In the News (from LiveScience): “Even 5-year-olds know to protect their reps. Children are more generous when they know their actions will be seen, according to a new study.

“The findings, published Oct. 31 in the journal PLoS One, suggest that even kindergarteners have learned to play the social game and strategize ways to burnish their reputation. …

“Leimgruber’s team gave 5-year-olds stickers and told them they could share one to four of them with another child of the same age. Some of the children could see their sharing partner, while others were hidden from view. The team found that the children were stingier when the other youngster was hidden from them. The kids also hoarded more loot when they had to give stickers in an opaque box rather than a transparent one that showed what they were giving.

“Overall, the kindergarteners were pretty selfish: Only those children who saw their partners and gave their stickers in a clear box consistently donated the maximum of four stickers. Interestingly, past studies showed children were more generous than the current study.

“’Previous studies that observe high levels of generosity may have inadvertently included the same audience and transparency cues,’ that motivate kids to share, the researchers wrote in the journal article.”

My Comment: Well, children are like grown-ups; nature does not change but only evolves and adapts. In any case, we have to become aware of this evil with our minds or through suffering and correct it; in any case, we will have to. Kabbalah calls us to do this quickly and easily through by “Achishena” (hastening).

Let’s discuss our nature, reveal its flows, and expose our natural thoughts and desires up to the point of becoming aware of them as the only evil in the world. It is so much so that it is killing us. In the realization of our common evil, we will discover its creator—the Creator; we will find how to turn to Him so that He will correct what He has created. Studying Baal HaSulam’s main articles helps us become familiar with our nature as evil.
[91986]

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Opinion (from Nature): “The principle that ‘popularity is attractive’ underlies preferential attachment, which is a common explanation for the emergence of scaling in growing networks. If new connections are made preferentially to more popular nodes, then the resulting distribution of the number of connections possessed by nodes follows power laws, as observed in many real networks. Preferential attachment has been directly validated for some real networks (including the Internet) and can be a consequence of different underlying processes based on node fitness, ranking, optimization, random walks or duplication. Here we show that popularity is just one dimension of attractiveness; another dimension is similarity. We develop a framework in which new connections optimize certain trade-offs between popularity and similarity, instead of simply preferring popular nodes. The framework has a geometric interpretation in which popularity preference emerges from local optimization. As opposed to preferential attachment, our optimization framework accurately describes the large-scale evolution of technological (the Internet), social (trust relationships between people) and biological (Escherichia coli metabolic) networks, predicting the probability of new links with high precision. The framework that we have developed can thus be used for predicting new links in evolving networks, and provides a different perspective on preferential attachment as an emergent phenomenon.”

My Comment: A human being was created on the principle of an integral cell of a single network, and anything he creates, he creates based on the same principle because he cannot imagine a different connection.
[91983]

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Opinion (Richard Duncan, chief economist at Blackhorse Asset Mgmt): “Richard Duncan, formerly of the World Bank and chief economist at Blackhorse Asset Mgmt., says America’s $16 trillion federal debt has escalated into a ‘death spiral,’ as he told CNBC.

“And it could result in a depression so severe that he doesn’t ‘think our civilization could survive it.’”

“Since the recession, noted economists including Laurence Kotlikoff, a former member of President Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers, have come to similar conclusions.

“Kotlikoff estimates the true fiscal gap is $211 trillion when unfunded entitlements like Social Security and Medicare are included. …

“A team of scientists, economists, and geopolitical analysts believes they have proof that the threat is indeed real – and the danger imminent.

“One member of this team, Chris Martenson, a pathologist and former VP of a Fortune 300 company, explains their findings:

“’We found an identical pattern in our debt, total credit market, and money supply that guarantees they’re going to fail. This pattern is nearly the same as in any pyramid scheme, one that escalates exponentially fast before it collapses. Governments around the globe are chiefly responsible.

“’And what’s really disturbing about these findings is that the pattern isn’t limited to our economy. We found the same catastrophic pattern in our energy, food, and water systems as well.’

“According to Martenson: ‘These systems could all implode at the same time. Food, water, energy, money. Everything.’

“Another member of this team, Keith Fitz-Gerald, the president of The Fitz-Gerald Group, went on to explain their discoveries.

