czwartek, 14 maja 2015

Bacon

Was Francis Bacon right writing "We must obey the forces we want to command."? This quote definitely refers to the virtue called humility, which is not very popular in the modern times. Nevertheless I would like to advocate for the wisdom of this message.

"If there is one thing the history of evolution has taught us it's that life will not be contained. Life breaks free, it expands to new territories and crashes through barriers, painfully, maybe even dangerously, but, uh... well, there it is". These words by Dr. Ian Malcolm from Jurassic Park predicted the incoming disaster. Life will eventually find its way through every obstacle, whether we consider biology, business or society. No matter how weak it may seem, plethora of creatures given enough time is unpredictable. Collapse of the slavery was unimaginable for centuries and yet it happened, leading to the society we know today.

"To answer power with power, the Jedi way this is not. In this war, a danger there is, of losing who we are". This quote by master Yoda from Star Wars points to another danger. Not only we cannot fully control the reality, but the act of control can change us in a way we do not desire. Control requires us to create the mental models of reality, which are leaky by definition. Incorporating those models in our thinking is changing us, so we must carefully choose them. Famous experiment conducted by Philip Zimbardo with the students acting either as prisoners or guards can be a very good warning. Guards showed no respect to the prisoners, which led to a violence.

To sum up, Bacon's message is universal and withstands the trial of time, it warns us about the many mistakes that arrogance can lead us to.