| Wednesday, 6 November 2024 EST | |
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![[CJ Fearnley Photo]](CJ.Fearnley.headshot.01.png)
Basic Biography![[PDF]](images/pdf-icon.gif){kind=icon}
Curriculum vitae of CJ Fearnley.
Like most of my fellow Earthians, I am concerned about how to make the world work better. There are many issues that I care about such as democracy, energy, the environment, globalization, education, and the problem of violence to name but a few. Here I will document my thinking about what needs to be done for Humanity to achieve its option for success.
The challenge before us is tremendous. Buckminster Fuller
argued that our choice is between utopia and oblivion. Fuller
documented that Humanity now has sufficient know-how to make good
our option to succeed:
we can substantially solve our most pressing problems. Recent
crises remind us that the option of oblivion is continually before us.
The steady stream of religiously- and politically-motivated violence,
the widespread availability of the instruments of destruction, and the
continuing deterioration of the environment give us pause and remind us
that Universe is willing and able to revoke our species' "right"
to survive and may do so at any moment.
I think our survival depends and will forever depend on the Integrity
of each individual human being to act "in support of eternally
regenerative Universe". The balance hangs on the choices that each
individual citizen makes to resolve or mitigate the complex of problems
(large and small) that threaten the effective operation and regeneration
of the life support systems on Spaceship Earth. It is up to each of
us individually ... We have the power! Our daily
choices determine if Universe will extend its grant to Humanity of the
"right" of survival for one more day. Therefore, it is our
responsibility as individuals to dare to do what little we can to steer
the world closer to omni-success and away from the brink of oblivion.
We can make a difference. We can
succeed. We must succeed as the alternative is oblivion.
But it will be touch-and-go every day.
Please consider what you can do to support eternally regenerative Universe.
Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.
-- Mahatma Gandhi
My own working assumption of why we are here is that we are here as local-Universe information-gatherers and that we are given access to the divine design principles so that we can therefrom objectively invent instruments and tools -- e.g., the microscope and the telescope -- with which to extend all sensorial inquiring regarding the rest of the to-the-naked-eye-invisible, micro-macro Universe, because human beings, tiny though we are, are here for all the local-Universe information-harvesting and cosmic-principle-discovering, objective tool-inventing, and local-environment-controlling as local Universe problem-solvers in support of the integrity of eternally regenerative Universe.
-- R. Buckminster Fuller
Integrity is the most continually important issue in human affairs. We must, each of us, persevere to consider and re-consider our values and the value of our actions. Integrity implies honesty ... honesty with oneself and with others. Integrity implies truth: being true to the facts of experience and true to oneself and true to others including all Humanity, our Earth-Ocean-Air World, Universe, and God. Integrity requires consideration and re-consideration of the whole and all of the parts and their synergetic interrelationships. Total, complete integrity is impossible for finite humans to fully achieve. For human beings, Integrity is a never ending process requiring diligence, discipline, dedication, and continual re-dedication.
The following is a list of web sites that address the issue of Integrity from a number of perspectives that seem to me to be supportive of the success of Humans in Universe:
The Comprehensive Anticipatory Design Science Revolution designates the thread in Buckminster Fuller's philosophy that emphasizes the need to radically re-orient Humanity's problem-solving efforts by the employment of the practice of science in a comprehensive and anticipatory fashion toward the design of effective solutions to better meet the needs of 100% of Humanity. The emphasis is on the design of comprehensive solutions ... ones that work sustainably because they have anticipated comprehensively all factors relevant to the problem space.
The success of all humanity can be accomplished only by a terrestrially comprehensive, technologically competent, design revolution. This revolution must develop artifacts where energy-use efficiency not only occasions the artifacts' spontaneous adoption by humanity, but also occasions the inadvertent, unregretted abandonment and permanent obsolescence of socially and economically undesirable viewpoints, customs and practices.
-- Buckminster Fuller
The essential message of Fuller's design science is that human beings have access to the design laws of Universe, and a responsibility to use the extraordinary phenomenon of mind to discover and apply such principles. Our function is problem-solving. Synergetics, the discipline behind Fuller's more-with-less philosophy, above all encourages us to experiment. This material is superbly suited to nurture and enhance creativity, demanding both numerical rigor and intuitive leaps. ...
