tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964847228497363438.post7703403582485235709..comments2024-03-28T22:17:48.180+00:00Comments on Conservative Tendency: Don't rock the boatMark Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03506844097173520312noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964847228497363438.post-33324883753916936602011-02-19T10:40:26.708+00:002011-02-19T10:40:26.708+00:00BTW the link provided by Sonia above didn't co...BTW the link provided by Sonia above didn't connect ... perhaps you can update that at some point for us. =)GTChristiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14390368105725901371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964847228497363438.post-7320453298605181112011-02-19T10:38:46.140+00:002011-02-19T10:38:46.140+00:00I am sorry to learn that Hiram Caton has passed. A...I am sorry to learn that Hiram Caton has passed. A wonderful original thinker. Perfect tonic for many standard pieties of the 20th century. In fact it would be fitting for us to revisit and discuss him more.GTChristiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14390368105725901371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964847228497363438.post-33187351344455642522011-02-19T00:05:03.536+00:002011-02-19T00:05:03.536+00:00Dear Sonia
I'm very pleased to hear from you ...Dear Sonia<br /><br />I'm very pleased to hear from you that your father's work is being cared for. I'll be in touch by email.<br /><br />It must have been the early 80s when he was in Perth.<br /><br />AlanAlanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16898681927233029900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964847228497363438.post-270475129993862792011-02-17T11:32:55.279+00:002011-02-17T11:32:55.279+00:00Dear Alan,
My father, Hiram Caton, passed away on ...Dear Alan,<br />My father, Hiram Caton, passed away on 13 December 2010. I am his daughter. I am working very hard to have my father's earlier work restored to the net. Much is (very) provisionally to be found at http://billyk.com.au/hiram/pages/index.php. I am moved that you have read The Politics of Progress. I can be contacted at soniacaton@gmail.com Meeting in a pub in Perth sounds perfect. When was that?Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06973877216378330434noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964847228497363438.post-44048030421553803452010-09-29T13:30:50.326+00:002010-09-29T13:30:50.326+00:00Hiram Caton used to have an interesting website of...Hiram Caton used to have an interesting website of his own. He's known as a sceptic on HIV/AIDS and on standard evolutionary theory. There's a website on the latter theme: http://www.darwin-legend.org/.<br /><br />But it is his historical works that I mostly value.<br /><br />I once, long ago, had a drink and a discussion with him at a pub in Perth.Alanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16898681927233029900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964847228497363438.post-65834670102466266522010-09-29T06:40:54.817+00:002010-09-29T06:40:54.817+00:00CONSVLTVS, yes, the reasoning in the book is very ...CONSVLTVS, yes, the reasoning in the book is very loose. A pity, because the topics are interesting and important.<br /><br />I don't know that my commentary was all that gentle, by the way. (Had it been more so, perhaps Dr Vedral might have joined our discussion!) It would be nice to think that this sort of discussion might be picked up - but there is so much material out there these days...<br /><br />But I'm not complaining. I am honored to have comments from you and Alan, and maybe the attention also of a few other silent readers.Mark Englishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03506844097173520312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964847228497363438.post-16488304037979492012010-09-29T06:14:00.182+00:002010-09-29T06:14:00.182+00:00Alan, I hadn't heard of Hiram Caton. I'll ...Alan, I hadn't heard of Hiram Caton. I'll look him up. I'm undecided about the significance of the 'information revolution' - it certainly changes the way people communicate and learn and read, and so the way they think. But expecting some kind of a radical, global transformation sounds to me a bit like the sort of thing religions and political radicals have been predicting for millennia.Mark Englishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03506844097173520312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964847228497363438.post-25061728503228749152010-09-29T02:11:35.452+00:002010-09-29T02:11:35.452+00:00Rocky boat! Just a minute and let me stop laugh.....Rocky boat! Just a minute and let me stop laugh...<br /><br />Okay. I too have used the metaphor of a phase transition to describe what is going on around us right now. Probably because “revolution” is overused and Toffler already used “wave.” But it’s important to remember it’s just a figure of speech. Seems this author has gotten a little carried away and begun to reason with his metaphor:<br /><br />“we are approaching the stage where everyone can and does interact with everyone else. And this is exactly when phase transitions become increasingly likely.”<br /><br />Reasoning with a metaphor is not even as rigorous as reasoning by analogy. To apply a characteristic of real phase transitions (ice to water) to the changes going on in society is to let the tail wag the dog. It’s like (pardon me!) using verbal reasoning to make firm conclusions about quantum mechanics. So perhaps this author is just careless.<br /><br />On the other hand, if I define the terminology of an event I can almost always make my own predictions about that event dead right. That’s no trick at all, especially if I am a little loose in defining the term to begin with. This is the method of astrologers.<br /><br />Either way, are you sure the book is OUP? No, that’s unkind. We all get carried away with our imagery from time to time, me as well as anyone. Perhaps your gentle commentary will get back to the editors, who can help improve the second edition.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4964847228497363438.post-68077782361728612302010-09-29T01:47:19.897+00:002010-09-29T01:47:19.897+00:00It is commonly stated that the biggest change of a...It is commonly stated that the biggest change of all was the Industrial Revolution. So how does he account for that little "phase transition"?<br /><br />According to Hiram Caton, "By 1900, steam engines throughout the world delivered work equivalent to that of 5,000,000,000 men". That's a phase change, I'd say.<br /><br />Caton's book, "The Politics of Progress", should be better known.Alanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16898681927233029900noreply@blogger.com