Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id RAA20518 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Wed, 1 May 2002 17:40:36 +0100 Message-ID: <003901c1f12d$272764c0$5e2ffea9@oemcomputer> From: "Philip Jonkers" <philipjonkers@prodigy.net> To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> References: <LAW2-F66HJj8a5wY5vM00007474@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: future language Date: Wed, 1 May 2002 09:27:55 -0700 Organization: Prodigy Internet Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2600.0000 X-Mimeole: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2600.0000 Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Ozren:
> >Well, no, it wasn't, but that's just a quibble. The main survival
> >advantage that a specific culture/language set gives to a group animal
> >like we are, is the capability of prediction. Why does some tribal
> >language have thousands of words for medical propertis of different
> >herbs? Because this increases their chance of predicting what will
> >happen if you actually use those plants to try and heal someone. Same
> >thing with everything else, from traditional mythology up to religions
> >and science. We have an obsession with knowing the future, a very real,
> >biologicaly driven obsession. This is why we expend so much effort to
> >find new ways of doing it...:)
Grant:
> It's been my observation over these past 70 and more years that most of
the
> predictions of the future made in my lifetime were more wrong than right.
Trying to know the future is like chasing ghosts. It's an illusion
nonetheless
that preoccupies whole tribes as it's so darn provitable. Other than the
motion
of celestial bodies nature is too complex (read `chaotic') to be subject
to accurate future prediction beyond perhaps a couple of seconds.
Phil.
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