Fuzzy Mapping of "Good" and "Evil"

Evil is the absolute opposite of Good in dealing with differences between "war" and "peace".

Evil is less of a complementary function for Good in dealing with differences between "hate" and "love". For example, it may be considered appropriate to hate certain attributes about the one you love. And it may not be so good to be so much in love that it becomes an obsession.

Now in the "Normal" world where "evil" and "good" are completely independent of one another, elements of evil and goodness are known to exist and in many cases, are accepted as "normal" behaviour. So it makes little sense to attempt to weed out "hate" – instead one can (if one chooses to) simply avoid certain evil and focus on certain good. Other strategies may also be found to function appropriately in the "normal" fuzzy world.

Fair and Accurate

There is an old adage:

"There are two sides to every argument."

Traditionally this statement has been interpreted as: "don't try to determine who's right and who's wrong until both sides have had the chance to present their case."

But today, there is a more modern interpretation based on the premise that "truth" is a matter of degree. A more realistic interpretation presents itself from this definition - one that does not require choosing a correct (winning) side. Rather it allows both proponents of an argument to be right - to some degree - and, of course, both sides to be wrong, also to some degree.

With virtually all disputes, both sides believe their claims are legitimate - and they usually are. But each side only sees its own "rightness" and at the same time, the other side's "wrongness." So, it's easy for each side to claim their view is totally right while that of their opponent is completely wrong. Each side believes by defending their own position successfully that this "disproves" the opposing view. Each side tries to "win" the argument by focusing exclusively on their own merits and completely ignoring valid arguments from the other side.

But arguments can be resolved fairly and accurately by not looking for an absolute "winner," but instead, by acknowledging the degrees of rightness and wrongness of both sides. Trying to get both factions to accept this fair and accurate resolution is what presents the greatest challenge!

What about a sporting event?

Must a game of hockey end with a "winner" and a "loser"?

For some time, the NHL allowed a game to end in a draw, but more recently, the league has forced these situations to be resolved by an overtime methodology. Each team receives a single point for getting into overtime and they then play-off in a "sudden-death" format for an additional 5 minutes. If the game is still tied after this period, a "shoot-out" takes place with three players in sequence shooting a penalty-shot against the opposing goalie with the winning team of these 3-shooters being awarded the extra point. If the teams are still tied after this shoot-out, the process continues one player per team at a time until one "team beats the other team".

All sports are based on winners and losers. Some allow prizes for second place and third place, but no one ever really remembers those who finish outside of first place.

One can assess sports teams in a "fuzzy-way" by applying all kinds of statistical analysis to various measures of performance - number of goals, number of saves, plus-minus statistics, etc, but no one has ever developed a method to allow a game to finish according to a degree of winning or losing. A crisp outcome to a sporting event appears to be essential for both the players and the fans.

One can point to occasions when one team so dominated a season that there was no dispute about the ranking of this team as Number One. But why should Number One also be applied to those situations in which the difference between the first and second place teams came down to a "shoot-out goal"? Is it simply a matter of how we keep score and how we rank athletic performance? Or is there a fundamental way in which the fuzziness of how we compare two teams or decide on the outcome of a game could be devised that would be "fairer" and "more accurate" than at present?

First Post

Welcome to John Meech's Blog.

This being my first blog, it will be short and sweet.

It is my intention to post items of interest on numerous topics related to the Mining Industry and the attempts being made around the world to address issues related to environmental protection and sustainability of the land, of local communities, and of the long-term economic viability of the company in question.

Sustainable Mining has been a vision of the Mining department at UBC since 1997 with a clear statement on our web site at that time. The term may sound like a contradiction since mining by its very nature depletes an orebody rendering mining activity at any specific site eventually unsustainable. Unlike renewable world resources such as food, fish, and forests, most mineral deposits eventually are exhausted. So how can Mining ever be logically classified as a sustainable activity?

Well, the answer lies in the desire of society to restore the land at a mine site to its previous state or if that is not possible then to create a site that supports new activities such as tourism, recreation, or new industrial businesses to provide continuing employment for the local population. In order for a mining company to remain a sustainable enterprise over the long-term, its Board of Diurectors and its Management team must plan for closure of the site and the continued exploration to discover new orebodies for continued exploitation.

In recent years, the successful mining companies have all adopted an approach to protecting the environment and developing ways to sustain the mine site, the local communities, and the company to continue to function long past the end of the operating phase of mining.

These pages will discuss some of the more innovative projects around the world that are being worked on = some of which actually involve sustainable production from the earth at a single site for the long-term benefit of Mankind.

I would like to invite you to contribute comments on this blog.

I wish you Season's Greetings at this festive time of the year and all the best for a prosperous New Year in 2008.