Arquivo para a ‘Tecnology’ Categoria
It’s time to change of way
11
Feb
It is not my proposal, but the name of the last book by Edgar
Morin (Editor Bertrand do Brasil, 2020), the almost centenary French philosopher shows the lessons of the coronavirus that we resisted in learning, it is also very similar to the name of Peter Sloterdijk’s book : You have to change your life (publisher Relógio d´Água, 2018) this well before the coronavirus.
Before moving on to some of Morin’s lessons, I want to say that we ALL need to change our lives, the planet has run out, words have run out, polarizing politics runs out, and unfortunately sweet words like “fraternity”, “solidarity”, “compassion” ”And so many others seem to be only the will of some that others change, without, however, that each one changes himself first.
The preamble is a historical retrospective from the Spanish flu to May 68 and the current ecological crisis, the lessons from the coronavirus in chapter 1 I comment on at the end.
I begin at the end to affirm that Morin, who also shares values of fraternity, of planetary citizenship, of overcoming inequalities, etc., has in his book a very clear proposal, after demonstrating that the crisis is prior to the coronavirus that only worsened it , on page 4 sentence “… there are two inseparable requirements for political renewal: to leave neoliberalism, to reform the state” (page 46), which will provide the means in chapter 3.
This is actually your second point in the cap. 2 Post-corona challenges, the challenge of the political crisis, of the nine challenges it points to in current crises: the existential challenge, also pointed out in Pope Francis’ Fratelli Tutti Encyclical, the challenges of crises: globalization, democracy, digital, ecological protection, the economic crisis, uncertainties and the danger of a major setback (pages 44 to 53).
The 15 lessons from the coronavirus: about our existence, isolation shows us how those who “did not have access to the superfluous and the frivolous and deserve to reach the stage where we have the superfluous” live (page 23), on the condition recalls the Meadows report, which pointed to the limits of growth, the lesson about the uncertainty of our life, the lesson of our relationship with death, the lesson about our civilization (life turned outward, without inner life, the life of shopping malls and happy hours), the awakening of solidarity, inequality and social isolation, the diversity of situations and the management of the epidemic, the nature of a crisis, the 9 initial lessons.
The lesson about science and medicine, do we understand “that science is not a repertoire of absolute truths (unlike religion” (page 33), the crisis of intelligence, which he wisely divides into “invisible complexities” the way of knowledge “of human realities (growth rate, GDP, opinion polls, etc.” (page 35), point 2. is the ecology of action, it warns that action can “go in the opposite direction to what is expected and return like a boomerang to the head of the one who decided it” (page 35), how many actions and speeches fell in this ditch.
The twelfth lesson is the inefficiency of the state, which, in addition to neoliberal politics, yields “to pressures and interests that paralyze all reforms” (page 38), while polarization deepens.
The thirteenth lesson is national relocation and dependence, and regrets “that the national problem is so poorly formulated and always reduced to the opposition between sovereignty and globalization” (page 39), note the speeches that polarize and do not leave this circle vicious.
The fourteenth lesson is the crisis in Europe, I remember Sloterdijk’s book “If Europe woke up”, and Morin opens the wound: “on the shock of the epidemic, the European Union broke into national fragments” (page 40) .
The fifteenth lesson is the planet in crisis, quotes Prof. Thomas Michiels, biologist and specialists in virus transmission: “There is no doubt that globalization influences epidemics and favors the spread of the virus. When observing the evolution of past epidemics, there are notable examples in which it is noted that epidemics follow railways and human displacements. There is no doubt, the circulation of individuals aggravates the epidemic ”(page 41).
MORIN, E. (2020) É hora de mudarmos de via: lições do coronavírus, transl. Ivone Castilho Benedetti, collaboration Sabah Abouessalam. Rio de Janeiro, BR: Bertrand do Brasil.
The problem of water and sanitation
19
Nov
Although the planet has plenty of water, the water problem is
not negligible and what directly affects the planet, especially the poor and those who live in regions without basic sanitation, is the problem of drinking water, and therein lies the serious problem of contamination by agricultural activities.
Thus, it is necessary, together with the urgent problem of sustainable water management, to think about sustainable development in three dimensions: social, economic and environmental, even those who affirm public policies for this do not accept the reduction of profitable and polluting economic activities.
Studies show that the main causes, about 70%, are due to poor land use in agriculture (pesticides, river silting, intensive monoculture, etc.), followed by industry pollution 20%, domestic use 7% and losses 3% (see the figure above).
