19 APR 2013 by ideonexus
Post-Modernism in Ancient Thought
In the midst of the decline of Greece, Athens, which, in the days of its power, had honoured philosophy and letters, owed to them, in its turn, the preserving for a longer period some remains of its ancient splendour. In its tribune, indeed, the destinies of Greece and Asia were no longer decided; it was, however, in the schools of Athens that the Romans acquired the secrets of eloquence; and it was at the feet of Demosthenes’ lamp that the first of their orators was formed.
The academy, the... 1 
notes
notesWith the idea that nothing is knowable, philosophy fell into a rut. Aristotle came along with the brilliant idea that everything we know comes through our senses, but failed to take that idea anywhere useful.
19 APR 2013 by ideonexus
Science as Power, Kept in Writing
In sedentary and peaceable societies, astronomy, medicine, the most simple notions of anatomy, the knowledge of plants and minerals, the first elements of the study of the phenomena of nature, acquired some improvement, or rather extended themselves by the mere influence of time, which, increasing the stock of observations, led, in a manner slow, but sure, to the easy and almost instant perception of some of the general consequences to which those observations were calculated to lead.
Meanwh... 1 notes
notesEarly scientists pursued science for power, and committed it in written form.
01 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
The Pioneer 10 Plaque
On the title page of this chapter is shown the message. It is etched on a 6-inch
by 9-inch gold-anodized aluminum plate, attached to the antenna support struts of
Pioneer 10. The expected erosion rate in interstellar space is sufficiently small that this message should remain intact for hundreds of millions of years, and probably
for a much longer period of time. It is, thus, the artifact of mankind with the
longest expected lifetime.
The message itself intends to communicate the locale, ep... 1 notes
notesCarl Sagan describes everything that went into the symbolism of this message sent to the stars.
18 JUL 2011 by ideonexus
Ontogeny Recapitulates Phylogeny
The similarity between different vertebrate embryos is indeed remarkable. Since the early 1800s, embryologists have been struck by the parallel between early development in various animal species and their evolutionary relationship, a resemblance conveniently abbreviated by the saying "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny." Of course, each of us does not really pass through a "lizard" stage on our way to a fully developed human form. But it is true that animals who are more closely related in ter...
1 Living things go through the forms of their ancestors, not specifically but generally, because it is easier for evolution to add a mutation to the end of a complex sequence of developments than to re-engineer earlier in the process.
04 MAY 2011 by ideonexus
Neoteny in Humans
...the concept of "neoteny"—the retention of juvenile features into adult life. It is a commonplace of human evolution that the transition from Australopithecus to Homo and from Homo habilis to Homo erectus and thence to Homo sapiens all involved prolonging and slowing the development of the body so that it still looked like a baby when it was already mature. The relatively large brain case and small jaw, the slender limbs, the hairless skin, the unrotated big toe, the thin bones, even the ex...
1 Adult humans look like baby chimpanzees
