24 JAN 2015 by ideonexus
Profiting on Asteroids
Some of the first questions which come up in any practical discussion of space colonization are questions of economics. Suppose we go out and settle on a convenient asteroid with our little spaceship, what do we do when we get there? How do we make a living? What can we expect to export in order to pay for necessary imports? If space colonization makes any sense at all, these questions must have sensible answers. Unfortunately, we cannot hope to answer questions of economics until the asteroi...Folksonomies: space colonization
Folksonomies: space colonization
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notes09 AUG 2014 by ideonexus
Greg Epstein Secular Invocation
Mayor-Elect Walsh, and distinguished and honored guests of all backgrounds and beliefs: it is my great honor, on behalf of the Humanist, secular, and nontheistic community, to share this poem, “To Be of Use,” by contemporary Massachusetts poet Marge Piercy, in honor of the important work you and all of us will soon be called to do.
The people I love the best
jump into work head first
without dallying in the shallows
and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight.
They seem to become ...Folksonomies: secularism
Folksonomies: secularism
1 notes
notesGreg Epstein, Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University, was invited to give at the Interfaith Inaugural Celebration for new Boston Mayor Martin Walsh on January 5, 2014, at Old South Church in Boston.
09 AUG 2014 by ideonexus
The Northeast Megalopolis
The megalopolis encompasses the District of Columbia and part or all of 11 states: from south to north, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. It is linked by Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 1, which start in Miami and Key West, Florida, respectively, and terminate in Maine at the Canada–United States border, as well as the Northeast Corridor railway line, the busiest passenger rail line in the count... 1 notes
notes21 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
Benjamin Franklin Thwarts the Will of God
When Benjamin Franklin invented the lightning-rod, the clergy, both in England and America, with the enthusiastic support of George III, condemned it as an impious attempt to defeat the will of God. For, as all right-thinking people were aware, lightning is sent by God to punish impiety or some other grave sin—the virtuous are never struck by lightning. Therefore if God wants to strike any one, Benjamin Franklin [and his lightning-rod] ought not to defeat His design; indeed, to do so is hel... 1 notes
notesHis lightning rod is condemned by the religious.
13 FEB 2012 by ideonexus
Be As Revolutionary as Science
Do the day’s work. If it be to protect the rights of the weak, whoever objects, do it. If it be to help a powerful corporation better to serve the people, whatever the opposition, do that. Expect to be called a stand-patter, but don’t be a stand-patter. Expect to be called a demagogue, but don’t be a demagogue. Don’t hesitate to be as revolutionary as science. Don’t hesitate to be as reactionary as the multiplication table. Don’t expect to build up the weak by pulling down the str...Folksonomies: inspiration speech
Folksonomies: inspiration speech
1 notes
notesSpeech (7 Jan 1914), to the State Senate of Massachusetts upon election as its president.
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
1 notes
notesDistressing some that it is not a dialogue, but the wisdom of the ancient Greeks is a monologue as well.
23 MAR 2011 by ideonexus
1933 Humanist Manifesto
The time has come for widespread recognition of the radical changes in religious beliefs throughout the modern world. The time is past for mere revision of traditional attitudes. Science and economic change have disrupted the old beliefs. Religions the world over are under the necessity of coming to terms with new conditions created by a vastly increased knowledge and experience. In every field of human activity, the vital movement is now in the direction of a candid and explicit humanism....
1 Original humanist manifesto, defining humanism's 15 affirmations.
