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An Alternative Path To Peace In War

"I love the peace and I love the war" Lupe Fiasco The Coolest 

In my latest article on alternative strategies for conflict resolution I discuss some various ways we can change how we resolve conflicts some of the problems involved in doing so .

 

 

An Alternative Path To Peace In War

 

By Razainc

The failure of carrot and stick incentives

Since the advent of game theory, academics in political science and economics, along with policymakers and politicians have been and continue to be driven by an oversimplified view which holds individuals in a rational actor paradigm. Implying that, based on Rational Choice Theory (self explanatory), people do a cost-benefit analysis to maximize personal advantages when making a decision. An example of this is Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) a concept developed primarily by John Von Neumann.
This view, though useful when dealing with large bureaucratic organizations (which tend to use rational approaches when making decisions) breaks down when dealing with committed individuals or groups. In other words, people committed to a cause.
Recent evidence from cognitive science and neurology suggests that another agent of decision-making is driven by transcendental ideals, which can be called “sacred values,” meaning the values that are core to a person’s identity, emotions, their sense of religious identity, these values vary depending on the individuals and societies.
Take for example the prisoner’s dilemma which says the most logical thing for two prisoners who are accomplices in a crime, is to tell on each other and sell each other out rather than cooperate. When the prisoner’s dilemma was tested with actual prisoners it showed them diverging from theoretical predictions with most prisoners choosing the non rational choice.
With the election victory of Netanyahu and his use of race baiting, as well as his comments reiterating denying the Palestinians a state, the belief has emerged that any settlement is dead and that the world is witnessing a new nadir in the occupation.
However, this dour state of affairs doesn’t have to be destiny, there is new evidence suggesting a path to peace can start with a simple acknowledgment of wrongs and a sincere apology.
Sacred Values
So what are sacred values and why should they be recognized when dealing with conflicts like the Israeli occupation of Palestine?
Sacred Values override utilitarian (cost benefit) forms of reasoning in humans, and they lead to action (sometimes violent) when a person feels such values are under attack. People will be ready to defend them at all costs. Under these circumstances, no material incentive will change a person’s mind or at least trigger what may appear as rational behavior. Actually, it would have the opposite effect and backfire. In other words, everyone does not have a price or more accurately, a material price.
Scott Atran, a French and American anthropologist, said in my interview with him:

“Our behavioral and fMRI research in the lab and in conflict hotspots around the world indicate that SVs (sacred values) are cognitively processed as deontic rules (I have a moral obligation to do such and such regardless of the risks or rewards, costs or consequences) that drive actions independent, or all out of proportion, to likely, rationally expected outcomes.”

Conflicts with sacred values also are different from other group conflicts like in gangs where there is camaraderie but not commitment to a sacred cause, Atran in my interview continues.

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Nana Asma'u Leader Of Women’s Rights in Islam and West Africa

Leader Of Women’s Rights in Islam and West Africa

My latest article a brief reflection On the prolific Muslim leader, author, scholar, mystic, and poet Nana Asma'u. 

 

“Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs only to those who prepare for it today.”-El Hajj Malik El-Shabazz


I intended to write this article for International Women’s Day but time did not permit. This article is a short profile of Nana Asma’u’s pivotal role as Muslim leader in the 19th century. Nana’s father, Usman Dan Fodiyo, like his daughter is famous in his own right and I plan to write an article on him in the near future. Usman Dan Fodiyo was the first ruler of the Sokoto state and was succeeded by his son Muhammad Bello who was also a half-brother to Nana Asma’u.
There are a few things I wanted to mention about the Qadirriyya Sufi order before I delve into Nana Asma’u’s life. The Qadirriyya order was a decentralized order. Unlike some Sufi orders which focus exclusively on the spiritual dimension and break from traditional Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), the Qadirriyya order in Dan Fodiyo’s region focused on the Sunnah (saying and traditions of The Prophet Mohammed (SAW).

Education was important to the Qadirriyya order. “The Qadirriyya order sought to serve by teaching, preaching, and practical work while rejecting materialism.” The goal was not to consume yourself in the material world to the point where you forget about the spiritual dimension but live in the world while staying connected to spirituality.

