Random thoughts.

I'm at the part about oil in American Dynasty where Phillips talks about the role of oil in WWI and WWII and how it looks to be one of the central causes of WWIII, if it comes. The mechanized world runs on oil. The real great promise of things electronic is that they run on electricity. Sure, our electricity is generated to a substantial degree by oil now, but that doesn't mean that there aren't replacements. The fuel is electricity, not oil. Now, if we could only figure out how to produce that fuel in the same fashion that we have connected all these information nodes into the Internet.

The term "wet reason" popped into my mind last evening.  Most times people describe reason as dry, antisceptic, cold, as they also describe logic and rationality. For me, logic and rationality are parts of reason. Consciousness of emotions and intuitions is also part of reason. Reason is a conscious awareness of all perception and all that is perceived without distortions of habit, prejudice, and stupidity. True reason is action guided by conscious awareness. It's like a daiquiri, chunks of ice swirling around in fruit juices and rum.

While I'm on it, an old distinction is that between chaos and randomness. Some many people use the terms interchangeably. I don't. Chaos is order gone really messy. Randomness is unordered. War is chaotic; randomness is terrifying. Terrorism is terrifying due to the appearance of randomness, but the acts are usually well-planned and ordered. It all depends on the frame of reference. Reason suggests that we at least aknowledge other frames of reference instead of demonizing them.