19 APR 2013 by ideonexus
Greeks and Romans Lacked the Virtue of Doubt
The Greek and Roman antiquarians, and even their literati and philosophers, are
chargeable with a total neglect of that spirit of doubt which subjects to a rigorous
investigation both sacts, and the proofs that establish them. In reading their accounts
of the history of events or of manners, of the productions and phenomena of nature, or
of the works and processes of the arts, we are astonished at the composure with which
they relate the most palpable absurdities, and the most fulsome and dis......and as a result, their writing reveals an incredible gullibility.
31 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Science for Knowledge, Not Utility
Science only means knowledge; and for [Greek] ancients it did only mean knowledge. Thus the favorite science of the Greeks was Astronomy, because it was as abstract as Algebra. ... We may say that the great Greek ideal was to have no use for useful things. The Slave was he who learned useful things; the Freeman was he who learned useless things. This still remains the ideal of many noble men of science, in the sense they do desire truth as the great Greeks desired it; and their attitude is an...Chesterton appeals to the ideal of science for its own sake and not for utilitarianism.
01 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Our Radio Broadcasts into Space are a Monologue
Some individuals find the absence of a dialogue distressing – as if meaningful
dialogues were commonplace on this planet. Philip Morrison, of the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, has pointed out that such cultural monologues are
entirely common in the history of mankind; that, for example, the entire cultural
patrimony of classical Greece, which has influenced our civilization in a profound
way, has traveled in only one direction in time. We have not sent our wisdom to
the Greeks. The...Folksonomies: culture communication
Folksonomies: culture communication
Distressing some that it is not a dialogue, but the wisdom of the ancient Greeks is a monologue as well.
06 SEP 2011 by ideonexus
An Insightful Ancient Observation on the Origins of Things
The Greeks are wrong to recognize coming into being and perishing; for nothing comes into being nor perishes, but is rather compounded or dissolved from things that are. So they would be right to call coming into being composition and perishing dissolution.Anaxagoras correctly notes that things come into being as compounds of existing things and dissolve back into compounds.