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TheAltar comments on Open Thread Feb 22 - Feb 28, 2016 - Less Wrong Discussion

5 Post author: Elo 21 February 2016 09:14PM

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Comment author: username2 24 February 2016 11:46:56PM 1 point [-]

What are examples of complex systems people tend to ignore, that they still interact with every day? I am thinking of stuff like your body, the local infrastructure, your computer, your car - stuff, which you just assume works, and one could probably gain from trying to understand.

What I am going for here is a full list of things people actually interact with, hoping to have some sort of exhaustive guide for 'Elohim's Game of Life' and its mechanisms, like one would have on a game's wikia.

Comment author: TheAltar 25 February 2016 05:02:28PM *  2 points [-]
  • The construction of materials used to build the buildings you spend time in.
  • Governments and large organizations that require lots of resources, jobs, and work done just to do things like make sure you have a street in front of your house that is relatively clean.
  • Water processing.
  • Waste disposal.
  • The advanced nature of the basic chemicals you gain everyday use from. This includes soaps, detergents, food, water purification, refrigerator materials, internal cooling, internal heating, bleaches, and all sorts of other things that were tested and developed in labs.
  • Preservatives in all your food.
  • We still live in a society strongly maintained by paper. (We've digitized some, but are still fully reliant on paper.) So the entire paper industry and infastructuve involved are important to you even if all the paper you see on a regular basis is your mail.

More complex:

  • Religion both modern and past. We are all strongly influenced by the religious dogmas of the past
  • Widely shared social structures (past and present)
  • Norms, mores, etc. (past and present)
  • Popular philosophies (past and present)
  • Popular ethical systems (past and present)
  • Memetics and especialy the ma or scaffolding upon which our memes preside (which is partially part of reality and partially part of our brain structure, etc.)
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