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We at LSS have always had a weakness for the Enlightenment. You know, that period of history starting with Spinoza and moving through Locke and Hume right up until Voltaire and co. When the defining features of our modern world were laid down. Observation would discover evidence, and reason would then organise that evidence into action. The resultant leaps in science and technology have transformed the lives of millions ever since. And for a long time, societies which held true to those principles in their political institutions were the most successful in the world.

The deep existential tragedy of our times is that reason no longer works. There are millions who no longer consider demonstrable fact as sufficient cause to change their beliefs. Who cannot reason from belief to consequence. We must find out why, or die.

Writing in the Atlantic, Peter Wehner* Why Trump supporters Can’t admit who he really is uses supporters of the Orange Forty fifth President of the United States as his case study; the Atlantic is an American magazine after all. But the conclusions are universal. We are glad that someone is tackling this issue. We are proud that he cites the work of Amy Chua, an author whom we have often recommended in these blogs. He offers this insight from Jonathan Rauch

“Motivation conditions cognition” Very few Trump supporters I know are able to offer an honest appraisal of the man. To do so creates too much cognitive dissidence.

People in terror no longer think rationally; other areas of the brain take over, and the result is a maelstrom of frenzy, emotion and despair.

Wehner knows this unreason is not confined to the political right, describing the base depths that Clinton supporters abjected themselves to in order to maintain their man in the White House. And no one has been a better critic of the Left’s Stalinist imposition of norms in academe and the media than Nick Cohen of the Observer.* But as Cohen correctly observes “moral equivalence is not practical equivalence. He states “all extremists threaten us-but it’s the radical right we should fear now”. He is correct. They have most of the money. They have most of the media. Above all they have the Golden Myth, that once the Chosen People lived in a Land of Lost Content. The Left by contrast are a rabble of academics, activists and misfits whose mutual hatreds and nervous excitements makes them incapable of mounting any serious organisation. Until the centre can find a critical mass of people and resources, the future may be very bleak indeed.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/09/predicate-fear/616009/

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/05/all-extremists-threaten-us-but-its-the-radical-right-we–should-fear-now

#donaldtrump #theatlentic #amychua #politicaltribes #nickcohen

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We at LSS have always believed certain things, but sometimes the evidence convinces us that we are wrong. You never know who is going to save your life, so a diverse range of people and beliefs is probably a good thing, like a diverse ecosystem in nature.

So it is with relief that we note that two of the organisations who we believe to have made big mistakes in the past are now changing their minds, in the light of new evidence. Older readers will recall how the Daily Mail were advocates of Andrew Wakefield and his anti-vaccination campaign. We’ve always had a sneaking regard for outsiders with new ideas, but we never thought that the evidence supported Wakefield’s claims. Today in the Mail, Brian Deer gives not only a history of his struggles with Wakefield and his supporters, but also psychological insights into their mindsets. Today we face an avalanche of anti-vaccination messages, mostly around COVID 19. Here’s how they can be countered.*

Rupert Murdoch and the various components of his empire have had their fair share of criticism for harbouring climate change denial. However, there is evidence that things may be changing in the inner councils of Murdochia. Today , the Sun gives space to Sir David Attenborough* and one of his thoughtful, well written pieces on the perils that face us. You may decry, hate or ignore the Sun. But it has a genius to get inside the mindset of Cs Ds and Es, particularly the males ,in a way that all the well meaning Guardian writers in the world cannot. If you want to change anything, it might be better to get them onside, that’s all we can say.

