5.24.2020
Making Decisions in the Age of the Argument (video and audio)
Or audio, if you prefer:
In Part 1 (see below), I proffer the conditions of the contemporary moment, what I'm calling the Age of the Argument. There is no clear source of truth, no ground of certainty: all there are are arguments. It's not that some are false and some true; it's that all of them make claims, all of them are "true." So how do we make decisions?
That's the subject of this video. We're always making decisions without certainty — about what to eat, what films we like, what sex position to indulge in the moment. Things like what to believe about the corona virus are no different: we make decisions as individuals based on emergent factors and the needs and wants of our bodies. Rather than seeing truth or certainty, we make decisions based on our health and vitality, what serves us best (I borrow this from Nietzsche).
This, in turn, yields a different way of standing towards what we believe and towards others' beliefs. There is an ethics of rhetoric, an ethics of argument, that is dramatically different than morality. It's time, I believe, to use new tools of making sense that befit our times. By relying on antiquated tools of sense making that rely on certainty, we are creating a violent, bile filled culture.
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5 comments:
Should I buy?
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/stocks/NFLX-Q/full-chart/
The only thing an intellectual can do is watch things blow up, from a safe distance, of course. ― Roberto Bolaño
Speculating is a great figure for decision making. I was always confused when I'd begin the process and be asked what my appetite for risk was. I thought it was a technical question. But, no, it's as straight forward as can be: speculating always involves appetite and a relationship to a lack of certainty. I remember thinking: someone must know what's makes a good and bad investment. But nope. No such thing. Which is of course while certain folks with money throw enough at a stock so as to lend a level of certainty, of control. The rest of us, however, are always floundering.
Not sure why Google decided to designate my identity as unknown. Perhaps it knows something I don't.... but that was me, in case it wasn't obvious. I want to leave this platform soon.....
Never had enough money to speculate... I've only ever invested in health and my people.
Tough to know which "platform"... By default virtual communication attenuates anything life affirming. Just look at the Aspergian faces of our tech overlords, raised on screens and Star Wars in sanitized suburbs. I'd see your search more like 40 years out of Egypt rather than a drop down menu click.
Never had enough money to speculate... I've only ever invested in health and my people.
Tough to know which "platform"... By default virtual communication attenuates anything life affirming. Just look at the Aspergian faces of our tech overlords, raised on screens and Star Wars in sanitized suburbs. I'd see your search more like 40 years out of Egypt rather than a drop down menu click.
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