A design science revolution is imperative.
-- Amy Edmondson
I maintain a references and resource page for the Design Science Revolution.
A list of resources on Girls' Education
Right now, the crisis in public safety is the most critical issue facing all Earthians (the human capability to destroy is tremendous and difficult but necessary to control). In my view the problem with both the "war on terror" and the terrorists themselves is that violence is seen as an effective means to their ends. Experience since September 11th corroborates the observation, that violence generally begets more violence. The recent calls to war of the leaders of India, Israel, the USA, and North Korea serve to further jeopardize the security of the planet as a whole. We need a sound, incisive, effective, comprehensively considerate path toward security.
Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature ... Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.
-- Helen KellerWar is obsolete.
-- R. Buckminster Fuller"There can be no political stability and no assured peace without economic security. ... [US policy must therefore] be directed not against any country or doctrine, but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos."
-- General George Marshall
My nascent plan for addressing the global security problem.
Here is a list of sites advocating peaceful means for improving security:
![[Tux, the Linux Penguin]](tux.jpeg)
Linux -- An Operating System for
Business and HumanityLinux has tremendous stability, power, and flexibility; it is ideal for business applications. I knew that Linux would become a winning system as early as 1994 and worked hard to master it thoroughly. I think Linux's most important strengths are its open source licensing and its world-around, Internet-connected, cooperative, community-based development approach. This vibrant community from which Linux emerged and to which it gives strength and support is unique for an industrial tool. I have supported the Philadelphia Area Linux community in several ways. First, with my stint as UNIX SIG leader at The Philadelphia Area Computer Society (PACS). Then with the organization of Philadelphia Linux Users Group (PLUG). Finally, with the formation of Philadelphia Area Debian Society (PADS).
The Linux consulting practice which I started in 1995 has expanded to tackle ever more ambitious projects via a pioneering company formed in 1999 and named LinuxForce Inc. LinuxForce is a leading technology services provider specializing in the development, implementation, management and support of Linux-based systems, with a particular expertise in Debian GNU/Linux and Ubuntu. In 2009, LinuxForce launched a new website Remote Responder to explain its services to provide systems maintenance & monitoring with support & emergency coverage. In conjunction with the educational effort in support of our the Remote Responder services, we launched a new blog on Managing FOSS for Business Results (where FOSS is the acronym for Free and Open Source Software.
I advocate using Linux in enterprising small businesses. I contend that Linux provides tools for small businesses to build competitive advantage in their niche markets. Since Linux and it's main distributions are freely available in source form, the motivated entrepreneur can launch her business without the overhead of evaluating illions of commercial offerings (many of which won't do exactly what will be required anyway). Instead one can focus on integrating (and, if necessary, modifying) pre-existing Linux "tools" to meet needs. This is the power of the Unix "toolkit" approach to software: each software "tool" is designed to work synergetically with other "tools". Once one learns how to use software as a tool, one will be frustrated by systems that try to do everything in one big application (one of the more extreme ideas along this line being the web browser as an operating system). Open source software allows the businessperson the ability to make custom software relatively easily and relatively inexpensively. Moreover, when one shares their improvements with the rest of the Linux community, they will get helpful feedback about how to improve the system further in a mutually cooperative feedback loop. For more information on unexpected occurrences of cooperation see Robert Axelrod's The Evolution of Cooperation.
![[Debian Logo]](https://www.debian.org/Pics/logo-50.jpg){kind=logo}
The
Debian ProjectDebian is a Linux distribution, i.e., a collection of software based around the Linux kernel pre-configured for ease of installation, administration, and use. I have found Debian to be relatively easy to configure and upgrade (upgradeability is the biggest strength of Debian over other Linux distributions including Red Hat which is IMO much inferior in this regard). Hence Debian has become the cornerstone of my Linux use.
Debian is a volunteer run project (there are presently some 1000 people working on Debian). Debian's open development make it very valuable to small business. First, since all of the Debian software comes with full source code, one can relatively easily fix any bugs that are important to your business (no need to wait around for the vendor to fix them!). Secondly, if a package is crucial to your business and the current maintainer is too busy to fix a bug, someone on staff can volunteer to make an interim release or perhaps take over maintenance of said package. In this way all of the important software gradually gravitates to developers whose business depends on the reliability of that software. I think this process of gravitation to the competent, concerned developers is one of the reasons Debian has become so stable. Finally, one can monitor the progress of development and contribute to the direction of the system by participating in some of Debian's numerous mailing lists. In sum, Debian gives small businesses the software leverage they need to be extra competitive.
