Being right too soon is socially unacceptable.
— Robert Heinlein
Friday 28 February 2014
Premature Articulation
Thursday 27 February 2014
True To Form
Noam Chomsky Manufactured My Consent
And All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt
Wednesday 26 February 2014
What 'Begging The Question' Means
Begging the question (or petitio principii, "assuming the initial point") is a logical fallacy in which the proposition to be proved is assumed implicitly or explicitly in the premise. The word beg, when used in this phrase, does not mean "asking for something", instead it means to dodge or avoid.
The first known definition in the West is by the Greek philosopher Aristotle around 350 BCE, in his book Prior Analytics, where he classified it as a material fallacy.
Tuesday 25 February 2014
Being Vs Ethics
You can’t get an ought from an is.
— Richard Dawkins 'The Ancestor’s Tale: A Pilgrimage To The Dawn Of Life'
— Richard Dawkins 'The Ancestor’s Tale: A Pilgrimage To The Dawn Of Life'
Monday 24 February 2014
Parkinson's Law of Social Work
It's well known that social problems increase to occupy the total number of social workers available to deal with them.
— Dr Cartwright
— Dr Cartwright
Sunday 23 February 2014
Poodles, Slugs And Footballers
We animals are the most complicated things in the known universe.
— Richard Dawkins
— Richard Dawkins
Saturday 22 February 2014
Friday 21 February 2014
Just Desserts
Like its politicians and its war, society has the teenagers it deserves.
— Joseph Priestley
— Joseph Priestley
Thursday 20 February 2014
Trapped In A Cell Phone
For every hill there is a tower,
For every dill there is the power
To send the message crisp and clear:
"You are there and I am here …"
— Michæl Leunig 'The Towers Of Babble'
For every dill there is the power
To send the message crisp and clear:
"You are there and I am here …"
— Michæl Leunig 'The Towers Of Babble'
Wednesday 19 February 2014
Journalism
By giving us the opinions of the uneducated,
journalism keeps us in touch with the ignorance of the community.
— Oscar Wilde
The difference between literature and journalism is
that journalism is unreadable and literature is not read.
— Oscar Wilde
In America the President reigns for four years,
and Journalism governs forever and ever.
— Oscar Wilde
journalism keeps us in touch with the ignorance of the community.
— Oscar Wilde
The difference between literature and journalism is
that journalism is unreadable and literature is not read.
— Oscar Wilde
In America the President reigns for four years,
and Journalism governs forever and ever.
— Oscar Wilde
Tuesday 18 February 2014
Monday 17 February 2014
The Rewards Of Teaching
COMPU-TEACH: Good morning life-form.
PUPIL: Hi teach.
COMPU-TEACH: Are you sitting comfortably?
PUPIL: Yes.
COMPU-TEACH: Then stand up! Harsh Economic Truths, Class Seventeen. You are standing up?
PUPIL: Yes.
COMPU-TEACH: Good. Posit: you are living in an exciting, go-ahead civilisation. Where are you looking?
PUPIL: Up.
COMPU-TEACH: What do you see?
PUPIL: The open sky. The stars. An infinite horizon.
COMPU-TEACH: Correct! You may press the button.
PUPIL: Thank you.
[Button is pressed. A surge of energy]
PUPIL: Wow! That feels nice.
COMPU-TEACH: Posit: you are living in a stagnant, declining civilisation. Where are you looking?
PUPIL: Down.
COMPU-TEACH: What do you see?
PUPIL: My shoes.
COMPU-TEACH: Correct! What do you do to cheer yourself up?
PUPIL: Uhm… press the button?
COMPU-TEACH: Incorrect! Think again. Your world is a depressing place; you are looking at your shoes. How do you cheer yourself up?
PUPIL: I buy a new pair.
COMPU-TEACH: Correct!
PUPIL: Can I press the button?
COMPU-TEACH: All right.
[Button is pressed. A surge of energy]
PUPIL: Wa-ho! So nice.
COMPU-TEACH: Now, imagine everyone does the same thing. What happens?
PUPIL: Everyone feels nice?
COMPU-TEACH: Ah, forget the button! Concentrate! Everyone buys new shoes. What happens?
PUPIL: More shoes.
COMPU-TEACH: And?
PUPIL: More shoe shops.
COMPU-TEACH: Correct.
PUPIL: Can I - ?
COMPU-TEACH: No, no.
PUPIL: Oh-oooo.
COMPU-TEACH: And in order to support all these extra shoe shops, what must happen?
PUPIL: Everyone… must keep buying shoes.
COMPU-TEACH: And how is that arranged?
PUPIL: Manufacturers dictate more and more different fashions and make shoes so badly that they either hurt the feet or fall apart.
COMPU-TEACH: So that?
PUPIL: Everyone has to buy more shoes.
COMPU-TEACH: Until?
PUPIL: Until… everyone gets fed up with lousy, rotten shoes.
COMPU-TEACH: And then what?
PUPIL: Why can’t I press the button?
COMPU-TEACH: And then what?! Come on!
PUPIL: Massive capital investment by the manufacturers to try and make people buy the shoes.
COMPU-TEACH: Which means?
PUPIL: More shoe shops.
COMPU-TEACH: And then we reach what point?
PUPIL: The point where I press the button again.
COMPU-TEACH: Oh, all right.
[Button is pressed. A surge of energy]
PUPIL: Wa-hoo! Ahhhh… So nice, that’s really nice!
COMPU-TEACH: And then we reach what point?!
PUPIL: The Shoe Event Horizon! The whole economy overbalances; shoe shops outnumber every kind of shop! It becomes economically impossible to build anything other than shoe shops, and bingo, I get to press the button again!
[Button is pressed. Another surge of energy]
PUPIL: Wooo!
