Ian's Philosophy

philosophy for the love of it

  • Reason and love

    Following on from Informers.

    Tolstoy tells us (Kingdom of God ~p264) that we are brought from an eternity of nothingness and bequeathed with reason and love. Hinduism’s Krishna says:

    Without contemplation there cannot be peace

    – Bhagavad-Gita #66

    I take reason and contemplation to be the same. Further I take them to be the opposite of thoughtlessness. Thoughtlessness was the major driver that allows the Nazis to create their hells. They just make sure people do exactly what they are told without discussion. All forms of administrative massacre (genocide) require thoughtlessness of the people who are part of it.

    You can train a dog to kill, but you cannot blame the dog. It is not blessed with reasoning. Humans are. The main thing I see standing in the way of reason is perverted/corrupted belief. But reason can over time see through such belief.

    , ,
    , , , ,

  • Informers

    There were a lot of people in fear under the Nazis. I can understand people doing terrible things if they are told to, because the consequences for themselves and their families could be worse if they don’t. Plus most people aren’t that brave.

    But those people who willingly helped, happily turned Jews or resistance fighters in when they didn’t have to. The ones who got money for informing on others. No one forced them to do that, sure if they hold a gun to your head you can tell what you know, but don’t be a traitor if no one forces you too. What did it feel like to have the money and live with the feeling for the entire life that they sold the life of a Jew for money? Will these people find a way to justify it? Was the story of Judas selling out Jesus ever so relevant?

    But these informers carried on their lives. As far as I know, they simply never thought about it. Make a story in their own head about it being necessary during the war. They have children, watch their children grow. There is no jail or prosecution. No one hunts them down. No sleepless nights waiting for the police. They can also rest in the feeling that they’re not alone. Lots of other people turned in Jews for money. Life is boring. Life is like it always is. Taxes, jobs, sleep, eat, toilet, shower, stress, sex, love. Someone else moves into the house of the Jews you sold out. They were annoying Jews anyway. Maybe they survived the war. Maybe now they’re living in Israel. Anyway no need to think about that, need to pay the car insurance. Then need to deal with that pesky mole in the garden who keeps making holes. Will have to go to the supermarket to buy some poison.

    , , ,

  • Low-hierarchist

    Low-hierarchist

    I’m not an anarchist, I’m a no-hierarchist. They’re the same you say??? Well yeah, whatever. Someone else decided to poison the term anarchy and there’s not much I can do about it any more.

    But I definitely like to look at things in terms of no-hierarchy. Friendship has no hierarchy. The only kind of capitalism that works has no hierarchy. The one where there lots of small companies competing and there is no profit to be made. The butcher and the baker works, the butcher and the investment banker doesn’t. Startups have very little hierarchy. Your local sports club has very little hierarchy.

    Responsibility

    The higher (greater? larger?) the hierarchy, the less responsibility that each level holds. The bosses are not responsible for the work, the workers are not responsible for the orders. The middle managers are the worst. All they want to do is avoid responsibility and move up the hierarchy. Adolf Eichmann the middle manager of the Final Solution, did nothing but try to please his boss. People will massacre, but they’ll massacre a lot less when instead of giving the orders they have to do it themselves.

    I think the people at the top and bottom probably wouldn’t mind if the organisation collapsed, but the people in the middle want to keep it going.

    Low

    But no-hierarchy doesn’t quite capture it fully. The family group still works, the butcher’s shop still works. So I want a world where there is as little hierarchy as possible.

    Even in an ant colony there is relatively little hierarchy. Almost all are workers, there’s no managers that I know of. But still I don’t want to live in an ant colony, and mostly they only work because they’re all family. I want a world where ant colonies can get along.

    ,

  • Time

    We’ve got all the time in the world as long as we don’t fuck up the world.

    So slow the fuck down and take care of nature.

    , ,

  • Must Harry the Human believe in God?

    This is a simplification of what I see as a central argument around whether you’re nuts or not to believe in God. I’ve tried to take strictly logical/mathematical language and make it more readable, whilst hopefully keeping the core concepts.

    Short version: If God exists, then humans must believe in him or they are lying. That is absurd so God does not exist.

