Comments | free_thought181: (без темы)

free_thought181

(Untitled)

Nov 07, 2005 22:56

If anyone out there still needs more convincing that the current push to allow torture by Messrs Bush and Cheney is horribly, horribly wrong, the fact that John Negroponte of all people is refusing to support it should clinch it. Mr Negroponte was not only instrumental in the Iran-Contra affair (in my opinion, the single worst act in our nation's ( Read more... )

torture, politics, rants, media

Comments 6

verdantinvidia November 8 2005, 08:10:39 UTC

They'll care when the path we're on now eventually leads to some sort of horrific catastrophe. I don't care to speculate what ( ... )

free_thought181 November 9 2005, 19:52:08 UTC

As depressing as it is, there's a good chance you're right.

So the question becomes, do we drive ourselves crazy trying to come up with a solution that may well be impossible, or do we give in to the futility and passively wait for the world to go to hell in a handbasket?

verdantinvidia November 10 2005, 02:02:34 UTC

I say we keep trying, but focus more energy into direct experimentation and innovation. People can be moved; it's just a matter of isolating what makes them tick.

Easier said than done, I know.

Also, I've been wondering if there might be some way to channel the energies of those more disenfranchised elements of society, who usually only turn their anger inwards out of misguided feelings of guilt and blame.

If those who are content in their ignorance can't be reached, the miserable and downtrodden may be our best hope.

kibsgaard November 9 2005, 19:45:48 UTC

I'm Jon,blah blah blah

kidding

kind of

free_thought181 November 9 2005, 19:48:48 UTC

You know, the reason I post long, rambling political rants here is because on lj, people can ignore them. Would you really rather I stop posting them here and start going on about it when we hang out?

Kidding

Kind of

(P.S. Are you back in Pierce County yet?)

thales1940 November 13 2005, 04:51:44 UTC

I'll take this from two perspectives. 1. The long view: when we argue we use reasons to persuade. But what is the process of reasoning? Check ot Encyc. of Phil. on "reason", only about two pages that say they don't know what it is. The article on thinking is a lot closer to the mark. My argument is that Thales discovered critical reasoning which involved the integration or the two ways we measure things: ordinal and cardinal. Before Thales the world had no idea of the power of cardinal numbers, which give us the power to be exact in our thinking. Pythagorus damaged the idea by not knowing how to integrate irrational numbers resulting in the mind/body dichotomy as evidenced by Hereclitus/Parmenides ( ... )