Before anyone pops up to say that Murdoch and the Mail have been got at by the illuminati jewish world conspiracy, or whatever it’s called today, we say this. Murdoch and the Mail are about the two most powerful organisations we have in the UK. No one, and we we mean no one, has the power to intimidate them. So, if you want to argue with us at LSS, at least treat us like adults.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8699497/The-double-agent-brought-anti-vaccine-fanatics.html

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/12587629/sir-david-attenborough-humanity-at-crossroads-climate-crisis/

#rupertmurdoch #thesun #climatechange #sirdavidattenborough #vaccine #antivaccine #briandeer #andrewwakefield

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Firstly a big thank you again to all who follow LSS on our multitudinous platforms or directly. A pleasure to deal with civilised minds. Certainly makes a change. An especial thanks to Mrs Margaret Foster of Dorset, who has brought to our attention a marvellously erudite work called Gin Tonica. Forty recipes for Spanish-style gin and tonic cocktails, written by David T Smith and inimitably photographed by Alex Luck.(Ryland Peters and Small 2017) Despite the title, it’s written in English. So without further ado, here are three recipes which you might like to try.

The Autumnal

Very seasonal, as the nights start to draw in, and the yellowed leaves drift softly to the ground.

50ml Darnley’s view spiced Gin 150ml Double Dutch Cranberry Tonic Water fresh cranberries, thin slivers fresh ginger root, rosemary sprigs to garnish at least six big ice cubes

Jensen’s Bermondsey Old Tom

Smith’s revival of a popular nineteenth century brand, as part of the current Gin craze, which we strongly adhere to.

50ml Jensen’s Old Tom Gin 120ml Bermondsey Tonic water six ice cubes rosemary sprig for garnish

James Bond

The famous literary hero drank this in the 1958 book Dr No

50ml Gordons Yellow label 25ml lime juice 150 ml Schweppes Tonic. Serous ice cubes and garnish/float with lime slices

Meanwhile for us poor people……………………. Iceland had a marvellous offer on their special brand gin and tonics at £1.00 a can. We’re going to add a little lemon and lime and ice-and get back to you. Nowhere on the tin does it say you can’t add an extra slug of Gordons!

#ginandtonic #cocktails #fridaynight

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At LSS, we’ve always been good Keynesians, which means we don’t think that the State is always beastly and horrible, nor that government spending is always an evil sin. In time of downturn, Keynesians believe that government spending can be used to reflate the economy-with the proviso that it is paid back at some point. Keynesians are not socialists.

Keynesians boasted that their policy gave the world its longest period of growth and stability in the period 1945-1975. Factories hummed; markets of all sorts grew; living standards rose; inequality was mediated. Yet there was always a valid criticism, made by free marketeers, of whom Mrs Margaret Thatcher was the representative. Their key point was- If your factory is idle, is it because no one wants to buy the things which you make? In which case government stimulus of the economy won’t really help, it’s just a drug to keep over paid workers making shoddy, overpriced goods that no one wants. Think British Leyland. The result is ballooning government deficits, dodgy balance of trade numbers and inflation. People moving around doing things is not the same as a healthy economy.

Since March, Rishi Sunak has basically followed the Keynesian playbook splashing the cash on numerous schemes, including the famous “eat out to help out” Up to a point it has worked, as the economy seems to be growing again. Yet at this point, the Devil whispers in our ear, as he often does “What is the long term point of borrowing all that money only to blow it in the local pub? Shouldn’t we have spent the money on infrastructure, like the old-style Keynesians of the nineteen thirties did?

It is a telling point that the British Aviation industry is screaming for help, whereas the Germans have coolly extended help to theirs, ensuring the long term survival of a job creating industry. Britain blew North Sea Oil-will it make the same mistake again?

Larry Elliott, a writer who is at once erudite and succinct, covers all these issues and potentialities in his excellent Guardian piece What Now For Britain’s Economy. We say two cheers for Mr Sunak-but a lot of careful thinking needs to be done.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/03/britain-economy-coronavirus-decline

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54004169

#larryelliott #jmkeynes #margaretthatcher #eatouttohelpout #furlough #britisheconomy #rishisunak

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Racists, racialists, ethno-nationalists and whatever they want to call themselves of all colours can stop now; they’re wasting their time. Because quite soon a new race will be rising among us whose differences and potentialities will be so profound that our own petty differences will be small indeed. This race will be a fusion of human tissue and AI made possible by a breakthrough in materials science described by Anthony Cuthbertson in the Independent.*

Up to now, attempts to produce stable interfaces between human neural tissue and AI systems depended on the use of metals such as gold. The problem is that these produce scarring in the human tissue, leading to profound interferences in data transfer.. Now a new material called Pedot developed by Dr David Martin and his team at the University of Delaware, seems to provide the missing link which will allow a stable interface. And it can’t come a moment too soon. Experts like Elon Musk believe we have at most five years before the capability of the human brain is overtaken by AI computers. Unless we find a way to incorporate this power into ourselves, we will be history.

