65 Million years ago.
I believe that your real object of inquiry here is the human brain and its “specialization”, which leads to certain forms of human enculturation that make you (and others) emotionally uncomfortable.

“The owl of Minerva flies at dusk”
-Hegel

Kind Regards,
Matthew Swann

Zach,
Im sorry but I noticed this comment: “The advent of most technology relying on the Electromagnetic Spectrum led to the Pirates’ decline as they no longer could rely solely on their sensory prowess for dominance.”
Do you mean to say that the invention of the marine chronometer by John Harrison in 1772 led to the demise of the Great Pirates? (*especially since the chronometer, which allowed sailors to plot longitude for the first time historically, was coupled with the refinement of the seagoing canon.) As brilliant as Harrison’s advances were (AND THEY WERE since his technology eliminated dead reckoning completely and gave a decisive edge to military ships over pirates.) this is hardly the “use of electromagnetic spectrum technology” any more than a sun dial uses the EMS.

In conclusion, the militarization of ships coupled with the marine chronometer and later the steam engine gave the heave ho to the Great Pirates. (*we should not forget the advances in biology at the time too. The recognition that vitamin C from lemons and limes warded off scurvy gave a foundation of simple health to seafaring military crews.)

-Matthew Swann

On Longitude:
A marine chronometer is a clock which is precise enough to be used as a portable time standard; it can therefore be used to determine longitude by means of celestial navigation. When first developed in the eighteenth century it was a major technical achievement, as accurate knowledge of the time over a long sea voyage is necessary for navigation, lacking electronic or communications aids. The first true chronometer was the life work of one man, John Harrison, spanning 31 years of persistent trial and error that revolutionized naval (and later aerial) navigation as the Age of Discovery and Colonialism hit a new gear.

Suggested reading:
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel.
*This is a favorite book of mine. I have a signed copy by Dava herself. I long enjoyed her writing for Omni magazine.

Final note: Maxwell, Rutherford and Einstien’s advances around the EMS a century and half later is what i believe you are alluding to in your blog rather than the work of Harrison (or even Huygens a century earlier)

Best
Matthew

The book turned me upside down then blew my mind. I'm going to find the time, soon, to reread and account for how it hit me. I'll post it on here, email or link to it.

Zach,
Im sorry but I noticed this comment: “The advent of most technology relying on the Electromagnetic Spectrum led to the Pirates’ decline as they no longer could rely solely on their sensory prowess for dominance.”
Do you mean to say that the invention of the marine chronometer by John Harrison in 1772 led to the demise of the Great Pirates? (*especially since the chronometer, which allowed sailors to plot longitude for the first time historically, was coupled with the refinement of the seagoing canon.) As brilliant as Harrison's advances were (AND THEY WERE since his technology eliminated dead reckoning completely and gave a decisive edge to military ships over pirates.) this is hardly the “use of electromagnetic spectrum technology” any more than a sun dial uses the EMS.

In conclusion, the militarization of ships coupled with the marine chronometer and later the steam engine gave the heave ho to the Great Pirates. (*we should not forget the advances in biology at the time too. The recognition that vitamin C from lemons and limes warded off scurvy gave a foundation of simple health to seafaring military crews.)

-Matthew Swann

Dear Zach,
Thank you for your reply and your intention to aim for more precision in your thinking and writing. The problem is that your recant has placed you in an even more difficult semantic position. I would strongly urge you to abandon this idea of “overspecialization” completely. It is only in hindsight that one deems an adaptation unworthy. The fact is that events that precipitate a failure to survive many times are random and catastrophic in nature. A specialization in the sense that you mean it, takes a considerable time to develop even within, say, Stephan Jay Gould's notion of punctuated equilibrium. What i mean to convey is that rarely does a specialization lead to extinction but rather the opposite, toward survival, e.g., The duck billed platypus, which has numerous adaptations (“specializations” if you will) that allowed it to survive in its environment. (feathers emerging on reptiles and their appearance on birds later are a great example too)
As i stated earlier, extinctions typically, but not exclusively, arise from catastrophic events. (among other causes are predation) The survivors many times lived simply because of a random niche they filled in the environment; one that wasn't devastated and allowed survival e.g., burrowing mammals after the asteroid impact 65 Million years ago.
I believe that your real object of inquiry here is the human brain and its “specialization”, which leads to certain forms of human enculturation that make you (and others) emotionally uncomfortable.

