tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70551190627511224512024-03-23T20:14:46.894+10:00Half a Mind 2Half-developed musings of a half-wit who reasons that if you have half-a-mind-2, then we are a head.Sshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01058764631752035273noreply@blogger.comBlogger69125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055119062751122451.post-44163485128989156962024-02-14T19:35:00.001+10:002024-02-14T19:35:55.858+10:00Philosophy Funnies<p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpNCkl9Idblwep1UHMIur3Oxi3ZOsiBE5mcZIM01uS6bDj16ADrxwcKW_MSEIdUeE8QXns_vr1lhCjtzX_FUFv-MlqnioXIhq7pwK2iHSMizp0ugQxBsWpphOP072sM3tQdj02mimSDGwSsV176xHgyc0ZDCPEoh7M4ImdoMW2xzRgAhxepb11lAwDT38j/s798/philosophy%20dept.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="798" data-original-width="679" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpNCkl9Idblwep1UHMIur3Oxi3ZOsiBE5mcZIM01uS6bDj16ADrxwcKW_MSEIdUeE8QXns_vr1lhCjtzX_FUFv-MlqnioXIhq7pwK2iHSMizp0ugQxBsWpphOP072sM3tQdj02mimSDGwSsV176xHgyc0ZDCPEoh7M4ImdoMW2xzRgAhxepb11lAwDT38j/s320/philosophy%20dept.png" width="272" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Q: How many philosophers does it take to change a light bulb?<br />
A: Depends on how you define “change”</span><p></p><hr align="center" width="50%" />
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span><p></p>
<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span id="more-25014"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">An engineer, a scientist, a mathematician, and a philosopher are
hiking through the hills of Scotland, when they see a lone black sheep
in a field.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The engineer says, “What do you know, it looks like the sheep around
here are black.” </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The scientist looks at him skeptically and replies,
“Well, at least <em>some</em> of them are.” </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The mathematician considers this for a moment and replies, “Well, at least <em>one</em> of them is.” </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Then the philosopher turns to them and says, “Well, at least <em>on one side</em>.”</span></p>
<hr align="center" width="50%" /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Descartes is sitting in a French bar, having a drink. The bartender asks him
if he would like another. “I think not,” he says … and disappears.</span></p><hr align="center" width="50%" />
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Jean-Paul Sartre is sitting at a French cafe, revising his draft of <em>Being and Nothingness</em>.
He says to the waitress, “I’d like a cup of coffee, please, with no
cream.” The waitress replies, “I’m sorry, monsieur, but we’re out of
cream. How about with no milk?”</span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span>
<hr align="center" width="50%" />
<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Dean is complaining to the physics department: “Why do I always have to give you
guys so much money, for laboratories and expensive equipment and stuff?
Why couldn’t you be more like the math department – all they need is
pencils, paper, and waste-paper baskets. Or even better, like the
philosophy department. All they need are pencils and paper.”</span></p>
<hr align="center" width="50%" /><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Final paper, final year for philosophy. Everyone is gathered in the exam hall, heads bulging with volumes read, sweating caffeine, shuffling feet, hands, bags, papers, pens as they sit at their desks.<br />The lecturer saunters in. A hush falls interrupted only by the clicking of pens and swish of the question sheets being handed out, face down, taunting the awaiting examinees.<br />The lecturer clears her throat, and announces to the awaiting students: “You may turn over the question sheet.”<br />The room collectively turns over the question sheet. In the middle of the sheet is written one line:<br />‘If this is a question, answer it.’<br />The lecturer continues: “And now you may begin.”<br />Dumbfounded silence. Nervous side-ways glances. <br />Followed by a flurry of pens and pages and writing which mutes the muffled thoughts of the many. Is this indeed a question or not? By what logic? By the thoughts of what philosopher?<br />One student sits back in reflection, taps her pen to on her lips. She transfers her response to paper in a single, meticulously written line:<br />‘If this is an answer, mark it.’<span> <br /></span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span><br /><hr align="center" width="50%" /><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Reasons Why God Was Denied Tenure</span>
</p><ul><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">He had only one major publication.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">And it had no references.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">It wasn’t published in a refereed journal or even submitted for peer review.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">And some even doubt he wrote it himself.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">It may be true that he created the world, but what has he done <em>recently</em>?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The scientific community has had a very rough time trying to replicate his results.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">He rarely came to class, just told students to read the book.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">He expelled his first two students for learning.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Although there were only ten requirements, most students failed his tests.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">His office hours were infrequent and usually held on a mountaintop. <br /></span></li></ul><hr align="center" width="50%" /><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">(Some of these jokes were drawn from a blog by John Messerly: <a href="https://reasonandmeaning.com/2024/02/14/short-philosophy-jokes/#more-25014">https://reasonandmeaning.com/2024/02/14/short-philosophy-jokes/#more-25014</a>)<br /></span></p>Sshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01058764631752035273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055119062751122451.post-87048017245355751422024-01-24T22:26:00.012+10:002024-01-25T11:56:44.686+10:00To be or not to be?... a fun question!<p class="western"><b><i></i></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmUTSEpyINQehIAARKv6dtwRB5PphVwqKgBgqU2lFQJrSSc4v50MbKrnlMlMOFR3Bfj2lmYuuDKNdP-Pd8Oh0Z5A4B16v9g6xTonWefyY9APXl2G1GvfXndhcnn6cosHmffr5KspXLJbOaCe_k5qVBOUOwIU0n2TTm4lADJS1elyewPRG7VarawIVIzH8K/s753/existentialism%20then%20&%20now.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="603" data-original-width="753" height="337" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmUTSEpyINQehIAARKv6dtwRB5PphVwqKgBgqU2lFQJrSSc4v50MbKrnlMlMOFR3Bfj2lmYuuDKNdP-Pd8Oh0Z5A4B16v9g6xTonWefyY9APXl2G1GvfXndhcnn6cosHmffr5KspXLJbOaCe_k5qVBOUOwIU0n2TTm4lADJS1elyewPRG7VarawIVIzH8K/w421-h337/existentialism%20then%20&%20now.jpg" width="421" /></a></i></b></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i>Icarus</i></b><i><b>:</b></i> Is there any meaning to life? Is it not just about birth and
death with the middle part being a period of procrastinating on the
death part?</span>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><b>Daedalus:</b></i> Well maybe, but the way I see it, death
is worth delaying as much as possible. Are you thinking of opting
out?</span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i>Icarus:</i></b> No, not at all. But it is fun to question
the meaning of existence. And in that vein, if the fun of life ends
with death, what’s the point?</span></p><p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"> <i><b>Daedalus: </b></i>Hmm, sounds like the argument of an
ex-lover who challenged me with the question: ‘What was the point
of our relationship if it was simply going to end?’ I contest her
assessment that an ended relationship is a waste. Beginnings and ends
are inevitable, it doesn’t make the bit in the middle “a waste.”
Birth and death are like two tasteless crackers around a lump of
tasty cheese. Like two bookends around a long shelf of fascinating
books. Like the title credits and end credits that bracket a film.
Like the two sheets in which you find your favourite bedmate of the
moment. The meaning of life is what we put into it, what we make of
the part between the beginning and the end.</span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i>Icarus: </i></b>Yeah, but what’s the point if the middle
all disappears at the end? What is the purpose of fun if it ends? If
there was a roller-coaster that you could ride but at the end of the
ride you forgot about the pleasure it gave you, would you bother
riding it?</span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i>Daedalus: </i></b>Yep, I’d ride it even if I ‘forgot’
all about it at the end – just as I would ride it if at the end I
disappeared into oblivion and there was no “I” to do the
remembering. The enjoyment I experience in the middle is its own end.
Life has no meaning other than what you make of it. Why not make it
enjoyable?</span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><b>Icarus: </b></i>Well good point. But what if you don’t
have control over what you get – which arguably you don’t. What
if the roller-coaster was <u>not</u><span style="text-decoration: none;">
fun? What if it is in fact a torture device – which is not far off
what some people </span><span style="text-decoration: none;">think of
roller-coasters?</span><span style="text-decoration: none;"> What if
it is a vile ride and you come out the end in pain. </span></span>
</p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;"><b><i>Daedalus: </i></b>Life
is risky. We make choices. </span><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;">S</span><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;">ome
</span><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;">outcomes are </span><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;">good,
some </span><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;">are </span><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;">bad,
</span><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;">and some choices return a
bit of both</span><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;">. Over the
passage of time – if we survive the bad choices – we will
</span><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;">hopefully learn </span><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;">to
</span><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;">make </span><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;">choices
</span><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;">that </span><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;">return
</span><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;">more </span><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;">pleasure</span><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;">
than pain</span><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;">.</span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;"><b><i>Icarus: </i></b></span><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;">You’re
talking about the roller-coaster ride as one of multiple events in
life. What if the roller-coaster ride is the whole of you</span><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;">r</span><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;">
life. </span><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;">Once you board it,
you can’t get off it. </span><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;">Given
that scenario, w</span><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;">hat if </span><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;">at
the end of the ride </span><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;">you
end up with more pain than pleasure? Is it a roller-coaster ride you
would board if you knew the final outcome, the final balance, was
negative?</span><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;"> If death erases
what is in the middle, and the middle is pain, then </span><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;">surely
</span><span style="font-size: medium; text-decoration: none;">death is welcomed?</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWAuYdjo-qrws91xYJj9KzEQOIw9LSztXsZcsjeYlmqif_kmsVi5L8vLCHWki1tTa5snrMuLvatpDL6Bv0h5FNgC7Y0HRQkLVR6lZeJrxriO7AyYwLlCl1F4hRxHjBCfNoKENRkyPX5dQV7R3cTy6HL08axPVccc8-KMuvpO7u2twUw181V3LmcXYoxA5C/s373/roller-coaster%20of%20life.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="373" data-original-width="310" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWAuYdjo-qrws91xYJj9KzEQOIw9LSztXsZcsjeYlmqif_kmsVi5L8vLCHWki1tTa5snrMuLvatpDL6Bv0h5FNgC7Y0HRQkLVR6lZeJrxriO7AyYwLlCl1F4hRxHjBCfNoKENRkyPX5dQV7R3cTy6HL08axPVccc8-KMuvpO7u2twUw181V3LmcXYoxA5C/w339-h408/roller-coaster%20of%20life.jpg" width="339" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i>Daedalus: </i></b>Hmm, good question and the
roller-coaster is a good metaphor for life. Lots of ups and downs, whether you howl with pleasure or pain is really up to you. Ultimately, we choose life hoping it
will be pleasurable while having to accept that some parts – and
even much of it – may be painful. We learn to accept that the world
is not always going to be the way we would wish it to be. In
particular, the distribution of ups and downs across people does not
seem at all ‘reasonable’ or ‘just’. Some people get an
abundance of pleasure, others an abundance of pain. Most of us get a
mixture. Most of us aspire to be like those who appear to have a life
filled entirely with pleasure. And most of us console ourselves that
they too almost certainly have a portion pain in their life.
</span><p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i>Icarus: </i></b>But what you’re really saying then is we
have to accept what is coming to us in life. Do we really have a
choice? How can you love a life that you don’t get to choose? What
if you are visited by a demon who tells you that you have lived this
life before. All of it. In particular, he reminds you that each
pain-point has been lived before, you’ve already experienced it
all. He tells you that there is more to come. You will re-live your
life exactly as you did last time. Again and again and again <i>ad
infinitum</i>. So, can you embrace that life now? Are you willing to
stay in that game if suffering is the bulk of your experience? What
if you are Sisyphus, condemned to push a rock up the hill only to
watch it roll down again, and required to push it up again? Why do
that?
</span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i>Daedalus: </i></b>Tough question, but I think we do strive
to love that life, the life we get. It is useful to point out
however, that the demon is an unreliable informant, even evil. He’s
setting you to think about the worst-case scenario which may or may
not be so. Will be there some pleasure in it? Will it be like the
lives of most people – some pleasure, some pain? Probably. So to
hell with the demon, to hell with his focus on the miserable moments
of our existence. Even in your scenario of reliving the same life
over and over, we don’t know what the future holds. So it is with
this life – whether it recurs eternally or not. We seem to be built
to rely on hope offsetting our fears.
</span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i>Icarus: </i></b>Maybe, but aging is losing in some way.
Every step taken is a one step closer to death!</span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i>Daedalus: </i></b>Oh the irony – to be schooled in the
challenges of aging by the young! But yes, you’re right, and the
irony runs even deeper. You see, the greatest challenge is that just
as I think I’ve grasped the idea of living the best life with what
I have, I find myself with a little less – less hearing, less
taste, less vision, less energy, etc -- and once again striving to live the best life with what I have. Maybe it is the striving itself
that is what makes life worth living.
</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrIxQMc1gs-xzp1t3WEWEGmuWaDKKMJpPYW82vM2lS_8xXfQ0JtDNgXX5s4O9iWehukFWPVfcF8-lQeR1IJNGb9gs0OccYJa6fUBkrxX6fcIPp4BpCYBmILKuea153UgMeGO0N0MTf3c7xwumukYrfQYnu60jqcJnpLMVtXITp-xnz-iCrhOBxl9VLt3RS/s500/escher%20relativity%201.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="351" data-original-width="500" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrIxQMc1gs-xzp1t3WEWEGmuWaDKKMJpPYW82vM2lS_8xXfQ0JtDNgXX5s4O9iWehukFWPVfcF8-lQeR1IJNGb9gs0OccYJa6fUBkrxX6fcIPp4BpCYBmILKuea153UgMeGO0N0MTf3c7xwumukYrfQYnu60jqcJnpLMVtXITp-xnz-iCrhOBxl9VLt3RS/s320/escher%20relativity%201.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i>Icarus: </i></b>So your response to 'one step closer to
death' is to embrace it, make that step count, step up, step out -- even if actively towards death?</span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i>Daedalus: </i></b>Precisely. If I have the
freedom to choose – and it feels like I do – then I choose
to live my life to the fullest that I can. I choose life, I choose to
be – until I can’t. Perhaps the ultimate act of free will is to
accept that eventually, I will not be at all. Or perhaps I might even choose not to
be, the "one truly serious philosophical question" according to Camus.
</span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i>Icarus: </i></b>You’re not thinking of opting out are
you?</span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i>Daedalus: </i></b>Fear not. It is fun to explore the
meaning – or lack of meaning – of existence. So I remain in no
hurry to get to the final act – notwithstanding the downhill slide.
I plan to hang around until the end comes along and enjoy myself in
the interim. <br /></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>--------------------------------------------------------- <br /></b></span><h3 class="western" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Extra Readings</b></span></h3><p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>To become mature is to have regained the
seriousness one had as a child at play</i>.<br />-- Nietzsche
</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">Nihilism vs Existentialism:
<a href="https://study.com/learn/lesson/nihilism-vs-existentialism.html">https://study.com/learn/lDaedaluson/nihilism-vs-existentialism.html</a></span>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;">Eternal Recurrence / Eternal Return:
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_return">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_return</a></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Myth of Sisyphus, and “the one truly serious
philosophical problem… is suicide”:
<a href="https://www2.hawaii.edu/~freeman/courses/phil360/16.%20Myth%20of%20Sisyphus.pdf">https://www2.hawaii.edu/~freeman/courses/phil360/16.%20Myth%20of%20Sisyphus.pdf</a></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;">Life is for striving, not achieving:
<a href="https://3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2024/01/against-self-improvement-the-negative-capability-of-everyday-life.html">https://3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2024/01/against-self-improvement-the-negative-capability-of-everyday-life.html</a></span></p><p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career.
Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television, choose washing
machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers.
Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose
fixed interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose
your friends. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage. Choose a
three-piece suit on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics.
Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on Sunday morning.
Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing
game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose
rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable
home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked up
brats you spawned to replace yourselves. Choose your future. Choose
life...<br /></i>-- Mark (Rentboy)
Renton, <i>Trainspotting</i></span> <br /></p>
<h3 class="western" style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></h3><p class="western"> </p>Sshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01058764631752035273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055119062751122451.post-26803272531774203242022-08-04T11:47:00.002+10:002022-08-10T21:41:51.322+10:00Cup of tea: a lesson in learning<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV7FpD3zdvjPd6uvJTtMTnQKidJDca8gQ_TvSm9LNEmi_Zb7AqJYO_xMGcXdVpwI8FWmsKAu8kahKDoHX0Ho01cd1-wb_jPbBeJ8N3RiwKrBpQw0aft0ht680uVXgPxvmBa7j3E_piCxbjqSw0jFBQmleFhZPl7YrUd3FGooBzgiz-awMdLibBJePoOg/s560/Overflowing%20tea%20cup.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="560" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV7FpD3zdvjPd6uvJTtMTnQKidJDca8gQ_TvSm9LNEmi_Zb7AqJYO_xMGcXdVpwI8FWmsKAu8kahKDoHX0Ho01cd1-wb_jPbBeJ8N3RiwKrBpQw0aft0ht680uVXgPxvmBa7j3E_piCxbjqSw0jFBQmleFhZPl7YrUd3FGooBzgiz-awMdLibBJePoOg/w321-h248/Overflowing%20tea%20cup.jpg" width="321" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868 – 1912), received a university professor who came to enquire about Zen. <br /><br />Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring.<br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. ‘It is overfull. No more will go in!’<br /> <br />‘Like this cup,’ Nan-in said, ‘you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?’<br /> <br /> -- Paul Reps, <i>Zen Flesh, Zen Bones</i>, p.17<br /><br />------------------------------<br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows</i><br /> -- Epictetus</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Other koans: <a href="https://avocastreet.com/koans/Shaseki.pdf">https://avocastreet.com/koans/Shaseki.pdf</a> </span></span></p>Sshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01058764631752035273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055119062751122451.post-84410916033598109062022-04-18T22:08:00.009+10:002024-01-26T11:25:59.128+10:00Who is the better altruist?<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRU_u2RUJd9oE7kJGzS06Jvt5FQnIJrwBVx_nWEqF_rN2a5f9kL3pJTBNSyGLIiQ5c8wMsZzuNrA6HtJLgI4uTnn-svqkBO2wL_l_sQZnp7sZYjFPPDKd9CJFyovmyAPRmcATCXoQZYRu8oDJ87c0F1XmQy3jEUJBFgy4NkT7n3P9PgR6CCi5dQrTpRA/s1804/charity%20save%20the%20kids.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="745" data-original-width="1804" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRU_u2RUJd9oE7kJGzS06Jvt5FQnIJrwBVx_nWEqF_rN2a5f9kL3pJTBNSyGLIiQ5c8wMsZzuNrA6HtJLgI4uTnn-svqkBO2wL_l_sQZnp7sZYjFPPDKd9CJFyovmyAPRmcATCXoQZYRu8oDJ87c0F1XmQy3jEUJBFgy4NkT7n3P9PgR6CCi5dQrTpRA/w696-h286/charity%20save%20the%20kids.JPG" width="696" /></a></span></span></div><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span>Hede: I recently made a donation of </span><span><span>$1,000 to a charity and I'm feeling pretty good about it.</span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span>Hart: Really? I recently made a donation of $1,000 to a charity too. Which one did you donate to?</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span>Hede: I gave </span></span><span><span>$1,000 to a charity that provides cost-effective treatment against parasitic worms that plague many people in Africa. I did a fair bit of searching for the most effective charity, and chose this one as it has the greatest impact on people's lives per dollar invested. How about you?</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span>Hart: I gave $1,000 to a charity that provides cuddly teddy bears to sick children in hospital. I was watching this documentary about sick kids, and when I saw what this one charity was doing, well, I just cried. I called them immediately after the program ended to make a donation.<br /></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>[Adapted from </span><span><span><span><span>a scenario created by <a href="https://aeon.co/essays/why-virtue-signalling-is-not-just-a-vice-but-an-evolved-tool">Tadeg Quillien</a> 2022]</span></span></span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span>- - - - - - - - - - - - -</span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span> <span><span>Who is most concerned about the <u>outcomes</u> of her altruistic act</span></span>, Hede or Hart?</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span>Who is the most genuine in her altruistic <u>intention</u>? </span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span>Who is the better altruist out of Hede and Hart? </span></span><span><span>Why?</span></span></span><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span>Who is more likeable person? Why?</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span>What are the most important features of 'good' altruism? Effectiveness? Compassion? Something else?<br /></span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span> </span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><b>EXTRA READINGS</b></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span>"Is virtue-signalling a vice?" </span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Tadeg Quillien (2022)</span></span></span></span></span></span> <a href="https://aeon.co/essays/why-virtue-signalling-is-not-just-a-vice-but-an-evolved-tool">https://aeon.co/essays/why-virtue-signalling-is-not-just-a-vice-but-an-evolved-tool</a></span></span></span></span><b> </b> </span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Effective Altruism</span></span></span></span></span></span>: <a href="https://www.effectivealtruism.org/">https://www.effectivealtruism.org/</a></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Ethics of care</span></span></span></span></span></span>: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics_of_care">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics_of_care</a></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>Compassion & altruism: Steno (2015) <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352154615000261">https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352154615000261</a> <br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p>Sshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01058764631752035273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055119062751122451.post-58136288429925891622022-03-31T10:08:00.004+10:002022-08-10T21:44:16.047+10:00Idol Words on the meaning of life<p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyf8LRHwXCIqK0YNGTvbzKS1ckN0MUO2C2WzK0HFeBbU5JASqaRjnHD_tF0-x0igKDhl2udi6lsdKIivFnlDUF9w4YughjPnZpDJv346BZ7BvwDZ_u4mTSpKRqtiu1SEaDVz7HYul5SFec4hnTUyNyMcuBvQWyrjocJNoJHMPJuAc8Xek2KredLs645Q/s1292/three%20idols%20nz%20le%20magasin%20pittoresque%201839.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1292" data-original-width="1232" height="723" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyf8LRHwXCIqK0YNGTvbzKS1ckN0MUO2C2WzK0HFeBbU5JASqaRjnHD_tF0-x0igKDhl2udi6lsdKIivFnlDUF9w4YughjPnZpDJv346BZ7BvwDZ_u4mTSpKRqtiu1SEaDVz7HYul5SFec4hnTUyNyMcuBvQWyrjocJNoJHMPJuAc8Xek2KredLs645Q/w688-h723/three%20idols%20nz%20le%20magasin%20pittoresque%201839.jpg" width="688" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image from Le Magasin Pittoresque, 1839</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">[The following is an extract from "Idol Words" by Scott Alexander at <a href="https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/idol-words">https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/idol-words</a>] </span></span><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>"Hello, welcome to the temple of the three omniscient idols, one of which always tells the truth, one of which always lies, and one of which answers randomly. I know you already signed the release form, but I’m supposed to remind you that we are not legally responsible for any consequence of following the false idols’ advice. Do you have a question?”</i><br /><br /><span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">The petitioner was a very old woman. <i>“Yes, question for all three of you. What is the meaning of life?”<br /></i><br /><i>“<b>To help others,</b>”</i> said the first idol, in a voice that was both singsong and deeper than any cave.<br /><br /><i>“<b>To find happiness,</b>”</i> said the second, in a voice that promised hidden subtleties.<br /><br /><i>“<b>To carry on the species,</b>”</i> said the third, in a voice like a felt-covered thunderclap.<br /><br /><i>“Thank y…”</i> said the woman, but all three idols in unison interrupted her. <i>“<b>Seek to know no more! Begone!</b>”<br /></i><br />For the first time in days, I felt sorry for a petitioner. <i>“You know I have no way of telling you which of them is telling the truth?”</i><br /><br /><i>“That’s fine,”</i> she said. <i>“I’m just happy to know there’s any meaning at all.”</i> She walked out of the cyclopean door with a spring in her step.</span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">- - - - - - - - - - -<span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">For full story, see <a href="https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/idol-words">https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/idol-words</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">For more details on three idols puzzle, see <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hardest_Logic_Puzzle_Ever">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hardest_Logic_Puzzle_Ever</a> </span></span></span></span><br /></span></span></p>Sshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01058764631752035273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055119062751122451.post-51705813478863370452022-03-09T23:52:00.003+10:002022-03-10T00:04:44.597+10:00Outrage is litter<p></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjeSaTkYAlJyfT-ujyNbpGbCh75bUBBRoUxPDsZfHkXo0E0dq0zGkRyv4J7Smr8RItvwkhD333bbugMGlOCr3JUr69_-E4uJAb_ziKmyfPCp_z0-Xqdlqraa0by6NquiAHbpO2k7EF-9v9OpfOSWca5jlyivJQdQxC5nixte-EXIl8wMNopSTppthMngQ=s2048" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjeSaTkYAlJyfT-ujyNbpGbCh75bUBBRoUxPDsZfHkXo0E0dq0zGkRyv4J7Smr8RItvwkhD333bbugMGlOCr3JUr69_-E4uJAb_ziKmyfPCp_z0-Xqdlqraa0by6NquiAHbpO2k7EF-9v9OpfOSWca5jlyivJQdQxC5nixte-EXIl8wMNopSTppthMngQ=w445-h295" title="https://blog.csiro.au/plastic-pollution-on-our-beaches/" width="445" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://blog.csiro.au/plastic-pollution-on-our-beaches/ <br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table> </span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Outrage is litter </span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">that sullies the </span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">moral landscape</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">-- Ssh</span></span><br /></p>Sshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01058764631752035273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055119062751122451.post-48246869650305820432022-02-02T23:29:00.017+10:002022-03-09T23:36:30.756+10:00On judging judgments<p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhmQQ45ptbgj6r12L7Rkvc2FwOh_MsRh3L0qbETYLeYgqmuYHdLMix_YqTy2ZMNuz__qHvxFyaJf5pFzBn-Rrf_9vBNmCg7o7ynz9__ISPzuFT30shTMzidbJKEttS7i6mtMDMuD4utxLpveH4n-jYvGknTwLvdf0a9RXMv8ZIbgeCsRcyIPSzDOjkoKQ=s400" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="400" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhmQQ45ptbgj6r12L7Rkvc2FwOh_MsRh3L0qbETYLeYgqmuYHdLMix_YqTy2ZMNuz__qHvxFyaJf5pFzBn-Rrf_9vBNmCg7o7ynz9__ISPzuFT30shTMzidbJKEttS7i6mtMDMuD4utxLpveH4n-jYvGknTwLvdf0a9RXMv8ZIbgeCsRcyIPSzDOjkoKQ=w433-h346" width="433" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Be gentle on the judgments of others;</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br />And be mindful of your own!</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> -- Ssh <br /></span></span></p>Sshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01058764631752035273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055119062751122451.post-45115526754874059782022-01-23T00:47:00.023+10:002022-08-10T21:37:50.144+10:00Doctors debating vaccination<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhdoHWVjdjPUXRwZeupYNjefWFtelDkXe5vmkZL6yBD2YDafDarzgj-9GSGvQz4yeNfkNTonRG9NSHDJieO-oqwF1QG9d9bfFoNdkJKBbqSMDqMEd6tsCJ45NglyFC0BP603m-b17om3bElSA9BAhKGaqB-ZHR02PmJNN226SdxDebeRuwkPi8PHArE-A=s1462" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1233" data-original-width="1462" height="581" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhdoHWVjdjPUXRwZeupYNjefWFtelDkXe5vmkZL6yBD2YDafDarzgj-9GSGvQz4yeNfkNTonRG9NSHDJieO-oqwF1QG9d9bfFoNdkJKBbqSMDqMEd6tsCJ45NglyFC0BP603m-b17om3bElSA9BAhKGaqB-ZHR02PmJNN226SdxDebeRuwkPi8PHArE-A=w689-h581" title="Dochotomy by MsLil 2021" width="689" /></a></span></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Dochotomy by MsLil (2021)<br /></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span> </span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span> <br /></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><span>(This article is a L-O-N-G read, and it is incomplete. Constructive comments are welcome.) <br /></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>The ground rules for the debate</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br />Dr
Provax</b>: Greetings fellow doctor, what do you know?</span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Dr
Novax</b>: Afternoon doctor. What do I know? Not much. Well, not
entirely true. There's one thing I know: I'm done with the continual
coverage of COVID. It's been two years now.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b> </b></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Dr
Provax</b>: Agreed. And with the latest variant, and two years to
prepare, it is time for nature to show the non-vaccinators the folly
of their reasoning.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span>
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Dr
Novax</b>: Ah, so you're vaccinated?</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span>
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Dr
Provax</b>: Absolutely. You're not?</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span>
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Dr
Novax: </b>No.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span>
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Dr
Provax: </b>Oh my God, why not? You’re crazy. We need to stop you
anti-vaxxers before you kill us.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span>
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Dr
Novax: </b>Whoa, whoa. We’re friends, so I’m happy to have this
discussion, but only if we have ground rules.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span>
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Dr
Provax: </b>What ground rules?</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span>
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Dr
Novax: </b>Let’s refrain from invoking any unproved metaphysical
entities such as God who are unnecessary to the discussion here. No <a href="https://www.txstate.edu/philosophy/resources/fallacy-definitions/Ad-Hominem.html" target="_blank"><i>ad hominem</i></a> -- meaning you can attack the argument, but not the person. Calling me 'crazy' is <i>ad hominem</i>. And try to wind back the hyperbole
such as your presumption that I am an 'anti-vaxxer', and your exaggeration that non-vaccinators will kill everyone. Everyone? That seems a
lot strong: for one thing, if the vaccine is protective, then the
vaccinated ought not be especially threatened by the non-vaccinator’s choice.<span><a name='more'></a></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b> </b></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Dr
Provax:</b> Ah, yes, ok. I hear what you’re saying. Sure, tell me
why you’re choosing not to vaccinate.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><span><b>Uncertainty & misrepresentation</b></span> </span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr Novax</b>: Well, we simply
don’t know enough about the vaccines. The longest has only been in
existence for coming on two years. We do not know the long-term
effects of the vaccine.</span></span><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>
</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b>Dr
Provax</b>: Well, I’ve vaccinated, and I haven’t grown a second
head or a third arm.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>
</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b> </b></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b>Dr
Novax</b>: Ha, clever. No, you have not, or at least, not yet! What if
it makes people sterile, or leads to premature death. What about the
"unknown unknowns"? What might be is surely uncertain.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>
</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b> </b></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b>Dr
Provax</b>: True, but the scientists are tracking for all adverse
events, and to present, none of your fears are being realized. </span></span>
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>
</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b> </b></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b>Dr
Novax</b>: Well that’s just not correct. There are reports
that some of the vaccines do cause serious adverse events, even death. Of course, the authorities aren’t very forthcoming about
that.<br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>
</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b> </b></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b>Dr
Provax: </b>Well, they’re focused on the adverse consequences of
COVID itself: the roughly 30% who will suffer long COVID (<span style="color: navy;"><u><a href="https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/health/long-covid-what-it-and-what-do-we-know-about-it" target="_top">UNSW
study</a></u></span> & <span style="color: navy;"><u><a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1003773" target="_top">PLOSMedicine</a></u></span>),
the roughly 10% who are hospitalized (<span style="color: navy;"><u><a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/burden-of-disease/the-first-year-of-covid-19-in-australia/summary" target="_top">Aust
Govt Report</a></u></span>), and of course, the proportion that will
die. How come you’re more scared of the vaccine than the disease
itself?</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>
</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b> </b></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b>Dr
Novax: </b>You are quite correct, they are focused on the consequences of COVID. However, I just don’t see the disease as that scary.
Coronaviruses are mostly harmless, they give humans colds. </span></span>
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>
</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b> </b></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b>Dr
Provax</b>: You're right, most coronaviruses are not deadly. But some
are. COVID, MERS and SARS are all caused by coronaviruses and all are
deadly.</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span> </span></span>
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>
</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b>Dr
Novax</b>: Well I've heard experts say that COVID kills no more than
a regular flu.</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span> </span></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>
</span></span><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b>Dr
Provax</b>: Look, you’re entitled to your own interpretations, but
not to your <span style="color: navy;"><u><a href="https://quoteinvestigator.com/2020/03/17/own-facts/" target="_top">own
facts</a></u></span>*.
The annual flu in its worst forms kills about 300-600 thousand people
worldwide (<a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/influenza-(seasonal)" target="_top"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><u>WHO</u></span></a>),
and in most years less. COVID has killed over <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-death-toll/" target="_top"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><u>5
million people</u></span></a> in just two years. My interpretation of
that fact, my opinion, my speculation is that it could have been
worse if the world had not implemented social distancing, masking,
isolation and vaccinations.</span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span>(*See </span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span lang="en-AU"><a href="https://jennymackness.wordpress.com/2021/01/19/truth-and-politics-hannah-arendt/" target="_blank">Hannah Arendt</a>: "</span>Freedom of opinion is
a farce, unless factual information is guaranteed and the facts
themselves are not in dispute.<span lang="en-AU">" Truth &
Politics, 1967)</span></span> </span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b> </b></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b>Dr
</b><b>Novax:</b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">My
interpretation of that fact is that it is over-reporting by including
people who have died with COVID rather than of COVID.<br /><br /> </span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b>Dr
Provax</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">: Ok, let’s agree the
number might not be exactly right. There is probably over-reporting as you're suggesting. But there is evidence of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00104-8" target="_blank">under-reporting</a> too, so let's accept the five million over two years as a useful starting point. We can then see that two million or more
people per year is over three or four times the rate of annual flu in
a bad year, and that has been the rate over two consecutive years.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;"><b><br /><br />Dr
Novax: </b>Well, <span style="font-weight: normal;">I’ve</span> heard that
over 99% of people with COVID survive.</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;"><b><br /><br />Dr
Provax:</b> Well, I’ll accept that is correct, but point out that
saying 99% fatality-free is like saying 99% fat-free. It may make
you feel better, but it doesn’t change the fact that the balance is
an undesired alternative. Let’s say it as it is: it appears that
there are one to two deaths for every 200 people infected with COVID
<span lang="en-US">(</span><span style="color: navy;"><u><a href="https://medicalrepublic.com.au/what-is-the-true-death-rate-of-covid-19/44771" target="_top"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span lang="en-US">0.5-1%
IFR</span></span></a></u></span><span lang="en-US">)</span>.</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Novax</b>: Yeah, well the authorities will use exactly the same spin
when they say that "COVID vaccines are safe and effective"
(<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/safety-of-vaccines.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><u>C</u></span></a><a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/safety-of-vaccines.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><u>DC</u></span></a>).
The truth that they are not 100% safe and not 100% effective is buried much further down.