Because it was from biology and ecosystems that the ideas of complexity came, this is the sector most sensitive to small attitudes that can and should change the planet in the future, collect polluting waste, do selective collection and even reuse rainwater and using solar energy are attitudes that we can take individually and will be beneficial as a whole, see that complexity can involve simple ideas to be practiced.
The education of the new generations should therefore be the responsibility of everyone, the government, schools and families, small habits inserted in everyday life can transform a huge number of situations in scale, an effect known in complexity as the “butterfly effect”, the flapping of the butterfly wing can influence the climate, and deforestation and neglect of nature has a negative effect on the climate.
Research on planets where there may be life has as its first item the presence of water, and providing drinking water is therefore the first attitude in defense of life.
Happiness in Thomas Aquinas
28
Oct
To analyze beatitude, which we have already explained that is
also an ancient Greek theme for happiness, Thomas Aquinas learned from the Greek philosopher to distinguish between two different forms of happiness: the natural riches that are those by which man is helped to compensate for natural deficiencies such as food, drink, clothing, housing, etc., and artificial ones that do not help nature but subject it, like money, but human art invented to facilitate exchanges, so that they were like measures for venial things, and influenced by Boethius will question whether wealth is in fact the one that gives all goods:
“Bliss is the perfect state where all goods come together.” Now, it seems that through money you can acquire all things, because the Philosopher, in book V of Ethics, money was invented to be the guarantee of everything that man wanted to possess. Therefore, bliss consists of riches ”(Thomas Aquinas, theological suma. Part III).
Even with the possession of a broader idea of wealth, the natural wealth that Aristotle predicted, and artificial wealth as well, in none of them will Aquinate recognize it as a source of happiness, because it has no end in itself, and people who own them make it the ultimate end, it becomes a bond for something.
And what value this bond can have in itself, Tomás de Aquino examines honor, and says in this sense: “it is impossible for the beatitude to consist of honor. The honor is rendered to someone due to some excellence: and thus, it is a sign and testimony of that excellence that is in the honored one ”, it can also be the fame or glory, the power, and the goods of the body, but all these goods in themselves they also do not translate into happiness, but only false knowledge.
That is how bliss is itself, she says verbatim:” bliss is the most stable of goods “, so the lack of stability of fame occurs due to the fact that it derives exclusively from human knowledge, which, in turn, instead, it is limited, and it is often even false.
Similarly, Boethius argued: “human power cannot avoid the torment of worries, nor the sting of fear”.
As for the body, argues the Christian philosopher: “, the beatitude of man is superior in every way to that of animals, although many animals surpass men in the goods of the body”, so if beatitude comes from there, man would be equaling to animals, and how often this is true.
But what then is happiness for Doctor Angelico, who asks the same question as Boethius: “‘ Is it necessary to confess that God is the beatitude itself? ” and he will conclude that “the beatitude is the last end, towards which the human will naturally tends” and “for nothing else must the will tend as for the last end, except for God, for it must be the object of I enjoy, as Agostinho says ”(AQUINO, 2003, p. 62).
Here you can have a synthesis of what happiness is for the three great Christian thinkers of the medieval period.
For some authors, like Luiz Alberto De Boni, the philosophy of Tomás de Aquino along these lines: “the good and the end are identified”, thus has an eschatology, and if we understand that the end is just this earthly life limited to a temporal period his argument is not valid, but if we admit eternity, happiness as the ultimate good is that which we have already achieved here but which must extend beyond temporal life, outside of this, of course, only temporal pleasures.
In Picture above, by an anonymous author, The rich man and Lazarus, (around 1610, Amsterdam).
AQUINO, Tomás (2003). Theological summula. V. III. Brazil, São Paulo: Loyola.
Digital transformation beyond Buzzword
21
Oct
We alerted and problematized in the 10 years of this blog the
transformation that was being led by digital changes, social, educational, industrial and even behavioral aspects, most of the skeptics reacted, mocked or despised a real change that was happening.
The pandemic has shown that more than necessary tools can build bridges, establish new relationships, energize companies and avoid wasting time, money and especially in these times, endangering health.
Now everyone lives in the digital reality, companies have survived through online services, families, social groups, public services and meetings of various types depend on digital tools, shows depend on lives, meetings or posts on social media tools.
A buzzword emerged very strongly called the “digital transformation”, but the danger of opportunism is great for companies and sites that exploit and mystify these services and charge dearly for it, so some concepts are necessary, first what happens differently in generation Z of previous call of millennials, those who were born at the beginning of the millennium, therefore before the year 2000, which is now 22 to 37 years old.
