01 MAR 2016 by ideonexus
"Idiocracy" is a Problematic Anti-Poor Film
Unlike other films that satirize the media and the soul-crushing consequences of sensationalized entertainment (my personal favorite being 1951's Ace in the Hole), Idiocracy lays the blame at the feet of an undeserved target (the poor) while implicitly advocating a terrible solution (eugenics). The movie’s underlying premise is a fundamentally dangerous and backwards way to understand the world.
The origin story for Idiocracy’s future world of half-wits is that uneducated people in the e...Folksonomies: intelligence criticism
Folksonomies: intelligence criticism
1 01 SEP 2014 by ideonexus
Opinion is Not Necessarily a Good Thing
We live in a civilization that believes that opinion per se is good. This can be seen in the very derivation of the word, which comes from the Latin opinari, meaning to think. It is a fundamental tenet of our civilization that thinking is good, a noble process which is one of the few things separating us from the base animal world. I too believe that thinking is a noble calling and that it is necessary to have opinions for the sake of the kind of thinking that can lead us to a better world.
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notes18 MAR 2012 by ideonexus
Improve Ourselves, but Also Contribute to the Improvement...
We cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individual. Toward this end, each of us must work for his own highest development, accepting at the same time his share of responsibility in the general life of humanity—our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful. Quoting Marie Curie.
03 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Self-Described Otaku
I was an “otaku.” I know that term has come to mean a great many things to a great many people, but for me it simply meant “outsider.” I know Americans, especially young ones, must feel trapped by societal pressure. All humans do. However, if I understand your culture correctly, individualism is something to be encouraged. You revere the “rebel,” the “rogue,” those who stand proudly apart from the masses. For you, individuality is a badge of honor. For us, it is a ribbon of sh... 1 notes
notesThe term "Otaku" carries horrible connotations in Japanese culture, so it seems highly unlikely that a Japanese male would describe himself as such, but in Max Brooks' book, he has such a character. Posted here for the fascinating definition of Otaku that bares little relation to the actual definition.
02 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Science is Performed With the "Passion of Hope"
Here Coleridge was defending the intellectual discipline of science as a force for clarity and good. He then added one of his most inspired perceptions. He thought that science, as a human activity, ‘being necessarily performed with the passion of Hope, it was poetical’. Science, like poetry, was not merely ‘progressive’. It directed a particular kind of moral energy and imaginative longing into the future. It enshrined the implicit belief that mankind could achieve a better, happier ... 1 notes
notesIt is inspired by the idea that humanity can improve and create a better world.
See Also: Coleridge to Davy, 1 January 1800, Coleridge Collected Letters, edited by E.L. Griggs, vol 1; and see Treneer, p5801 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
The Greater Good of Science
There was a time – and very recently – when the idea of the possibility of
learning the composition of the celestial bodies was considered senseless even by
prominent scientists and thinkers. That time has now passed. The idea of the
possibility of a closer, direct study of the universe will today, I believe, appear still
wilder. To step out onto the soil of asteroids, to lift with your hand a stone on the
moon, to set up moving stations in ethereal space, and establish living rings aroun...As described by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, who predicted space exploration through reactive vehicles and expressed his hope through a better world through his research in 1912.
