Nostr notes by Joseph

I don’t know. Maybe. Philosophers much smarter than me disagree ...

2026-10-14T01:52:42Z

In reply to nevent1q…c8j5
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I don’t know. Maybe. Philosophers much smarter than me disagree on this and similar questions. To those who believe in a metaphysical or theological explanation for humankind, Geoffrey Hinton’s words are hard to believe. But to physicalists and nonbelievers like Hinton, who see humans as biological machines, the brain might seem to create a user illusion of understanding in a way that is similar to what AI does. Perhaps it depends on how one defines “understanding.” Smart people also disagree on how “freewill” and “consciousness” should be defined.

RE: https://mastodon.social/@oldclumsy_nowmad/117433825013596353 ...

2026-10-13T13:52:26Z

RE: https://mastodon.social/@oldclumsy_nowmad/117433825013596353

“People have a very bad model of what people are, and that’s why they fail to understand how these AI models are very like us. Most people don’t understand what consciousness is. They don’t understand what subjective experience is, and they’re very confident that even though they don’t understand it, they’re sure AI doesn’t have it.”*

*He also notes that some of those behind this technology do not value traditional human ethics or democracy.

#Consciousness #AI #Ethics

I was thinking about this yesterday. Jacques Monod called for an ...

2026-10-04T15:09:57Z

In reply to nevent1q…p948
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I was thinking about this yesterday. Jacques Monod called for an “ethic of knowledge” in the final chapter of his book, Chance and Necessity. His friend, Albert Camus, argued in The Myth of Sisyphus for a striving to be our best selves despite a universe without meaning. They both were non-believers who eloquently sought the advancement of civilization. Religion, and most especially the self-serving religion of the far right today, locks society into obsolete beliefs tied to ignorant myths of the past rather than leveraging our intelligence and knowledge for the betterment of humankind.

Thanks everyone! New SATA drive and data cable ordered! 😊

2026-09-28T17:46:48Z

In reply to nevent1q…uaaj
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Thanks everyone! New SATA drive and data cable ordered! 😊

My daughter who has schizophrenia and some paranoia bought an old ...

2026-09-27T20:39:57Z

My daughter who has schizophrenia and some paranoia bought an old and beat up Dell 960 desktop computer without a hard drive on eBay. She wants a legacy computer because she thinks it is more secure than a newer computer and it is pointless to try convincing her otherwise. After reseating the two loose memory cards, I was able to successfully boot up Linux Mint Cinnamon from a USB drive as shown in the attached image. I can access the Linux Mint menu using the Windows key, but for some reason a USB mouse is not working. I am going to try using a dedicated mouse port instead to see if that works.

I have attached a photo of two unused cables that I assume are for the missing hard drive. Am I wrong? One of the cables is damaged and I may have to replace it. I am obviously not a hardware guy and am just stumbling my way through this. If I buy a 3.5 Dell SATA hard drive, can I expect it to plug and play (if I replace the damaged cable)? Or, is it more complicated than that?

#Linux #Dell #Hardware #PC #CPU

I once knew a Christian fundamentalist whose son wished to pursue ...

2026-09-24T22:15:22Z

In reply to nevent1q…tx8a
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I once knew a Christian fundamentalist whose son wished to pursue a PhD in apologetics. I kept my thoughts to myself, but I thought it was tragic.

Some excerpts for our time from The Rebel by Albert Camus (1951) ...

2026-09-20T04:25:26Z

Some excerpts for our time
from The Rebel by Albert Camus (1951)

“Moderation is a perpetual conflict, continually created and mastered by the intelligence. Whatever we may do, excess will always keep its place in the heart of man, in the place where solitude is found. We all carry within us our places of exile, our crimes and our ravages. But our task is not to unleash them on the world; it is to fight them in ourselves and in others…

The quantum theory, relativity, the uncertainty of interrelationships, define a world that has no definable reality except on the scale of average…

How would society define an absolute? Perhaps everyone is looking for this absolute on behalf of all. But society and politics only have the responsibility of arranging everyone's affairs so that each will have the leisure and the freedom to pursue this common search…

He who dedicates himself to the duration of his life, to the house he builds, to the dignity of mankind, dedicates himself to the earth and reaps from it the harvest that sows its seed and sustains the world again and again…

Merit lies in making no calculations, distributing everything it possesses to life and to living men. It is thus that it is prodigal in its gifts to men to come. Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present.”

