“The main difference between human beings and other animals when it comes to superstition is that other species abandon the silly behavior almost immediately once they figure out that it doesn’t actually work.” ––Answers for Aristotle, by Massimo Pigliucci, pg. 244 “He got home and looked though the mail, and he had driven past […]
“We have finally arrived at Rawls’s crucial thought experiment, his version of a social contract, and the answer to the question of what sort of society we should agree to have, given all of these considerations. Rawls’s approach here is ingenious and can be appreciated even if one does not happen to agree with his […]
“Aristotle’s opinion was that friends hold a mirror up to each other; through that mirror they can see each other in ways that would not otherwise be accessible to them, and it is this (reciprocal) mirroring that helps them improve themselves as persons. Friends, then, share a similar concept of eudaimonia and help each other […]
“The modern philosophical theory of love as emotion can be enhanced and informed by what biologists tell us concerning the reason for the existence of human emotions in general and the emotions accompanying love in particular, as well as what they say about the mechanisms of emotion. Shakespeare famously asked (in As You Like It): […]
“If we had kissed, it would have been the miracle to make us human in each other’s eyes. Instead we killed each other.” ––Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card, pg. 322 “The compatibilist acknowledges that our actions have to be caused, and that they are limited or channeled by physical, biological, and psychological constraints. […]
“‘Why are we fighting the buggers?’ ‘I’ve heard all kinds of reasons,’ said Graff. ‘Because they have an overcrowded system and they’ve got to colonize. Because they can’t stand the thought of other intelligent life in the universe. Because they don’t think we are intelligent life. Because they have some weird religion. Because they watched […]
It’s been two weeks since I returned to Humboldt, and I’ve been fortunate to accomplish a few new things. My experience at OAEC left me chomping at the bit to start practicing some permacultural methods, and while I realize this is a lifelong endeavor, I’m pleased to be able to start turning several small projects […]
“‘Look at Bonzo, your old commander. He’s got an advanced case of Spanish honor. He can’t allow himself to have weaknesses. To be better than him, that’s an insult. To be stronger, that’s like cutting off his balls. That’s why he hates you, because you didn’t suffer when he tried to punish you. He hates […]
“He could see Bonzo’s anger growing hot. Hot anger was bad. Ender’s anger was cold, and he could use it. Bonzo’s was hot, and so it used him.” ––Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card, pg. 87 “The tentativeness of scientific conclusions is a source of continuous inspiration to scientists, but also of perennial frustration […]
John Updike gets some extra love today because I really dig his writing. “‘Hold still. Just sit there. I see you very clear all of a sudden. You’re Mr. Death himself. You’re not just nothing, you’re worse than nothing. You’re not a rat, you don’t stink, you’re not enough to stink.’ ‘Look, I didn’t do […]