Joining the Qadirriyya order was as simple as a hand shake and saying Ziker (liturgy) in remembrance of the eponym of the order, Abdul Qadir Jilani, after whose teachings the order was modeled. This made it very easy for locals in Dan Fodio’s region to join. It did however demand a certain level of spiritual discipline like praying, fasting and general asceticism. In practical terms Dan Fodiyo sought a balance where Fiqh would develop virtuous outward behavior, Tawhid (realizing the unity/Oneness of God) would be the basis of beliefs and Sufism would develop the spiritual dimension. While a few royals joined his ranks many of Dan Fodiyo’s followers were commoners.

Nana Asma’u

Usman Dan Fodiyo’s teachings came into conflict with the ruling authorities, whom he felt were not properly practicing Islam, this lead to his followers being threatened. Thus Dan Fodiyo and his followers made hijra (migration) and eventually strengthened their numbers which infuriated the authorities, thus began what is known as the “Sokoto Jihad.” This is the context in which his daughter Nana Asma’u(1793-1864) grew up.

Asma’u was a West African princess, scholar, Sufi mystic, poet, teacher, educator, wife, mother, and actively involved in politics and social reform. Asma’u was born a twin, the custom was to name twins after Hassan and Hussein the Prophet’s grandsons. Dan Fodiyo however decided break from tradition and named her after Abu Bakr’s daughter Asmā’ bint Abu Bakr suggesting that he had spiritual intuition that she would be special.

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My Coverage of the Black Lives Matter protests last fall

My Coverage of the Black Lives Matter protests last fall in Toronto

http://www.excal.on.ca/black-lives-matter-protest-in-toronto/

Why Trying to Blast Asteroids is not a good idea

So this was supposed to go in Excalibur thought I would post it here



On Monday morning at about 11:15am Jan, 23, 2015 Asteroid 2004BL86 flew by Earth at a distance of about 1.2 million kilometers. We detected Asteroid 2004BL86 back in 2004. “Asteroids in general are a very interesting aspect of objects in our solar system …when they get close to us they give us an opportunity to if you will to relive a piece of our past… their material which hasn’t changed in any substantial sice the formation of our solar system 4.5Billion years ago” “It gives us a great opportunity to examine a piece of our past” said Paul Delaney senior lecturer of physics and Astronomy professor at YorkU. 

Commenting on the how research is done on the asteroid Delany elaborated that by taking reflected light from the asteroid and passing it through a spectrograph you can analyze what its surface composition is. As the asteroid passes by the Earth scientist will determine its mass and knowing that they will be able to determine its density

Delany explained that radar imaging was being done to determine the shape of the asteroid.

“Delany said his students though not conducting research that they can publish will be able to gain very good skills that will help them with their future research by learning to find and track moving objects in space” “It’s an interesting object for the students to observe and you can actually show an object moving with respect to the background stars it the way we found Pluto for example it’s the way we find asteroids in general” “so for students to track this object down and snap images of it is instructive”

When asked why it a so important to study the Asteroid Delaney responded   “Asteroid in general are a very interesting aspect of objects in our solar system …when they get close to us they give us an opportunity to if you will to relive a piece of our past… their material which hasn’t changed in any substantial sice the formation of our solar system 4.5Billion years ago” “It gives us a great opportunity to examine a piece of our past beyond trying to just get a better understanding of the universe as a whole .“The comets nucleus … is of primordial material it has remained unprocessed since its formation 4.6 Billion years ago you got a piece from the Nebula in which the Earth, The Sun and the other planets in our solar system formed you are now literally extracting as much information about that piece of our history as you possibly can” The same material Delaney explained has been changed on Earth but on the comet it has remained close to as it was 4.6 Billion years ago. Delaney continued saying this would give us great insight into the material from which our plantery-system formed including us Humans this would be a great way to do it.

When asked about possible threats to Earth from Asteroids and possible responses that have been devised to counter them Delaney responded. Delaney when asked on nuking an asteroid explained it would not be practical.

Delaney explained the spacecraft had to be launched in 2004 for so that for over 10 years they could continue picking up the necessary momentum by gravity assists (think of it as slingshotting around a planet) to catch up to Comet 67P which was traveling close to 60,000 kilometers per hour, and was going to get faster as it travels closer to the Sun. Delaney further explained; The Rosetta and Philae  were both mainly automated since their launch in 2004. Since the fastest way we can communicate is by the speed of light which is about a billion kilometers per hour, and the Comet 67P was about half a billion kilometers away it would take about 27 minutes to communicate with the spacecrafts thus Philae  had to be automated to land safely on the comet.

 

M Raza

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