12 DEC 2017 by ideonexus
Wheat Domesticated Homo Sapiens
Think for a moment about the Agricultural Revolution from the viewpoint of wheat. Ten thousand years ago wheat was just a wild grass, one of many, conFolksonomies: artificial selection
Folksonomies: artificial selection
1 
notes
notes09 AUG 2014 by ideonexus
Chris Allen Secular Invocation
Let us give thanks for all that we have, cherish and possess–especially for the capacity to care and love, to improve ourselves, our families and community.
Whatever one’s viewpoint, either derived from faith or from reason informed by science, having the capacity to appreciate and thank others is ingrained in the DNA of The Human Condition.
We give thanks to the volunteers, the heart and soul of our community, who donate their time and talents to help the less fortunate.
And, in this ...Folksonomies: secularism
Folksonomies: secularism
1 notes
notesChris Allen, president of Florida Humanist Association and humanist celebrant and chaplain, delivered a secular invocation at the Orlando City Council meeting on June 23,2014.
22 FEB 2014 by ideonexus
Nature Doesn't Need Our Help to Destroy the Earth
For me, the most paralyzing news was that Nature was no conservationist. It needed no help from us in taking the planet apart and putting it back together some different way, not necessarily improving it from the viewpoint of living things. It set fire to forests with lightning bolts. It paved vast tracts of arable land with lava, which could no more support life than big-city parking lots. It had in the past sent glaciers down from the North Pole to grind up major portions of Asia, Europe, a...Folksonomies: nature environmentalism
Folksonomies: nature environmentalism
1 notes
notesObservation by Kurt Vonnegut that nature does a fine job of making the Earth uninhabitable regularly on its own.
02 JAN 2014 by ideonexus
Historical Materialism VS Historical Idealism
Classes struggle, some classes triumph, others are eliminated. Such is history, such is tlhe history of civilization for thousands of years. To interpret history from this viewpoint is historical materialism; standing in opposition to this viewpoint is historical idealism.
"Cast Away Illusions, Prepare for Struggle" (August 14, 1949), Selected Works, Vol. IV, p. 428.
1 notes
notesIf we accept history as rules that guide the future, we give up possibilities for better futures.
22 OCT 2013 by ideonexus
The Steel Man Argument
Sometimes the term "steel man" is used to refer to a position's or argument's improved form. A straw man is a misrepresentation of someone's position or argument that is easy to defeat: a "steel man" is an improvement of someone's position or argument that is harder to defeat than their originally stated position or argument.Folksonomies: debate
Folksonomies: debate
1 Contrasts with the straw man, work from an idealized articulation of your opponent's viewpoint and try to improve upon it.
29 MAR 2012 by ideonexus
Why Traveling at the Speed of Light Slows Down Time
the precise time difference between stationary and moving clocks depends on how
much farther the sliding clock's photon must travel to complete each round-trip journey This in turn depends on how quickly the
sliding clock is moving—from the viewpoint of a stationary observer, the faster the clock is sliding, the farther the photon must
travel to the right. We conclude that in comparison to a stationary clock, the rate of ticking of the sliding clock becomes slower and
slower as it moves fas... 1 notes
notesAn elegant explanation in physical terms of photons and the distances they travel.
18 MAY 2011 by ideonexus
Understanding Other Points of View
A few weeks before the debates, however, they are
informed that it is the task of each to present the point of view of
the opponent in a way that's satisfactory to the opponent - so the
opponent will say, 'Yes, that's a fair presentation of my views.' In
the joint written debate they explore their differences, but also
how the debate process has helped them better to understand the
opposing point of view. 1 notes
notesPeople in debates should be required to articulate the opposing viewpoint to their opponent's satisfaction.