    Long version: Harry is any Human (could be Harold or Harriet).

    1. If God is infinitely great, then God is infinitely loving
    2. If God is infinitely loving, then for all Harry’s for all time:
      1. If Harry can relate to God at the time
      2. then Harry has the power to relate to God
      3. then Harry will relate to God
      4. Unless Harry is a liar at that time
    3. For all Harry’s for all time, Harry has the power to relate to God only if Harry believes in God at the time
    4. 1 & 2 & 3 combined says if God is infinitely great, for all Harry’s for all time, Harry believes in God at the time or Harry is lying

    , ,

  • Reasonable religion

    The God Delusion creates a very well thought out attack on religion. But going back to philosophical arguments there’s a couple he missed, or maybe I need to read the book again. Here I’ll give some reasons why you at least you don’t have to be delusional to believe in God. At least, you’re no more delusional than the rest of us. These have got names, but I prefer focusing on relatable ideas.

    Short version: When someone tells you God is rubbish, ask them how they know if we’re not in the matrix and where they get their ethical beliefs from.

    The main idea is not that religion is definitely right or wrong, but just that it’s at least reasonable, rational, not crazy to believe in a God. So if you’re preaching, I don’t have to listen to you, but I also don’t have to send you to the loony bin.

    1. We’re in the Matrix / a simulation.
      1. The basis is that we can treat religion as similar to our senses/perception proof.
      2. So whether you think its rational or rationality has nothing to do with it, if you trust your senses you can say the same for religion.
      3. If we are in a simulation, then there clearly is a creator.
      4. There’s an argument that it’s almost certain that we’re in a simulation, but I prefer Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s explanation that it’s 50/50 whether we’re in a simulation or not.
      5. There’s three forms of this that each have fancy names. But they all say that religion is no worse than perception – fideism (perception is arational), quasi-fideism (the core of perception is arational), reformed epistemology (perception is rational, religion is a divine sense)
    2. Ethics are beliefs too
      1. Ethics isn’t something of the animal world, they mostly act on instinct and don’t have the ability to reason beyond that
      2. There’s no proof for ethics, but we believe it still
      3. We rely on expertise, wisdom and experience same as we can do for religion
      4. Shamans are an interesting example of this. They understand the set and setting for using psychedelics (see discussion at end of the Michael Pollan & Imperial presentation on psychedelic research)
      5. Fancy name: exemplar account

    The main argument used against religion is that there is no evidence (fancy name: evidentialism). This was Ricky Gervais’ good point that you can burn all science books and get them all back again in 1000 or so years. There is evidence you can find. The point here is not to even argue against that. We accept there is no proof for God, but it’s still a reasonable thing to believe.

    Belief is a very important word amongst this. We have ethical beliefs, and we believe what we see and hear. If it’s OK to that, then it’s OK to believe in a God.

    The core of this comes from the book and course Philosophy, Science and Religion for Everyone By Duncan Pritchard and Mark Harris, I highly recommend following their course or reading their book.

  • An indispensable function to guide and reshape the universe

    Is that God or a tyrant?

    Totalitarian self-conceptions are largely teleological. The tyrant is less a person than an indispensable function to guide and reshape the universe.

    — Authoritarianism and totalitarianism

    The devil loves his children. Does God love us all, or judge us and send down floods and fire and brimstone?

    Does he kill the gays, the atheists, the satanists and the Dalai Llama or welcome them into his kingdom?

    How do you tell?

    ,

  • A crock of shit

    This is the tale of Klaus Barbie and the US. Why is this relevant to philosophy, religion and science? Well I consider Klaus Barbie to be the closest thing in recent times to what we could call the devil. So I sit here to examine what people do when they come in contact with the devil.

    This is not particularly aimed at the US, in fact it’s only because the US is so open that I have some details to go on. The UK, Germany and Bolivia happily used Barbie’s services, knowing who he was. But still the US is probably the most culpable.

    I find Barbie different to the standard middle mangers of the Nazi party, the banality of evil. Barbie didn’t just use his pen, he personally enjoyed the torture. He carried on torturing in Bolivia.

    All from this history of the US government and Klaus Barbie (pdf).