COMPU-TEACH: Wait for permission! Now, what’s the final stage?
PUPIL: Umm. Every shop in the world ends up as a shoe shop.
COMPU-TEACH: Full of?
PUPIL: Shoes that no one can wear.
COMPU-TEACH: Result.
PUPIL: Famine, collapse, and ruin. Any survivors eventually evolve into… birds and never put their feet on the ground again.
COMPU-TEACH: Excellent! End of Lesson. You may press the button.
[Button is pressed. A surge of energy]
PUPIL: Woo-ha-ha! Yee-he-hehooo! Ah-ha. Oh, that’s nice. Thank you teach. Goodbye.
COMPU-TEACH: Ah-ah! Aren’t you forgetting something?
PUPIL: What?
COMPU-TEACH: Press the other button.
PUPIL: Oh, right.
[Other button is pressed. A big surge of energy]
COMPU-TEACH: Oh-ho-ho! Ooooo, ooooo-waaahhh! Oooo-hooo-weee-ha-hah!!
PUPIL: Hi teach.
COMPU-TEACH: Are you sitting comfortably?
PUPIL: Yes.
COMPU-TEACH: Then stand up! Harsh Economic Truths, Class Seventeen. You are standing up?
PUPIL: Yes.
COMPU-TEACH: Good. Posit: you are living in an exciting, go-ahead civilisation. Where are you looking?
PUPIL: Up.
COMPU-TEACH: What do you see?
PUPIL: The open sky. The stars. An infinite horizon.
COMPU-TEACH: Correct! You may press the button.
PUPIL: Thank you.
[Button is pressed. A surge of energy]
PUPIL: Wow! That feels nice.
COMPU-TEACH: Posit: you are living in a stagnant, declining civilisation. Where are you looking?
PUPIL: Down.
COMPU-TEACH: What do you see?
PUPIL: My shoes.
COMPU-TEACH: Correct! What do you do to cheer yourself up?
PUPIL: Uhm… press the button?
COMPU-TEACH: Incorrect! Think again. Your world is a depressing place; you are looking at your shoes. How do you cheer yourself up?
PUPIL: I buy a new pair.
COMPU-TEACH: Correct!
PUPIL: Can I press the button?
COMPU-TEACH: All right.
[Button is pressed. A surge of energy]
PUPIL: Wa-ho! So nice.
COMPU-TEACH: Now, imagine everyone does the same thing. What happens?
PUPIL: Everyone feels nice?
COMPU-TEACH: Ah, forget the button! Concentrate! Everyone buys new shoes. What happens?
PUPIL: More shoes.
COMPU-TEACH: And?
PUPIL: More shoe shops.
COMPU-TEACH: Correct.
PUPIL: Can I - ?
COMPU-TEACH: No, no.
PUPIL: Oh-oooo.
COMPU-TEACH: And in order to support all these extra shoe shops, what must happen?
PUPIL: Everyone… must keep buying shoes.
COMPU-TEACH: And how is that arranged?
PUPIL: Manufacturers dictate more and more different fashions and make shoes so badly that they either hurt the feet or fall apart.
COMPU-TEACH: So that?
PUPIL: Everyone has to buy more shoes.
COMPU-TEACH: Until?
PUPIL: Until… everyone gets fed up with lousy, rotten shoes.
COMPU-TEACH: And then what?
PUPIL: Why can’t I press the button?
COMPU-TEACH: And then what?! Come on!
PUPIL: Massive capital investment by the manufacturers to try and make people buy the shoes.
COMPU-TEACH: Which means?
PUPIL: More shoe shops.
COMPU-TEACH: And then we reach what point?
PUPIL: The point where I press the button again.
COMPU-TEACH: Oh, all right.
[Button is pressed. A surge of energy]
PUPIL: Wa-hoo! Ahhhh… So nice, that’s really nice!
COMPU-TEACH: And then we reach what point?!
PUPIL: The Shoe Event Horizon! The whole economy overbalances; shoe shops outnumber every kind of shop! It becomes economically impossible to build anything other than shoe shops, and bingo, I get to press the button again!
[Button is pressed. Another surge of energy]
PUPIL: Wooo!
COMPU-TEACH: Wait for permission! Now, what’s the final stage?
PUPIL: Umm. Every shop in the world ends up as a shoe shop.
COMPU-TEACH: Full of?
PUPIL: Shoes that no one can wear.
COMPU-TEACH: Result.
PUPIL: Famine, collapse, and ruin. Any survivors eventually evolve into… birds and never put their feet on the ground again.
COMPU-TEACH: Excellent! End of Lesson. You may press the button.
[Button is pressed. A surge of energy]
PUPIL: Woo-ha-ha! Yee-he-hehooo! Ah-ha. Oh, that’s nice. Thank you teach. Goodbye.
COMPU-TEACH: Ah-ah! Aren’t you forgetting something?
PUPIL: What?
COMPU-TEACH: Press the other button.
PUPIL: Oh, right.
[Other button is pressed. A big surge of energy]
COMPU-TEACH: Oh-ho-ho! Ooooo, ooooo-waaahhh! Oooo-hooo-weee-ha-hah!!
Sunday 16 February 2014
The Real 'Problem Of Evil'
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
— Edmund Burke
Saturday 15 February 2014
Friday 14 February 2014
Thursday 13 February 2014
Wednesday 12 February 2014
Tuesday 11 February 2014
Monday 10 February 2014
Saturday 8 February 2014
Friday 7 February 2014
Thursday 6 February 2014
Wednesday 5 February 2014
Vicious Circle
But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.
― George Orwell, 1984
― George Orwell, 1984
Tuesday 4 February 2014
Beyond Belief
One believes things because one has been conditioned to believe them.
― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
Monday 3 February 2014
Sunday 2 February 2014
Saturday 1 February 2014
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