Re: virus: Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.

Tim Rhodes (proftim@speakeasy.org)
Sat, 13 Mar 1999 11:41:18 -0800 (PST)

<metaphoric mode on>

On Sat, 13 Mar 1999, Eric Boyd wrote:

> A rhetorical question, though! Why would you *want* to replace a
> blood-sucking monster?

Many current scienists are using leaches. Turns out they produce a highly useful and effective anti-clotting agent. Who'da thunk, huh?

> Actually, I don't know that ostriches do that, in fact I suspect that
> "head in the sand" is some type of feeding or cooling behaviour.

I bet a lot of ostriches had to die of heat exhaustion before that adaptation was selected for. Can you afford to be as patient and detached with yourself as Nature is with evolution?

> To give a mechanical analogy, ignorance is like a
> ball sitting on top of sphere. It may be stable, but the least little
> nudge can send it flying off into space. A position based on
> knowledge and understanding is more like a ball sitting in a bowl --
> it takes a very large bump to make it unstable.

Or to move it out of its rut, that single powerful strange attractor. Imagine the first example, but with the ball magnitized and the sphere of polished iron. How much more dynamic is that system, compaired to your bowl?

</methaphoric mode>

-Prof. Tim