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Macky
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Really getting into it |
Location: USA
Registered: November 2008
Messages: 973
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I really enjoyed this article on collective intelligence in this weekend's Wall Street Journal.
It makes me think about how important we all are to each other.
My favorite sentence. "No one in the world could make this pencil on my desk."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703691804575254533386933138.html
Max
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell together in unity!
Ps 133:1 NASB
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saben
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On fire! |
Registered: May 2003
Messages: 1537
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http://www.econlib.org/library/Essays/rdPncl1.html
Here is the original "I, Pencil" story. It is one reason why I am sceptical of government and why I moved from believing in the radical political left to the radical right.
Individuals are beautiful and wonderful and we need to let them prosper. The emergent behaviour, on aggregate, is probably the most suitable behaviour.
Look at this tree. I cannot make it blossom when it suits me nor make it bear fruit before its time [...] No matter what you do, that seed will grow to be a peach tree. You may wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach.
Master Oogway
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13766
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I wonder how it was made?
Have I missed something?
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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saben
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On fire! |
Registered: May 2003
Messages: 1537
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Read my story if you haven't, timmy.
It speaks of how individually no-one has the expertise to produce a pencil. But individuals, each pursuing their own ends, each with their own areas of expertise, is capable of producing something so seemingly simple yet complex. The journey of a pencil takes a person from graphite mines, to tree plantations, to rubber production, etc.
The modern pencil is a wonder that could only have been made through co-operation and iteration. No central planner could make a pencil like we have today.
Look at this tree. I cannot make it blossom when it suits me nor make it bear fruit before its time [...] No matter what you do, that seed will grow to be a peach tree. You may wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach.
Master Oogway
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