#AlbertCamus #Philosophy #Books

Bertrand Russell reportedly once said “the fundamental cause of ...

2026-09-19T17:18:59Z

Bertrand Russell reportedly once said “the fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.” Michael Desronvil, the lone juror who voted “guilty” in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial, demonstrated Russell’s maxim by saying he "didn't have any doubts" that she knew what she was doing when she killed her children. Unless the other eleven jurors were wrong in having reasonable doubts, Desronvil was too ignorant to join them in that opinion.

#BertrandRussell #Crime #Justice #Insanity #Philosophy #LindsayClancy #Stupidity #Ignorance #MentalHealth

I have nearly finished reading The Rebel by Albert Camus in which ...

2026-09-17T14:11:10Z

I have nearly finished reading The Rebel by Albert Camus in which the author hypothesizes about right- and left-wing rebel philosophies that have led to totalitarianism and mass atrocities from the times of ancient Greece to the end of his life in post-WWII years. It seems prescient to today. The book is well-written, persuasive, and disturbing. [The Rebel, The Fall, and Resistance, Rebellion and Death have probably been my favorites of Camus’ books. I also found The Plague, The First Man, and The Myth of Sisyphus (which I read twice to better understand) are excellent. In hindsight, I wish I had read about Camus’ allegorical intentions behind The Plague before reading it.]

Incidentally, as a fan of Richard Powers’ writing, I found that reading The First Man by Camus increased my already high appreciation for Generosity: An Enhancement by Powers with its magical ending and led to me reading Generosity a second time. That book is as much about creative writing as it is about the storyline and its Algerian protagonist. It is also a book that reveals Powers’ admiration of Camus’ writing.

Lastly, a biography titled Brave Genius: A Scientist, a Philosopher, and Their Daring Adventures from the French Resistance to the Nobel Prize by Sean B. Carroll is an excellent exploration of the brilliant lives and friendship of Albert Camus and Jacques Monod.

#AlbertCamus #Totalitarianism #Reading #Books #Literature #Writing #RichardPowers #SeanCarroll #Philosophy

Humankind is “in a poor way.”

2026-09-17T13:19:07Z

In reply to nevent1q…677w
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Humankind is “in a poor way.”

“It is not certain that our time has lacked gods. Many have ...

2026-09-07T10:35:46Z

“It is not certain that our time has lacked gods. Many have been proposed, usually stupid or cowardly ones. Our time does, on the other hand, seem to lack a dictionary. At least, this is obvious to those in this world in which all words are prostituted—who hope for justice that is unambiguous and liberty that is unequivocal.” - Albert Camus

#Philosophy #Linguistics

Agreed. I think there are those kinds of people who need a fear ...

2026-09-01T14:20:08Z

In reply to nevent1q…w8kr
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Agreed. I think there are those kinds of people who need a fear of hell to behave themselves, which is why I have always thought ‘Imagine’ by John Lennon was unrealistic. But, maybe it does not really matter. Nazi Germany was and MAGA America is largely Christian, suggesting that people can adapt their religious beliefs to justify all kinds of cruelty.

Our justice system might be a second area… but, I guess one ...

2026-09-01T13:50:01Z

In reply to nevent1q…8kdf
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Our justice system might be a second area… but, I guess one could argue it is informed by religion.

This makes me think of the Lindsay Clancy trial where the jurors ...

