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                  %UNDERSTANDING PREDICTION CONTROL 810522

     Those who value cognitive,  intellectual,   rational,
and  logical  understanding---tend  to perceive prediction
and control as the proof  of that which they value.   They
value  objective proof of the reality of that  which  they
value,   and  so  prediction and control become  important
means  to validate the reality of that which is  important
to them.   In the absence of  prediction and control there
is  doubt  and  ambiguity about understanding;  and  by  a
strange  loop and twist of logic it seems to them that  in
the  presence of prediction and control there is no  doubt
about  the  reality of understanding.   Because  of  their
intense desire and passion for understanding, they tend to
suspend logic and believe that prediction  and control are
the necessary and sufficient conditions for the validation
of  understanding---proving  the   presence and  value  of
understanding.  They fail to see that among understanding,
prediction, and control---none by itself or in combination
with another,  is  the  necessary and sufficient condition
for another.

     People tend  to  fear  what  they  do not understand.
Their   fear  motivates  them  to  develop  some  way   to
understand  (or  feel  that they  understand)  that  which
threatens  them.   Fearful people thus seek techniques for
understanding, predicting, and controlling that which they
do not understand.  People do not understand that which is
not  familiar,  and so they seek to develop techniques for
predicting  and controlling unfamiliar processes.   If the
predicting    and   controlling   can   be   based    upon
understanding,  that is nice.   If they find it impossible
to first develop understanding,  it is sufficient to  find
techniques  of  predicting and controlling that  which  is
unfamiliar---for   it  soothes  the  fear  by  giving  the
impression that there is understanding.;  In a tragic way,
such predicting and controlling  often tend to inhibit the
development  of familiarity which might be the  foundation
for  real understanding.   The more power that the fearful
people have, the more so this is.

     These considerations are particularly relevant to the
behavior  of  powerful,   but  emotionally  immature   and
affectionately inexperienced:   technocrats,   scientists,
moralists,  legalists, etc.  There are tragic consequences
as  regards  our understanding  of  intimacy,   sexuality,
personal relationships,  population growth,  and  resource
depletion.
                                                                                                                               
                         (c) 2005 by Paul A. Smith in      
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