---
title: Law of the land
categories:
- culture
content-tags:
- science
- wisdom
---

John Brockman's "[What's Your Law?][1]" has garnered quite some attention.  Some of the greatest minds of today have offered their own proverbs and truths; it's quite a good read.  It's also overwhelmingly lengthy, but being stuck home ill over the weekend I read the whole thing and want to save a few gems.

   [1]: http://www.edge.org/q2004/q04_print.html

In the off-the-wall category, [Stuart Hameroff][2] tries to [revive Cartesian
dualism][3]:

> The sub-conscious mind is to consciousness what the quantum world is to the classical world. Sir Roger Penrose...and I have put forth a specific model of consciousness involving quantum computation in microtubules within the brain's neurons.

   [2]: http://www.consciousness.arizona.edu/hameroff/
   [3]: http://www.edge.org/q2004/page2.html#hameroff

while [Nancy Etcoff][4] wisely [warns against any dualism][5]:

> Instead, of acting in opposition, in nature two forces are likely to be dependent, interactive and interwoven; sometimes they are merely two names for the same thing.

   [4]: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385479425/phobia-20
   [5]: http://www.edge.org/q2004/page4.html#etcoff

[Andy Clark][6] is also [espouses generalism][7]:

> Everything leaks.

   [6]: http://www.psych.indiana.edu/people/homepages/clark.html
   [7]: http://www.edge.org/q2004/page6.html#clark

[Edward O. Laumann][8] asserts that [monogomy is healthy][9]:

> Moderation in levels of partnered sex activity is the mode for the bulk of humankind and is consistent with high levels of subjective well-being.  Low levels of subjective sexual well-being is associated with poor physical, emotional, and mental health.

   [8]: http://sociology.uchicago.edu/faculty/laumann/
   [9]: http://www.edge.org/q2004/page4.html#laumann

[Leo Chalupa][10]'s Second Law is [depressing][11]:

> …there is a price to pay for originality and every working scientist knows this is the case.

   [10]: http://www.npb.ucdavis.edu/npbdirectory/chalupa.html
   [11]: http://www.edge.org/q2004/page2.html#chalupa

[Roger Schank][12] explains [open-mindedness][13]:

> The good news is that for some people, failure to comprehend is the beginning of understanding. For most, of course, it is the beginning of dismissal.

   [12]: http://www.socraticarts.com/educational%20outrage/edoutrage.html
   [13]: http://www.edge.org/q2004/page7.html#schank

[Beatrice Golomb][14] is a bit [defeatist][15]:

> Everything in biology is more complicated than you think it is...

   [14]: http://medicine.ucsd.edu/faculty/golomb/
   [15]: http://www.edge.org/q2004/page2.html#golomb

...which might contradict Gerwitz's Law for science, from someone not noteworthy enough for Edge:

> **The cause is simpler than you expect.**

and has a corollary:

> **The effects are more complex than you can measure.**
