Comments on: Minds for Sale

By: Brian Frank

Brian Frank — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 05:46:08 +0000

Ya – I found it hard to know where to start (and where to stop) writing about these issues. I'm going to spread most of my thinking out over time as specific cases call for criticism.

By: dietsociety

dietsociety — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 05:35:12 +0000

Brian – thanks for the link to the video and Harold Jarche for pointing me over here a couple weeks ago. I really think that you're dead on with the statement that humans are looking for duality. Not just a binary one either, but of absolutes… the world is so complex that the sooner we understand that there are a million shades of grey, and not just two, we'll be better off. I've been meaning to write about this video and how it relates to building critical thinking skills, but I didn't. I think I'll just link here instead.

By: Tom Graves » A week in Tweets: 7-13 Mar 2010

Tom Graves » A week in Tweets: 7-13 Mar 2010 — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:52:34 +0000

[...] brianfrank: ‘Minds for Sale’ – disturbing webinar by Harvard Law lecturer Jonathan Zittrain http://brianfrank.ca/2010/03/minds-for-sale/ [...]

By: ronny

ronny — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:27:12 +0000

Maybe I sidetracked my own purpose there – I meant that the amount of good that we're capable of will hopefully outweigh our propensity for personal material gain as it relates to our collective future, and I'd like to have faith that that will be the case as we move into uncharted waters but, so far, I don't. It all looks pretty damn ominous to me. My hope is that my Chicken Little perception will be laughed at when the dust settles.

By: Brian Frank

Brian Frank — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:05:01 +0000

I think the question whether “human nature” is inherently good or bad is the barrier. We interact with our circumstances based on a lot of complex and dynamic variables; we're not merely conduits of some essential “good or bad” force permanently embedded within us. If there's anything inherent about human nature, it's our bias towards wanting to explaining everything in terms of dualities and permanent qualities.

By: ronny

ronny — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:23:24 +0000

I wish I shared your faith, Brian. I believe that having that faith is the seed that can bring the ideal to fruition, so I think it's important despite my inability, thus far, to be in secure possession of it. I'm working on it. There's likely no older question than that of the general nature of humanity (whether it's basically good, bad or indifferent), and I want to believe the answer is the first option.

I guess continually seeking out examples of the good can help cement that belief, but in order to be challenge the bad, you need also seek out those examples (as noted in Zittrain's fascinating lecture) – and in doing so, risk forfeiting the optimistic outlook. It's quite a dilemma, for me anyway.