05 MAY 2018 by ideonexus

 “Judge the value of what you have by what you had to gi...

The principle of an opportunity cost does not at first glance seem hard to understand. If you spend half an hour noodling around on Twitter, when you would otherwise have been reading a book, the lost book-reading time is the opportunity cost of the tweeting. If you decide to buy a fancy belt for £100 instead of a cheaper one for £20, the opportunity cost is the £80 shirt you could otherwise have bought. Everything has a cost: whatever you were going to do instead, but couldn’t. [...] ...
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13 JAN 2012 by ideonexus

 Seeing Farther From the Shoulders of Giants

We are like dwarfs [the moderns] sitting on the shoulders of giants [the ancients]. Our glance can thus take in more things and reach farther than theirs. It is not because our sight is sharper nor our height greater than theirs; it is that we are carried and elevated by the high stature of the giants.
Folksonomies: quotes giants
Folksonomies: quotes giants
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Bernard of Chartres quoted, elaborating on Newton's famous quote.

10 JUN 2011 by ideonexus

 We Should Appreciate the Winter Solstice

We have become too wise in our own conceits if ever we let a winter solstice go by without a glance upward to rejoice that the sun will sink no lower in the darkening sky . .. We walk too hurriedly if ever we pass the season’s first pasqueflower by, too busy to let its meeting stay us for a quiet moment before this token of the covenant of life to continue in beauty despite the storm.
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It's a shame if we do not at least glance up at the sky to appreciate the fact that the days will be getting longer.

29 MAR 2011 by ideonexus

 Requirements for a Science Bible

Creating a permanent record of our civilization may not be as difficult as we imagine. What we need is a primer on science, clearly written and unambiguous in its meaning—a primer for anyone interested in the state of the Earth and how to survive and live well on it. One that would serve also as a primary school science text. It would be the scientific equivalent of the Bible. It would contain practical information such as how to light a fire, and things to wonder about when it was lit. It ...
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What are some of the most basic and important things that would need to go into a completely introductory book on Science?

03 JAN 2011 by TGAW

 Beauty of Trees As They Whiz By In Transit

The power to recognize trees at a glance without examining their leaves or flowers or fruit as they are seen, for example, from the car-window during a railroad journey, can only be acquired by studying them as they grow under all possible conditions over wide areas of territory. Such an attainment may not have much practical value, but once acquired it gives to the possessor a good deal of pleasure which is denied to less fortunate travelers.
Folksonomies: trees
Folksonomies: trees
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Charles Sprague Sargent (1841-1927) points out that once you know trees, even seeing them whiz by on a railroad journey can bring great pleasure to a traveler.