    This is how shit happens:

    In the beginning, there was a plan,
    And then came the assumptions,
    And the assumptions were without form,
    And the plan without substance,

    And the darkness was upon the face of the workers,
    And they spoke among themselves saying,
    “It is a crock of shit and it stinks.”

    And the workers went unto their Supervisors and said,
    “It is a pile of dung, and we cannot live with the smell.”

    And the Supervisors went unto their Managers saying,
    “It is a container of excrement, and it is very strong,
    Such that none may abide by it.”

    And the Managers went unto their Directors saying,
    “It is a vessel of fertilizer, and none may abide by its strength.”

    And the Directors spoke among themselves saying to one another,
    “It contains that which aids plants growth, and it is very strong.”

    And the Directors went to the Vice Presidents saying unto them,
    “It promotes growth, and it is very powerful.”

    And the Vice Presidents went to the President, saying unto him,
    “This new plan will actively promote the growth and vigor
    Of the company With very powerful effects.”

    And the President looked upon the Plan
    And saw that it was good,
    And the Plan became Policy.

    And this, my friend, is how shit happens.

    So lets begin…

    “It is a crock of shit and it stinks.”…

    Klaus Barbie was a truly evil man, the Butcher of Lyon, he was listed as an official war criminial to be handed over after the war (the CROWCASS list – see below). The UK got him to work for them but got rid of him, then the US were much nicer and kept him working for them to the point where they explicitly refused direct internal requests for his handing over to the French because they would be embarrassed that Barbie would be able to tell about the US spying on the French.

    This is after there could be any denial that they knew what he had done.

    “It is a pile of dung, and we cannot live with the smell.”…

    But the French themselves watered it down, their second draft of the CROWCASS for Barbie accused him of only ‘murder’ watering it down from ‘murder of military personnel and torture of civilians’.

    There was a Central Registry of War Criminals and Security Suspects (CROWCASS) list:

    the first CROWCASS list in July 1945 contained
    French charges that Barbie was
    wanted for murder of military personnel and torture of
    civilians. But in 1946, the CROWCASS reporting system
    was modified and the list of March 1947, which was in
    effect when Barbie was recruited a month later, carried
    only the blanket charge of “murder.” Previous lists were
    ordered destroyed. Subsequent editions of the CROWCASS
    list carried the murder charge without further change.

    …

    This offi-cial registry, developed and maintained by the Allied
    authorities, was designed to prevent precisely the
    situation described here – that one allied authority
    would unwittingly have in its custody, or in its prison
    camps, a person wanted by another country for war crimes.
    By publication and dissemination of a central registry,
    each command or government could have available to it a
    “wanted list” of persons being sought by another.

    “It is a container of excrement, and it is very strong, Such that none may abide by it.”

    The Attorney General tries to paint as reasonable but clear set of details as to what happened. But of course he doesn’t want to be critical of his government’s procedures.

    The CIC captured Klaus Barbie, employed him then once they knew about who he was decided it would be too embarrasing to hand him over to the French transported him via the ratlines to Bolivia.

    But the decision [by the CIC] to use a former
    Nazi, even a former Gestapo officer, is one thing; the
    decision to use a person wanted for war crimes is
    another.
    …
    But I am persuaded as a result of this investigation
    that CIC personnel had no reliable indication until at
    least May 1949, some two years after Barbie was first
    employed, that he was suspected of war crimes or crimes
    against humanity.

    Barbie being on a list of war criminals should be enough to convict the US of actively and knowingly using a war criminal. Apparently the Attorney General thinks that the US can weasel out of the ignoring the CROWCASS report because:

    1. it was too big (70,000 war criminals, 80,000 security suspects)
    2. there was “considerable confusion over the document”
    3. it was believed to contain demands for the return of political enemies, disguised as accusations of “war crimes.”
    4. because the charge in CROWCASS was ‘vague’ – it only listed his crime as ‘murder’ it was assumed this was murder of resistance.

