John F

Gerrymandering is another case where people in other countries always roll their eyes whenever people say America is the “bastion” of democracy. It isn’t enough that there is an unfair electoral college, extreme business interest interference re: enormous financial contributions to campaigns, new anti-voting legislation…but on top of that brazen…[Read more]

Simon, Enco didn’t actually make much of a sound conclusion. He insinuated connections between miseducation, wokeism, CRT, left-wing-reeducation, antisemitism…all from a couple examples of a few possibly over-the-top educators and a use of these terms in a nebulous way that one might conclude these are all scary things which have a negative…[Read more]

I am with you Simon in that digression and conversations forking out is not necessarily a bad thing. I only ask that it is not just nonsense or cliche conservative or liberal talking points or outright derailing a conversation.

Enco sometimes frames his arguments in the format of: premises and/or evidence and conclusion, relatively related to the topic at hand. More frequently though, I get lost in the argument and or conclusion and I am left wonderful what on Earth it has to do with the post he is responding to. In this case, Enco, you went off one of your vaguely…[Read more]

I am leaning towards “no”. I wouldn’t bet money on Trump winning and overturning democracy in America. Having said that…it is not as though the chances of it happening are microscopic. Stronger civilizations have disintegrated quickly in the past. A few calamitous issues or unfortunate unpredictable events (natural or cultural) could quickly…[Read more]

Is that a Deepak Chopra quote?

Simon, you’re thinking of mathematics as if it’s a thing. It’s not a thing that needs to be understood, it’s our toolset for understanding things.

Think of maths as a grid through which we view our universe. Does B17 (imaginary grid reference) actually exist?  Well yes because we can point at it. But we can only point at it because we put it t…[Read more]

Thanks, Reg!!!

It is certainly morally ambiguous to say the least, to impose such a life on a child (living their lives on a spaceship with the goal of breeding more children to do the same) without much of a chance to opt out and turn back. I would say the stakes would have to be pretty high to allow that (extreme over population or end of world situation). In…[Read more]

ever-greater fitness and adaptation

That is a misconception. As everything else is also adapting, creatures must adapt as well. It is not “ever greater” but adapting to the circumstances of the moment. Organisms may emerge with greater complexity in some cases but not always and that is not the same as greater fitness and adaption. Greater…[Read more]

Moral principles are ideal forms or concepts.

Sigh

I don’t take Plato’s forms seriously, so no…they are not facts as far as I am concerned and I see them of little (if any) philosophical use besides understanding the history of Western thought. However, for Plato…the forms were real, if not the ONLY real thing where even we humans were just imitations of forms. They were NOT some vague shadowy…[Read more]

Plato’s forms aren’t facts and don’t exist.

Sounds like someone skimmed the wikipedia article.