![[Bucky
Picture]](https://relationary.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/buckminster-fuller.jpg)
Buckminster
Fuller -- an Inspirational Voice in my life!I have read almost everything Bucky ever published as well as much that has been written about him in the late 1980s and early 1990s. I have built many geometrical models to investigate his synergetics (a mathematical/physical/philosophical system about the shape of thinking and the nature of Universe). Fuller's philosophy and values have strongly influenced my own. Fundamentally, I think one needs to puzzle things out for oneself. So I mostly stopped reading the Fuller literature in the mid-1990s. Instead, I've immersed myself in the complexity of life's problems: How to make the world better? How to eat? And so on. "Philosophy if not mechanically applied is worthless" -- to rephrase something I remember Fuller once wrote.
I maintain the Buckminster Fuller FAQ which I started compiling in the early 1990s. The source is written in SGML and has been converted to plain text, PDF, LaTeX, postscript, and lyx by the SGML-Tools package. The following older versions of the FAQ are available in SGML source format only: v.1.1, 1 August 1998, v.1.2, 1 April 1999, and v.1.3.0, 10 May 1999.
I maintain a list of Buckminster Fuller Resources on the Internet that are relevant to his work.
In 2002, I begin work to form the Synergetics Collaborative a new organization to build the Synergetics field of study as developed by R. Buckminster Fuller.
On 5 March 2003, I presented a "10 minute" talk Linux and Synergetics at the PLUG meeting.
On 6 October 2002, I presented these two papers to a gathering on Synergetics in Falls Church, VA.
In 1994, I generated the following images of basic polyhedra using POV-Ray: Tetrahedron, Octahedron, Icosahedron (vertex view), Icosahedron (face view), Cube or Hexahedron, Cube Tetrahedron, Cube in Rhombic Dodecahedron, Icosahedron in Cube, Rhombic Dodecahedron, Star Tetrahedron, Octahedron in a Tetrahedron, Truncated Ocatahedra, Vector Equilibrium.
In 1995, I make these Geodesic Spheres using dome.
In 1991, My essay Reading Synergetics: Some Tips was published in Trimtab.
I've been thinking about how 19 human beings could so severely hate that they would so coldly give their lives. An American, Nathan Hale, said "I regret that I have but one life to give to my country." The 19 attackers of September 11th were so convinced of their case against the USA that they took Hale's patriotic sentiment to a new and ghastly level. Why?
Why do they hate the USA so much? This question pains me more than any other.
As conscientious citizens of Spaceship Earth we need to address the deeper issues of hatred, violence and its causes, because the level of hatred on display in New York and Washington on September 11th will not go away with military and police actions alone.
What will it take to rid the world of the type of hatred that from time-to-time leads to abhorrent violence?
![[Rhombic
Dodecahedron]](geom/rdodeca.jpg)
My Favorite Quotes and PoemsIt is not for me to change you. The question is, how can I be of service to you without diminishing your degrees of freedom? -- Buckminster Fuller
Other Information![[Howard Dean Photo]](howard_dean.jpg)
Gov. Howard Dean's speech
The
Great American Restoration provides an incisive vision for
the type of restoration that we all intuitively know America needs.
Dean's fast growing support is the result of his powerful vision, his
energy and dedication to restoring American values, and his talent
in expressing his salient message clearly, strongly and succinctly.
My tendency is to be apolitical: to focus on what we can do to
make the world better and not about convincing others about how
to make our government better. But I feel strongly enough about
restoring the American values of financial strength through fiscal
responsibility, health care that no one can take away, responsible
stewardship of our land and natural resources, leading in the world
community and not becoming a new Rome, and making the American
flag stand for freedom and justice for all, all around the world.
Dean's principled, pragmatic, unique voice is already changing the
tenor of debate in this country to stand for these important values.
His message resonates very strongly. For these reasons I am endorsing
the Howard Dean for America campaign.
![[Icosahedron]](geom/icosa2.jpg)
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