Sunday, August 18, 2013
Potentially Explosive Schrödinger
Epistemology is one of the power structure's best tyranny tools. Schrödinger owns us.
Local example:
Spokane Police Department's Explosive Disposal Unit responded to a hazardous substance at a residence.... Authorities said a woman was cleaning out a home's garage when she found a container of a hazardous substance that had been in the home for years. The EDU processed the substance and sent in a robot to retrieve it. No word yet on what kind of substance it is but officials said it is "potentially explosive." Nearby homes were evacuated for the residents safety.Whatever the horrible stuff was ... (Isn't water "potentially explosive"? Lots of people are killed by exploding water heaters and pressure cookers) ... it was doing nothing for years. It would have continued to do nothing for many more years. The neighborhood didn't need to be evacuated during all those years when nothing happened. As soon as the authorities knew it existed, they were required to evacuate the neighborhood. I'm not blaming the local authorities. Their actions are rational considering the power of epistemology in lawsuits and media "investigations" and federal "investigations". No executive wants to face the absolutely nonsensical but potentially explosive question "What did you know and when did you know it?" There are two good defense weapons against tyrannical epistemology. One is holding onto your own knowledge and memories. Don't let the principalities and powers delete history or create false facts or false numbers. This can be very hard unless you're keeping some kind of written record. Without writing, the mind is entirely too easy to flip. The other is sharing of info. Leakers like Snowden and Manning, and the still anonymous Mr FOIA of Climategate, are the most serious enemies of tyranny. When everyone knows what the government knows, the government can't play its usual extortionate games. Blackmail only works with a secret.
Labels: epistemology
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