Re: Mind's Eye Re: A Call To Democratic Arms?

sounds like a great dog Neil


On Wed, Jan 23, 2013 at 5:58 AM, archytas <nwterry@gmail.com> wrote:
> Maxwell is a stubby-legged Labrador and a bit of a wimp. He's a
> sweetie.
>
> On Jan 22, 1:40 pm, rigs <rigs...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> My last was a lab-shepherd with high energy till he grew old- age 13.
>> Also had a Chesapeake Bay retriever- another large dog that loves
>> water. I have a large backyard but he really needed a field- stream-
>> woods,etc. This cold is hard on paws- some fit their dogs with
>> sweaters and booties.//Yes- it does seem the Brits collapse in snow
>> and unusual weather but it's a strange year- even Jerusalem could make
>> snowmen this year. Anyway- happy travels today.
>>
>> On Jan 22, 12:56 am, archytas <nwte...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> > Max loves the snow - though we rarely drop much below freezing here
>> > even with wind-chill. I'm off into Manchester today, assuming out
>> > trains run on a quarter of an inch of snow,
>>
>> > On Jan 22, 1:07 am, Molly <mollyb...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > > brrr. We might be there overnight. The deep freeze. Wonderful
>> > > world. We move through it regardless.
>>
>> > > On Jan 21, 10:24 am, rigs <rigs...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > > > My earlier post has been diverted to outer space, it seems.
>>
>> > > > That loneliness may be a cover, you know.
>>
>> > > > Saul Bellow was a rascal.
>>
>> > > > The speed of information leads to surprise and a protean miss, often.
>> > > > I look for patterns in history/culture and try to keep two columns-
>> > > > pro and con with hope for the margins. The top tiers of government are
>> > > > usually the culprits rather than their off-spring- and it's true of
>> > > > tribes as well as complicated systems- the buck really does stop- even
>> > > > in suitcases of cash and packets of Viagra.
>>
>> > > > My "dog" would need diapers- we're at -30 wind chill factor.
>>
>> > > > On Jan 21, 6:10 am, archytas <nwte...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > > > > Of course, I don't expect anything tangled-up with government and
>> > > > > academic bureaucracy to produce much practical. The gist was once
>> > > > > that we should aim for praxis, a form of rational action. For some
>> > > > > the guide was marxism, but most of us grew up with a form of Keynesian
>> > > > > guide - the economics of full employment and FDR's never completed
>> > > > > second Bill of Rights. More recently we have reverted to the control
>> > > > > fraud of banksters and neo-classical economics. I was never much
>> > > > > interested in the 'grand theory' - as a cop I was more interested in
>> > > > > what people were hiding and lying about, as scientist the grand was
>> > > > > excluded as rigorously as possible a the laboratory door and as a
>> > > > > university teacher I was more interested in developing resourceful
>> > > > > humans than daft, religious managerial theories. As a kid, my elder
>> > > > > brother and sister always claimed I changed the goalposts in argument
>> > > > > and as I grew up I discovered this was what argument was generally
>> > > > > about - the goalposts changing name to root metaphor and paradigm.
>> > > > > Experts in argument are bought like lawyers and have about the same
>> > > > > ethics. When Socrates gestures at the Sophists claiming 'I know
>> > > > > nothing, but even this is to know more than they' he is just being the
>> > > > > smartest guy in the room.
>> > > > > We say 'jaw-jaw' is better than 'war-war' - but there is no crucial
>> > > > > experiment to decide in 'jaw-jaw'. The problem with argument is that
>> > > > > it needs arbitration if human beings are involved in it and the seeds
>> > > > > of its own destruction are laid in most people having no training in
>> > > > > how it is constructed. If you get some training in this you can be
>> > > > > bought like a lawyer as a mouthpiece. Machine knowledge bases and
>> > > > > reasoning capacity potentially offer a democratisation of argument
>> > > > > expertise, manufacturing capability, medicine, finance and much more -
>> > > > > evidence-based practice for all. In practice, doing management
>> > > > > information systems, one soon learns those currently in the know want
>> > > > > to keep things that way. I believe the professions are currently
>> > > > > preventing this as surely as those smashing machines in the industrial
>> > > > > revolution. I believe this is the central issue of the moment - and
>> > > > > my reasons concern the dream I have of the precipice of disgusting
>> > > > > war,the dullness of politics, religion and literature. Economic
>> > > > > growth is nearly all uninteresting - FlopBook and so on - and rarely
>> > > > > about the growth of capital I would value. Would we could dream up
>> > > > > something else - and why we cannot when 2% of labour can provide our
>> > > > > food. I miss any sense of collective dreaming and find only the
>> > > > > loneliness more 'primitive' people I've met would comment on in the
>> > > > > first blush of their experience amongst us.
>>
>> > > > > On Jan 21, 9:18 am, archytas <nwte...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > > > > > Those who have contributed to the thread have shown me there isn't
>> > > > > > much general awareness of the 'technology'. There are already
