tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post3968331056486066542..comments2024-03-27T03:00:27.024-04:00Comments on Facts & other stubborn things: Institution building and reciprocity among plants and fungiEvanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12259004160963531720noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-6222255774354221942011-08-13T16:03:08.294-04:002011-08-13T16:03:08.294-04:00"What do humans do that doesn't have an a..."What do humans do that doesn't have an animal root? Since we are animals it doesn't seem like there's anything that we do!"<br /><br />Well, I thought it was clear I meant "non-human animals" and "non-human apes"! I again recommend M. Polanyi on this. _Personal Knowledge_ has an extended critique of rationalists for failing to realize how continuous with animal mentality is ours, but also acknowledges the great leap that language provided.gcallahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10065877215969589482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-85607112482953098292011-08-12T20:11:41.734-04:002011-08-12T20:11:41.734-04:00Anyway, I have to disagree with Daniel's point...Anyway, I have to disagree with Daniel's point; clearly for people who study other people for a living those other people aren't just "other animals." If you study something you tend to valorize it (be it suns or black holes or other people or pathogens or languages) and that has many benefits I'd say. For people outside the field or sub-field it makes sense not to do so of course; but at that point all you're really talking about is the sort of pluralism Montaigne (and I) dig. You may like your stove, I like mine better.Gary Gunnelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14463810435943252898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-44872872411834287142011-08-12T20:00:46.304-04:002011-08-12T20:00:46.304-04:00Daniel,
Keynes is a Norman surname (or rather, it...Daniel,<br /><br />Keynes is a Norman surname (or rather, it is the Anglicization of a Norman surname). It explains a lot.<br /><br />Keynes was also related to the Neville's through his grandfather's wife (which also explains a lot).Gary Gunnelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14463810435943252898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-58346109455441207952011-08-12T16:17:47.926-04:002011-08-12T16:17:47.926-04:00Gene -
What do humans do that doesn't have an ...Gene -<br />What do humans do that doesn't have an animal root? Since we are animals it doesn't seem like there's anything that we do!<br /><br />I'm not saying the root of our reciprocity goes back to these fungi, of course. What I'm saying is that when we see analgous behavior in other animals it makes people realize what they often forget: that economists are primatologists, and that we are simply one of many animals. This realization is important because otherwise the scientific study of the human species veers in other directions that are more driven by how we want to see or idealize ourselves.<br /><br />re: <i>"So, of course, an ape could come up with ABC, but surely you don't think one could conceive of a shortfall in aggregate demand?!"</i><br /><br />We have an historical example of a great ape whose anscestors moved up to a Northern European island about 100,000 years ago doing just that in 1936.Daniel Kuehnhttp://www.factsandotherstubbornthings.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-52061141883209880052011-08-12T15:54:24.895-04:002011-08-12T15:54:24.895-04:00"The more we come to realize that economic be..."The more we come to realize that economic behavior is simply one sort of behavior of highly evolved primates and that it is conceptually no different from other evolved behavior of other organisms..."<br /><br />But, more seriously, shouldn't we avoid either extreme? Yes, their are animal roots of (almost?) everything we find humans doing, but language has made a big difference. (M. Polanyi is good on this point.)<br /><br />So, of course, an ape could come up with ABC, but surely you don't think one could conceive of a shortfall in aggregate demand?!gcallahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10065877215969589482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-69639379960187575352011-08-12T15:50:17.846-04:002011-08-12T15:50:17.846-04:00Given that the fundamental nature of the universe ...Given that the fundamental nature of the universe is mind, it is not surprising that hydrogen atoms can do this.gcallahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10065877215969589482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-2608675187827826642011-08-12T15:25:13.576-04:002011-08-12T15:25:13.576-04:00Damn it Bob, capital is K and we are hydrogen! Whe...Damn it Bob, capital is K and we are hydrogen! When are you all going to learn? Read your Keynes and your Democritus!Daniel Kuehnhttp://www.factsandotherstubbornthings.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-55130194381112369782011-08-12T15:23:02.999-04:002011-08-12T15:23:02.999-04:00Economic behaviors are, as Carl Sagan once said, &...<i>Economic behaviors are, as Carl Sagan once said, "some of the things that hydrogen atoms do given fifteen billion years of cosmic evolution."</i><br /><br />Please! Let's drop the romanticizing aggregation. We're all a bunch of quarks.Bob Murphyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001108408649311528noreply@blogger.com