“The owl of Minerva flies at dusk”
-Hegel

Kind Regards,
Matthew Swann

On Longitude:
A marine chronometer is a clock which is precise enough to be used as a portable time standard; it can therefore be used to determine longitude by means of celestial navigation. When first developed in the eighteenth century it was a major technical achievement, as accurate knowledge of the time over a long sea voyage is necessary for navigation, lacking electronic or communications aids. The first true chronometer was the life work of one man, John Harrison, spanning 31 years of persistent trial and error that revolutionized naval (and later aerial) navigation as the Age of Discovery and Colonialism hit a new gear.

Suggested reading:
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel.
*This is a favorite book of mine. I have a signed copy by Dava herself. I long enjoyed her writing for Omni magazine.

Final note: Maxwell, Rutherford and Einstien's advances around the EMS a century and half later is what i believe you are alluding to in your blog rather than the work of Harrison (or even Huygens a century earlier)

Best
Matthew

Correction by Swann: When I wrote: “One truly cannot exist independently of the other or exist as a singular entity–for better or worse.” I made an error. What i meant to say is …”or exist in a collective oneness at the expense of individuation for better or worse.”`
(i.e., an individual can never fully divorce themselves from the collective nor exist in total collective unity.) We are creatures that require both instincts and realities in order to survive. Our neurology (and selective history) provides for this truism. The failure of the New Age to recognize the dangers of “unity” constructs or even the historical reality of individuation renders it otiose. New Age postures typically point out the errors, excesss of individuated experience or the effects of “linear”, “reductive”, androgenic thinking historically e.g., “The Enlightenment”, while conveniently omitting any critical appraisel of ther own position. We should be viwing the advances of the enlightenmnet (with all its errors) as a required historical step toward possible synthetic balance even in the face of asymetrical imbalance in almost every sphere of human inquiry and expression.
The battlefield for this is of course emergent sciences and discoveries in neurology and genetics.

Zach,
Please forgive any typos. I am typing at lightspeed with sore fingers this morning
Best
M

Zach,
From my estimation of world news and events I would submit that there is a very strong pirate presence in the world, one in which that is armed with high tech weaponry, GPS, and speed boats that has successfully hijacked SUPERTANKERS. Is the notion of ” Great Pirates” truly over?
The EMS technology has simply been acquired by the pirates.
There are is no end in sight it seems and not just off the coast of Somalia. It should be noted that the size of these pirate vessels and their crews has become smaller (reduction?) as they are able to utilize high tech weapons and EMS technology. Ours is an age of fragmentation that allows the specialized pirate to exist. This also applies to the contemporary concept of terrorism in general –”Small and Mighty”
Best
Matthew

Zach,
Please forgive any typos. I am typing at lightspeed with sore fingers this morning
Best
M

Correction by Swann: When I wrote: “One truly cannot exist independently of the other or exist as a singular entity–for better or worse.” I made an error. What i meant to say is …”or exist in a collective oneness at the expense of individuation for better or worse.”`
(i.e., an individual can never fully divorce themselves from the collective nor exist in total collective unity.) We are creatures that require both instincts and realities in order to survive. Our neurology (and selective history) provides for this truism. The failure of the New Age to recognize the dangers of “unity” constructs or even the historical reality of individuation renders it otiose. New Age postures typically point out the errors, excesss of individuated experience or the effects of “linear”, “reductive”, androgenic thinking historically e.g., “The Enlightenment”, while conveniently omitting any critical appraisel of ther own position. We should be viwing the advances of the enlightenmnet (with all its errors) as a required historical step toward possible synthetic balance even in the face of asymetrical imbalance in almost every sphere of human inquiry and expression.
The battlefield for this is of course emergent sciences and discoveries in neurology and genetics.

Zach,
Please forgive any typos. I am typing at lightspeed with sore fingers this morning
Best
M

Zach,
From my estimation of world news and events I would submit that there is a very strong pirate presence in the world, one in which that is armed with high tech weaponry, GPS, and speed boats that has successfully hijacked SUPERTANKERS. Is the notion of ” Great Pirates” truly over?
The EMS technology has simply been acquired by the pirates.
There are is no end in sight it seems and not just off the coast of Somalia. It should be noted that the size of these pirate vessels and their crews has become smaller (reduction?) as they are able to utilize high tech weapons and EMS technology. Ours is an age of fragmentation that allows the specialized pirate to exist. This also applies to the contemporary concept of terrorism in general –”Small and Mighty”
Best
Matthew

The earth will become either a utopia or a dystopia.Given that there are fewer % people living in poverty than ever, I’m inclined to hope for a utopic outcome and achieve better result in the world.

The earth will become either a utopia or a dystopia.Given that there are fewer % people living in poverty than ever, I’m inclined to hope for a utopic outcome and achieve better result in the world.

[...] 10. Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth Buy on Amazon – Blog post [...]