Imagine creatures who no longer need spend ten years learning a language; they simply download it and several others into their neural circuits. Now imagine the same process for all skills sets from cookery to astrophysics. Will they really have ancestors whom they can call a race? Will they care?

We thank Mr Peter Seymour of Hertfordshire for the link to this article; he has been bringing new things to our attention for more than fifty years.

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/artificial-intelligence-brain-computer-cyborg-elon-musk-neuralink-a9673261.

#artificialintelligence #racism #ethnonationalism #cyborg #humanmachineinterface

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As you pass through our words, gentle reader, the more successful candidates for a Covid-19 vaccine will be moving to stage three trials. It’s likely that one of them should be in production by spring next year. Even problems like reinfection and declining immune response can be dealt with by booster programmes. However, if you think that after that “everything’s gonna be alright“, to quote the words of numerous songwriters, think again.

Because the potential plague caused by an antibiotic resistant superbacteria just haven’t gone away, as Daniel Mediavilla makes clear in his latest piece for El Pais.* You can read Daniel’s article below, we won’t over- reprise it here. How quickly the problem spreads in a globalised world can be seen from one gloomy fact. In 2008 doctors in New Delhi discovered that a protein which conveys antibiotic resistance had evolved in their hospitals. By 2013 it had spread to 100 countries, even as far as the remote Svalbad archipelago. It’s that quick.

We at LSS still marvel in awe at the pettiness of current concerns, parochialisms, and the downright denial of evidence and the scientific method. The erection of financial systems which fetishise short-term profit above all else, so of course we won’t develop new antibiotics, because there’s no money in it. The pay off for this mindset is out there, waiting.

English readers will need their translators at the ready:

https://elpais.com/ciencia/2020-08-29/las-bacterias-superresistentes-el-otro-gran-problema-de-salud-global-frente-al-que-tambien-fuimos-advertidos.html

if you want to join a charity which is trying to parry the threat, try

Homepage with ASK

#antibiotic resistance #superbug #danielmediavilla

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Whisper it if you dare, but we may be witnessing a most profound shift in the geopolitical balance of power. If the authors John Micklethwait and Adrian Woolridge (The Wake Up Call) are correct then 2020 may be marked by future historians when power passed from the elderly white men who have run the globe for so long to other peoples, who turned out to be better organised and more realistic.

Today Micklethwait presents a summary of his work in an article for the Daily Mail, which we link below.* The reasons the article resonates with us at LSS are: firstly it’s in the Mail, normally a staunch friend to say the least of Tory Governments. Yet the article flays Cummings and Johnson alive. When that happens, you know objectivity has trumped partisanship. Secondly, that it coincides with several trends that have been worrying us for years. The endless denigration of all things public, and the exaltation of private luxury, have long seemed a source of collective weakness to us here. The authors cite Britain as their prime case: it does indeed seem to have performed relatively badly. But as the former leading western nation for so long, there is a very strong case to answer. Thirdly, the endless parade of facts which the authors deploy-that’s when you know you’ve hit a good one. Over to you-please?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8675517/How-West-lost-JOHN-MICKLETHWAIT-reveals-coronavirus-making

#declineof west #riseofchina #wakeupcall #coronavirus

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The recent controversies about singing Land of Hope and Glory at the Proms and various posts on things like Facebook have set us at LSS thinking-how can you tell a patriot, someone who truly loves their country, from a fake one? We are filled with admiration for true patriots, those who sacrificed all in war for their community or nation, and endured hardships which we frankly doubt that we could support. We understand why genuine patriots love their flags and want to proclaim their faith in a community which is far bigger than themselves or their families. Just about every nation and religion does it, and so it seems pretty close to human nature to us.