Ignorance is bliss – especially for those disseminating the
ignorance.</span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b><br />Dr
Provax</b>: Perhaps this is understandable as an effort to encourage
people to vaccinate. We know that negative events, even rare ones,
will put people off. Just the same way that shark attacks scare
people out of the water, and remain a perpetual fear in the minds of
tourists visiting Australia.</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Novax:</b> Understandable maybe, but it sounds like it is dubious ethically: exaggerate to get people to do what they want. I do not see that good intentions are sufficient to justify unethical behaviour. But really, I just don't understand. If the medical scientists
are so smart, why don't they create something that strengthens our
immune system?</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Provax</b>: Well, that's <a href="https://reasonstobecheerful.world/vaccines-were-a-mysterious-lifesaver-long-before-we-understood-them/">what vaccines do</a>. They provoke the immune
system to respond to a relatively harmless molecule that helps prime
the immune system ready to respond to the virus. It is kind of like
practising tennis by hitting a ball against a wall. It's not the real
thing, but it helps.</span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><br /><span><b>Expertise and misinformation</b></span><br /><br /><b>Dr Novax: </b>There’s just so
much information, and it keeps changing. Wash your hands, oh that
doesn't help much. Wear masks, oh they don't help unless you’re
wearing the latest and greatest version. Vaccinate with Astra Zeneca
if you're over 60; oh no, only if you're over 50. Oh there’s a new
variant, and now you have to go and get another shot because two
doses of the first vaccine offer only limited protection. But wait
six months before getting the booster, or no, make it five, no four
months. And so it goes on. How is someone meant to know what to
believe?</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Provax:</b> In fairness, COVID is new, less than two years old. We're
learning as we go along. It's a case of constantly updating to the
latest and best knowledge.<b><br /></b></span></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><b>Dr
Novax</b>: Precisely. We didn’t have perfect knowledge in the past,
we can't be sure that what we think we know now is correct, and better
knowledge may emerge in the future. So how does one decide what to
do?</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Provax</b>: Well, you can try and evaluate all the information, but
that would require years of expertise. And those lay people who claim
to know something that everyone else has missed are very unlikely to
be correct. So I guess we have to use the tried and true short-cut of
trying to assess the credibility of who is talking.</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Novax</b>: So trust the experts? Even the experts disagree. There are
lots of doctors who are saying things that are quite opposed to the
views of others.</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Provax: </b>Yeah, well there are doctors and doctors. My philosophy
doctorate and your credentials as a doctor of chiropractic limit our
authority to speak relative to experts in immunology. Even then,
there are likely to be some with more relevant expertise in virology
and vaccines than others.</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Novax</b>: Well, there are experts who are nurses and academics and
professors who are all throwing out conflicting opinions.</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Provax</b>: Yeah, but that is virtually true by definition: an expert
opinion is one that is opposed by at least one other expert opinion.
We do not need experts to tell us something largely uncontested such
as the earth goes around the sun. An expert is someone at the
frontier of knowledge. And the frontier of science is a kind of wild
west where what is true is much disputed. So I guess that the safest
choice is to simply go with the majority expert opinion.</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Novax</b>: Ha, but some of the most significant advances in knowledge
come from someone, often a minority, overturning an older dogma. To use your example about the earth going around the sun, the
majority expert opinion before the 1500s was the opposite, that the sun went around
the earth. It took a string of individuals like Copernicus,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giordano_Bruno" target="_top">
</a>Giordano Bruno and Galileo to convert the majority of experts to
thinking the way we now think is the truth.
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolaus_Copernicus#Heliocentrism" target="_blank">Copernicus</a> dodged ridicule and worse by stalling publication of his heliocentric
ideas until his death.
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giordano_Bruno" target="_blank">Bruno</a>
was burned for his beliefs, and
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei#Controversy_over_heliocentrism" target="_blank">Galileo</a>
spent years under house arrest for his beliefs<b>.</b></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Provax</b>: True, and so this could be one of those occasions where
the minority has it right. But the occasions that the minority is
right are rare: the vast majority of minority views turn out to be
false. Minority views are right only a minority of the time.</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Novax:</b> My concern is that all the voices speak with confidence that belies the uncertainty.
The public health and government agencies speak authoritatively, even while
best medical advice keeps changing.</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Provax</b>: Perhaps, but the alternative is ‘fake news’ from
social media platforms like Facebook and rebel news sites. They tell
a good story as reflected in the fact that they are passed around so
successfully, but they ain’t true. <a href="https://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/07/13/truth/" target="_blank">A lie can fly</a> halfway around the world while the truth is still lacing up its boots: falsehoods fly, truths trudge.</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Novax: </b>Ah, but from the layperson’s perspective, there is
little to distinguish ‘fake news’ and ‘expert opinion’. Some
people believe fake news, some believe expert opinion. Both speak
authoritatively, yet both might be wrong. Ironically, the advantage
of fake news is that it doesn’t change its mind! Fake news
offers a certainty that is refreshing because the past two years of
uncertainty feels just awful (<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/12/10/omicron-misinformation/" target="_blank">Claire Wardle</a>).</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Provax: </b>Which simply reinforces that knowing the truth takes an
effort. And if you’re not prepared to put in the effort, then
probably best to go with the authorities.</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Novax: </b>Except that the authorities speak stridently and
authoritatively, signaling a certainty that they simply do not have.</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Provax: </b>Again, necessary in an effort to offset the strident,
authoritative tone of the fake news.</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Novax: </b>Great, so both sides double down on their conviction, and
both might be wrong. It appears no-one is going to win the battle
based on information. We are being called on to make a decision, yet
we agree that our knowledge of outcomes is uncertain.</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Provax: </b><span style="font-weight: normal;">Well, yes, you have to
commit to some action. At some point, inaction becomes a decision to
do nothing, and therefore, to bear the consequences.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Novax: </b><span style="font-weight: normal;">So in an environment of
too much information, much of it false or potentially wrong, it is
hardly surprising that people simply decide what to believ</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">e</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
then try to find information to support what they believe rather than
the other way around.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Provax: </b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> Yes, well this is the
well-known <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias" target="_blank">confirmation
bias</a></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">. We tend to find information to support
what we believe rather than build beliefs from information.</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><b>Dr Novax: </b>And of course, we're all subject to confirmation bias, both those for and against. <br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><b>Dr Provax: </b>Yes, that is a fair assessment.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="font-weight: normal;"> <span><b><br />Mandated Vaccination</b></span><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b> </b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b>Dr Novax</b>: So my problem is
that despite this uncertainty which we appear to agree on, the
government not only makes policy that we should all vaccinate, but is
also making policy about restrictions on what we can do if we are not
vaccinated. They are making vaccination compulsory.</span><span><b> </b></span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b>Dr
Provax</b>: Hang on, they're not making the vaccination compulsory.
Education is compulsory - everyone has to go to school no matter what
kids, their parents or others want. That's compulsory. Taxes are
compulsory - and that's good for all of us as it funds the health
system that cares for our health - including public vaccination
programs. Voting is compulsory – in Australia at least. Prison is
compulsory - if it's ordered by a judge. And if a war comes along,
men aged 18-22 might be conscripted to go into national service.
Vaccination is not compulsory, but your ongoing job as a chiropractor
may be dependent on being vaccinated. That's conditional rather than
compulsory.<b><br /><br />Dr
Novax</b>: Okay, but it doesn’t seem right that they can simply
make things ‘conditional’ as you call them.<b><br /><br />Dr
Provax</b>: It doesn't feel right when new conditions are imposed,
but we live in a society governed by conditions designed to protect the common good. And you probably support many of these
conditions. My profession as a university lecturer requires a string
of degrees, your profession as a chiropractor requires certain
qualifications. These are an effort to at least partially protect
individuals in our society from charlatans. There are many other
conditions imposed, again in an effort to protect other, maybe
vulnerable, individuals in society. If you want to drink alcohol, it
is conditional on your being over the age of 18. If you wish to drive
a car, it is conditional on your being over 17, and licensed, and in
a registered, roadworthy vehicle, and that you use a seat-belt, and
you do not use your phone while driving, and your blood alcohol is
under .05, etc.</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Novax</b>: The government is using this opportunity to increase their control
over us. It is Orwell's <i>1984</i>.</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Provax</b>: The governments is trying to do one of the jobs for which
it is appointed, to protect us from threats against the common good.
We are in uncertain times with a current threat looming, and they
impose conditions for the good of the many. They don't necessarily
get it all right, but they are acting quickly with a hope of saving
more lives. During the Spanish flu outbreak in 1918-1920, quarantine,
social-distancing, lock-downs, masks were all used - and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Mask_League_of_San_Francisco">publically opposed</a>.
Public health measures are always somewhat controversial but
encouragingly, during the Spanish flu, those that did implement protective measures early
appeared to be <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu#Public_health_management">more
effective</a>. And to your fear of ongoing government control, are you not encouraged that the restrictions imposed during the Spanish flu were relaxed and only recently re-imposed some 100 years later.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b><br />Dr
Novax:</b> Ok, so I agree that conditions are a part of living life
in a civilized society. But why are they being imposed on my job. Why
are they imposed on my going out to a bar or a restaurant? What is
the risk posed by someone who is not vaccinated?</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Provax: </b>Well, an unvaccinated person might infect a vaccinated
person.</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Novax: </b><span style="font-weight: normal;">As I understand it, with
the latest variant, both vaccinated and unvaccinated persons can be
infected, and can </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">therefore
</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">infect others<b>.</b></span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Provax:</b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> But the unvaccinated
are more likely to be infected and therefore more likely to infect
others.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Novax: </b>Imagine it this way: if the vaccine worked perfectly, the
unvaccinated would pose no concern at all as the vaccinated would be
protected. However, the vaccine works imperfectly. And this has
become the non-vaccinator’s problem. Why is that?</span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b><br />Dr
Provax: </b><span style="font-weight: normal;">Well there is another
problem, the unvaccinated who get infected seem more likely to end up
in hospital </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">and need more
care on average </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">than those
who are vaccinated. That means our socialized health system has to
pay for their choices. I do not think it is unreasonable that
non-vaccinators must bear the personal consequences of their decision
to not vaccinate. If you fall sick with COVID and need hospital treatment, you
will be at the bottom of triage, and must pay for your treatment </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">as
in <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-12/singapore-s-unvaccinated-may-face-18-460-of-medical-bills">Singapore</a></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
Or perhaps, as a non-vaccinator, you ought to be willing to pay a higher health insurance premium say like a smoker. Are you as a non-vaccinator prepared to pay more for your health care if
you are infected by COVID?</span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Novax:</b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> Well, maybe, but first,
I want to push back on the idea that somehow my personal choices
should exclude me from public health treatment. Young people are
notoriously more likely than older people to engage in dangerous
activities – driving dangerously, riding motorbikes, engaging in
extreme sports </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">but we do not exclude them from public health care. </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">We
allow people to make choices in our society, even ones that might
result in harm to themselves. So i</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">f
we’re going to be consistent, then we have to allow non-vaccinators
</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">access </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">to
health care like others. And again, </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
would highlight </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">it </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">is
</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">still relatively rare that
these people will need care.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>
</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Provax: </b><span style="font-weight: normal;">The choice to not
vaccinate generates a higher cost, so the non-vaccinators must be
prepared to make a bigger contribution.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Novax: </b><span style="font-weight: normal;">Perhaps they do generate
a higher cost, but how high is that cost in relative terms? Again,
people make lots of choices, and some people cost our society more
than others because of their choices, </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">even
illegal or disapproved choices </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">–
</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">like </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">dr</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">u</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">g-taking,
smoking, alcohol consumption, etc. </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">They
still have access to health care. </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">Besides,
businesses </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">are </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">crying
</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">for workers </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">and
customers </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">to keep our
society going – </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">for the
common good</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">. </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">H</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">ow
does it serve the common good to have a</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">n
unvaccinated person </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">blocked
from the workplace </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">and the
market, </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">and made </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">a
welfare recipient?</span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>
</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Provax:</b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> Hmm, well perhaps it is
an effort to encourage people to vaccinate.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Novax: </b><span style="font-weight: normal;">I’m fine with
encouraging people to vaccinate, but like any marketing effort,
I baulk when the marketing effort uses more coercive force. As I said before, good intentions do not permit unethical behavior. I daresay
you would agree – we do not like marketing to be deceptive and to
target vulnerable people. The State's public health messaging omits truths
– like the potential harms of vaccinations – and the State not only targets
vulnerable people, but makes them vulnerable by denying them access
to their job and the market. This seems a step too far to me, even if
it is ostensibly for the common good. Being righteous is quite
distinct from being right – although the righteous will often fail
to understand that distinction.</span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><b>Dr
Provax:</b> I guess the State has made an assessment and determined
it is better for society that people vaccinate. They have asked
people to vaccinate as insurance. If you refuse the insurance, you’re
on your own.</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Novax</b>: Well, let us return to the problem of adverse events from
vaccination. They do happen as I think you’re prepared to admit
even while you apparently condone the State’s effort to omit or
hush-up such events because it might scare people. Informed consent
is a part of virtually all medical practice whereby I must be
informed, that is told about all the scary possible side-effects, and
only then am I required to grant my consent. Vaccination seems to be
a notable exception. The State wants to skip over the side-effects,
and wants to over-ride consent.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><b>Dr
Provax</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">: But side effects are
just so incredibly rare.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Novax: </b><span style="font-weight: normal;">I believe that they are,
but w</span>hat about the individual that <i>does </i><span style="font-style: normal;">suffer
</span>an adverse event. Will the State compensate those who suffer? And even if they do, how will they compensate someone who dies? Australia has a dismal
history of denying adverse events from vaccination, and has no
compensation program for those that do suffer. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b>Dr Provax: </b>In fairness, the State has implemented a COVID-vaccination compensation program since about <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/initiatives-and-programs/covid-19-vaccine-claims-scheme">December
2021</a>. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b>Dr Novax: </b>Yeah, I've seen that, but it vague on
what is granted to the person who dies. And anyway, how much
compensates for a death?</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>
</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Provax:</b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> I hear you, but if you
accept the statistics, then more people will survive if vaccinated
than if unvaccinated.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b><br /><br />Dr
Novax: </b><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
accept the statistics, even that more people will survive if vaccinated. But I resist the State’s right to restrict my
freedom to choose medications for myself. I’m not insisting you do
not vaccinate, I’m insisting on my right to choose for myself. You happen to
have chosen vaccination, so of course it doesn’t bother you that the
State insists that people be denied that choice. Ultimately, the State is
asking me to buy their ticket in a lottery in which I do not wish to
participate.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span><b>The Gamble</b></span> <br /></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="font-weight: normal;">(to be continued!) <br /></span></span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>
</span></span></div></div></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>Sshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01058764631752035273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055119062751122451.post-91280988607388479532022-01-19T10:24:00.104+10:002024-01-24T22:30:03.483+10:00Predicting the future imperfectly<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg-rei5QqzvhPZXleYcBFuT0vDzI7ngjBjjBMS2RGmcxq42jFZZvEnhwtAPyiextNydxX9TgJnYIjvNm14VHiwJWjQaV8xPHJv1_WVKUzxl4cN9Qks1yWGB9fZjLwTA_JGCskm23o10aRHTwkMRSqxh5XdB03aB6Y3JT5W3jVyWGkDyWvNkW4biRfh_kg=s1968" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1107" data-original-width="1968" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg-rei5QqzvhPZXleYcBFuT0vDzI7ngjBjjBMS2RGmcxq42jFZZvEnhwtAPyiextNydxX9TgJnYIjvNm14VHiwJWjQaV8xPHJv1_WVKUzxl4cN9Qks1yWGB9fZjLwTA_JGCskm23o10aRHTwkMRSqxh5XdB03aB6Y3JT5W3jVyWGkDyWvNkW4biRfh_kg=w693-h390" width="693" /></a></div><br /><h2 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Do humans want to know their future?</span></span></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span></h2><h2 style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
</h2><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span></h2><p style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Yes, people are
interested in knowing their future.
</span></span></p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
</p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">We want to know the
future in terms of…</span></span></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">what the
weather will be tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after…?</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <br /></span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">whether our new
product is likely to be a success in the market or not?</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <br /></span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">whether our
large investment will be go up or go down in value?</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <br /> </span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">what numbers
will win next week’s lottery?</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">whether or not
we will survive the fatal disease we have contracted (with
certainty, not a probability)?</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">can modern
medicine prevent or cure the fatal disease I have contracted?
</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <br /></span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">can we humans live
forever?</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <br /></span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">do humans avert
their own extinction?</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">what is the
human-experience after death (assuming our quest for human-generated
eternal life fails)? <br /></span></span></li></ul><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><p style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
</p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
</span></span><h2 style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Can humans know their future?<br /></span></span></h2><p style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The future
remains uncertain. No matter how good our prediction skills, the
future is uncertain, both empirically and logically.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Empirically, even if
we have “big data”, massive computing capacity, and fantastic
skills, the weather tomorrow may be as predicted, but it may not.
There is no certainty about what the future holds, and complexity and chaos theory ensures that it remains so.</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Logically, even if
the world is a series of causes and effects, there is no logic that
permits us to say that many previous contingent events will occur
again in the future (see <a href="https://aeon.co/essays/hume-is-the-amiable-modest-generous-philosopher-we-need-today">Hume</a>). Sure, the sun has ‘risen’ every day for
thousands of millennia, but it does not logically follow that it will
do so tomorrow.</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Even with
“more data” and more skills, some of these questions about the
future, especially the ones further down the list above, are likely
to <i>always</i> remain beyond us.</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">What is the
human-experience after death? Who knows? It has not stopped many
people developing stories of what they think, even believe, or perhaps wish will
happen after death. But the truth is we do not know. And even more, that we are
unlikely to ever know.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Do humans avert
their own extinction? We might desperately wish it to be so,
but humanity does or does not survive remains in the future, and is unlikely to
be known. The problem is open-ended for even if humanity survives
the current apocalyptic scenarios, the possibility of extinction in some other, currently unseen and perhaps unknown apocalyptic
scenario remains.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Can we live forever?