The millenials followed the evolution of the Web (the pages, websites and blogs), they were born in a reality in which computers were an appliance, so they were only used at home and optionally at school, while generation Z through cell phones took the digital world to everywhere, create chat groups and behave differently with the credibility of websites, blogs and media networks, create their own relationships and idols, in general different from everything that is known.
Although more closed and with a tendency to have little social relationship, they are more critical than millennials, who are more anxious, more efficient and more demanding.
Thus, relations with the market are very different, they return to prefer shopping in physical stores and select well what they buy, less impulsive and already have the technology with excellent support, although very connected they already know the limits of technology.
Major economics magazines like Forbes and Fortune have done generation Z analyzes to understand the necessary market transformation, Forbes says it represents 25% of the current world population, digital is a natural part of their lives, like TV and the radio of past generations, while Fortune claims that 32 of generation Z are striving for a job of their dreams and rule out taking on any job, although temporarily accepted to lift the future.
Thus the old CRMs (Customer Relationship Management) do not work and many criticisms and analyzes made for the millennial generation are outdated.
According to Kasey Panetta, a researcher at Gartner, 5 new concepts are emerging: Composite architectures, agile and responsive architectures, Algorithmic trust, products, links, websites and reliable transactions, Beyond silicon, the limits of Moore’s law of the evolution of computers, now technologies smaller and more agile are sought, Formative Artificial Intelligence (AI) adaptation to the client, customization of services, times and location, and the Digital Me concept, a kind of passport to the digital world, tools and websites that already know the client and their needs, forms of behavior and preferences.
So the entire digital universe that seemed stable is also going to collapse and much of what is called “digital transformation” is just a digital mystification.
Panetta, Kasey. 5 Trends Drive the Gartner Hyper Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2020. Available at: https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/5-trends-drive-the-gartner-hype-cycle-for-emerging-technologies-2020, Access: September 15, 2020
The importance of weak links
29
Sep
In network theory, weak links are important, not in network media
like facebook, instagram or other media, networks are forms of interpersonal relationships linked to certain interests and groups (hubs) that are important and could be more if they were understood dirty features and operating modes.
The weak link of a network, someone who is on the periphery of it and with little contact with the central group (the hubs) are in fact the great potential of these networks, in social life, in science and even in politics they were people with little connection with the power groups that made a difference.
Li from Alan Turing, creator of the modern digital computer model, who are “the times of people that nobody expects anything to do things that nobody can imagine”, he participated in a secret project at Bell Laboratories that unveiled the secret of the Enigma machine, of codification of messages of the Nazis during the 2nd. World War.
Einstein went to several schools, and it is not true that he was a poor student, he hated them all. his parents and teachers thought he had mental limitations, when in fact the school did not inspire him at all, he considered them weak.
Stevie Jobs, too, took little interest in his studies and was an easygoing student in the classroom, in a primary classroom when a teacher asked if they understood the universe, heard his reply that he did not understand “it is because we were so broke”.
Many are the simple people who point to a period of great difficulties, only media thinkers, networks of interests with audiences who want to hear certain responses to the current situation that are successful, in general they say that the pandemic is nothing, that when it passes let’s be happy, so it’s not just politicians looking at a complex reality with simplistic and poorly elaborated responses.
At the end of last week we said that “the last ones will be the first”, now we say something more than that, they are the ones that can make a difference, especially in the context of social and health severity that we are entering, in the “social network theory” Mark Granovetter, who studied the subject, explains that because they are distant, it is these weak ties that are able to take the message to be “shared” with people and groups from other circles, expanding the network.
GRANOVETTER, M. (1973). The strength of weak ties. In: American Journal of Sociology, University.
Translatio studiorum and writing techniques
03
Jun
The long period that went from the beginning
of registered writing, scriptura, until the appearance of copyists, called mixed orality, is called translatio studiorum, where writing itself will undergo many technical variations, and in them stand out São Jerônimo who compiled and elaborated the first version of the Bible.
During this period, the so-called Cappadocian priests stand out, Gregorio de Nissa (335, died in 394), his brother Basilio the Great, and Gregório de Nazianzeno, whose writing is important for what both Hannah Arendt and Byung Chull Han will analyze in the vita active, and here the information is linked in times of new media, but it will be done during the week.
Translation Studiorum, period of transfer of knowledge, from one era to another when the techniques of culture are changing, and thus their anthropotechnics, between different cultures and religions, especially in the West and the Middle East, where there is the culture of the original of the book of three great Abrahamic religions (comes from Father Abraham), the Koran, the Torah and the Bible.