2026-09-01T13:48:08Z

In reply to nevent1q…qszl
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This makes me think of the Lindsay Clancy trial where the jurors seem to be having a hard time agreeing on whether she is evil or mentally ill. Here’s a thought for those religious who are leaning toward evil: Have you ever been tempted to kill your children and only restrained yourself by summoning your moral fortitude? Or, are you fortunate to have a relatively healthy brain, albeit one with some irrational beliefs?

Nostr event nevent1qqsv5l36jdvv5f0ytzac4tp86d4zgajh6pargaw6r60e7d49epnymdqzyqdca99rr7zeqlucds9ugszk75ka6jrc6uxckcnmd0e56k6748fus6j0vml

2026-08-29T13:49:37Z

https://open.substack.com/pub/awaisaftab/p/lindsay-clancy-and-the-dream-of-a?r=1uuco6&utm_medium=ios

#Psychiatry #MentalHealth #Criminology #Ethics #FreeWill #Society

Nostr event nevent1qqsrz8xapsz5l2ls69hqu8rgjklqgxtrfsxssjr8qp4hml5enea8x6szyqdca99rr7zeqlucds9ugszk75ka6jrc6uxckcnmd0e56k6748fus9y9ezk

2026-08-17T20:43:08Z

In reply to nevent1q…wzm2
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https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090513825001370

Nice People (1931) by Bertrand Russell, excerpted from Why I Am ...

2026-08-17T13:59:23Z

Nice People (1931) by Bertrand Russell, excerpted from Why I Am Not A Christian and other essays on religion and related subjects

“I know at this moment a foreign woman living in England, in happy though extralegal union with a man whom she loves and who loves her; unfortunately her political opinions are not so conservative as could be wished, though they are mere opinions, about which she does nothing. The nice people, however, have used this excuse to set Scotland Yard upon the scent, and she is to be sent back to her native country to starve. In England, as in America, the foreigner is a morally degrading influence, and we all owe a debt of gratitude to the police for the care which they take to see that only exceptionally virtuous foreigners are allowed to reside among us.”

#Sarcasm #Immigration #Policing #Cruelty #BertrandRussell #Philosophy #Books

I don’t know if your ‘befiend’ is deliberate, a Freudian ...

2026-08-16T11:28:31Z

In reply to nevent1q…grkq
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I don’t know if your ‘befiend’ is deliberate, a Freudian slip, or merely a typographical error. But I think it should be added to the dictionary. A usage example might be ‘I befiend oligarchs.’

Paco Hope (npub18md…dgg0)

Have you ever befriended a crow or raven? #Poll #Birds #Birding ...

2026-08-15T17:00:35Z

Have you ever befriended a crow or raven?
#Poll #Birds #Birding #Corvids

It’s largely fear, I think—fear of death; fear of offending ...

2026-08-14T14:38:27Z

In reply to nevent1q…n5r0
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It’s largely fear, I think—fear of death; fear of offending god. Nearly 20 years ago a Christian friend sent me a book, The Historical Figure of Jesus by E. P. Sanders. Even though Sanders was a believer, his book and a couple of liberal Catholic nuns led me to question more. That was extremely uncomfortable for me after being a reasonably devout Catholic for the first 50 years of life. Life experiences and books by Albert Camus, Jacques Monod, Daniel Dennett, and Bertrand Russell also contributed. I have found a joy in knowledge that is quite similar to the joy I once associated with religious experiences. I enjoy your original toots and quotations of others.

I look forward to your photos. My wife and I drove Trail Ridge ...

2026-08-13T14:38:52Z

In reply to nevent1q…zyha
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I look forward to your photos. My wife and I drove Trail Ridge Road several years ago—easier than hiking.

Why I Am Not A Christian by Bertrand Russell 1/6 I am reading Why ...