>> > > > > > intelligent systems like Watson (IBM) doing a fair job on embodied
>> > > > > > expert knowledge (medical in this case). The general idea is in this
>> > > > > > from New Scientist:
>>
>> > > > > > In your wildest dreams, could you imagine a government that builds its
>> > > > > > policies on carefully gathered scientific evidence? One that publishes
>> > > > > > the rationale behind its decisions, complete with data, analysis and
>> > > > > > supporting arguments? Well, dream no longer: that's where the UK is
>> > > > > > heading.
>>
>> > > > > > It has been a long time coming, according to Chris Wormald, permanent
>> > > > > > secretary at the Department for Education. The civil service is not
>> > > > > > short of clever people, he points out, and there is no lack of desire
>> > > > > > to use evidence properly. More than 20 years as a serving politician
>> > > > > > has convinced him that they are as keen as anyone to create effective
>> > > > > > policies. "I've never met a minister who didn't want to know what
>> > > > > > worked," he says. What has changed now is that informed policy-making
>> > > > > > is at last becoming a practical possibility.
>>
>> > > > > > That is largely thanks to the abundance of accessible data and the
>> > > > > > ease with which new, relevant data can be created. This has supported
>> > > > > > a desire to move away from hunch-based politics.
>>
>> > > > > > Last week, for instance, Rebecca Endean, chief scientific advisor and
>> > > > > > director of analytical services at the Ministry of Justice, announced
>> > > > > > that the UK government is planning to open up its data for analysis by
>> > > > > > academics, accelerating the potential for use in policy planning.
>>
>> > > > > > At the same meeting, hosted by innovation-promoting charity NESTA,
>> > > > > > Wormald announced a plan to create teaching schools based on the model
>> > > > > > of teaching hospitals. In education, he said, the biggest single
>> > > > > > problem is a culture that often relies on anecdotal experience rather
>> > > > > > than systematically reported data from practitioners, as happens in
>> > > > > > medicine. "We want to move teacher training and research and practice
>> > > > > > much more onto the health model," Wormald said.
>>
>> > > > > > Test, learn, adapt
>>
>> > > > > > In June last year the Cabinet Office published a paper called "Test,
>> > > > > > Learn, Adapt: Developing public policy with randomised controlled
>> > > > > > trials". One of its authors, the doctor and campaigning health
>> > > > > > journalist Ben Goldacre, has also been working with the Department of
>> > > > > > Education to compile a comparison of education and health research
>> > > > > > practices, to be published in the BMJ.
>>
>> > > > > > In education, the evidence-based revolution has already begun. A
>> > > > > > charity called the Education Endowment Foundation is spending £1.4
>> > > > > > million on a randomised controlled trial of reading programmes in 50
>> > > > > > British schools.
>>
>> > > > > > There are reservations though. The Ministry of Justice is more
>> > > > > > circumspect about the role of such trials. Where it has carried out
>> > > > > > randomised controlled trials, they often failed to change policy, or
>> > > > > > even irked politicians with conclusions that were obvious. "It is not
>> > > > > > a panacea," Endean says.
>>
>> > > > > > Power of prediction
>>
>> > > > > > The biggest need is perhaps foresight. Ministers often need instant
>> > > > > > answers, and sometimes the data are simply not available. Bang goes
>> > > > > > any hope of evidence-based policy.
>>
>> > > > > > "The timescales of policy-making and evidence-gathering don't match,"
>> > > > > > says Paul Wiles, a criminologist at the University of Oxford and a
>> > > > > > former chief scientific adviser to the Home Office. Wiles believes
>> > > > > > that to get round this we need to predict the issues that the
>> > > > > > government is likely to face over the next decade. "We can probably
>> > > > > > come up with 90 per cent of them now," he says.
>>
>> > > > > > Crucial to the process will be convincing the public about the value
>> > > > > > and use of data, so that everyone is on-board. This is not going to be
>> > > > > > easy. When the government launched its Administrative Data Taskforce,
>> > > > > > which set out to look at data in all departments and opening it up so
>> > > > > > that it could be used for evidence-based policy, it attracted minimal
>> > > > > > media interest.
>>
>> > > > > > The taskforce's remit includes finding ways to increase trust in data
>> > > > > > security. Then there is the problem of whether different departments
>> > > > > > are legally allowed to exchange data. There are other practical
>> > > > > > issues: many departments format data in incompatible ways. "At the
>> > > > > > moment it's incredibly difficult," says Jonathan Breckon, manager of
>> > > > > > the Alliance for Useful Evidence, a collaboration between NESTA and
>> > > > > > the Economic and Social Research Council.
>>
>> > > > > > Hearts, minds and funding
>>
>> ...
>>
>> read more »
>
> --
>
>
>



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|_D Allan

Life is for moral, ethical and truthful living.

Of course I talk to myself,
Sometimes I need expert advice..

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