It hasn’t happened yet although it is clear that human life has
been massively extended beyond the standard “three score years and ten”.
Can a human live forever? Perhaps, but perhaps not. Even if we do manage to insert
our mental selves into a machine, what happens if the world ends and the machine stops? </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">So many unknowns. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">But there are also some confusions that get tangled with the idea of prediction.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The first is confusing possibility with prediction. It is possible that there is life after death, that humans escape extinction and that people get to live forever (or at least 200 years or more). So, yes, these outcomes might be possible, but that is not a prediction. The other outcome is also possible!</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Which leads to the related issue of confusing guesses with predictions. Guessing that a tossed coin will come up heads is a guess, not a prediction. If the coin does come up heads, then it was a lucky guess, not a
correct prediction. </span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Predicting the
future is already an uncertain game, but it seems certain that
uncertainty will always plague questions about particular futures such
as the human experience after death, whether humans avoid extinction,
and whether humans can live forever. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">My prediction is that we will only ever be able to predict the future imperfectly. <br /></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - <br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">"The history of predicting the future"</span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;"> (Rees 2021, <i>Wired</i>)<br /></span></span><a href="https://www.wired.com/story/history-predicting-future/"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;">https://www.wired.com/story/history-predicting-future/</span></span></span></a></p><p>"Humans are bad at predicting futures that don't benefit them" (Beaton 2017, <i>The Atlantic</i>)<br /><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/11/humans-are-bad-at-predicting-futures-that-dont-benefit-them/544709/">https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/11/humans-are-bad-at-predicting-futures-that-dont-benefit-them/544709/</a><br /></p>Sshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01058764631752035273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055119062751122451.post-53702071281951848222022-01-12T23:41:00.006+10:002022-08-10T21:54:11.396+10:00Why is time so warped?<h2 class="western" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhVYxJGpihotU-1bJKLJmkoj-3zdWxUFgS93J72ueTFl8EyGkDryzXAwQDRtIlq_m_X_NlJh7Muva1PiFmExV_mEgg26z6oifwPhfct1b4-MjjYJ6Qlc0uDVBtZq_3czQsgaKvt8QryJjxyjRW5KALQoLNS33L3hTY8ZJzBPoxNsFfo7uBKsZRJ38QVOQ=s353" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="143" data-original-width="353" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhVYxJGpihotU-1bJKLJmkoj-3zdWxUFgS93J72ueTFl8EyGkDryzXAwQDRtIlq_m_X_NlJh7Muva1PiFmExV_mEgg26z6oifwPhfct1b4-MjjYJ6Qlc0uDVBtZq_3czQsgaKvt8QryJjxyjRW5KALQoLNS33L3hTY8ZJzBPoxNsFfo7uBKsZRJ38QVOQ=w667-h271" width="667" /></a></div></span></span></h2><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Time has a curious essence. Unlike the other three dimensions - length, breadth, depth - we can travel in only one direction through time: from past to future via the present.</span></span><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <br />We cannot visit a moment in time that we have passed.<br /><br />Despite the past and future being simply two ends of one dimension, we take the past as cast in stone, and the future as unknown.<br /><br />Travel into the past is impossible, travel into the future a dream.<br /><br />How well do we ‘know’ our past & our future?<br /><br />We fool ourselves that we ‘know’ both our past and our future with stories about each.<br /><br />The story we tell ourselves about our past is called history.<br /><br />We put a lot of faith into this story in some ways, but it seems unjustified. If history is important because it facilitates learning, how come our own history is full of stories that are like repeats on television where at some point, often much too late, we realize that we’ve seen this before?<br /><br />The story we tell ourselves about the future is called a prediction. We put less faith into predictions in general, but curiously, we do put a lot of faith into some predictions. We have many imaginings about catastrophic futures – pandemic, climate change, nuclear war, etc.<br /><br />All are quite possible, but we tend to focus on one at a time, a flavour of the month (or year). While the possibilities for global annihilation are plentiful, even infinite, annihilation by pandemic is the most current scare du jour.<br /><br />Before death by pandemic was imagined, we feared annihilation by climate change. Before annihilation by climate change, we feared an ending in nuclear war. Before an end in nuclear war was imagined, we feared … and so on back to various doomsday scenarios, secular and religious. <br /></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span><p style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;">
</p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span>Sshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01058764631752035273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055119062751122451.post-18426069067305919232022-01-05T17:51:00.015+10:002022-08-10T21:52:31.910+10:00Outrage ain't right<p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174231/original/file-20170616-512-ek2kze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1356&h=668&fit=crop" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="800" height="330" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174231/original/file-20170616-512-ek2kze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1356&h=668&fit=crop" width="671" /></a></i></div><i><br /> </i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>“Reason is, and ought only to be, the slave of the passions”<br /></i> – David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature (<a href="https://sites.pitt.edu/~mthompso/readings/hume.influencing.pdf">Book 3, Part 3, Section 3</a>)<br /></span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">--------------------------------------------------------------------------</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Enough of the outrage!<br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I hear your passion, your judgment, your indignation, your disgust. All because I'm unwilling to agree with you.<br /><br />Outrage is easy to hear because it is pure passion speaking out. Loudly.</span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">You say it over and over again, but nothing changes. The same happens when you use this tactic with foreign-speakers who don't understand your English!</span></span></p><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I can hear your judgment that you are right and I am wrong. But mark this, judges don’t always get it right. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In fairness, judges have a really tough job – although you’d be forgiven for thinking otherwise given that most humans cast judgments with extraordinary ease.<br /><br />I hear your frustration, but your outraged outburst is futile in its endeavor to move me.<br /><br />You are operating as if outrage is merely an emotionally-colored coat that clothes reason. But maybe, the emotion is simply a cloak that blocks out reason – if there is any reason there at all.<br /><br />Outrage is not evidence of reason, but evidence of desperation. It is a condescending, even denigrating assertion: 'if you think differently from me, you’re an idiot'.<br /><br />You see, despite your outrage, there is a possibility that you might be wrong.<br /><br />Yeah, I know, that’s tough to hear, isn’t it? So I’ll say it again. Quite simply, despite your passion, you may not be right!<br /><br />Yes, you most definitely have a right to speak. But having that right to speak does not mean that what you speak is right. <br /><br />You even have a right to speak with the tone of righteous outrage – but the truth or otherwise of your argument is unchanged.<br /><br />Reason does not lead emotion. Reason is the quiet, faithful servant to the impetuous, headstrong master.<br /><br />In a car, emotion is the powerful motor driving the wheels while reason endeavors to steer the wheels. <br /><br />In a metaphor imagined by <a href="https://www.carnegiefoundation.org/blog/how-to-change-things-when-change-is-hard/">Jonathan Haidt</a>, reason is the rider (or mahout) trying to steer an elephant.<br /><br />Yeah, yeah, I can see you getting steamed up. <br /><br />Yes, I still hear your outrage because you’re sure that you’re right.<br /><br />Of course you are! <br /><br />Outrage is the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overconfidence_effect">over-confidence bias</a> made manifest. Confidence in our judgments is reliably higher than the accuracy of our judgments.<br /><br />Oh, so now you’re even more ticked off.<br /><br />Listen! <br /><br />Stop! </span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Shutup, you won’t let me get a word in edgeways. You shout the same thing over and over again, you bellow in righteous indignation.<br /><br />You know what, I’m done with your hubristic, insolent, prejudicial, condescending intolerance. <br /><br />Your outrage is <a href="https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/beyond-the-pale.html">beyond the pale</a>, it is outrageous.<br /><br />I won’t tolerate your intolerance.<br /><br />What?</span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <br /><br />Oh, yeah! Me too. <br /><br />That ain't right.<br /><br />Sorry.</span></span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">--------------------------------------------------------------------------</span></span></p><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">EXTRA STUFF<br /></span></span></b></p><p><a href="https://markmanson.net/outrage"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">https://markmanson.net/outrage</span></span></a></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-outrage-be-a-good-thing/ ">https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-outrage-be-a-good-thing/ </a><a href="goog_1179016935"><br /></a></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-there-are-costs-to-moral-outrage-78729">https://theconversation.com/why-there-are-costs-to-moral-outrage-78729</a> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://nautil.us/blog/the-case-for-being-skeptical-of-moral-outrage">https://nautil.us/blog/the-case-for-being-skeptical-of-moral-outrage</a> <br /></span></span></p><p></p>Sshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01058764631752035273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055119062751122451.post-87959672158012140482021-11-29T23:37:00.009+10:002022-08-10T21:57:00.447+10:00Do you know what time it is ?<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhcO5Ss99MjWbVf1nk_HdLNaQFAcBgtcG2Z_h9f7cWqvuygxXBbtgF83tKpQ1aioESg9KPOGNCCSgCamAVMBb4-ThJgHDGY9rdTq1hvjvzqCJZ2Y0KwIWqzOdaP9WGBlgkH2Y7H_JmsRSS0_MZgvCUvOeNbxYc3rr7qlQDU7vTlvyBBBlId-vq2ciMf8Q=s801" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="587" data-original-width="801" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhcO5Ss99MjWbVf1nk_HdLNaQFAcBgtcG2Z_h9f7cWqvuygxXBbtgF83tKpQ1aioESg9KPOGNCCSgCamAVMBb4-ThJgHDGY9rdTq1hvjvzqCJZ2Y0KwIWqzOdaP9WGBlgkH2Y7H_JmsRSS0_MZgvCUvOeNbxYc3rr7qlQDU7vTlvyBBBlId-vq2ciMf8Q=w423-h311" width="423" /></a></div>Claire asks Tiffany "Do know what time it is?" <br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Tiffany looks around at an old-fashioned clock sitting on the sideboard which shows that the time is 6.56. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"Yeah, it is four minutes to 7," says Tiffany.<br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Following Tiffany's glance, Claire says, "Oh, that clock doesn't work. It always shows 6.56. So you are mistaken."</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Tiffany looks at her mobile phone and says "Really? I think you are mistaken as my phone confirms that it is 6.56 at the moment."</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b> </b></span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">(Adapted from Bertrand Russell, <i>Human Knowledge: Its scope and limits</i>, 1948)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b> <br /></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>QUESTIONS</b></span></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Does Tiffany have a legitimate claim to "knowing" the time after viewing the stopped clock? </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If the time was 6.56, and Tiffany believed it was, and justified that belief by reading the clock, does she have knowledge? </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The notion that knowledge is 'justified, true belief' suggests that she does. Perhaps we ought to change the definition of knowledge? How would you change the definition?<br /></span></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>ADDITIONAL SOURCES</b></span></span></div><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://philosphere.blog/2018/03/28/russell-and-the-stopped-clock/">https://philosphere.blog/2018/03/28/russell-and-the-stopped-clock/</a><b> </b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b> </b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettier_problem">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettier_problem</a> <b> <br /></b></span></span></div><p></p>Sshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01058764631752035273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055119062751122451.post-66762649570446996602020-12-31T08:17:00.005+10:002022-08-13T10:48:22.776+10:00Be who you are<div class="separator" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQB3BtSLT3sOw3SjpIKncRIG1TwzjVLerErfQnGZZWKC9ezueeVMIWZFb0Aoa1zkfHiCS8ZgodS_-CEvqYEZmgRtGuB1c4amn6DDZ0ttuWYxNmTYMu8BJEwAzvmqwzcVa4k1WLTIVd5jVH/s640/True-colors.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" height="385" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQB3BtSLT3sOw3SjpIKncRIG1TwzjVLerErfQnGZZWKC9ezueeVMIWZFb0Aoa1zkfHiCS8ZgodS_-CEvqYEZmgRtGuB1c4amn6DDZ0ttuWYxNmTYMu8BJEwAzvmqwzcVa4k1WLTIVd5jVH/w575-h385/True-colors.png" width="575" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>Be who you are --<br />for no-one else can be</span></span></i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>Become who you can be -- <br />for no-one else can do it<br /></span></span></i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>Ssh</span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span> </span></span></i><span>----------------</span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span><i>To be what we are, <br />and to become what we are capable of becoming, <br />is the only end of life.<br /></i><br />Robert Louis Stevenson</span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span>----------------</span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span><i>Be who you are and say what you feel<br />because those who mind don't matter,<br />and those who matter don't mind.</i></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span><i></i>Dr Seuss<br /></span></span></p>Sshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01058764631752035273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055119062751122451.post-60938815606676170472020-11-08T22:44:00.017+10:002022-08-10T22:00:40.627+10:00More is the enemy of enough<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgff1_S9DIjIensho_AUaNmB-XozVKSK-FyOTvHjGzabawvnB1Z7MAJXnwFMBhOeowObbHP8Q_9ReLY_4kUuf8ah8MDpCXk2tEhYHFVqT0nX5z0cOMLCDZthC4GvqxMhvs6uNjsSSICP1JPEtK4XvgOOBvHFS9LBESOLij8oS8JLoFMUhrU3LZyvrcvJg=s300" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="255" data-original-width="300" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgff1_S9DIjIensho_AUaNmB-XozVKSK-FyOTvHjGzabawvnB1Z7MAJXnwFMBhOeowObbHP8Q_9ReLY_4kUuf8ah8MDpCXk2tEhYHFVqT0nX5z0cOMLCDZthC4GvqxMhvs6uNjsSSICP1JPEtK4XvgOOBvHFS9LBESOLij8oS8JLoFMUhrU3LZyvrcvJg=w359-h305" width="359" /></a></div> <br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i>'More</i>' </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">is the enemy</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> of</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i>'enough'</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: medium;">(Ssh)</span><br /></span></span></div><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p style="text-align: left;"></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Inspired by and extending on:</span></span><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">- a quote from Epicurus:</span></span></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Nothing is enough to the man to whom enough is too little.</span></span></i></span></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">- a quote from <i>King Lear</i> by Shakespeare (1606):</span></span></p><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []" style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>[S]triving to better, oft we mar what's well</i></span></span></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i> </i></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">- a quote from Montesquieu</span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> (1726)</span></span></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []" style="text-align: left;"><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i lang="fr" title="French-language text">Le mieux est le mortel ennemi du bien</i> <br /></span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">- an Italian proverb:<i> <br /></i></span></span></div><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Le meglio è l'inimico del bene</i></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">- that was cited by Voltaire (1770): <br /></span></span></p><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []" style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Dans ses écrits, un sage Italien</i></span></span></div><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Dit que le mieux est l'ennemi du bien.</i></span></span></div><p style="margin-left: 80px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i> </i></span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>- </i>and some lines from Richard Powers' novel <i>The Overstory </i>(2018)<i><br /></i></span></span><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i> </i></span></span></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []" style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>A reporter once asked Rockefeller how much is enough. His answer: just a little bit more. And that's all we want: to eat and sleep, to stay dry and be loved, and to acquire just a little bit more. (p.564) <br /></i></span></span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">For more, see <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_is_the_enemy_of_good">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_is_the_enemy_of_good</a><br /></span></span></p>Sshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01058764631752035273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055119062751122451.post-24186225715939262512020-10-31T14:16:00.027+10:002022-08-15T08:05:43.829+10:00From impossible to improbable: small step or giant leap ?<div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihGDXm_92iXXotW5ZzNcK-IOpx5kNas6dLz4eFEkrGCpO54hraLx4KBsk2nhAFEEn621mlf4Rrt7yqaoN3IfjirCUPBgN2oVgh0V-JnZrNyFsSbWGgsldnfkVDiquunBFakg65FXJxa0cB/s1558/moon+parsnips+bowels+of+Christ+png.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="954" data-original-width="1558" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihGDXm_92iXXotW5ZzNcK-IOpx5kNas6dLz4eFEkrGCpO54hraLx4KBsk2nhAFEEn621mlf4Rrt7yqaoN3IfjirCUPBgN2oVgh0V-JnZrNyFsSbWGgsldnfkVDiquunBFakg65FXJxa0cB/w420-h256/moon+parsnips+bowels+of+Christ+png.JPG" width="420" /></a></div>Proposition: Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon is a hoax. <br /></span></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <br /></span></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Impossible? Improbable? </span></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Is the difference a small step or a <a href="https://time.com/5621999/neil-armstrong-quote/">giant leap</a>? </span></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Follow this cryptic journey from steps on the moon to the bowels of Christ fuelled by parsnips! </span></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Hang on tight!<br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><hr /><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Faith:</b> The idea that moon landings are a hoax is simply ludicrous. The moon landings happened, the evidence is incontrovertible.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Skip:</b> What is that evidence?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Faith: </b><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2018/12/12/heres-your-proof-that-we-landed-on-the-moon-steph-curry/">This article</a> tells and shows how <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2018/12/12/heres-your-proof-that-we-landed-on-the-moon-steph-curry/">photographs</a> taken by NASA's reconnaissance lunar orbiter reveal human footprints on the moon.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Skip: </b>OK, but the photographs could be fakes. Or maybe NASA actually landed a mechanical lunar rover on the moon that has two wheels on each side with boots in place of tyre treads, and it was set to "walk" around a bit. Voila! Footprints.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Faith: </b>Aww, come on, that's just stupid.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Skip: </b>Stupid, yes. But possible?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Faith: </b>No way. They have <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2018/12/12/heres-your-proof-that-we-landed-on-the-moon-steph-curry/">soil and rocks</a> that they brought back from the moon that are not found anywhere on earth.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Skip: </b>Well, that one's easy to challenge. The rocks <i>are</i> found on earth. They're in NASA labs. How can we be sure they are not elsewhere too? <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidence_of_absence">Absence of evidence</a> is not evidence of absence. And besides, have you seen these rocks? Are you a geologist? Can you confirm that they absolutely cannot be of this earth?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Faith: </b>No the experts have made this judgment. I trust the experts.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Skip: </b>Sure, I trust experts too. But I also know that it is sometimes wise to ask for a second opinion. Experts do not always get it right, and often disagree. Indeed, it's almost certain that for any expert opinion, you will be able to find another expert who disagrees.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Faith: </b>Oh this is silly. The theory that the moon landings are a hoax is simply impossible.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></div><div> </div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Skip: </b>I'm not asking you to admit that there were no moon landings, or no humans walked on the moon, or even that they are a hoax. I'm asking you whether you <i>might</i> be wrong about man walking on the moon?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><span style="color: black;">Faith: </span></b><span style="color: black;">While I acknowledge the points you are making, they 'doth </span><a href="https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/fine-words-butter-no-parsnips.html">butter no parsnips</a><span style="color: black;"> with me' 😂</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Skip: </b>Let me respond to your 17th century idiom about buttered parsnips with a quote from the same century called </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cromwell%27s_rule">Cromwell's rule</a></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">: '</span><span style="font-family: georgia;">I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible that you may be mistaken?'<i> </i></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><span style="color: black;">Faith: </span></b><span style="color: black;">What?</span><span style="color: black;"><br /></span><b><span style="color: black;"></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><span style="color: black;"> </span></b></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Skip:</b></span></span></b></span><b> </b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cromwell%27s_rule">Cromwell's rule</a> </span>says that anyone who is 100% adamant about their view is in trouble for two