2026-08-08T16:26:39Z

Why I Am Not A Christian by Bertrand Russell

1/6 I am reading Why I Am Not A Christian (1927) by Bertrand Russell, a collection of essays by the atheist philosopher that were published in book form 99 years ago. I note that Russell admired many of the teachings attributed to Jesus Christ, but not their interpretation or application by those who identify as Christians. I think this is particularly relevant to today’s absurd version of Christianity as practiced by conservative politicians and their followers.

#Philosophy #Atheism #Religion #Society #Empiricism #Knowledge #BertrandRussell #Books #Bookstodon

Is it possibly because you detected a new micro-cadence within ...

2026-08-01T09:53:38Z

In reply to nevent1q…7447
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Is it possibly because you detected a new micro-cadence within the macro-cadence? I sometimes notice a variety of cadences within sounds or while walking that depend on how my brain interprets small units and groups them into patterns.

“Youth is wasted on the young.” - George Bernard Shaw (maybe) ...

2026-07-13T16:39:16Z

“Youth is wasted on the young.” - George Bernard Shaw (maybe)

I am going to settle into my sofa and continue reading The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky. It is probably the last of three books by the author that I will read, because there are so many books and so little time. I already read Crime and Punishment, and The Brothers Karamazov.

But back to the introductory quote: Many of the classics I am reading were probably read by others in high school or early college, instead of as a geezer in my case. But I think I would not have fully understood the philosophical implications of many classics if I had read them in my youth. In fact, although I read The Plague by Albert Camus in my youth and again as an old-timer, I was still fooled. I only recently learned after reading Brave Genius, Sean Carroll’s biography of Albert Camus and Jacques Monod, that The Plague is intended as an allegory for the Nazi occupation of France during World War II. Even my brother who read the book many years ago and later earned a PhD in English did not know this. Now I suppose that I should read it a third time.

#Bookstodon #Dostoevsky #AlbertCamus #Books #Reading #Philosophy

It is a thought provoking poll. I had to ponder the second poll a ...

2026-07-13T12:49:06Z

In reply to nevent1q…l2hs
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It is a thought provoking poll. I had to ponder the second poll a little bit before answering, because I have been persuaded by reading books by cognitive neuroscientists and philosophers that minds and consciousness are useful illusions that arise from the activity of neurons in our physical brains. So if we and our brains are biological machines, it might imply to AI researchers that it should be theoretically possible to duplicate human consciousness and empathy in electronic machines. But how would anyone ever know they had achieved such a goal without simultaneously being machine and human for comparison? Even if that duality were possible we might not know since personalities differ and it would be hard to tell if any differences were innate to our different internal workings or part of expected variation that can be seen even in identical twins and non-human animal clones. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines empathy as “the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another.” A quick search of the internet finds sources that say humans can have empathy for dogs. But I don’t think so under the above definition of empathy. I can’t be certain that I understand what a dog or any other animal is thinking or feeling.

The Adulterous Wife by Albert Camus is a short story about a ...

2026-07-08T02:17:26Z

The Adulterous Wife by Albert Camus is a short story about a middle-aged woman, Jeanine, who is trapped in an emotionless marriage. The story is included in a collection published as a book titled Exile and the Kingdom. As written by Camus, while on a business trip in Algeria with her husband, the fictional Jeanine has this experience after climbing the long staircase of a ruined castle to view the horizon:

“In the advancing afternoon, the light softened gently; the crystalline sharpness dissolved. At the same time, in the heart of a woman brought there by chance alone, a knot tightened by years, habit, and boredom was slowly loosening. She looked at the nomad encampment. She had not even seen the men who were living there, nothing was moving among the black tents, and yet she could think only of them, of their existence, which she had hardly known of until today. Homeless, remote from the world, they were a handful of men wandering through the vast territory her gaze had discovered, and which was nonetheless only a trivial part of a still greater space, whose dizzying course stopped only thousands of kilometers farther south, where the first river finally waters the forest. Since the beginning, on the dry earth of this measureless land scraped to the bone, a few men ceaselessly made their way, possessing nothing but serving no one, the destitute and free lords of a strange kingdom. Janine did not know why this idea filled her with a sadness so sweet and so vast that she closed her eyes. She only knew that this kingdom had been promised to her from time immemorial, and that it would never be hers, never again, except perhaps in that fleeting moment when she opened her eyes once more on the suddenly still sky and its streams of fixed light, as the voices rising from the Arab town fell suddenly quiet. It seemed to her that the turning Earth had simply stopped, and that from now on no one would grow old or die. Everywhere, henceforth, life was suspended, except in her heart, where at that very moment someone was weeping with pain and wonder.”

