"The political orator aims at establishing the expediency* or the harmfulness of a proposed course of action; if he urges its acceptance, he does so on the grounds it will do good; if he urges its rejection, he does so on the grounds that it will do harm; and all other points, such as whether…
The Assumption(s) of the Soulless Shoes
That the sun will not rise to-morrow is no less intelligible a proposition, and implies no more contradiction, than the affirmation, that it will rise. David Hume (1711-1776). David Steinberg, Ed. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Second Edition. Hackett Publishing Company:Indianapolis. 1993. Section IV, Pt.I, p.15 Why assume that people threw these shoes 'up' to…
Just a Thought.22.
"People are saying...." People are saying all kinds of things as this pandemic unfolds. Of course they are, that's what people do. Inspiring things, horrible things, hypocritical things, smart things, stupid things, true things, false things, all kinds of things. Some of us get up in arms about these things and say things ourselves. I'm…
The Real Experts.
Some people attempt to inject a little sense into the world by writing a letter to the editor, others by commenting on the comments commenting on the comments on a comment thread, and others still by preaching from a soapbox at a public discussion forum or from a soapbox on a street corner (location, location,…
New, old, permanence, and change: Heraclitus (everything is in motion) and Parmenides (nothing is in motion) in tension. A montage.
"Not everything was better in our ancestors' days, either -- our own age, too, has produced many instances of excellence and artistic merit deserving to be imitated by posterity. At all events, let us continue to promote such honourable competitiveness with our ancestors." Tacitus. The Annals: The Reigns of Tiberius, Claudius, and Nero. Oxford World's Classics.…
Just a Thought. 19.
I'm feeling crushed by the woes of the world, as if it's incumbent on me to fix its problems and set everyone straight. I should blush at my arrogance. Blushing would at least lend me a rosy semblance of health. Instead, my face is pale and drawn from a day of fretting. And besides, I'm…
Just a thought. 14.
Aaron CT Smith, a cognitive scientist from Melbourne, Australia, has given one of the most brilliant accounts of what beliefs do for us that I have seen to date, Flock Theory, “In my estimation…beliefs follow the same kinds of rules governing flocks of birds…First, successful beliefs fit the rule of separation. Like birds in the…
What we might stand to lose. Final, Series 5.5
In the final instalment of this series, I lay a few bones on the table for your consideration. I hope you value them as I do. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "If the human race is under threat in some way that we don’t yet understand, it will probably be at the community level that we either solve the…
Building a model of the world is a community project. Series. 5.4.
Recall my project here. In this series, I lay out some "bones" for thinking about the way -- the why and the how -- the people we depend on for our survival, delectation, and companionship (our peeps) help us navigate the world. And we them. You might pick up these bones, if you find them…
Mattering to each other. Series 5.2.
In this series, I lay out some "bones" for thinking about the way -- the why and the how -- the people we depend on for our survival, delectation, and companionship (our peeps) help us navigate the world. And we them. You might pick up these bones, if you find them interesting, and bring them…