reasons: (a) they might be wrong and (b) they are blind to this
possibility.</span></span></span><i><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><br /></span></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: black;"><span data-markholder="true"></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><span style="color: black;">Faith:</span></b><span style="color: black;"> Ah, OK, I think I can see that. That the moon landings are a hoax is highly improbable but possible. I can't make the claim that the hoax is impossible.<br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Skip: </b>Yes, exactly. It's a small step with enormous implications.<br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span> <br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><span style="color: black;">Faith:</span></b><span style="color: black;"> </span></span>But you have to make a giant leap to get over a problem that remains. Your view presents an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reductio_ad_absurdum">absurdity</a>, namely that the impossible is not possible at all? </span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: black;">😂 </span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: black;"><span data-markholder="true"></span></span></span></div><hr /><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Course it's possible. I don't reckon it's likely but.<br /></i> -- words spoken by Jasper Jones in <i>Jasper Jones</i>, Craig Silvey</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <br /></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Induction is the glory of Science, and the scandal of Philosophy</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> -- C.D. Broad, <i><a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/broad/notes.html#note-15">Commemorative Address</a> at The Bacon Tercentenary, </i>(1926)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Words are but wind that do from men proceed;</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>None but Chamelions on bare Air can feed;</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Great men large hopeful promises may utter;</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>But words did never Fish or Parsnips butter</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> -- John Taylor, <i>Epigrammes</i> (1651)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>I never made a mistake in my life.</i></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>I thought I did once,</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>but I was wrong.</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> -- attributed to Charles M. Schulz, creator of <i>Peanuts</i><br /><i></i></span></div>Sshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01058764631752035273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055119062751122451.post-576702291432585582020-10-29T10:42:00.021+10:002023-09-05T08:35:37.035+10:00Excuse, pardon, or forgive others ?<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEBO4quvuCSbOdJLXT2Iu8uCLzJjXIZt-B2QqCOicK47rN24-V_I2Y6_Kb1peHdm19MYvTSoe1VbUvqsZtMmg5pU-ZpEc431z_L7zs2pI7Lc9w9GhbsPSXTzsc4oV-Byb4uzJlEldMe3ojY4vw2M2STBXqPpuzaepMZD4MLGtjAVjvPEfT3qNvKlxx70NL/s514/excuse%20me%20pardon%20me%20coming%20through.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="514" data-original-width="500" height="479" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEBO4quvuCSbOdJLXT2Iu8uCLzJjXIZt-B2QqCOicK47rN24-V_I2Y6_Kb1peHdm19MYvTSoe1VbUvqsZtMmg5pU-ZpEc431z_L7zs2pI7Lc9w9GhbsPSXTzsc4oV-Byb4uzJlEldMe3ojY4vw2M2STBXqPpuzaepMZD4MLGtjAVjvPEfT3qNvKlxx70NL/w466-h479/excuse%20me%20pardon%20me%20coming%20through.png" width="466" /></a></div>What does it take for me to excuse, pardon, or forgive others?</span></span></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;">Well, it depends!</span></span></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []" style="text-align: start;"><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><b>Beer Spills</b></span></span></div></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []" style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;">If someone is pushing past me in a pub on their way to the bar or to the toilet, that person may say to me as they bump into me, "excuse me" or "pardon me."</span></span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;">S/he, the bumper, is asking to be excused or pardoned for a minor infraction, namely endangering or even manifesting a beer spill. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;">While it is technically a question (will you excuse/pardon me?), it is typically offered more as a declarative statement in which the bumper expects me to excuse or pardon him or her. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;">In fact, I might even be considered rather rude if I did not excuse or pardon someone who made me spill my beer, especially after s/he asked to be excused/pardoned.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span data-markholder="true"></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;">Sometimes, if I'm minding my own business drinking a beer, and someone bumps into me without saying anything and spills my beer, I might get irritated enough to bump back by saying "excuse me?" or "pardon me?". In this context, my words are offered as a gentle, ironic rebuff. The double irony is that my words mark some disinclination to excuse or pardon the bumper. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">In this beer-spilling sense, excusing and pardoning and even forgiving someone are synonymous. To excuse or pardon someone who causes a beer spill is little more than a politesse. And a rebuke by the bumpee with an "excuse me?" or "pardon me?" is a reminder to the perhaps thoughtless bumper of the need for this politesse.</span></div><div style="text-align: start;"> </div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><b>Big Spills</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;">But how about the situations in life where the bump is something rather more substantial than a beer spill? Maybe an oil spill with economic, financial and ecological consequences. Or a physical assault perhaps resulting in a literal blood spill. Or maybe something more emotional as in matters of the heart in which tears are spilled. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span><a name='more'></a></span>The key distinction here is that the bumper is considered to have created a BIG spill that has affected the bumpee in a BIG way. </span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">In this context, the bumpee is extremely disinclined to excuse, pardon or forgive the bumper.<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">(With BIG spills, it is quite common to label the "bumper" the perpetrator, and the "bumpee" the victim. But these labels carry a lot of extra weight - so I'll stick with bumper and bumpee.)<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The bumper's offence is substantial, and the question is can this moral wrong can be righted?<br /></span></div><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">In the small beer-spill situation, it is enough for the bumper to simply ask to be excused, pardoned or forgiven. But this appears insufficient in the BIG spill situation. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Indeed, what action by the bumper would be sufficient for him/her to be excused, pardoned, forgiven: admission of guilt, an apology, remorse, compensation, etc? What if they offer none of these?<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Being excused, pardoned, forgiven may be impossible for some sins - with or without an apology. Would you ever forgive a murderer? A pedophile? An adulterer?<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">In the BIG spill situation, whether to excuse or pardon or forgive the bumper rests ultimately with the bumpee. And this can be a particularly heavy burden, so let's unpack it.</span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">First, there seems to be a difference between what it means for us to excuse versus pardon versus forgive someone for creating a BIG spill.</span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">To excuse the bumper for causing a small beer spill is to understand that the bumper faced difficulties, that it was not easy to make progress, and that accidents happen.</span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">For BIG spills, excusing someone is probably difficult to achieve because the bumpee is feeling seriously hurt by the BIG spill. Bumpees seem less likely to excuse the bumper for what happened, even if it was an accident.</span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">However, maybe excusing the bumper is not even necessary. I may struggle to excuse the BIG spill you have caused, but I might nonetheless pardon you or even forgive you. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Eventually. Maybe.</span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">So when and why do I pardon someone?</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">To pardon someone seems more immersive than excusing them, but it does not seem to get to forgiveness.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">If I pardon someone, I perhaps accept what happened. I might show forgiveness, even say I have forgiven them, but it sounds kind of formalistic. Have I really forgiven them? Is it more a display than genuine forgiveness? Am I just saying the words, but not really feeling it? </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Maybe there's <span>a greater step beyond pardoning someone, and that is to actually forgive them. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Forgiving someone for a BIG bump or a spill is tough. What does it look like, what does it feel like?</span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">It seems to be more than acceptance, it requires some degree of commitment. To get to forgiveness, I need to feel into how the other felt, to walk some distance in their shoes. To forgive, I need to humanize rather than demonize the bumper. Understanding the bumper as a human being, not all good, not all bad, putting one foot in front of another, sometimes making mis-steps. I need to find some compassion for bumper, but also for myself.</span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Forgiveness is essentially a form of love - which can of course be tough if the bump was seen as a betrayal of love.</span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">So to understand how forgiveness might be thought of as an act of love, it might be useful to reflect on love for a moment. </span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The path of love is never easy - even with loved ones. And part of that struggle may be because so many of us have a view of love as some kind of reciprocal arrangement: if I shout (buy) a round of beers for you and me, it is expected you'll offer to shout a round of beers next!</span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">But love isn't necessarily a two-way street like that. We don't get to dictate or control or drive the love of another, only our own. Love is essentially a gift that we offer to someone. It may be reciprocated, it may not. But our love is rather less genuine and rather less splendid if it is withheld because it is not being returned by another. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Love is not only a gift to someone else, but a gift to myself</span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">. Yes, I love for selfish reasons -- it makes <i>me</i> feel good!<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">So back to forgiveness as a form of love, and in particular, as a form of non-contingent love.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The bumpee holds the power to offer forgiveness, but it is unhelpful for them to insist that the bumper must earn the bumpee's forgiveness. This is like the churlish lover who is waiting for another to earn their love.</span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Excusing and pardoning are gifts to the bumper, but they are mere bagatelles.</span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The BIG gift I can offer to someone who caused a BIG spill is forgiveness. The greatest version of this gift is when I give it away unconditionally. </span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Forgiveness, like all love, is in essence a human product, and is much more valuable than beer or oil or blood or even tears. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">In forgiving, I am of course being kind to another. But I'm also being kind to myself.</span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Forgiveness, offered unconditionally from the heart, is a form of love. </span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Forgiveness
(and love) are not earned. It is an unconditional gift we give to
another. It is a beer I give away to the bumpee with no return shout required. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The
pleasure is in the giving - regardless of what happens beyond.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i> </i></span><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">- - - - - - - - - - - - - -</span></i></span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span> <br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i>To err is human,</i></span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i>to forgive, divine.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i> </i></span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Alexander Pope, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Essay_on_Criticism"><i>An Essay on Criticism</i></a> (1711) </span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">- - - - - - - - - - - - - -</span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">A 2022 article covering similar ground: "How to forgive someone who isn't sorry"</span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">https://www.vox.com/22967752/how-to-forgive-someone-who-isnt-sorry-wont-apologize</span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">- - - - - - - - - - - - - -</span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> <br /></span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">This post was the first produced as a <i>pro bono</i> sub-co-philo (sub-contracting philosopher) created in response to the following question posed by an interlocuter: <i>"What is the difference between pardoning vs excusing someone?"<br /></i><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Got a question? Ask the sub-co-philo, I'll see what I can come up with!</span></div></div>Sshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01058764631752035273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055119062751122451.post-81820756031397758902020-08-13T23:47:00.004+10:002020-08-13T23:50:42.135+10:00Do prayers get results ?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtjLr6ayiM_W6oNzuIkswASOHlGMF6y-hCjRw3Q3kmbiCMXI8oIM4RV1EZK-AnSOv0rFX1at4h9L_G0g7VRZSacgggRR9fPj7h5zTG7i_t7YExg9dr1JO-PTYL4I2U1ctbmxiWRd2m6gNW/s857/atheist+%2526+believer.PNG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="617" data-original-width="857" height="369" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtjLr6ayiM_W6oNzuIkswASOHlGMF6y-hCjRw3Q3kmbiCMXI8oIM4RV1EZK-AnSOv0rFX1at4h9L_G0g7VRZSacgggRR9fPj7h5zTG7i_t7YExg9dr1JO-PTYL4I2U1ctbmxiWRd2m6gNW/w512-h369/atheist+%2526+believer.PNG" width="512" /></a></div> Two guys sitting together in a bar in the remote Alaskan wilderness.<p></p><span><div>One of the guys is religious, the other's an atheist.</div><div><br /></div><div>The two are arguing about the existence of God with that special intensity that comes after about the fourth beer.</div><div><br /></div><div>The atheist in a fleeting moment of vulnerability says "Look, it's not like I don't have actual reasons for not believing in God. It's not like I haven't ever experimented with the whole God and prayer thing. Just last month I got caught away from camp in that terrible blizzard and I was totally lost and I couldn't see a thing and it was 50 below and so I tried it. I fell to my knees in the snow and cried out 'Oh God if there is a god I'm lost in this blizzard and I'm gonna die if you don't help me now.'"</div><div><br /></div><div>In the bar the religious guy looks at the atheist all puzzled: "Well then you must believe now" he says "after all here you are alive."</div><div><br /></div><div>The atheist just rolls his eyes: "No man, all that happened was a couple of Inuit happened to come wandering by and they showed me the way back to camp."</div><div><br /></div><div>(From David Foster Wallace, Commencement Speech, Kenyon College, 2005, <a href="https://youtu.be/OsAd4HGJS4o?t=161">https://youtu.be/OsAd4HGJS4o?t=161</a>)</div><div><br /></div><div><b>QUESTIONS</b> </div><div><br /></div><div>Does the atheist's experience in the blizzard prove that prayers are answered or not?</div><div><br /></div><div>How can the same experience mean totally different things to the atheist and the believer? </div><div><br /></div><div>Is it possible that belief, meaning & interpretation actually precede the evidence?</div></span>Sshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01058764631752035273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055119062751122451.post-7398032174986626732020-07-23T23:09:00.014+10:002024-02-01T18:52:24.487+10:00History - true or false or irrelevant ?<div class="separator"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOf_SkgHOtPZzm_qOyUX5-NXs0v1d4RLw2KF1tpRaVjrab9tjVzaS_eMv-7Z2RNAyvyWrNt2-Pi5HPRFkgC_1mLgBH9kcYG2C7KbcYZi0wFWTNfglaqhPP4Ljk2E_4ect7-pN9LNF9t5V-DmVx9dMr5lSei4HF0pHGysa0ZVD8Urn7dPpDl0cBfF_NIig4/s1000/triplets%20levesque%20reversed.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="679" data-original-width="1000" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOf_SkgHOtPZzm_qOyUX5-NXs0v1d4RLw2KF1tpRaVjrab9tjVzaS_eMv-7Z2RNAyvyWrNt2-Pi5HPRFkgC_1mLgBH9kcYG2C7KbcYZi0wFWTNfglaqhPP4Ljk2E_4ect7-pN9LNF9t5V-DmVx9dMr5lSei4HF0pHGysa0ZVD8Urn7dPpDl0cBfF_NIig4/w487-h330/triplets%20levesque%20reversed.png" width="487" /></a></div><p></p><p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">A brand new school opens freshly painted doors to welcome its first
students to their first classes.</span><p></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">An enthusiastic history teacher, Anna Chronism,
arrives to face her first students in her first class ever.</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In her defence, she considers that she is not
simply teaching history, but helping to make history.</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">She arrives to find three young women sitting in a
row, all have their heads bowed down, each is reading a book.</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">She is a bit surprised to observe that the covers
of the three books are exactly the same.</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">"Morning everyone," says the teacher.
"Enjoying your book?"</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">"Yes Ma'am" the three say in unison as
they look up.</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">She gasps. The three girls are dressed quite
differently and yet appear to be physically identical. The first has
baggy cargo shorts, loose top and tattoos on her arm, the one next to
her has a pleated skirt, a fitted black T-shirt, loose blouse over it, and
prominent crucifix showing at her neck, and the third is dressed in a
long pants and a jacket with a belt at the waist. Despite the
variation in what they are wearing, the three girls appear to be
physically identical: same eyes, same nose, same hair, same height,
same build.</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">As she seeks to calm herself, Anna asks the three
girls what book they are reading.</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The girl with the tattoos responds first: "I
dunno!"</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Anna asks her her name, she responds: "People
call me Mysteryy. That’s with an extra ‘y’ at the end."</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Nodding, Anna asks, "So Mysteryy, aren't you
interested in the book, its name, its author?"</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">"Yes, yes, I am interested in the book, it is
a great book, I'm really enjoying it. But I judge a book by the
contents, not by the cover, not by the title, not by the author."</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The wearer of the crucifix raises her hand
offering her explanation, "Excuse me Miss, it is a book called
<i>Silas Marner </i>by George Eliot."</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">And what's your name" she asks?</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">"I'm called Faith."</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">She turns to the third one wearing a jacket, and
remarks: "You appear to be reading the same book. What do you
think of it?"</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">"Well, not exactly the same book, because we
each have our own copy. But yes it appears to be the same book that
Mysteryy and Faith are reading. Its proper title is <i>Silas Marner:
the weaver of Ravelhoe</i>, and the author's name was Mary Anne
Evans, but she published under the name George Eliot."</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The teacher is impressed. The other two young
women are not.</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">"And your name?"</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">"I’m Verity."</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">"And all three of you are from the one
family?" Anna asks.</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The girls laugh out loud.</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">"Not likely" says Faith responding to
the confusion showing in the teacher's eyes.</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">"Forgive me my presumption. But you all look
very similar. Perhaps if you each tell me a little about your
history. Who wants to start?"</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Mysteryy says: "Well, my history is unknown.