#AlbertCamus #Camus #Bookstodon #Literature #Philosophy #Fiction #Algeria

Original Sin 1/9 My father had epilepsy. He said it began after ...

2026-07-05T23:50:55Z

Original Sin

1/9 My father had epilepsy. He said it began after he dove into a shallow creek and knocked himself out by hitting his head on a submerged rock. Maybe that was the proximate cause after a genetic predisposition. My mother said one of his uncles had epilepsy. Perhaps it was the uncle who died at age 29. If he died from an epileptic seizure, that would have been stigmatizing in the early 1900s. Maybe it is why I was able to find obituaries for his siblings, but not for him.

#Genealogy #Genes #Genetics #Religion #Christianity #Faith #Biology #FreeWill
#Ethics #Morality #MentalHealth #Bookstodon #Psychology #Justice #Sin #KathrynPaigeHarden #Bookstodon

I was actually thinking about this very point while hiking a ...

2026-07-05T15:06:38Z

In reply to nevent1q…7zwe
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I was actually thinking about this very point while hiking a couple days ago. I have a greater appreciation for empiricism and my present surroundings since leaving religion behind.

Yeah, I wouldn’t want to do it. Does that make me more ...

2026-07-03T12:04:17Z

In reply to nevent1q…dzgd
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Yeah, I wouldn’t want to do it. Does that make me more forgiving than god?

Something I admire about those I follow on the Fediverse is that ...

2026-06-28T16:40:59Z

Something I admire about those I follow on the Fediverse is that many of you seem to be highly skilled persons who could possibly land lucrative jobs in the current administration, or under a supportive oligarch, if you were only willing to abandon your ethical principles to do their bidding. But, instead, here you are! Congratulations!

#Ethics #Morality #Sunday #Music #LouReed #VelvetUnderground

https://youtu.be/Xhbyj8pqUao?is=q3GVUyPN1slsRB_o

I am a fan of the late Daniel Dennett’s books. As a former ...

2026-06-26T14:06:28Z

In reply to nevent1q…8rpa
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I am a fan of the late Daniel Dennett’s books. As a former Christian myself, I am suspicious of whether those now controlling all three branches of the US government are really Christian believers since their cruelty often seems boundless. But, if their actions are moderated by a belief in hell, I fear what they might be capable of doing if they become unbelievers like me. I don’t think we can assume they would become models of kindness and generosity.

I think they count. They convey to the recipient that you are ...

2026-06-13T11:17:32Z

In reply to nevent1q…vm6s
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I think they count. They convey to the recipient that you are thinking of them, certainly more so than a typed email, but perhaps less so than a longer note handwritten on paper. Your comment and my response to it remind me of poems by Naomi Shihab Nye: “Valentine for Ernest Mann” and “Gate A-4” are two that come to mind.

I guess a handwritten note sent through the mail is the probably ...

2026-06-13T11:00:12Z

I guess a handwritten note sent through the mail is the probably the most secure form of communication today. I intend to begin using it more frequently, in cursive, if that is legible in spite of my essential tremor. I know just who I am going to write first. I will get started shortly. Do you ever handwrite letters?

#Writing #Letters #Mail #Communication #Cursive

Guapo sporting an Elizabethan collar (aka cone of shame) because ...