The translatio thus corresponds to the period of peak and decadence of Greek-Christian thought, which has more links than is apparent, and which would be preserved and would continue in the Western world in the form of a dominant and influential philosophical and Trinitarian and Neoplatonic doctrine.
De Trinitate de Saint Augustine is as revealing as his popular book Confessions, and Plotinus’ influence cannot be denied, nor can it be overvalued, it is not denied because Plotino’s conception of One of the soul is essential, and overvalued because Augustine’s conversion displaces him from Plato’s deontological center, Sumo Bem, to the ontological: the person and Trinitarian of Christian thought.
However, Cappadocian priests bring concepts that can be explored in the light of current thinking, Ousía (οὐσία, correct pronunciation is “ouceea”), is translated a noun from the Greek language giving rise to essence and substance, but semse feminine and conjugation in the present participle of the verb “to be”, the Heideggerian interpretation is “present” or present (being-present).
We will also explore the meaning of the word hypostasis, from the Greek prosopon, it comes from Greek theology with the meaning of person, and in conjunction with ousia it gives a meaning to the Trinitarian.
The cultural crisis and the pandemic
15
Apr
The second great blindness of the Western crisis is culture, the book Anything Goes
by Theodore Dalrymple, pseudonym of english´s psychiatrist Anthony Daniel who treated dangerous prisoners, is an anthology of short stories written from 2006 to 2009, and called his studies declinology (see the video below) but in the book cited there are beautiful passages on how to read a culture. in many countries.
Since the dawn of human culture, the discovery of the Chauvet Cave (dated 32,000 BC) proves this, man builds and records his culture, and here a parallel with #StayAtHome this is done in a cave, probably a meeting place and protection of families.
It may seem too much the term used by Peter Sloterdijk, but human domestication is nothing other than the structuring of “domestic” life, and also the Greek origin of the word oikos-nomicus (we have already made a post) means oikos – home.
We add here Xenophon’s Socratic dialogue, which refers to the term how to be a good gentleman, Kalokagathos (good in beautiful, in Greek), which is thus a reference to culture.
Byung Chul Han, who wrote Salvação do Belo, where he criticizes the culture of the plain and in particular that of Jeff Koon and his sculptures of “baloons” (figure) that say a lot or nothing, the desire for total immunity, without seeking the co-immunity, concept of its master Sloterdijk, that can be applied to the current pandemic.
A hard article, even for me as an appreciator of Chul Han, about the current pandemic crisis, published in El País, states that: “it seems that Asia controls the epidemic better than Europe”, quotes the data of March 20 when the epidemic had not yet reached its peak in Europe and is based on the disciplined and ancestral structure of the east.
Earlier than us, they bet on Big Data, says the author, and “they suspect that big data may have enormous potential to defend themselves against the pandemic” says in the article by El País, but warns that this could lead to a digital dictatorship, as in China and this is not a change.
About the current culture, the author affirms “today not only the polished is turned to the beautiful, but also the ugly” in the work A Salvação do Belo (page 19), we hope that the scourge of the virus will move our hearts and make us go from discovery from interdependence, as Morin says, to solidarity.
https://veja.abril.com.br/videos/clube-do-livro/uma-aula-de-decliniologia-com-theodore-dalrymple/
Women and new media
09
Mar
The women’s day was yesterday, the prospect of a non-sexist society is very distant, even in European countries I contacted with sadness that sexism is still
a general culture, for example, harassment in France has high rates and in Portugal there are recent cases , where even a Supreme Court judge expressed his machismo in a case of domestic violence that he judged.
Wikipedia is the 5th.
The most accessed site in the world, it has more than 6 million entries, and despite having problems with editing and corruption in its entries, which is treated but can go online and cause confusion, its importance is undeniable, and denying it is not living the present reality.
New media is no different, Wikipedia the 5th. most read site in the world, it has recently been reported that the majority of women influential in scientific investigations are ignored by the site.
The article written by James Vicent in August 2018 in The Verge Magazine, says that 82% of the biographies are written about men, cites the example of Teresa Woodruff, a scientist who had no entry on Wikipedia (now has), and was named one of the most influential people in investigations and Artificial Intelligence by Time magazine in 2013.
Another influential researcher cited is Jessica Wade, a physicist at Imperial College London who wrote Pineau’s new entry, a system called QuickSilver, and spoke about Wikipedia:
“… it is incredibly biased and the under-representation of women in science is particularly bad”.
The article focused on AI research and also cited robotics researcher Joële Pineau.
However, new media have given women power and a voice too, it is undeniable that a number of excluded social groups, cultures almost disappeared, and many minorities now have a voice thanks to new media.