    …

    In his conclusions to the report, there is the horrid ‘pragmatic’ argument for using Barbie:

    The Counter Intelligence Corps, the only U.S.
    intelligence agency in Europe in the immediate post-war
    years, had an enormous responsibility. In order to
    gather and analyze intelligence effectively, CIC, like
    all intelligence organizations before and since, had no
    choice but to depend upon experienced, knowledgeable and
    politically reliable persons     to provide information.
    No one in CIC was soft on Nazism or Nazis, but the price of
    turning away otherwise valuable assets simply on the
    basis of past affiliations was a high one.

    “It is a vessel of fertilizer, and none may abide by its strength.”

    In 1966, the US army still knew where he was and were asked by NBC why they still knew where he was. They sent this internally to the state department:

    The Army did. On July 19, 1966, it sent a memo to
    the Department of State:
    BARBIE, Klaus was at one time a top level
    counterespionage source of the 66th CIC Gp. Klaus
    BARBIE was born in TRIER, Germany in 1913. He was
    a high official in the Gestapo, and in charge of
    the entire LYONS, France District, during the
    German occupation. He was instrumental in some of
    the top German intelligence operations, 1938-45    .
    From 1945-47, he was on top of the wanted list, but
    was not apprehended. He was in charge of an
    underground organization composed of former Gestapo
    and SS officers who were hiding from the victors
    after the war. Following the war, he was a witness
    in several different trials involving war crimi-
    nals. He was arrested by the Americans and his
    wartime activities were investigated. However, he
    was later released because the investigation was
    inconclusive. He was recruited to work for US Army
    Intelligence in 1948 [sic]. BARBIE’S performance
    for US Army Intelligence was outstanding and he was
    considered to be one of the most valuable assets
    targetted against Soviet Intelligence     operations
    and the subversive Communist elements in southern
    Germany. The French wanted to arrest BARBIE in
    1951 [sic] to prosecute him for activities within
    France during World War II. To have exposed BARBIE
    to interrogation and public trial would not have
    been in consonance with accepted clandestine
    intelligence operational doctrine.     Throughout his
    efforts for US Army Intelligence, he was knowledge-
    able of high level operations and operational
    procedures which would have been compromised.
    Through procedures in effect at the time, BARBIE
    was therefor [sic] assisted in 1951 in leaving
    Europe for resettlement. US Army Intelligence has
    had no further contact with BARBIE subsequent to
    his departure from Europe.

    I’m not sure if I’ve ever read more weasily, bullshit words than these:

    … would not have
    been in consonance with accepted clandestine
    intelligence operational doctrine

    “It contains that which aids plants growth, and it is very strong.”…

    The army cleans it up…

    The reply that the Army drafted for State to send
    to Senator Javits, however, was a different matter:
    Dear Senator Javits:
    I refer to your inquiry dated 21 June 1966 * * *.
    An official of the National Broadcasting
    Company has informed the Department of State that
    the Gestapo official referred to is Klaus Barbie.
    Barbie was arrested by united States Occupation
    Forces in Germany and his wartime activities were
    investigated. He was released when the results of
    this investigation proved inconclusive. Barbie
    served as a witness for the prosecution at several
    trials involving war criminals. From 1948 to 1951
    Barbie was, as were many other Germans, an infor-
    mant for the united States Occupation Forces.
    Since early 1951, the United States Government has
    had no contact with him.

    There you go they did nothing wrong, Barbie did nothing wrong, indeed he served as a witness for the prosecution and was an informant for the US.

    Shit happens

    The CIC used and protected a Nazi, leader of the Gestapo in Lyon, who personally enjoyed torturing in the worst possible ways, who they knew was wanted for war crimes. Then they helped him escape ensuring that he did not face justice for almost all his crimes due to the statute of limitations.

    But according to the US…

    They used an experienced, knowledgeable and politically reliable person. He was instrumental in some of the top German intelligence operations, 1938-45. They investigated his wartime activities, got in-conclusive results, so used him as an informant. His performance for US Army Intelligence was outstanding and he was considered to be one of the most valuable assets. During his time he was witness for the prosecution (the good guys) at several trials until 1951 and then let him go.

    By the US Attorney’s own words:

    But the decision [by the CIC] to use a former
    Nazi, even a former Gestapo officer, is one thing; the
    decision to use a person wanted for war crimes is
    another.

