Just got through reading this. Thought I would share it with you people.
Actually a speech given by Michael Crichton on the Complexity Theory.
-
Feb. 13, 2010 2:46 p.m. Toyman01 Dork
-
Feb. 13, 2010 4:08 p.m. carguy123 SuperDork
Reading what?
-
Feb. 13, 2010 4:08 p.m. HappyAndy HalfDork
Its so complex that the link is missing!
-
Feb. 13, 2010 4:30 p.m. Toyman01 Dork
-
Feb. 13, 2010 10:03 p.m. minimac Dork
my head hurts
-
Feb. 13, 2010 10:09 p.m. maroon92 UberDork
Crichton is an awesome writer. I love almost everything he has ever written. State of Fear is one of my favorite books.
R.I.P. M C
-
Feb. 14, 2010 12:37 a.m. Keith PowerDork
My gripe with Crichton is that he doesn't finish books. His plots go something like:
- thing happens we don't understand
- thing is bad for people
- it gets worse
- thing suddenly goes away for some reason, everyone's okay because they got lucky.
Andromeda Strain, Sphere, Congo, Jurassic Park, whatever. Same deal.
Except Disclosure. That scared the crap out of me.
-
Feb. 14, 2010 4:46 a.m. Luke SuperDork
Neat article. It ties in nicely with what I'm studying, (aquatic science/coastal zone management.)
-
Feb. 14, 2010 7:22 a.m. wbjones HalfDork
I must be way too cynical .... most (if not all) of the things he talked about I just read about and mentally shrug my shoulders and go on about my business, and as he pointed out they usually go away.... I save a lot of my stress quotient that way...
sorta my way of living the idea of ... "don't worry about the things you can't do anything about"...
example: a friend of mine ended up in the hospital being treated for stress related problems due to her worries about the 9/11 attacks....
-
Feb. 14, 2010 7:47 a.m. Jensenman MegaDork
Good read.
If you look at his books through the lens of this article, suddenly the way they are written makes more sense. Like Andromeda Strain: it was about humanity being sideswiped by something it simply wasn't equipped to understand which is a basic tenet of his complexity theory. Sort of like Arthur C. Clarke's Rama series: Earth and humanity meant nothing to the builders of the Rama spacecraft except a gravitational point to turn them. The worst part of the whole thing for humanity was having it driven home just how unimportant we are in the grand scheme of things.
The part that most dovetailed with the way I think was where we try to force our view of the world upon the creatures living in it. There was a zoo somewhere that had a population of small monkeys which, since they were well fed, had nothing to do all day except sit on branches and sleep. Some patrons complained because the monkeys weren't putting on the show they expected for their kids. In response, the zookeepers changed the way they were fed by introducing live prey, which is what they lived on in the wild. The monkeys became quite active as they searched for the prey. Almost immediately the zookeepers were inundated with complaints from people who did not want their kids seeing such a horrifying sight.
Cats are carnivorous, that's why they go after frogs, birds, lizards etc. Yet many people will punish them for doing what comes naturally to them and expect them to eat veggie pills.
We humans think we are so stinkin' smart and important with our opposable thumbs that we can control the entire world when in reality we cannot. In a book I read years ago, a character says: 'New York is just a pimple on a ball of mud somewhere.'
-
Feb. 14, 2010 8:51 a.m. Toyman01 Dork
Here's one guaranteed to to make your Valentines Day better.
http://www.michaelcrichton.net/essay-playboy-howtofight.html
I read most of his essays and speeches yesterday. He has a very interesting perspective on things. Smart guy.
-
Feb. 14, 2010 9:50 a.m. 4cylndrfury SuperDork
wow thats good stuff toyman...thanks!
-
Feb. 14, 2010 10:01 p.m. BAMF Reader
^ That was pretty awesome.
-
Feb. 14, 2010 10:30 p.m. GI_Drewsifer Reader
Wow, that "How To Fight" article was great! A lot of very good advice in there. That should be mandatory reading for 12th graders I think.