2026-06-12T21:48:43Z

Guapo sporting an Elizabethan collar (aka cone of shame) because he licked one of his paws until it was raw due to a yeast and bacterial infection. #Dogs

i think the primary reason why a dog gets excited after a bath ...

2026-05-19T18:17:42Z

i think the primary reason why a dog gets excited after a bath is: #Dogs #Poll

Funny, I was thinking about this yesterday while almost finishing ...

2026-05-10T11:23:33Z

In reply to nevent1q…j93g
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Funny, I was thinking about this yesterday while almost finishing up The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky which I have been slowly reading. I wondered how much I was missing of the author’s implied meaning in the characters.

What a lovely toot! Congratulations to you and your partner! For ...

2026-05-07T21:40:24Z

In reply to nevent1q…6u3p
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What a lovely toot! Congratulations to you and your partner! For me this is the Toot of the Day.

Believing, as I do, that the universe is an absurd place with no ...

2026-04-29T14:32:00Z

Believing, as I do, that the universe is an absurd place with no meaning or purpose sometimes makes it difficult for me to balance my fondness for empathy with that belief and a concomitant acceptance that bad things happen for no reason: Children are born with terrible disabilities, young people starve or die of cancer; narcissists rule the world; no one will be punished or rewarded. I believe that our consciousness is a useful illusion and we will simply disappear at the ends of our lives. Yet relying on empiricism to understand our planet and life itself as products of chemical and evolutionary processes, then using reasoning to try forming a holistic scientific philosophy that is compatible with my chosen values, is an interesting endeavor. Albert Camus, who is generally credited with absurdism, did a nice job of defending such an outlook in his writings. So did his friend, Jacques Monod, who along with Camus was a member of the French Resistance in World War II.

#Camus #Monod #Absurdism #Philosophy

It is called a window winder, which I know from replacing a ...

2026-04-23T22:01:49Z

In reply to nevent1q…xve8
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It is called a window winder, which I know from replacing a broken one in a car I once owned. I was riding in a taxi, a Peugeot 504 in Senegal or Mali more than 40 years ago, when another passenger lowered a window that was apparently difficult to close. The driver became very angry, yelled at the passenger, pulled over to the side of the highway, and struggled to get the window mostly closed again by pulling up on the glass and wiggling the winder. Then we got back on our way. It is one of those seemingly insignificant events that became a longterm memory, just now recalled after many years due to your prompt.

Wait. I thought aborted fetuses went to the limbus infantium. ...

2026-04-23T11:32:28Z

In reply to nevent1q…cm7r
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Wait. I thought aborted fetuses went to the limbus infantium. 🤔

It being the Artists Village, a community of village weaver birds ...

2026-04-23T11:26:46Z

In reply to nevent1q…k549
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It being the Artists Village, a community of village weaver birds could be invited to work in the baobab tree. In addition, the photo includes a striking mélange of small and old French colonial-style buildings for artists in the foreground with large multistory office buildings for capitalists in the background. I see an LED light fixture mounted above the door of the Médiathèque, most likely a disposable one.

Excerpts from the last chapter of Chance and Necessity by Jacques ...

2026-04-18T14:43:15Z

Excerpts from the last chapter of Chance and Necessity by Jacques Monod

1/9 “The prodigious developments of knowledge over the past three centuries are forcing man to make an agonizing reappraisal of his concept of himself and his relation to the world, a concept rooted in him for tens of thousands of years…”

#Philosophy #Religion #Ethics #Law #Society #Evolution #Science

If Tennessee Williams really said this and he was correct, no ...

2026-04-14T12:13:07Z

In reply to nevent1q…l2pd
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If Tennessee Williams really said this and he was correct, no wonder Trump is still popular among a large segment of the US population.

“It’s the process I don’t like.” - my young son in a ...

2026-04-11T13:10:53Z

In reply to nevent1q…5n43
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“It’s the process I don’t like.” - my young son in a dentist’s chair many years ago.

