The Chain of Human Rights to Morphological Freedom
The right to life, the right to not have other people prevent oneself from surviving, is a central right, without which all other rights have no meaning. But to realize the right to life we need other rights.
Another central right for any humanistic view of human rights is the right to seek happiness. Without it human flourishing is unprotected, and there is not much point in having a freedom to live if it will not be at least a potentially happy life. In a way the right to life follows from...
notesFrom Anders Sandberg's "Morphological Freedom – Why We Not Just Want It, but Need It"
Defining "Uncertainty"
‘Uncertainty’ is a complex and multifaceted property, sometimes originating
in a lack of information, and at other times from quite fundamental
disagreements about what is known or even knowable (Moss
and Schneider, 2000). Furthermore, scientists often disagree about the
best or most appropriate way to characterize these uncertainties: some
can be quantified easily while others cannot. Moreover, appropriate
characterization is dependent on the intended use of the information
and the parti... notesFrom the IPCC report. Interesting for including different definitions of terms in its description.
Negative Capability
I had not a dispute but a disquisition with Dilke, upon various subjects; several things dove-tailed in my mind, and at once it struck me what quality went to form a Man of Achievement, especially in Literature, and which Shakespeare possessed so enormously - I mean Negative Capability, that is, when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason - Coleridge, for instance, would let go by a fine isolated verisimilitude caugh...
1 According to wikipedia: "...the capacity of human beings to transcend and revise their contexts." Here is the first use of the term by John Keats, where it sounds more like the ability to remain calm and rational in the face of uncertainty and not jump to conclusions without evidence.
Looking at the Shadows in the Cave
“Yes,” Dr. Malone went on, “they know we’re here. They answer back. And here goes the crazy part: you can’t see them unless you expect to. Unless you put your mind in a certain state. You have to be confident and relaxed at the same time. You have to be capable- Where’s that quotation …”
She reached into the muddle of papers on her desk and found a scrap on which someone had written with a green pen. She read:
” ‘… Capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, ... notesA computer named "the cave" where users look into the shadows displayed on it and it reflects their thinking. Named for Plato's Cave, it also sounds like Tarot readings; however, in the context of the story, there is something supernatural at work too.
Communism and the scientific viewpoint
I would like to remark, in passing, since the word "atheism" is so closely connected with "communism," that the communist views are the antithesis of the scientific, in the sense that in communism the answers are given to all the questions - political questions as well as moral ones - without discussion and without doubt. The scientific viewpoint is the exact opposite of this; that is, all questions must be doubted and discussed; we must argue everything out - observe things, check them, and... notesCommunism deals with absolutes, which is the opposite of science, science lack a definite direction, which is more aligned with democracy.
