Dangerous Knowledge

Thanks to SYRFox, one of the indomitable bad mo-fucks over at the Sonic Youth Gossip Forum for the link to this 90 minute BBC documentary. The advance of human knowledge is forever beset on all sides by the stubbornness of those not willing, or too brainwashed, to understand.

PHILOSOPHY, PHYSICS, MATHEMATICS - DANGEROUS KNOWLEDGE

If the embedded video above does not work, this is the link to the video on Google's page.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5122859998068380459

GUERILLA ONTOLOGY

Guerrilla ontology is a practice described by Robert Anton Wilson as a method of dealing with people with extremely fixed worldviews, such as religious fundamentalists and economic materialists

Robert Anton Wilson: I like "guerrilla ontology" as a description. Ontology is the branch of philosophy that tries to understand what's real and what isn't, or what's the difference between real reality and mere appearance. Guerrilla ontology is closely related to French deconstructionism.
I didn't realize this while I was developing guerrilla ontology, but our approach is to knock down everybody else's attempt to settle the question. Our attitude is: There is no final answer. What the scientifically illiterate consider the final answer is just the latest model. The latest model, presumably, will include more facts than any previous model, or it won't become prevalent.
The latest model will be the best we can do at this time, but it will be replaced by a better model in five years, if not sooner.

"The basic technique of all my books. Ontology is the study of being; the
guerrilla approach is to so mix the elements of each book that the reader must
decide on each page 'How much of this is real and how much is a put-on?'" -RAW

The goal of guerrilla ontology is to expose individuals to radically new ideas,
thoughts, and words, in order to invoke cognitive dissonance and to cause a
degree of discomfort as the individuals find their rigid belief systems
challenged by new concepts.

Cognitive Dissonance. -FUPPETS- is deeply devoted to cognitive dissonance.

'Thus radical psychologists ask us: does not the "reality" of schizophrenia or
art remain "real" to those in schizophrenic or artistic states, however
senseless these states appear to the non-schizophrenic or non-artistic?
Anthropologists even ask: do not the emic realities of other cultures remain
existentially real to those living in those cultures, however bizarre they may
seem to the Geriatric White Male heirarchy that defines official "reality" in
our culture?This variability of humans can function as the greatest evolutionary
strength of the human race, since it may allow us to learn from persons
imprinted and/or trained to see and hear and smell and think those things we
have learned not to see or hear or smell or think.Due to our habit of premature
certainty, however, this variability seldom serves that beneficial evolutionary
function. More often, when meeting somebody with a different gloss or umwelt, we
merely label that person "mad" or "bad" - crazy or evil - or both.This may
explain most of the hostility on this planet and most of the wars.Apologists for
certain authoritarian/dogmatic groups (the Vatican, the U.S. State Department,
CSICOP) spend most of their time constructing "proofs" that anybody who does not
share their reality-tunnel has serious mental or moral defects or "is" a damned
liar.Again I call this book Quantum Psychology rather than Quantum Philosophy
because understanding and internalizing (learning to use) these principles can
decrease dogma, intolerance, compulsive behaviour, hostility etc. and also may
increase openness, contimuous learning, "growth" and empathy - sombunall of
which represent goals sought in most forms of psychotherapy and sombunall forms
of mystic religion." -- Robert Anton Wilson - Quantum Psychology

An Interview With A "Dangerous" Man

Daniel Dennett , Co-Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies and University Professor for the Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University, is a Science Philosopher. It is a relatively new field, which seeks to understand and analyze the philosophical implications of our most valued scientific theories. He focuses on the philosophy of mind and the philosophy of biology. He aims to ground all of his philosophy on empirical research.

All in all, he is one bad motherfucker. Chris Floyd, of the journal Science & Spirit, interviews Professor Dennett. Read the interview here.

Here is a great article from Reason magazine where Daniel Dennet discusses on determinism, human "choice machines," and how evolution generates free will.