I was a foundling left on the doorstep of a kindly couple. There was
no information left with me, I don't know where I was born, I don't
know when I was born, I don't know my parents. And I don't know much
beyond the names of the couple that raised me for the first five
years as they then died in a car accident. I was then transferred to
another couple who have looked after me for the last ten years. So I
don't know my early life, but it doesn't seem that important to know
it. I'm here and I'm happy. That's what counts, right?"</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">"Well yes, I'm glad to have you here today,
and yes, I guess that is what counts," admits Anna.</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Mysteryy nods and smiles.</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Faith follows: "Well, I know my history
perfectly. My parents tell me that I was conceived through the grace
of God on the day of St Peter and St Paul which is June 29, and I was
born nine months later on <a href="https://www.halfamind2.com/2006/04/do-not-believe-everything-you-read-on.html">1
April 2006</a> which was a Saturday. This was a sign of God's
blessing because it would have been awkward if Mum had laboured on
Sunday. God has commanded that we must not labour on the Sabbath in
recognition of His act of creation, and His resting on the seventh
day."</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Verity, flicking her long blond hair with a hand,
and offers her own thoughts: "Actually, Saturday is the Sabbath.
Sunday is the first day of the week."</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The teacher delicately intervenes, "Yes,
there are a variety of views. It’s Verity, right? What’s your
story?"</span></span></p>
<p class="western" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">"I was given up for adoption by my mother who
was a drug addict, and she died of an overdose shortly after my
birth. My father was incarcerated before my birth, and died in prison
without ever seeing me. I was one of three identical girls, but we
were separated at birth and I ended up with a couple of lawyers,
Marie & David. She’s now a judge, he’s a retired lawyer and
they’ve looked after me all my life. So that's my history."</span></span></p><p class="western" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">---------------------------------- <br /></span></span></p>
<h4 class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">QUESTIONS</span></span></h4>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Which of the three girls is happier? Why?</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">How important is history?</span></span></p>
<p class="western"><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;">Is
it important for history to be true? </span></span>
</p>
<p class="western"><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;">W</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;">ill
false history serve just as well </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;">as
‘true’ history</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;">?
</span></span>
</p>
<p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Is it better to have a history, even false, than
none at all? <br /></span></span></p><p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></p><h4 class="western" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS <br /></span></span></h4>
<p class="western"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqF_tF2MuvQKTpOHIXzq2hOeyPpiapO2G1rgP7C2Q1_Y7WlbdHRHApFhlIBbM3N_PZHYkJN2KlWYYjsasZaItJQzNecWXWz_84-SsyhYMR_c8DU6RSXw0gDxN10XiVEnW5bPKrxreOMkdV/s1000/three+identical+strangers.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="1000" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqF_tF2MuvQKTpOHIXzq2hOeyPpiapO2G1rgP7C2Q1_Y7WlbdHRHApFhlIBbM3N_PZHYkJN2KlWYYjsasZaItJQzNecWXWz_84-SsyhYMR_c8DU6RSXw0gDxN10XiVEnW5bPKrxreOMkdV/w378-h212/three+identical+strangers.jpg" width="378" /></a><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;">The
celebrated case of the ‘</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;">three
identical strangers’
(</span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Identical_Strangers">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Identical_Strangers</a><span style="color: black;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;">)
</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;">provides
a factual - even historical - basis for this "thought-story" (as pictured at the right). </span></span></span></span></p><p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"> </span></span></span></span></p><p class="western"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;">The image at the opening of this thought-story shows the Levesque triplets: <a href="https://levesquetriplets.com/">https://levesquetriplets.com/</a> <br /></span></span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></div>
<div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> <br /></span></div><br />Sshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01058764631752035273noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055119062751122451.post-53657727089720651392020-06-29T20:04:00.003+10:002020-07-23T23:29:51.985+10:00Practical uncertainty - believe less, be less certain<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQEQb8_c6cdeeql3JYOqgVhE5Es8patqkBgzeFuSopQXXqHzDgoiSzgSVJ17JR-J5SQJcJlB4RAbji_3j_TWpaWBuaokGD1DQpo4OgxGxCf5bdrSeCu9qMb2kdDWO6T03evgNHQGmR5yFp/s500/Triumph-and-Disaster.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="283" data-original-width="500" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQEQb8_c6cdeeql3JYOqgVhE5Es8patqkBgzeFuSopQXXqHzDgoiSzgSVJ17JR-J5SQJcJlB4RAbji_3j_TWpaWBuaokGD1DQpo4OgxGxCf5bdrSeCu9qMb2kdDWO6T03evgNHQGmR5yFp/w625-h354/Triumph-and-Disaster.jpg" width="625" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entrance to Centre Court, Wimbledon</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia";">Believe less.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia";">Be less certain.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;">Or rather, </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;">believe this one certainty:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;">there is always more to learn.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;">Learn well from your mistakes.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;">Your wins are nothing.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;">Self-aggrandizement from wins,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;">is a card-house</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;">founded on luck.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;">Your losses are learning opportunities,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;">personal pain is the powerful teacher.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;">Lose that opportunity,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;">you lose everything!</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;">Ask questions,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;">and pay attention.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;">Nurture conversations, dialogues, discussions, and even debates,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;">but </span><span style="font-family: "georgia";">aim for discovery rather than destination,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;">pursue exploration rather than exposition.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: georgia;">Better to question</span><br />
<span style="font-family: georgia;">than to answer.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: georgia;">- - - - - - - - - - - - -</span></div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: georgia;">
<i>"If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster,</i></div>
<div style="font-family: georgia;">
<i>and treat those two imposters just the same."</i></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia";"> -- Rudyard Kipling, "If"</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>"Triumph is the real foe; it's Disaster that's your teacher ... It's Disaster that's the antidote to that greatest of delusions, overconfidence."</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;"> -- Maria Konnikova, <i>The Biggest Bluff</i> (2020)</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<i style="font-family: georgia;">"If we imagine to ourselves that we have to stake the happiness of our whole life on the truth of any proposition, our judgment drops its air of triumph, we take the alarm, and discover the actual strength of our belief"</i><span style="font-family: "georgia";"> </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;"> -- Kant, <i>Critique of Pure Reason</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>"[One useful practice] is calibrating the strength of your beliefs. It's also about becoming comfortable with the fact that there's no such thing as a sure thing--ever... Leave your certainty at the door."</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: georgia;"> -- Maria Konnikova, <i>The Biggest Bluff</i>(2020)</span></div>
</div>
Sshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01058764631752035273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055119062751122451.post-32061862230734680142020-06-18T00:04:00.021+10:002024-02-18T17:56:48.858+10:00No news is good<p><font face="georgia"></font></p><div style="-en-clipboard: true;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><font face="georgia"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin5WlNJV01kcE2bVTj6zjd9qc95KmETq3ZlP_27_mmcr1iaoh5dIQ8076mgz1m8dTvH3pS5f5gmm7Powi-d9wCBAIW41BdwDXsajaiulRGA5WPy9bfycuZkcBRnyPxcbB5Gju2w-AD3-k3/s360/no+news.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="360" height="341" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin5WlNJV01kcE2bVTj6zjd9qc95KmETq3ZlP_27_mmcr1iaoh5dIQ8076mgz1m8dTvH3pS5f5gmm7Powi-d9wCBAIW41BdwDXsajaiulRGA5WPy9bfycuZkcBRnyPxcbB5Gju2w-AD3-k3/w512-h341/no+news.jpg" width="512" /></a></font></div><font face="georgia">The Caribbean Sea is justifiably famous for its well over <a href="https://www.caribbeanislands.com/">7000 idyllic islands</a>. </font></div><div><font face="georgia"><br /></font></div><div><font face="georgia">They are the very definition of paradise - no shoes, no phones, no devices, no news, no interruptions.</font></div><div><font face="georgia"> </font></div><div><font face="georgia">In paradise, you are free to lie in a hammock under a coconut tree or swim in the aquamarine sea.</font></div><div><div><font face="georgia"><br /></font></div><div><font face="georgia">In short, nothing to distract you from being with yourself.</font></div><div><font face="georgia"> </font></div><div><font face="georgia">But paradise ain't perfect. And imagine how paradise could be spoiled if the imperfections were revealed...<br /></font></div></div><font face="georgia"><div><div></div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div><br /></div></div><div>Imagine that the Brothers Cay, in the southern part of the Caribbean off the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Caribbean_islands#Colombia">coast of Colombia</a>, was named for brothers who die in unfortunate circumstances.</div><div><br /></div><div>The first brother dies as a young boy, a mere toddler killed by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_by_coconut">a falling coconut</a>. The island mourns his untimely death for many weeks. This is followed by stress and angst for months as parents and elders discourage everyone from lingering under dangerous coconut trees. </div><div><br /></div><div>After a year or so however, the sad memories fade and life returns to normal. People stop stressing and return to the allure of relaxing and playing in the shade of coconut trees. The idyllic life in paradise is restored.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then, about twenty-some years after the death of this toddler, an older brother, a well-respected young man, is killed in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark_attack">a shark attack</a> while swimming in the aquamarine blue sea. </div></font><font face="georgia"><div><br /></div><div>Weeks of mourning follow for the beloved man taken in such unfortunate circumstances. For months after his death, the villagers are extremely vigilant, and everyone is discouraged from entering the water so as to avoid another shark attack loss.</div><div><br /></div><div>After a year or so, the bad memory fades, and life returns to normal. People began swimming and frolicking in the aquamarine blue seas again. Paradise is re-found.</div><div> </div><div>So paradise is perfect, but only when the threat of unprovoked <a href="http://unisci.com/stories/20022/0523024.htm">attacks by coconuts and sharks</a> present on all the inhabited islands of the Caribbean are out of mind. </div><div> </div></font><font face="georgia"><div>So what happens in paradise after the launch of CNN (<a href="https://www.halfamind2.com/2006/04/do-not-believe-everything-you-read-on.html" target="_blank">Caribbean News Network</a>)?</div><div> </div><div>News networks are like the tree of knowledge in our modern paradise. Vast numbers of people within the 7000+ islands making up the Carribbean eagerly sign up as subscribers to eat the fruit.</div><div> </div><div>However, the good stories are not that interesting: the weather is gorgeous, the food is delicious, the water is delightful, and the people laugh and play.</div><div> </div><div>If you have seen one paradise, you have seen them all. This is not news.</div><div> </div><div>What is news is when things go wrong. Tragic events are great news. </div></font><p></p><font face="georgia"><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg68EbmcJkcGmSHBqQJvEcCDB2GKIRXrxbI86P6okkdqGZiSbUSaK0QkRFmYA1CyFdZb6GNAoUDthocziGd2OlAdKHLXymFJAm77QsNSDkq0u3F8ck_6b_Ka8S0Ax38wXYZxU6m0wZ32K29/s1540/cnn+caribbean+news+network+hurricane.PNG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="817" data-original-width="1540" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg68EbmcJkcGmSHBqQJvEcCDB2GKIRXrxbI86P6okkdqGZiSbUSaK0QkRFmYA1CyFdZb6GNAoUDthocziGd2OlAdKHLXymFJAm77QsNSDkq0u3F8ck_6b_Ka8S0Ax38wXYZxU6m0wZ32K29/w500-h266/cnn+caribbean+news+network+hurricane.PNG" width="500" /></a></div></div><div>With tragic deaths (whether by coconut or shark attack or other misfortune) occurring about once in every 20 to 25 years on any given island, and 7000 plus islands in the Caribbean, CNN has over 300 news stories about untimely deaths in paradise every year. </div><div> </div><div>Paradise loses its pearly lustre when <font face="georgia"><div>CNN publishes one horror story per day.</div><div> </div><div><div>CNN is a typhoon Mary spreading unhappy stories of catastrophe through paradise.</div> </div></font></div></font><font face="georgia"><div>Paradise with a news network is not a paradise. Everyone on all islands is constantly alerted to the risks they face lingering under coconut trees and swimming in the aquamarine blue sea. So they don't, and people become stressed, depressed, fearful, frightened, concerned, worried, scared and unhappy. </div><div> </div><div>The people living in paradise dream of a vacation to get away from it all.<br /></div></font><font face="georgia"><div> </div><div>In paradise, there is no news. Not because there are no stories, but because ignorance is idyllic. No news is good.</div><div> </div><div>------</div><div> </div><div><b>Extra Reading</b></div><div> </div><div>We have a seriously biased view of the state of the world because media outlets highlight horror stories from around the world, and are constantly updating and adding new tragedies within the 24 hour news-cycle. (And it's not entirely their fault - the customers 'want' this stuff -- as reflected in the nature of 'news' that features on social media outlets).<br /></div><div> </div><div><a href="https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/how-to-understand-our-world-in-10">https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/how-to-understand-our-world-in-10</a></div><div> </div><div><a href="https://quillette.com/2024/01/26/the-seven-laws-of-pessimism/?ref=quillette-weekly-newsletter">https://quillette.com/2024/01/26/the-seven-laws-of-pessimism/</a> <br /></div><div> </div><div>https://quillette.com/2024/02/15/getting-better-all-the-time/</div></font>Sshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01058764631752035273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055119062751122451.post-24131515560215411752020-06-02T14:22:00.004+10:002020-06-02T14:54:29.704+10:00Philosophy is a sandbox: get in & play !<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJFtJuVGTpW4FVBslInhQ7crhuk-1Yr-AE_J_vMclpqrWl1oKcfKzs5GWhP-bKZnrCJm4FM_9y3BPD59bnYotRF7reHo-sUZULFlIMg1yIZJdilxpeQ4Kr5eTsZWsF4Gk3TNQQNd1SUWAy/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2092" data-original-width="2253" height="371" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJFtJuVGTpW4FVBslInhQ7crhuk-1Yr-AE_J_vMclpqrWl1oKcfKzs5GWhP-bKZnrCJm4FM_9y3BPD59bnYotRF7reHo-sUZULFlIMg1yIZJdilxpeQ4Kr5eTsZWsF4Gk3TNQQNd1SUWAy/w400-h371/sandbox.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">Virtually everyone is aware of the trolley problem in philosophy: a run-away trolley/streetcar/tram is going to kill four people, but you're standing by a switch and you have the capacity to redirect the tram to another track where it will kill one person - do you pull the switch? </div></div><div><br /></div><div>The 'trolley problem' is a staple of philosophy - and it is an example of staple method used in philosophy - the thought experiment.</div><div><br /></div><div>Or put another way, 'what if' questioning. Or to put a fancy term on it: hypotheticals.</div><div><br /></div><div>Philosophy then, is a sandbox. It is a place for grownups to play with ideas, concepts, hypotheticals, thought-experiments (e.g., <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2126174/what-is-sandboxing">in software development</a>). </div><div><br /></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span>It is fitting to think of philosophy as a sandbox because some of the best philosophers on the planet <a href="https://www.academia.edu/5491107/Are_Children_Natural_Philosophers">are children</a>. Children are constantly struck by how the world is wonderful and awesome, they are curious, and they are constantly asking 'why?' Grownups make up answers to children's questions in a futile effort to end the endless questioning. This further's the child's philosophical development as they become wiser still, and continue by questioning the answers! Until they become adult, and stop asking questions!</div><div><br /></div><div>The best philosophers are probably also like children in the sense that they are unpublished. For one thing, they are too busy asking questions. Or more generally, they are too busy doing philosophy to be telling everyone about what they're doing which is learning. Besides, publishing is a bit of a challenge to philosophy because it generally requires a commitment to a position - which is in some ways anathema to philosophy. If you're telling everyone the answer, you're not asking questions! And you're probably wrong - as some questing philosophers are likely to show you very soon.</div><div><br /></div><div>Good philosophy is (as we learn from children) about asking questions and questioning the answers. Parents who know the answers (or more correctly, think they know the answers) are dreadful philosophers.</div><div><br /></div><div>Some ask whether philosophy is practical, but this is probably asking the wrong question.</div><div><br /></div><div>Philosophy is more a practice than practical. </div><div><br /></div><div>Philosophers are sometimes conceived of as being like medical practitioners. They offer salves and treatments for those that are feeling poorly. But they are probably better conceived as being like a counsellor, a coach or a trainer. They stand along those doing the doing, they offer support, encouragement and some ideas, but they cannot do the work. The counsellor can be empathic, but they cannot take on the client's problems. Real philosophy is doing the work.</div><div><br /></div><div>You can't hire someone to do philosophy for you any more than you can hire a counsellor, coach or trainer to do the work for you. You don't hire a philosopher - you <i>are</i> a philosopher.</div><div><br /></div><div>But that leads inevitably to the question of whether philosophy works: is it effective? In a world of enterprise and utilitarian thinking, 'is it effective?' is really asking does it help our bottom line? </div><div><br /></div><div>But there is another way in which philosophy might work even while not affecting the bottom line. And that is in the sense that it takes the individual to the place that they need to go. And this is entirely subjective. If the individual does the practice and they feel it helps, then yes, it helps. If they do not do the work, or do not find it helpful to do the work, then no, it does not help.</div><div><br /></div><div>It is a curious causal relationship. If doing of the practice is helpful for those who do the practice, then doing the practice is helpful. If doing the practice is not helpful for those who do the practice, then they stop doing the work.</div><div><br /></div><div>It is no accident that philosophy is somewhat like education. It is not something that is given, but something that is picked up. A teacher can teach until their tongue is dry, their eyes bulge, and their brains begin to fry - but if the student is not interested in learning, then the student will not learn. </div><div><br /></div><div>The success of education like philosophy is a self-fulfilling prophecy. </div><div><br /></div><div>Another metaphor is the placebo. If you use homeopathy, and it works for you, I say go ahead, use homeopathy. I'm pretty sure it does no harm, and if you think it works, then it is doing good. If you don't believe it and you don't use it, it is almost certain that it will not work.</div><div><br /></div><div>Does homeopathy work, is it effective? If you say it is working for you, then yes, it is working. If you say it is not working for you, then no, it is not working for you.</div><div><br /></div><div>You see, if believing something makes it so, or believing something ain't so, makes it not so, then it works.</div><div><br /></div><div>Philosophy is not about knowledge, it is about belief. Does it work? If you believe it is helpful, then it is; if you believe it isn't, then it is not.</div><div><br /></div><div>So give it a go. What have you got to lose? And if it doesn't work for you, then don't do it.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Things don't have to be practical, I don't have to do things because it has a 'good outcome' in some grand, observable sense. It is enough that it seems good for me, that it does me good. </div><div><br /></div><div>That's good enough for me!</div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;">- - - - - - - -</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><div><div><i>"My skill is not in detecting the dangers: it is in mentally testing out the possible responses; it's in painless, risk-free optimization."</i></div><div> -- Charles Foster (2016), <i>Being a Beast</i> (p.165)</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><i>"[Some philosophers] educate through cataphasis: positive statements about the Good and the True. Jesters, by contrast, educate through apophasis, literally un-saying. Instead of statements, riddles; instead of commandments, questions."</i></div><div> -- Allan Jay Levinovitz</div></div><div><br /></div><div>(I guess I'm a jester - and I'm okay with that. How about you?)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Sshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01058764631752035273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055119062751122451.post-59294716208061088492020-05-18T14:46:00.003+10:002020-08-20T12:57:34.960+10:00A psychokinetic paradox?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwNDAJjXx6EPGaWJTtPs0Swdi6goxcZaFIKNOkSXVlz8AxINBwLWogDKCTBnMKv1E_CNzs89hcNa_iytg_JCPWVVk29_tglvM7DeLBXF-Z_4LS5015a2NCIG69lLp1rMSaTYApo0Y77H2B/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="330" data-original-width="630" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwNDAJjXx6EPGaWJTtPs0Swdi6goxcZaFIKNOkSXVlz8AxINBwLWogDKCTBnMKv1E_CNzs89hcNa_iytg_JCPWVVk29_tglvM7DeLBXF-Z_4LS5015a2NCIG69lLp1rMSaTYApo0Y77H2B/w640-h336/crystal+ball.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>Professor Cecily P Science is confident that people can know the outcomes of future random events, a so-called 'psi' effect.</div><div><br /></div><div>The study of 'psi' or the power of mind over matter, of consciousness over the physical world, has been explored at length in psychology, often within a sub-field known as para-psychology. One of most famous labs studying psi is <a href="https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/princeton-engineering-anomalies-research-pear">PEAR</a>: Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Cecily is keen to run an experiment to show that people can predict outcomes of coin tosses at a rate better than chance.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
