Example of How Language Affects Thought

Another way of describing the revolution in physics is to say that the key moves and acts, physicists do not care; 'matter' to them means 'to matter'. moves and acts, physicists do not care; 'matter' to them means 'to matter', to make a difference. But our language is still geared to express 'states of being', rather than processes. In this connection, also, the German language helps to explain German philosophy. The Germans have been especially prone to hypostatize their abstractions, identi...

 Leo Szilard's Ten Commandments

1. Recognize the connections of things and the laws of conduct of men so that you may know what you are doing. 2. Let your acts be directed toward a worthy goal but do not ask if they will reach it; they are to be models and examples, not a means to an end. 3. Speak to all men as you do to yourself, with no concern for the effect you make, so that you do not shut them out from your world, lest in isolation the meaning of life slips out if sight and you lose the belief in the perfection of t...

 The Misuse of "Social Evolution"

No word is more on people's lips than "Evolution"; and none is more frequently misused, and misunderstood. Social Evolution is often talked of as if it were a cosmic process forced on men wholly from the outside, regardless of their yea and nay; or again as if it were a beneficent dispensation "from on high" that somehow, and regardless of men's acts, will float them to the haven of social bliss. The typical expression of this last extraordinary misconception is: "Things will right themse...

 Proud to be Descendant of Monkeys

For my own part I would as soon be descended from that heroic little monkey, who braved his dreaded enemy in order to save the life of his keeper; or from that old baboon, who, descending from the mountains, carried away in triumph his young comrade from a crowd of astonished dogs—as from a savage who delights to torture his enemies, offers up bloody sacrifices, practices infanticide without remorse, treats his wives like slaves, knows no decency, and is haunted by the grossest superstitions.

 The Four Forces of Nature

1. Gravity. This is the weakest of the four, but it is a long-range force and acts on everything in the universe as an attraction. This means that for large bodies the gravitational forces all add up and can dominate over all other forces. 2. Electromagnetism. This is also long-range and is much stronger than gravity, but it acts only on particles with an electric charge. being repulsive between charges of the same sign and attractive between charges of the opposite sign. This means the ele...