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POPSA Bit of Rationalism It's always positive to point out what is myth and what is reality. Often they are confused, especially by people who depend so much on myth. The attached clip offers a bit of sunshine to brighten up those dark corners of peoples brains.
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POPSCompassion -or- Philosophy of windows into the soul "Besides, the effectual truth of enlightened self-interest and the invocation of rights in service of that interest was hateful competition among men, not genuine co-operation. Ultimately commerce and all other such forms of competition serve the passion of amour-propre or vanity, which craves superiority over our fellows or inequality for its own sake. Rousseau thus presents the emergent liberal commercial society in which Montesquieu, Hume, and Smith invested such hopes as a lurid nightmare of strife, exploitation, and cruelty." "Commerce makes men more alike while also multiplying inequalities among them. Montesquieu seized on the first of these facts to welcome commerce as a new dawn: whereas difference bred narrowness and hostility, sameness brought greater understanding. Rousseau, by contrast, stressed the second of these elements, presenting commerce as driving men apart even as it supposedly brought them together."
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POPSThe Enlightenment and dogmatism of the mediaeval and the awakening of modernity. Medieval philosophy combined Christian beliefs with the ideas of Plato and Aristotle. In the medieval world philosophers respected their predecessors and accepted their methods. If a new discovery about nature contradicted one of Aristotle's principles, for example, it would probably have been assumed that it was the discovery that was in error. Enlightenment thinkers were not content to accept appeals to Aristotle's authority. It could be seen that using experimental methods science was progressing and increasing our understanding of nature, which could not have been done without rejecting some of Aristotle's assumptions. It was not only Aristotle that was being questioned, using reason and logic philosophers criticised political and religious ideas. What rational answer is there for the justification of monarchy or that you should choose one type of religion over another?
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POPSintellectual More is better, when it comes to wealth and intelligence. Better is better, when it comes to looks and intellect. It's always OK to be intelligent. Being an intellectual is another matter.
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POPSAmericans Are Smart - NO THEY ARE NOT!
Bill Maher's Friday March 7, 2008 episode of New Rules, says it all. Bill states, "Politicians have got to stop saying, AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE SMARTER THAN THAT!" Bill bellows, "NO THEY ARE NOT!" And oh, is he ever so correct in that statement. Read the article http://thinkingblue.blogspot.com/ & judge for yourself. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH US AMERICANS? HOW DID WE GET SO DUMB? It is truly an embarrassment. But what can you expect when these same Americans voted in for their Commander-In-Cheif, one of the stupidest boneheads ever to walk this planet. I'm not saying Dubya is mentally incompetent but he is so dumb his presence sparked a slew of YO PRES' SO DUMB... jokes: Now enjoy Bill Maher's NEW RULES for March 7, 2008 http://www.thethinkingblue.com/dumbdown.html OR http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsOHSHSzNBw Read article: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/3/11/embarrassingly-stupid-americans-one-in-five-believes-sun-revolves-around-earth.aspx
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POPSThe Arrogance of Being Dumb Sort of, "In my humble opinion you are stupid because you can think." The comfort to be found within a confederacy of dunces. (And imho a far greater indicator of the growth of fascism than them bad folk at the top)
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POPSAmericans Getting Dumber Not only Americans are getting dumber. In Europe the same process started also. Mainly evoked by brainwashing media like tv. About seven years ago somebody wrote on the Internet: "there will come a time where humanty will be split in on-liners and off-liners. The on-liners will have all the knowledge, the off-liners non. I think it's already happening.
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POPSJesus in My Oatmeal For those of you out there who have recently been awed by the appearance of Jesus or Mary in your marmalade here's a more rational explanation for you to try on. Rationality. It's really a good thing.
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POPSReport on Resistentialism Resistentialism, a sombre, post-atomic philosophy of pagan, despairing nobility, advocates complete withdrawal from Things..;-)
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POPSwhat our leaders should be discussing...America's responsibility We must pursue a utilitarian government and substance over symbolism. The primary focus of any act of a governing body should always be the realistic result of that act. When analyzing a proposed policy, do not be swayed by emotional promises of an idealistic nature. Only consider whether it will logically result in a solution to a problem, while simultaneously not causing worse problems in the process.
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POPSPhilosophy since the Enlightenment Philosophy can sometimes seem like like a subject that has little practical application, but in studying it the way we think is examined, dramatic differences, and similarities can be seen in the way beliefs can be held by people with apparently rational justification. These beliefs and opinions have a direct effect on the way the world is seen. 'Reality' may stay the same, but if the way it is seen changes, is it the same reality ?
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POPSOakeshott on Rationalism and Tyrany Although, needless to say, my politics follow a very different path from Oakeshott, he's still a fascinating thinker, who knew how to provoke good questions. For instance, why did mankind feel the need to create Rationalism when we already had rationality?
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POPSEvolution vs. Creationism: Listen to the Scientists The clip below is part of a series of clips available at http://evolutionvscreationsim.info. What is at stake here is not evolution or creationism, quite the contrary, what is truly at stake in the United States is a reliance on rationalism vs a reliance on revelation. But, then we must ask just whose revelation trumps all others? Rationalism, thoughtful analysis of observable data or revelation, interpretation of the mythical explanations for just about everything based solely on what someone said was revealed to him or her a long time ago (unless you follow Scientology as revealed to L. Ron Hubbard just a few decades ago).
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POPSJoshua D Greene - moral decision-making On a functional, rational, emotional basis of morality. My research program aims at a synthesis of these two perspectives There's a list of publications at the source (bottom of the page)
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