17 MAY 2017 by ideonexus
Success as Proof of Virtue
Ivanka contrasts “proactive” people, who are “passionate and productive,” with “negative people,” those who are “swayed by the external and are frequently the victim of circumstance.” Her worldview, it turns out, is not so different from her father’s. Both see society through the lens of quasi-mystical corporate self-help, the sort pioneered by Norman Vincent Peale, author of The Power of Positive Thinking and a major influence on Donald Trump. In their schema, success is pr... 1 
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notes08 JAN 2013 by ideonexus
Definition of a Naturalist
If people ask me about my worldview, I say that I am a naturalist. When most people hear that word, they think of someone who spends a lot of time outdoors watching birds and admiring landscapes—and I suppose that description applies to me. But I think of naturalism as a philosophy rather than a lifestyle. F a philosophical perspective, naturalists believe that the physical universe is the universe. In other words, there are no supernatural entities or forces acting on nature, because there... 1 notes
notesIt is a philosophical state of mind, grounded in empiricism, in addition to being one who appreciates nature.
06 JAN 2013 by ideonexus
The Comfort of Secular Humanism
The secular philosophies of death that I’ve been writing and reading about and contemplating for years have been a tremendous comfort. For instance: The idea that we didn’t exist for billions of years before we were born—that nonexistence wasn’t painful or bad, and death won’t be either. The idea that our genes and our ideas will live on after we die. The idea that each of us was astronomically lucky to have been born at all. The idea that death is a deadline, something that helps u... 1 notes
notesThe many reasons Humanist philosophy and worldview provide comfort.
23 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
What Drives the Mind of a Science Writer?
The design of a book is the pattern of reality controlled and shaped by the mind of the writer. This is completely understood about poetry or fiction, but it is too seldom realized about books of fact. And yet the impulse which drives a man to poetry will send a man into the tide pools and force him to report what he finds there. Why is an expedition to Tibet undertaken, or a sea bottom dredged? Why do men, sitting at the microscope, examine the calcareous plates of a sea cucumber and give th... 1 notes
notesWe understand that fictional books are crafted to present a worldview, but we forget the same is true of nonfiction.
11 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Conservatives Reject Inconvenient Facts
Personally, I find that the most objectionable feature of the conservative attitude is its propensity to reject well-substantiated new knowledge because it dislikes some of the consequences which seem to follow from it – or, to put it bluntly, its obscurantism. I will not deny that scientists as much as others are given to fads and fashions and that we have much reason to be cautious in accepting the conclusions that they draw from their latest theories. But the reasons for our reluctance m... 1 notes
notesA classical liberal and free market capitalist explains that he cannot be a conservative because they reject facts that disagree with their worldview such as evolution.
05 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Using Google is Like Watching Fox News or MSNBC
That's something I picked up in science, I suppose -- wanting to know the other side of the story, testing one's ideas against the alternative. Of course, one is naturally predisposed to what one already believes. Early nurturing and education is not to be discounted. One might even have a genetic nudge toward liberality or conservatism. Still, it behooves one to approach alternative views with an open mind, or at least as open as one can manage.
[...]
And now I read Sue Halpern reviewing ...Folksonomies: bias
Folksonomies: bias
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notesThe search engine caters its results to your biases.