“’What this pattern represents is a dangerous countdown clock that’s quickly approaching zero. And when it does, the resulting chaos is going to crush Americans,’ Fitz-Gerald says.

“Dr. Kent Moors, an adviser to 16 world governments on energy issues as well as a member of two U.S. State Department task forces on energy also voiced concerns over what he and his colleagues uncovered.

“’Most frightening of all is how this exact same pattern keeps appearing in virtually every system critical to our society and way of life,’ Dr. Moors stated.

My Comment: Since we have found ourselves locked in a single integral network of full connectivity and interdependence, of course the overall crisis is global and penetrates all the levels of our work and life. Collapse will be simultaneous in all the areas of human activity in the world.
[91992]

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Opinion (from The Voice of Russia): “Nature warns humanity of the impending disaster, but humanity does not want to hear it. Recent natural disasters are becoming more destructive and less predictable, but humanity hardly learns from disasters. …

“Nuclear reactors and defenceless cities still rise on the way of tornados and tsunamis. …

“Hurricanes have become more powerful and occur more often. Their path is difficult to predict, they are more difficult to prepare for. …

“For example, the current storm Sandy has a completely non-standard path. It made its way through Florida, Louisiana and made an impact in the northern latitudes. This is very unusual; in the past, hurricanes did not behave in this way. In addition, Sandy was nearly twice the size of other massive hurricanes. …

“The number of hurricanes has increased by 20-30%, and above all very powerful hurricanes. That is why it is necessary to prepare for a range of surprises. … Hurricanes of such power will not reach Russia, and they cannot be created locally, as they are born over oceans. But our own natural disasters will reach us. … There is a sharp increase in tornadoes in central Russia.”

My Comment: We do not fulfill the condition of balance with the global integral system of nature due to our intervention at all the levels: the still, vegetative, animate and especially human. Our society is not integral, but individual, it is not in homeostasis. The failure to observe the unity of nature threatens us with disaster.

Nature will force us to change from hatred and competition to unity and cooperation against our will. Like its smart children, we can understand and reduce the path of suffering in advance of the disasters, by correcting ourselves.
[91936]

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Filed under: Crisis, Integral Upbringing, News, US Elections - 1 Comment →

In the News (from BBC News): “The debate came after Greece…announced that unemployment in Greece hit a record 25.1% in July, with the level among young people reaching above 50%.

“And the nation predicted its economy will shrink by 6.5% this year, much more than previously estimated this year, worse than a previous estimate of 4.8% in March suggested to its bailout lenders.

“Greece also said its economy will shrink for a sixth year in 2013.”

My Comment: How can new jobs appear if they are not needed in the economy? This suggests only one solution: to produce as much as necessary, instead of producing unnecessary goods, which harm the environment.

The calculation of production will have to start from “the bottom”: What goods and services in what quantity are needed FOR EVERYONE. And then production and services need to be built according to this calculation. The pursuit of fulfilling one’s ego will be shifted to the right leisure: integral connection, which gives the feeling of higher contentment.
[91366]

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Opinion (Andrew Sheng, President of the Fung Global Institute, adjunct professor at Tsinghua University, Beijing, Xiao Geng, Director of Research at the Fung Global Institute): “Given the crisis weighing down the world economy and financial markets, it is not surprising that a substantive reconsideration of the principles of modern economics is underway. …

“The British economist Fritz Schumacher understood that human institutions, as complex structures with dynamic governance, require systemic analysis. He defined meta-economics as the humanizing of economics by accounting for the imperative of a sustainable environment; thus, he included elements of moral philosophy, psychology, anthropology, and sociology that transcend the boundaries of profit maximization and individual rationality.

“Similarly, Eric Beinhocker, at the newly established Institute for New Economic Thinking, argues for ‘a new way of seeing and understanding the economic world.’ Such an approach requires incorporating psychology, anthropology, sociology, history, physics, biology, mathematics, computer science, and other disciplines that study complex adaptive systems.

“We believe that the framework of ‘micro-macro-meso-meta-economics’ – what we call ‘systemnomics’ – is a more complete way to analyze human economies, understood as complex living systems evolving within dynamically changing complex natural systems.”