    1. In the CROWCASS list Barbie was wanted for war crimes
    2. In the official requests for Barbie in 1951 the CIC now had no excuse that they knew he was wanted for war crimes

    Whether the CIC thought he was innocent or guilty is irrelevant. He was wanted for war crimes, it was up to the French to decide.

    This is all a crock of shit and it stinks. I’ll leave you with the most true words spoken in the report:

    To actually employ a man who had
    been the leader of the Gestapo in a city in France, and
    to rely on him to advance the interests of the United
    States, was incomprehensible and shameful.

    ,

  • The devil loves his children

    Klaus Barbie from all evidence loved his kids. According to his daughter-in-law (wife of his son Klaus-Georg), Klaus-Georg was kidnapped by the CIA in 1946 to make sure Barbie would work for them.

    From the Attorney General’s report:

    Barbie’s son Klaus-Georg was killed in a hang
    gliding accident in 1980, at age 33. Barbie’s wife died
    in 1982. His daughter reportedly lives in Europe.

    I’m sure Barbie was as distraught as any parent at his son’s death. Barbie made sure his family could escape with him to Bolivia. Hitler loved dogs and Eva Braun. The devil can have a family and takes care of them.

    Love alone is not enough to show you’re not the devil. There are lots of people in hell who really quite enjoy it and think it’s heaven. Love is not all you need. Compassion for others is what you need. Compassion for everything on earth. Love breeds compassion. Can you kill and torture with compassion? Does a slave owner have compassion for his slaves? Love for all. Love thy neighbour.

    The devil chooses who he loves. God loves us all equally.

    ,
    , , ,

  • Badass paramedics

    Or my warped vision for the police.

    In Jesus’ and Tolstoy’s and frankly my utopia, we will have accepted the law of love over the law of violence.

    In this utopia, we will still need hospitals and fire departments. Shit sometimes goes bad, people get ill, fires start.

    However we will finally have rejected all forms of violence, so armies, police, judges, juries won’t be necessary.

    On the way to this utopia, I figured that all of these jobs would probably get slowly reduced down to one role, of police, judge and jury.

    Now we all know who that is – Judge Dredd. Apart from Judge Dredd is a dick, he too believes in violence solving everything. “I am the law!”, blah, blah.

    So we don’t need Judge Dredd, we need Judge Hershey.

    What I imagine to be the perfect judge is like a badass, spiritual, sensitive, observant, friendly, diplomatic paramedic.

    Once we’re in utopia no one will be violent anymore, but on the way to utopia people are still going to be steadily less and less violent. Or there will be less and less violent people.

    So shit is still going to go bad, people will have fights and disagreements. I like the tree in my garden, my neighbour doesn’t like the leaves. We’re both having a bad time and feeling stressed. So my neighbour comes round and I end up punching him in the face.

    So now badass diplomat paramedic, or say Judge Hershey, shows up.

    There’s no screaming “get down on the floor”, “hands where I can see them”. Her first priority is as a medic to see to the bloody nose.

    Then it’s to diffuse the situation, through being sensitive and diplomatic. Obviously Judge Hershey can read minds, but someone who is trained to be an observant, sensitive, friendly diplomat will be very close to the concept of reading minds.

    Then finally it’s to record what happened. Every time shit goes bad, we need the most accurate report of what happened. Both to help better settle disputes and give useful data for how we can improve. Nothing better than having an actual trained eye witness. Obviously this assumes our badass paramedics aren’t corrupt, but I get the feeling that most paramedics aren’t.

    Now the question is why she needs to be badass, for self-defense. This is failing the Jesus’ non-resistance to violence, but its something closer to what Muhammad believed in. Be peaceful, but you can defend yourself. Once we’re in utopia you don’t need defense from violence, but on the way there we need something like the kung-fu Buddhist monks. They reject all concepts of harming someome, but are able to block any attacks until the situation calms down.

    Another situation where I imagine them being needed is when someone takes too many drugs at a party or whilst sat at home. People doing silly things, depression and suicide still won’t go away in utopia. Then again you need the paramedic first and then you need that same someone to offer help for how to treat the problem. The person on drugs maybe dangerous, so self-defense, but in no way should they ever be harmed.

    , ,