In social media media, facebook and instagram, there are countless cases of exposure of sexist images and content, which are not always denounced and punished for offensive practices
Digital influencer, the power in new media.
25
Feb
Digital influencer is a new area of expertise in the media, since the first bloggers
they exist, they talk about curious things from serious topics, to cooking, fitness, sports or anything that is on the rise at a given moment, those that are successful mean a lot in in terms of statistics and funding, but little in terms of serious and political content.
I quote from a Brazilian Felipe Neto, around 32 years old, I didn’t go check it out, I just read it somewhere, sometimes he’s smart, sometimes comedian and ironic, he talks about everything, especially unpublished cultural facts, like the Passos Family that formed a “ trupe ”that won with a carnival satire marchinha (*primary sing of carnival) “The fault is of the PT (left party)” on CBN radio won the marchinhas contest.
They say he has millions of followers; I didn’t check it out and there are also “robots” and “influencers” capable of producing values, but the visualizations are really astronomical. You must be unaware of Christian Figueiredo, who is around 21 and has already launched a book “Eu sou loko” (I´m crazy) and has already done marketing for Colacoca (or other) and Disney, and if it goes to a mall it will drive teenagers crazy, ask your son, nephew or grandson who he is , 50% chance that they will know.
The Santa Catarina´s Luba, Lucas Feurschütte. he is around 25 years old, and has already made a successful video with Christian Figueredo asking: “Are you a gay”, there is a third party that I don’t know who participates, but maybe he’s also successful, his success is Luba TVGames ( around 230 thousand followers), I will not exhaust the list, I just point out an unknown universe of those over 30 years old, at least the vast majority, young people are under their enormous influence.
If your son is a teenager, pay attention to these names: Júlio Cocielo, who got involved in a controversy for making a racist comment about the player Mbappé, oh this you know, another name is Luccas Neto, 25 million subscribers and billions of views,
The third in Brazil is Kéfera Buchmann do 5inco Minutos channel, I don’t know how ironic it is with the American program 60 minutes, but it talks about beauty, sketches, parodies and has a very fine humor and 11 million followers, Whindersson Nunes, who once in a lecture I played with him and all teenagers reacted, and the adult who would say the conversation did not understand anything, and of course, Felipe Neto.
From other countries all I know is youtuber PewDiePie, a Swedish comedian around 30 years old, I discovered that his name is Feliz Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, and also those from Instagram, but there are “common” media names like Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi players. soccer, Beyoncé and Selena Gomez singers, Justin Bieber singer and others, personally I am a follower of friends and family.
It’s all I know, I dedicate myself little to these conversations, but the desire for power made me go after what young people are concerned about, in 3 or 4 years they will be in college and I don’t want to miss the joke, or the conversation, or the “ power ”that people of our age lost to young people.
Oh, it’s all media people, yes, but the new media philosophers (its comm
The form of the in-formation
11
Feb
Western philosophy was built along a path that was not necessarily the only 
one available, so there is neither determinism nor thought and consequently neither history, this because of the fact that some categories were privileged over others.
Although it was possible to think of a single model of thought, socially it is impossible to think by a single method or a single path, this may seem contradictory to the previous thought, but it does not mean that in the midst of a set of thoughts and categories from certain times it was done for several reasons, including political, economic and cultural, the option for certain forms of thought was made.
The form of information is eveloped thus from the thoughts and visions of the world that influenced Western culture.
The aim of this post is not to exhaust this thought, but to travel with the help of some special readers, such as Aristotle and Plato, Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas, René Descartes, Imanuel Kant, David Hume, Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, Husserl, Heidegger , Gadamer, Paul Ricoeur, Emanuel Lévinas, Peter Sloterdijk, Byung Chull Han, just to name a few that I consider fundamental, but without claiming to exhaust the thought of any of them.
It is possible by analyzing the penetration of these thinkers in daily life as well as in the structural ones of governments, states and world policies, how these influences happened and happen to determine our thinking, although we can naively imagine that what we think is original, or because of pragmatism that what exists is practical life and the need.
Moreover, even though they deny these are forms of thought linked to certain forms of thought, such as empiricism, skepticism and pragmatism.
Thus, through culture, education and, mainly, forms of social intervention by means of communication and advertising, there is an action-form of implanting these ideas within society and once constituted as an organized set of knowledge (an episteme) to implant in the within society, in-formation, that is, to implant ideas within society.
From Socrates, who in essence wanted to “instruct” men, through Plato and Aristoteles, to the modern state, citizens’ form of action through information is how ideas are formed and disseminated in the social fabric, specialy in XIX century, in XX there were any changes.