That said, anyone who has seriously got over adolescence will have encountered another type; the tub thumper and flag waver: the ones whose mask of patriotism conceals their own agenda, for whom other people’s sacrifice is a very useful thing indeed. You may need to be able to tell one from the other before you get into a trench with them: otherwise you might find yourself facing an enemy alone, never a good place to be.

We have always found that if people love something, be it a car, a house or a community, they will put money into it. If you love your country, you will be pleased to help pay for things like schools, armed forces, roads, welfare systems and clean air, because they benefit all members of your community. Example: History shows that a good education system is a sure bastion of defence, if only because you get to produce the scientists and technologists who can make the best kit for your armed forces.

There is always room for a healthy argument about the correct level of tax. But flags and badges are cheap, anyone can wave them. A nation is like a house- you have to pay for its upkeep. Surely true patriots are more than happy to pay their share?

#patriotism #taxes #nationalism

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Yesterday (LSS 23 8 2020) we wrote of having discovered kindred sprits at the CNN news programme New Day Weekend. Well today, thanks to the inimitable Mr Peter Seymour of Hertfordshire, we have been shown another set of them.. A cluster so awesome, and so exactly trying to achieve what we here are attempting, only much much better, that we almost decided to pack up and shut down, and hand you over to these people lock, stock and barrel, as they say in the pub trade.

Mr Seymour drew our attention to a Wired article describing the solution to the Kellner conjecture, which has been finally solved by throwing massive computing power at it. You can read the piece here.

https://www.wired.com/story/a-fleet-of-computers-helps-settle-a-90-year-old-math-problem/

The point about mathematical conjectures is that they are usually one hundred years ahead of their time. The abstruse conjectures of eighteenth and nineteenth century mathematicians became the stock in trade techniques of engineers and biologists of the twentieth, and so it will go. The real point is that mathematicians have to think, really think, in well defined, exclusive categories. It is this thinking that is so rare in the modern world. There is nowhere so depressing and frightening as the comments section of newspapers, where people hurl out their unexamined emotions, masquerading as opinions, in baroque ecstasies of hate and aggression. Nowhere so devoid of the basic principles of logic, reason and evidence.

Yet Mr Seymour’s tip led us, via Wired, to a site of such obvious intellectual rigour that we, and you, should be eternally grateful to him for stumbling onto it. They are called the Simons Foundation and they publish a journal called Quanta Magazine. What struck us at once was the care and hard work that went into every piece, not just the writer but the researchers they’re reporting on. They think about every word. Compare that with the offerings of tabloid newspapers and the vapourings that appear underneath in” Comments.”

https://www.simonsfoundation.org/leadership

https://www.quantamagazine.org/mathematics/

#logic #reason #logicalerrors #emotionalreasoning

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We at LSS are not in the business of advertising. But we do look for kindred spirits across the world. People who not only interested in Science, Current Affairs Political Economy and social progress, but who try to deal with these matters in an adult, evidence- based way. So we surf the media of the world, bringing you thoughts from El Pais in Spain, the Daily Mail in England, and now from The USA, CNN. Just Because these are private companies doesn’t make it plugging. Eclectic is our name, and we cherrypick from everywhere.

What we liked on CNN was the perspective of the show New Day Weekend. A thoughtful mix of politics, news, issues and polemics from an American perspective, which makes such a change from our myopic Anglocentric weltenschauung! We thought American news was all violent polemic and deep bias, but here is a channel at once lively, but balanced and fair. The genial anchors are Victor Blackwell and Christi Paul, but we were surprised to learn that the Executive Producer is Fellow-Brit Adam Charlton. Would you adam-and eve it? Is he any relative of football legend Sir Bobby Charlton? Charlton Athletic? Whoever he is, may his team of investigators long continue!

https://edition.cnn.com/specials/new-day-weekend

https://edition.cnn.com/profiles/adam-charlton-profile

#cnn #newdayweekend #currentaffairs #atlanta