My Comment: This is a move in the right direction. Really, it is not simple for economists to change their approach of “maximum profit at any cost” to some unaccountable values, such as connection, care, and love. They will have to develop a system of complete interconnectedness of humanity engaged in meeting its reasonable needs, from the point of view of the rational economy, the maximum output with the minimum cost and destruction of society and the environment.
[91291]

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In the News (from the Pew Research Center): “…A national survey by the Pew Research Center finds increasing public pessimism about developments in the Middle East. …

“Doubts have spread about the political direction of countries swept up in the Arab Spring protests that began almost two years ago. Nearly six-in-ten Americans (57%) do not believe the changes in the Middle East will lead to lasting improvements for people living in the affected countries, up sharply from 43% in April 2011.

“And a majority of Americans (54%) continue to say it is more important to have stable governments in the Middle East, even if there is less democracy in the region.”

My Comment: Perhaps, it is not too late to stop, and even in the summer of 2011 they tried to provoke unrest and revolution in Israel. Americans are not doing well in planning the future. The USSR collapsed and ruined all the socialist countries. Today, we are witnessing the sunset of the US. Russia is gradually undergoing restructuring, but will the US be able to change to a new format? Nature has presented a challenging task of transition to an integral world. Difficult times are ahead. For the time being, flexibility of thinking is not seen in any country.
[91035]

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Opinion (Robert Skidelsky, Emeritus Professor of Political Economy at the University of Warwick, Economist and Historian, Politician, member of the British House of Lords): “More equality would not only produce the contentment that flows from more security and better health, but also the satisfaction that flows from having more leisure, more time with family and friends, more respect from one’s fellows, and more lifestyle choices. Great inequality makes us hungrier for goods than we would otherwise be, by constantly reminding us that we have less than the next person. …

“The nineteenth-century philosopher John Stuart Mill had a more civilized view:

“’I confess I am not charmed with the ideal of life held out by those who think…that the trampling, crushing, elbowing, and treading on each other’s heels, which form the existing type of social life, are the most desirable lot of human kind. …The best state for human nature is that in which, while no one is poor, no one desires to be richer, nor has any reason to fear being thrust back, by the efforts of others to push themselves forward.’”

My Comment: A human being is a psychological system and determines his state only in comparison with his peers. Therefore, the future, how it is felt and perceived, depends on the “settings” of the system “individual-society” in in every human. This is realized in integral education and upbringing.
[91213]

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Opinion (Vince Cable, UK Secretary of State for Business): “Europe could be plunged into war if the euro collapses, Vince Cable warned… .

“’We tend to forget, until we were reminded last week of that Nobel Prize, the European project was constructed in order to rescue Europe from extreme nationalism and conflict. There is no automatic guarantee that won’t return.’ The Business Secretary described the euro as ‘very valuable’ and said the UK would ‘be heard very loudly if it does unravel.’

“He added: ‘My sense is that the Germans in particular realise how much is at stake. A series of sensible measures have been taken in recent months.

“‘I think deep down there is enough common sense and a sense of survival to prevent this getting out of control. If it does, I’m afraid the consequences for us will be awful.’”

My Comment: The problem is not in the euro and not even in Europe, but in the general program of human evolutionary development. Humanity must move to the next state, similarity to Nature, meaning unity and reasonable consumption. Unity, because in this we level our egoism and become like all parts of nature, interconnected with it. Reasonable consumption, because in this we are in equilibrium with the still, vegetative, and animate nature.

Through this change in ourselves, we go out of our egoism and begin to feel the next level of nature, the sphere of bestowal, besides the sphere of receiving in which we exist for the time being. So, the euro plays just a small role, pushing us towards the change.
[91127]

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In the News (from The Wall Street Journal): “German corporate and consumer bankruptcies jumped in July from a year ago, according to official data released Friday, a lagging indicator that growth in the euro zone’s largest economy is slowing amid a financial crisis in the region.

“The number of companies that declared themselves insolvent, and therefore unable to discharge liabilities, increased 1.9% in July to 2,580, not including the German state of Saarland. Consumer bankruptcies rose by 2.8% to 8,960 cases, according to Destatis, the German Federal Statistics Office. Together with the insolvencies of other debtors and private estates, total insolvencies in July reached 13,783, an increase of 2.5% on last year.”

My Comment: The most powerful states fall last because they exist at the expense of the weak, but they fall more forcefully and more painfully than the weak, which can lead, as in the past, to war.
[90744]

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