The open mind and its enemies

The title obviously paraphrases (sir) Karl Popper's title "The open society and its enemies" - yes I know the marxists do not like him(!).

From my point of view the key conclusion of Karl Popper on political sciences is that when operating social change the individual should engage on it in a piecemeal approach and not in a revolutionary way - yes I know the maxists do not like his conclusions.

The key argument is that when ever operating social change the operator always has to be prepared to face unexpected consequences and if the change is greater the unexpected consequences ... are greater. This argument is turn is based in the thesis that no one knows the laws of social change - the supporting arguments are epistemological.

What was said before is also valid for psychological change - we do not know the laws of psychological change so when trying to obtain it in order to minimize the undesired consequences we should avoid to change the personality of the individual to much - we should try to obtain psychological change in a piecemeal approach.

To please the marxists I draw their attention to a particular conclusion - when marxists engage on the democratic debate abdicating of the use of force we should try to change their ideas in a piecemeal approach - that's what we call a dialectic approach to the political debate.

Quickie

Today it was tough day at college - a lot of work - and last but not the least a very productive meeting with my supervisor.

Topics to discuss on the blog:

1) after the schizophrenic comments about the pope a more careful discussion is necessary, what implications this has to diplomacy - let us not forget that this was the men that wanted to impose a specific reference in the constitution about Christianity - yes I am speaking about Turkey.

2) I want to keep discussing the parallel between social conflicts and the conflicts of ideas in the same mind - in particular I want to relate it with the idea due to Popper of piecemeal social change.

fellatio linguisticus

The words are not mine, they come from "Estrangeiros no Momento" (see links)


We do apologize but the broadcast will follow in Portuguese for a minute

O Andre, desculpa la(!), fellatio linguisticus o caralho!


in plain English:

O Andre, apologize there(!), fellatio linguisticus the dick!

Freedom ...

This is precisely the kind of story why I have chosen to write this blog in the anglosaxon.

I sacrifice this nation of birth, my language, for a nation of choice, my friends.

Portugal has always been a nation of emigrants, especially in the first half of the XX century - the poverty that raised the Salazarist dictatorship ended up being fed by ... the fascism!

As Fritz Richard Stern (himself member of a exiled family during the holocaust) said in Einstein's German World "When the people is not allowed to vote in the ballot they vote with their feet". Quoted from memory.

A enormous number of families left the Azores islands during this period to the US.

As there are many Guantanamos the Luso-descendents that live in the US who get involved in crime are often expelled back to Azores even when they do not speak Portuguese. There, not speaking Portuguese they are condemned to the most extreme isolation.

There is a fantastic documentary that was once presented in Portuguese TV about these forgotten people - an excellent documentary.

Some facts come to my memory: high speed driving was enough to be condemned to this tyrannous isolation where they were lost in translation.

One moment I will never forget.

In the end of the documentary a fantastic female voice sings the American anthem. The reporter asks: "What do you miss more from America?"

The reply: "THE FREEDOM ..."

Abbiamo Papa, abbiamo Vatican Rottweiler

I am listening to The world tonight in BBC Radio 4 and I CAN'T believe on my ears ...
(see links in the side bar) [to add later]

Abbiamo papa more precisely Abbiamo Vatican Rottweiler

Mind the joke but Cardinal Ratzinger was elected Pope at the 4th vote, and has chosen the name Benedict XVI.

I CAN'T believe! - It COULDN'T be worst!

The man that condemned the critics of John Paul II to PERJURY ...

The man that condemned the theology of liberation to silence.

welcome to the inquisitorial methods a'la XXI century ...

The expression I am an atheist thank God has never make so much sense ...

Do you still remember winter?

This days that spring is already invading London revealing its almost latin side, its worth remembering winter:

"This time of year [winter] latitude attacks me. I shrink as the twilight half days shrink. I need to head back to south, to the light and to the color"

André Derain "On the Thames" quoted by Andre Gouveia in "Estrangeiros no momento" (see link in the side bar) - The (lousy) translation from my native Portuguese is mine.

Now that we remembered the winter blues lets head for the park.

'schizophrenia'

The title is between inverted comas because I really do not have the qualifications to use the word schizophrenia in the technical sense.

About the use of DSM I promise something for another day - someone should really explain me why pathologies come and go with the passage of time, and not the least why nymphomania is only diagnosed to women.

'schizophrenia' does not exist in the vacuum, quite the contrary, it's always the product of a social context.

Conflict at various levels is a defining characteristic of being human - and animal too.

There are the conflicts of empires (or civilizations to acknowledge the putative fashion). There are conflicts of nations. There conflicts of social groups (or classes to please the marxists - notice that my concept is at least potentially broader). Finally there are conflicts between individuals.

The boundaries are often difficult to identify. The conflict between Estaline and Hitler was at the same time the conflict between two empires - and the so called occidental world was spared a lot of suffering due to Estaline stance.

The 'schizophrenia' that I speak about is nothing more than the conflict of ideas inside the same head. A la Schopenhauer this conflict of ideas can be the mental representation of the conflict between individuals represented by different ideas in the same head.

The question is how to prevent this 'schizophrenic' conflicts of ideas, or even nations, or even civilizations? By the dialog.

The dialog requires wisdom!

When a individual loses self control because a external 'provocation' what should we do? Dialog! Whenever possible ...

But that is not easy it requires wisdom!

Often it happens that the individual suddenly becomes much more radical about something and can not contain its hanger. We need wisdom to help this (intelligent) individual!

This radicalism is nothing but the expression of fear - the suppression of one of the ideas inside his mind. The individual cannot bare the clash of ideas inside his mind - and this is obvious for those who are around and know him.

Some will bully "the(!) schizophrenic" - Isn't that the external version of the suppression! ... to hyde the inner suppression?(!)

What should we do? We know the individual, let us try to help him to accept the inner self that he is denying to himself.

When will we accept that the claim due to Nietzsche that opposites are one and the same thing is not a irrational one - sometimes on the contrary it is the only acceptable attitude.

[A long time after writing this text (10th of May 11:45 AM) I have found this fantastic text by Ivan Nunes (in Portuguese) that has some ideas similar to the ones expressed in the original version of this post, on a comment on Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Waterson. His idea is that Calvin and Hobbes are not two persons but only one, and their dialogs are "inner movements in one head". My ideas in the original text are more abstract, his post might well be more realistic.]

Anybody home?

Of placeless laws and lawless places: Does international justice have a local address?

phrase extracted from a image on the blog "estrangeiros no momento" (see link on the side bar)

The soup is spilt over the table

It come to my mind the parallelism between the phrase due to the Roman emperor Cesar "The dices are thrown" and the Portuguese idiomatic expression "the soup is spilt over the table" - "o caldo esta entornado".

The Portuguese expression means "The dices are thrown" and the result is not necessarily good ...

But as the anglosaxons would say lets avoid "throwing the baby with the water".

Life motto

I am a very prophylactic guy - whenever I feel the smell of problems I hide my head under my pillow asap

women and the devil

Without the intervention of women the devil would never outsmart men

Saint Antony

Usually I am not given to this kind of cynicism but ...

flirting

In case there are some scaffolders around here is a suggestion for flirting:

You are such a pearl that I bet your mother is an oyster