She explains her hypothesis to a graduate student, Laizee Bumm, and asks him to conduct the study for her. However, Laizee is a research assistant with other priorities. He does what she asks, but makes up the data to save himself time.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
He generates random data for 100 people guessing a thousand coin tosses each. The results from the random-number generator "show" that 50% of the guesses (of the fake respondents) are right, and 50% are wrong.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In actual fact though, the results from the random-number generator happen to show that people correctly guess 501 out of 1000 coin tosses.</div><div><br /></div><div>This result it should be noted, happens to be in line with previously reported studies of the psi effect: '<i>The effects that the volunteers accomplish are very small, but amazing. The operators are roughly altering one bit in 1,000,' explains Michael Ibison, a British mathematical physicist who has come to work for a year at PEAR after stints at Siemens, IBM, and Agfa. 'That means if you had a coin toss, psychokinesis could affect one of those coin tosses if you tossed a thousand times.' </i><a href="https://www.wired.com/1995/04/pear/">Van Bakel 1994, <i>Wired</i></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div><div><b>QUESTIONS</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div>
<div>
Do the final results of this study by Cecily and Laizee provide evidence of a psychokinetic effect? </div>
<div>
<br /></div><div>Why? Why not?</div><div><br /></div><div>If Laizee's data are fabricated using a random number generator, doesn't this mean the observed results were the outcomes of random events?</div><div><br /></div><div>If Cecily's expectations were supported, doesn't this mean that she has proved her point that people can know the outcomes of future events? Didn't she got the result she expected?</div>
Sshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01058764631752035273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055119062751122451.post-75334770723212598362019-12-13T21:56:00.007+10:002024-01-27T23:27:18.464+10:00What is truth?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9udO8j7hkS_EVUp_G9M7De03FhdAowZTQhq6lu7aa_8RYEPA-WHv7-1TWME_Oj7r1dDUTQiDXvhV9iwEOzm0OTONN7qerCEFMK56E_yWfJ1oteL9BL_Lzq333aQsi3qNM81PeA6rWyWH9/s1600/escher+Mobius-strip-II.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="300" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9udO8j7hkS_EVUp_G9M7De03FhdAowZTQhq6lu7aa_8RYEPA-WHv7-1TWME_Oj7r1dDUTQiDXvhV9iwEOzm0OTONN7qerCEFMK56E_yWfJ1oteL9BL_Lzq333aQsi3qNM81PeA6rWyWH9/s640/escher+Mobius-strip-II.jpg" width="304" /></a></div>
<div>
<b>1. The Truth is... a riddle</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
What is something that humans seek, and <span style="font-style: italic;">don't</span> know it when they see it?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The answer is the truth!</div>
<div>
<br /></div><div><div>
(C.f. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobellis_v._Ohio#Supreme_Court">Jacobellis v Ohio</a> 1964 in which the judge declined to define hard-core pornography, but famously said "<span style="font-style: italic;">I know it when I see it</span>".)</div></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b>2. The Truth is... not known</b></div> <br /><div>The conundrum of seeking truth but not knowing it when we see it is embedded in the idea of knowledge as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belief#Justified_true_belief">justified true belief</a>. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It is said that we know something to be true if </div>
<div><span> </span>(a) we believe it to be true, </div>
<div>
<span> </span>(b) we have justification for our belief, and </div>
<div>
<span> </span>(c) it is true.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We can build towards knowledge </div>
<div>
with beliefs and justifications, </div>
<div>
but we fail unless it's true.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And how do we "know" if it's true? </div><div> </div><div>Whether something is true is... unknown. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Frustrating! </div>
<div><br /></div>
<div>
<b><span><a name='more'></a></span>3. The Truth is... out of reach</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Truth is a destination that can never be reached.</div>
<div>
rather like the end point in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeno%2527s_paradoxes#Dichotomy_paradox">Zeno's paradox</a>.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
To get to our destination, </div>
<div>
we can agree that we must travel half the distance </div>
<div>
from our starting point to the end point, </div>
<div>
then half the distance from halfway to the end point, </div>
<div>
and then half the remaining distance, </div>
<div>
and so on,</div>
<div>
<i>ad infinitum</i>.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And therein lies the problem:</div>
<div>
we approach,</div>
<div>
but we never reach.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We get closer to truth,</div>
<div>
or at least we think we do,</div>
<div>
but we never arrive,</div>
<div>
or do not know if we do.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Pursuing truth is like pursuing the horizon.</div>
<div>
(Neil Gaiman used the metaphor in </div>
<div>
talking of the <a href="http://davebarrycounseling.com/wit-wisdom-neil-gaiman/">pursuit of perfection</a>).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And thinking of horizons ...</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>4. The Truth is... relative</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC_nDznKjJYDSCnB8N4vPuHAGGPmyNt2msshf-HK2BmD07DUYoof5poJmOnlTF6-XuBjtMNkWbSxKSapPFy1ghut2HpN7G_W-fX35hHSkg5RPrge1bSX-g2kkWChdPWiHmEqqa7sBNe1Yx/s1600/earth+at+sea+level.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="942" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC_nDznKjJYDSCnB8N4vPuHAGGPmyNt2msshf-HK2BmD07DUYoof5poJmOnlTF6-XuBjtMNkWbSxKSapPFy1ghut2HpN7G_W-fX35hHSkg5RPrge1bSX-g2kkWChdPWiHmEqqa7sBNe1Yx/s320/earth+at+sea+level.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
People once thought of the world as flat</div>
<div>
and there is still, to this day, </div>
<div>
compelling evidence of that idea.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Spend some days at sea, </div>
<div>
and every day, the world looks as if it is flat.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Of course there are images from out in space</div>
<div>
showing the world is round.<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
So what is true?<br />
What I see with my own eyes: flat?<br />
Or what I see in images shown to me by others: sphere?<br />
<br />
Is the evidence supplied by the device of another<br />
truth or an artifact?<br />
Galileo faced this problem when</div>
<div>
proving the existence of Jupiter's moons</div>
<div>
by sightings through his telescope.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Regardless,<br />
the truth is...</div>
<div>
the world isn't actually flat,</div>
<div>
and it isn't a sphere either.<br />
But both serve as good approximations<br />
in certain circumstances.<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-3H67CdsPUamBC7u3cxuif0SkxKiqGZQvPzw_n66LnGTBRLhZ0iKtrhtFBB7M00EgrzAk4nzH8DfPzdqCpTZ7V9_g2djntkJTMwDxfersanPWT_hNIxBOFO1G1ZP6BUNN_sl3PAItopCi/s1600/earth+from+space.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-3H67CdsPUamBC7u3cxuif0SkxKiqGZQvPzw_n66LnGTBRLhZ0iKtrhtFBB7M00EgrzAk4nzH8DfPzdqCpTZ7V9_g2djntkJTMwDxfersanPWT_hNIxBOFO1G1ZP6BUNN_sl3PAItopCi/s320/earth+from+space.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
For throwing a ball, </div>
<div>
believing the world is flat </div>
<div>
works;</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
For throwing a satellite, </div>
<div>
believing the world is a sphere </div>
<div>
works;</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
However, if you're flying a plane, </div>
<div>
starting at 1000' above sea-level;</div>
<div>
treat it is flat, you'll fly into space,</div>
<div>
treat it as spherical, you'll fly into mountains.</div>
<div>
<b><br /></b>
As Einstein showed (vis-a-vis Newton),<br />
The <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2019-12-13/time-to-stop-lying-to-our-children-about-physics/11789858">truth is relative</a>,<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>5. The Truth is... accessed indirectly</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Seeing truth is like glimpsing a star </div>
<div>
in your <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/2nnkyb/why_are_faint_stars_visible_in_your_peripheral/">peripheral vision</a>,</div>
<div>
If you look at it directly,</div>
<div>
you cannot see it.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The truth is visible</div>
<div>
in the twilight of my awaking,</div>
<div>
but is gone by the time </div>
<div>
I open my eyes<br />
let alone search for pen and paper.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSDWewpkz-MihKlfYHdUc5gJ7rr0dkUHjSQ158kDyBKpIUIdzfk5yrDMkACxOnHZadkM-7OoFLmHTl4GoqRHSvPQwB_xHY4y0xaooPMeh0Vd1g-wahWRsxD-jT9SL07ucVk6cz7R6BxjPh/s1600/huxley+doors+of+perception.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="419" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSDWewpkz-MihKlfYHdUc5gJ7rr0dkUHjSQ158kDyBKpIUIdzfk5yrDMkACxOnHZadkM-7OoFLmHTl4GoqRHSvPQwB_xHY4y0xaooPMeh0Vd1g-wahWRsxD-jT9SL07ucVk6cz7R6BxjPh/s400/huxley+doors+of+perception.jpg" width="265" /></a>It is like the answer to the riddle</div>
<div>
which goes like this:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
You are faced by two doors</div>
<div>
one door leads to heaven </div>
<div>
the other to hell.</div>
<div>
In front of the two doors</div>
<div>
are two people who know which is which.</div>
<div>One person always tells the truth, </div>
<div>
the other always tells lies,</div>
<div>
but you don't know which is which.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
You can ask but ONE question of ONE guard.</div>
<div>
What is your question?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The question that solves the riddle*<br />
reveals the truth,</div>
<div>
but not directly.</div>
<div>
The answer to your question </div>
<div>
gives not the truth,</div>
<div>
but a means to find the truth!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>6. The Truth is... a paradox</b></div>
<div>
</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixnJiosPtVtZ34Z7E-GEyKJDLBo4lxAWNc5o4HdTBcBN1eS2TRnNauYYYGrFBCqJiMWK7izcRDgw59HDSAwNrA_YVrZbqfq6HvE2JeyET6Gn_HRdcKcQj1WEMcDKyG4iNNR1ZPgXhvb3GG1CavamqroSBLXM5bd9Spd-5k_NBCEKF1EQ4jJxDWUHdSdQ=s959" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="552" data-original-width="959" height="387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixnJiosPtVtZ34Z7E-GEyKJDLBo4lxAWNc5o4HdTBcBN1eS2TRnNauYYYGrFBCqJiMWK7izcRDgw59HDSAwNrA_YVrZbqfq6HvE2JeyET6Gn_HRdcKcQj1WEMcDKyG4iNNR1ZPgXhvb3GG1CavamqroSBLXM5bd9Spd-5k_NBCEKF1EQ4jJxDWUHdSdQ=w673-h387" width="673" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEifU_imbwFVOZ_ZQ2UZW4TUv6Ly-Y9Rt5NvDxvA-UceAUG0gJKL6i2syMivRqdq5iYxg_pepUVT48wQUI67IRzt0DtwlE3ZFVeBtcexT_hTqIMs3EMPzUP1jVmym_40lB4RKUpnbtmLmAfR8HXSKqPR7P0dJWjRgcOT7BruKAjdtKkPR2_A-vmw--7y1w=s942" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="942" height="377" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEifU_imbwFVOZ_ZQ2UZW4TUv6Ly-Y9Rt5NvDxvA-UceAUG0gJKL6i2syMivRqdq5iYxg_pepUVT48wQUI67IRzt0DtwlE3ZFVeBtcexT_hTqIMs3EMPzUP1jVmym_40lB4RKUpnbtmLmAfR8HXSKqPR7P0dJWjRgcOT7BruKAjdtKkPR2_A-vmw--7y1w=w670-h377" width="670" /></a></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;" trbidi="on">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - <br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> </div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">* [SPOILER ALERT: This is the solution to the riddle asked at #5]<br />
<i>"If I was to ask the other person which is the door to heaven, which one would they point to?"</i><br />
And the door that your interlocutor points to is actually the door to hell. You want to go through the other door, the one that they did <i>not</i> point to!</div>
Sshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01058764631752035273noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055119062751122451.post-72306187424163069552019-10-22T10:24:00.011+10:002022-11-06T16:16:21.865+10:00Do you believe in God(s): Yes, No, or Other?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2IDz-mjt0ZXVsiO2RQ96ad2W5b09ho86B1uxix86z3jecrwiXA4WrxoUczmAKfBXuzvkaEmw1q02tDXYiLEzXL0EK1GfkOuHH1DhdoqbCjx_anatfMgbUeXbjKjFlMX-YOJ2bKMXe_WJl/s1600/god.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="314" data-original-width="407" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2IDz-mjt0ZXVsiO2RQ96ad2W5b09ho86B1uxix86z3jecrwiXA4WrxoUczmAKfBXuzvkaEmw1q02tDXYiLEzXL0EK1GfkOuHH1DhdoqbCjx_anatfMgbUeXbjKjFlMX-YOJ2bKMXe_WJl/s400/god.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #292f33; font-style: italic;">"Do you believe in God (however you choose to define that entity or those entities)?" </span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">
</span><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">
</span><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #292f33; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">A dichotomous version of this question would allow only "Yes" or "No" as responses. </span></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #292f33; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #292f33; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">But doesn't this create a false dichotomy?</span></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">
</span><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">
</span><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="color: #292f33;">In particular, if I respond "No", someone might respond, "Ah, so you are an atheist, you believe there is no god". </span><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="color: #292f33;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="color: #292f33;">But that's not what I'm saying at all. I'm merely saying that I do not hold a belief in God. That is <i>not</i> the same as saying I hold a belief that there are no gods.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">
</span><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">
</span><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="color: #292f33;">There is some ambiguity in the original version of the question</span> <span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="color: #292f33; font-style: italic;">"Do you believe in a god?"</span></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">
</span><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">
</span><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="color: #292f33;">One version is</span> <span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="color: #292f33; font-style: italic;">"Do you hold (or have) a belief in God?"</span> <span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="color: #292f33;">To which I can legitimately respond, "Yes" or "No".</span></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">
</span><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="color: #292f33;">The other version is:</span> <span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="color: #292f33; font-style: italic;">"Does God exist?"</span> <span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="color: #292f33;">To which a more nuanced response may be justified.</span><br /></span>
<a name='more'></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">
</span><ul style="text-align: start;">
<li><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #292f33; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">There is a god (a</span><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #292f33; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></span><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #292f33; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">ffirmative)</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #292f33; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">T</span><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #292f33; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">here is no god (atheist)<br /></span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #292f33; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">I don't know (or "idk" online) (agnostic)<br /></span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #292f33; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">I don't care (apathetic)<br /></span></span></div>
</li>
</ul><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">
</span><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="color: #292f33;">The first version of the disambiguated question (</span><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="color: #292f33; font-style: italic;">"do you hold a belief in God"</span><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="color: #292f33;">) really hinges around the issue of whether a belief exists in me or not. And it seems self-evident that I should know whether I hold a belief or not. And that the truth of whether I hold a belief or not is for me to know, and for you to find out if and only if I tell you!</span></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">
</span><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="color: #292f33;">The second version (</span><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="color: #292f33; font-style: italic;">"does God exist?"</span><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="color: #292f33;">) hinges around whether God exists or not. And that can lead to a long and interesting discussion where the truth might never be plumbed.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">
</span><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="color: #292f33; font-weight: bold;">Seeing the ambiguity better by changing the object</span></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">
</span><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="color: #292f33;">The ambiguity of the original question - and of the correct response - is important to a large degree because of the object: "God".</span></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">
</span><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="color: #292f33;">Consider another question in which I change the object to something like say a number that could be a phone number:</span></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">
</span><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #292f33; font-style: italic;">"Do you believe that +61 449 904 499 is a phone number (defined as a currently connected and operational Australian phone number)?"</span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">
</span><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #292f33; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">What's your answer? (No dialling - what is your response without any evidence?).</span></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">
</span><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #292f33; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">In this question with a fairly trivial object (a possible phone number instead of a possible deity), you may feel inclined to respond</span> <span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #292f33; font-style: italic;">"I don't know"</span><span style="color: #292f33;"> or <i>"Who cares?"</i><br /></span></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">
</span><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="color: #292f33;">The respondent is saying that they have no belief either way.</span></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #292f33; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">So in the case of a non-trivial object such as God, the question could be about whether God exists or whether I hold a belief about God's existence.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">
</span><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #292f33; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">And the disambiguation is important because many end up in arguments with others, not because they hold different beliefs <i>per se</i>, but because of a misunderstanding of what a <i>"No"</i> response means. </span></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="color: #292f33; font-style: italic;"> </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="color: #292f33; font-style: italic;">"Do you believe in God?"</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">
</span><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="color: #292f33;">Are you asking me about the existence of my belief or the existence of God?</span></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">
</span><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="color: #292f33;">My response to the first is </span><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="color: #292f33; font-style: italic;">"No, I do not hold a belief about God(s)." </span></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;">
</span><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="color: #292f33;">My response to the second is <i>"</i></span><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="color: #292f33; font-style: italic;">I don't know whether God(s) exists."</span></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="color: #292f33; font-style: italic;">-----------</span></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">I do not believe in God and I am not an atheist</span></i><br /> -- Albert Camus</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><i>I want to say to an agnostic, what's your best guess then?<br /> -- </i>Ricky Gervais making the case that you <i>cannot</i> be agnostic about God (7'40"-8'35")<br /><a href="https://youtu.be/iUUpvrP-gzQ?t=459">https://youtu.be/iUUpvrP-gzQ?t=459</a></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #fcfcfc; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><span face=""open sans" , sans-serif" style="color: #292f33; font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span></div>
</div><span style="font-size: small;">
</span>Sshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01058764631752035273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055119062751122451.post-44054496975477812492019-10-16T16:05:00.006+10:002020-09-16T21:57:44.150+10:00Democracy: a declining faith ?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3on9HMl6ZFcGFxbpLoua5Fz85gBGizuTP5mHV6n26DGEhne_0h-ESKZvy8C55Or9bdPBwrOk5F91nLhaMQFhflYq-e-TnSNNguA0hVNJH5mTfWUeo66wMPukj34eW4LHiz8OJ3qgNf7oK/s1600/parliament.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="484" data-original-width="640" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3on9HMl6ZFcGFxbpLoua5Fz85gBGizuTP5mHV6n26DGEhne_0h-ESKZvy8C55Or9bdPBwrOk5F91nLhaMQFhflYq-e-TnSNNguA0hVNJH5mTfWUeo66wMPukj34eW4LHiz8OJ3qgNf7oK/s400/parliament.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">Democracy - a declining faith</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">While we deify the concept of democracy, it appears to have lost much of its shine. The magic of democracy has diminished as a number of numbers show.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">The declining faith in democracy is illustrated in the marked reductions in voter turnout observed over the last 50 years in Australia and elsewhere in the world. Political scientist <a href="https://twitter.com/tormeysimon">Simon Tormey</a> in <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Senate/Powers_practice_n_procedures/pops/Papers_on_Parliament_66/The_Contemporary_Crisis_of_Representative_Democracy#_ftn1">a 2016 lecture</a> at Parliament House reports that while voter turnout varies from vote to vote, the general tendency is that we are becoming <i>"reluctant voters"</i>.</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span><a name='more'></a></span>Party membership has also declined sharply over the last half century. <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Senate/Powers_practice_n_procedures/pops/Papers_on_Parliament_66/The_Contemporary_Crisis_of_Representative_Democracy#_ftn1">Tormey</a> reports that in the 1960s, it was common to see around 30% of the population signed up as party members in advanced democracies. Today, that number is in single digits, even as low as 1-2%.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">The appallingly low public trust of politicians also serves as a useful indicator that democracy ain't what it used to be. Politicians used to be esteemed as being in public service, but are now rated <i>"in last place among a basket of professionals that [includes] second-hand car salesmen, lawyers and estate agents. The very word 'politician' has become a byword for sleaze, self-serving, narcissism and incompetence."</i> (<a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Senate/Powers_practice_n_procedures/pops/Papers_on_Parliament_66/The_Contemporary_Crisis_of_Representative_Democracy#_ftn1">Tormey 2016</a>).</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">And finally, <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Senate/Powers_practice_n_procedures/pops/Papers_on_Parliament_66/The_Contemporary_Crisis_of_Representative_Democracy#_ftn1">Tormey</a> argues that public interest in politics has also declined. He points to research showing that media attention given to political coverage is in decline, and that coverage tends to focus more on the misadventures of politicians rather than politics and policies.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Senate/Powers_practice_n_procedures/pops/Papers_on_Parliament_66/The_Contemporary_Crisis_of_Representative_Democracy#_ftn1">Tormey</a> suggests that these data show the shape of a democracy in crisis. But this is only true if we are wedded to the idea that democracy is some sacred, irreproachable good. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Faith in democracy is in decline. And the priests of democratic ideals are flogging an increasingly irrelevant ideal. And further undone as we increasingly discover that the keepers of the sacred cow of democracy are milking it for their own benefit.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">There is another important marker of the declining faith in democracy, but it is often overlooked. This metric is a little more insidious, and is likely to pass by without recognition. Especially by those who are already sure of the "good" of democracy. </span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.” </span>(Winston Churchill)</span></blockquote>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">Rising uncertainty</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">The important data that are being overlooked and misunderstood are those from voting itself. In particular, votes where the final outcome is a close contest. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Consider the following close contests:</span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">The UK's 2016 referendum on Britain's membership in the EU <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Results_of_the_2016_United_Kingdom_European_Union_membership_referendum">gave a result</a> where 51.9% voted to leave and 48.9% to remain.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">The US's 2017 Presidential election saw Trump beat Clinton 60% to 40% in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_United_States_presidential_election#Statistical_analysis">electoral college vote</a>. Interestingly, in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_United_States_presidential_election#Statistical_analysis">popular vote</a>, Clinton beat Trump 51% to 49%.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">The French referendum on whether France would ratify the development of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_French_European_Constitution_referendum">European Union constitution in 2005</a> was won by 55% for vs 45% against.</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">So what do these numbers mean? </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">To someone who sees democracy as the golden standard, they see in each case that democracy has successfully determined the will of the people. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">But it is not the will of the people, it is the will of half the people! The other half had their will denied. Approximately one in every two people got precisely the opposite of what they wanted.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">These close contests are not triumphs of democracy in action, but evidence of the problems arising when democracy operates on slim margins. To say that democracy has triumphed is only true if we focus on the thin margin by which one side won, and ignore the startling large proportion of the population - almost 50% - who are left unhappy by the result.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Perhaps the recognition of the startling large proportion of the population - almost 50% - who are left unhappy is sufficient to encourage us to re-view what this outcome really means.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjowR6SzAqg2M7aQ3nTOU1plL8Os_hOUBoMp8XgBtoeJCGGoekJYUTiE3Z7RhMsU1qBQJgA5WF9GVU_o86oBOiXb0pYDIv0eqyLvbusTL5wRS_KBRU1Ucbhfa0We4QjfEHgLSOqO9yAilOa/s1600/coinflip.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="484" data-original-width="728" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjowR6SzAqg2M7aQ3nTOU1plL8Os_hOUBoMp8XgBtoeJCGGoekJYUTiE3Z7RhMsU1qBQJgA5WF9GVU_o86oBOiXb0pYDIv0eqyLvbusTL5wRS_KBRU1Ucbhfa0We4QjfEHgLSOqO9yAilOa/s320/coinflip.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">If I ask a very large sample of people to predict the outcome of a coin toss, and I get a result of 50:50, what does it mean? The most parsimonious explanation is that the people "don't know". They guessed, and half got it right and half got it wrong.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">However, a proponent of psychic power might argue that this result shows that 50% are psychic and 50% are not. But isn't their interpretation of the result simply using the result to reaffirm what they already believe?</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Those who are pro-democracy are a little like pro-psychics. They interpret the near 50:50 result with a narrow margin to one side as a successful execution of the democratic process. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">A statistician would disagree. A 50:50 result shows high levels of uncertainty. When people don't know how to choose - or think they know but do not - then the ultimate result is equivalent to a coin toss.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Rising unpopularity</span></b></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Votes are important, they are emotional, and the stakes matter. Citizens are encouraged to exercise their right to vote (even obliged to do so in some jurisdictions like Australia). And so of course, this means that voters care and the situation is volatile. When the outcome of a vote is uncertain, you can be certain that whatever the outcome, it will be unpopular. Because nearly 50% of people will be "losing".</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">When votes are close, it is difficult for pollsters to predict the outcome. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Consider a pollster trying to predict the outcome of a coin tossed N times (where N is the size of the voting population). The final outcome is impossible to predict - other than that it will be close to 50:50. The pollsters are as likely to get it wrong as right.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Even more important is that the uncertainty about the overall outcome reflects a level of statistical uncertainty at the level of individual punters. I say "statistical uncertainty" because the individual voters might feel themselves to be <span style="font-style: italic;">sure</span> of their voting preferences, but the outcome is not far removed from what would be expected if the vote was decided by tossing a coin N times.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">The real world has given us a number of recent examples of close votes where at least some pollsters (and the general media opinion) were wrong: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_United_States_presidential_election">Trump vs Clinton 2016</a> (Clinton was the favourite), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_United_Kingdom_European_Union_membership_referendum">Brexit 2016</a> ('remain' was the favourite), and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_2019_Australian_federal_election">Australian federal election 2019</a> (Labor was the favourite).</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">The media and public have used these failures to upbraid the pollsters, but the real lesson is being missed. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">What the data are mostly showing is that the final outcome is close. And perhaps too close to call. Uncertainty about the final outcome means the job of the pollsters is much more difficult. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">And regardless of whether the calls are right or wrong, a close decision is likely to generate a strong backlash.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">In this analysis, it is not increasing polarisation of views and the development of echo chambers that are contributing to close (uncertain) outcomes, but rather, the other way around. Uncertainty about the best choice and about the outcome is fertile ground for polarised thinking. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Certainty is loud and bombastic, uncertainty is unheard. Noisy minorities will attract far more attention than silent majorities.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Democracies fail to capture uncertainty as they typically rely on counting responses to overly simplified questions. Elections and referendums are highly complex with multiple attributes and multiple considerations. Much information is shared, but it leads to overload and paralysis. And the final decision comes to rely on prior prejudices, irrelevant cues or a coin-toss.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Take the vote for a local representative. The candidates are vying for a job where the winner will get to make tens, hundreds, even thousands of decisions. Each voter meanwhile, gets <i>one</i> decision - A or B. The voter's task is to make an exceedingly difficult calculus of who will best represent her interests on multiple issues. And that is before we even ask the vexing question about whether either candidate can or will actually do what they say will.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Similarly, the Brexit referendum is asking the public to make a remarkably sophisticated decision, one that even economists cannot agree on. By what basis is it reasonable to hope the general populace can make a good decision? </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Curiously, in the big battles, both sides are likely to agree on one thing: the defenders of the other side have been misled. Maybe both sides are misleading (yep, that seems about right), and the outcome is that people are dazed, confused, disheartened, and their vote necessarily represents uncertainty rather than reason.</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute </span><span style="font-style: italic;">conversation with the average voter." </span>(Winston Churchill)<span style="text-align: left;"> </span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">So the priests of democracy, the politicians, have granted and encouraged the voter's rights. In some countries voting is even obligatory and mandated. But what outcome can we expect to a question that is very complex--i.e., who should I choose to represent me on all issues that matter to me for the coming four years? If even the experts disagree, what hope is there that the general populace will genuinely grasp the nuances of the decision they are being asked to make. The outcome? Close results reflecting uncertainty, and certain unpopularity and polemic.</span><br /><br />
<div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Uncertain solutions</span></b></div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">The first step is to recognise that a simple question with simple responses cannot adequately capture the nature of responses to complex issues. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRzrOcUuzI2DmL1h9Hz_91fQ2jCB4jkY6lHNrZ3msDEOpcJpL8I8MSEV3iuxOnvCxtlmaDsx-cp2V_Hj0ZyRgJGFENYA0F7DgKFsxCPMLcdGVtRgoKVQ-M4Or2XKuOIcwZVtiXl00YcZ1w/s1600/i+don%2527t+know.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="213" data-original-width="400" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRzrOcUuzI2DmL1h9Hz_91fQ2jCB4jkY6lHNrZ3msDEOpcJpL8I8MSEV3iuxOnvCxtlmaDsx-cp2V_Hj0ZyRgJGFENYA0F7DgKFsxCPMLcdGVtRgoKVQ-M4Or2XKuOIcwZVtiXl00YcZ1w/s400/i+don%2527t+know.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Where's the option "I don't know" which allows the electoral commission to explicitly capture the uncertainties of the people?</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Where's the option for "None of the above"? An especially important option when few are willing to place a lot of trust in politicians today.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">In Brazil, elections are compulsory. However, people can place an 'annulled' vote by writing the name of their own candidate or handing in a blank piece of paper. And they are doing so in a big way. In the <a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-11-08/imagine-if-you-had-vote-law-your-future-really-depended-it">2016 Mayoral elections in Brazil</a>, over 40% of candidates in Rio de Janiero cast blank or annulled votes! People <i>want</i> other options.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">The second step is to step back, to re-examine democracy. </span></div>
<div>
<i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Most people do not want to have to vote on each and every single issue as would be implied by a direct democracy and as satirised in the 1970 English film, <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rise_and_Rise_of_Michael_Rimmer">The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer</a></span>. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">And most people have reservations about how much they can trust an elected person to fully represent them on the wide range of issues that confront governments now days. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">One possible resolution is a hybrid solution such as "<a href="https://quillette.com/2019/02/16/polarisation-and-the-case-for-citizens-juries/">citizen juries</a>" where a group of citizens are impanelled (like a jury in a court), are then informed at length about the pros and cons of some issue. Debate follows and efforts are made to move the panel towards a decision on how to tackle the issue, and on what policies might be adopted.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">There are also a <a href="https://listverse.com/2016/02/10/10-alternatives-to-conventional-liberal-democracy/">range of other alternatives</a> which have various strengths (and weaknesses). At the very least, these alternatives sharpen our thinking and help elaborate on the emerging weaknesses of our current system.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">I don't have a clear solution, but I do think we can agree, mass democracy in its current form (both voting for representatives and direct voting on a referendum) is somehow failing us. Problems such as the Brexit mess highlight the limits of the current democratic system. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Our mistake is to ignore the signal among the noise. The data show uncertainty, and correctly interpreted, undermine the power of democracy rather than provide testimony. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">When decisions become very complex and difficult, when only two responses are allowed (A or B) and when the outcome is close to 50:50, the results reflect statistical noise. And statistical noise or uncertainty begats emotional and polemical noise.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/He_drank_the_contents_as_though_it_were_a_draught_of_Wine.jpg/1024px-He_drank_the_contents_as_though_it_were_a_draught_of_Wine.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="538" height="400" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/He_drank_the_contents_as_though_it_were_a_draught_of_Wine.jpg/1024px-He_drank_the_contents_as_though_it_were_a_draught_of_Wine.jpg" width="268" /></span></a></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">What we are seeing in close results is not the success of democracy, but its limitations. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Democracy does not necessarily return "good" decisions. Over 2000 years ago, approximately <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_of_Socrates#Contemporary">56% of the panel of 500 Athenian</a> men assembled for the trial of Socrates voted him as guilty of corrupting the youth. And voted for a sentence for him to die by his own hand by drinking hemlock. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">The decision may have been democratic, but it is surely contestable that it was right. That this democratic decision led to the demise of Plato's mentor and teacher may explain Plato's <a href="https://classicalwisdom.com/philosophy/socrates-plato/plato-and-the-disaster-of-democracy/">opposition to democracy</a> (see <i>The Republic</i>).</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">And today, the margin of the democratic majority is often much less. Democracy does not determine right and wrong.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Moreover, when the vote is split down the middle, the vote may actually reveal that the solution is uncertain.</span></div>
</div>
Sshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01058764631752035273noreply@blogger.com0