So you’re not going to install Linux to extend the lifespan of ...

2026-04-08T15:38:10Z

In reply to nevent1q…vfmy
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So you’re not going to install Linux to extend the lifespan of that old tower?

Democritus (460-370 BCE) purportedly believed “everything ...

2026-04-04T13:31:22Z

In reply to nevent1q…fmcy
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Democritus (460-370 BCE) purportedly believed “everything existing in the universe is the fruit of chance and necessity.” Jacques Monod (1910-1976), Nobel Laureate, elaborated in the final chapter of his 1970 book titled Chance and Necessity that humankind needs to replace ethics based on religious beliefs with ethics based on knowledge. I agree with him.

A Call for a New Ethics The photo shows epigraphs from the book, ...

2026-03-27T20:38:30Z

A Call for a New Ethics

The photo shows epigraphs from the book, Chance and Necessity (1970) by Jacques Monod’s, a biochemist and Nobel Laureate. In the last chapter of the book, Monod eloquently argued more than 50 years ago for a new ethics based on a foundation of KNOWLEDGE rather than religious beliefs. He knew it would be both difficult for people to accept and the only hope for advancing human society. I highly recommend the book.

Albert Camus, also a Nobel Laureate, argues in his writings that one can live an honorable and happy life in an absurd universe without gods. Donald Trump disagrees: “To have a great nation, you have to have religion. I believe that so strongly. There has to be something after we go through all of this — and that something is God". #Ethics #Philosophy #Religion #Science #Evolution #Knowledge #Bookstodon

“The ethic of knowledge is, in my view, the only attitude which ...

2026-03-25T20:27:27Z

“The ethic of knowledge is, in my view, the only attitude which is both rational and resolutely idealistic.” — Jacques Monod, Chance and Necessity.

#Ethics #Philosophy #Education #Knowledge #Evolution #NaturalSelection #Science #Society #Civilization

It should be okay to discuss this topic. But you may lose ...

2026-03-06T01:58:23Z

In reply to nevent1q…hk5u
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It should be okay to discuss this topic. But you may lose followers as I have sometimes. Though it is not her fault, my daughter with her delusional disorder is not a reliable source of information. And, blind persons are not good taxicab drivers. I like this quote from The Echo Maker, a novel by Richard Powers partly about a character with Capgras syndrome: “Consciousness works by telling a story, one that is whole, continuous, and stable. When that story breaks, consciousness rewrites it. Each revised draft claims to be the original. And so, when disease or accident interrupts us, we’re often the last to know.”

It would make me need to go pee.

2026-02-24T18:00:45Z

In reply to nevent1q…fcu8
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It would make me need to go pee.

In Favor of Civilization https://youtu.be/Uhruz_6S4_s I like this ...

2026-02-14T14:30:39Z

In Favor of Civilization

https://youtu.be/Uhruz_6S4_s

I like this last of 133 videotaped interviews of the late Manfred Eigen, Nobel Laureate and chemist from Germany, who was awarded 15 honorary doctorates in his life (including one by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem) and who was a member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences despite his atheism. He was director of the Max Planck Institute in Germany and was a founding member of the World Cultural Council which promotes cultural values, goodwill, and philanthropy.

Even if I am merely a biological machine with the useful illusion of consciousness that Daniel Dennett called the brain’s simplified user interface for itself, which he compared metaphorically to the relationship of a smartphone screen to the complex events that happen inside the phone, that does not imply that I wish to be treated like a machine. As pointed out by Dennett and Manfred Eigen, the evolution of advanced capabilities for learning and thinking have given us the ability to advance ethics and civilization far more rapidly than evolution by leveraging our freewill, even if one considers that an illusion—it is a very useful illusion for the benefit society and humankind.

#Comsciousness #Ethics #Neuroscience #Civilization #Society #Evolution #Learning #Education #Chemistry #Biology #Science #Empiricism

Seen on a neighborhood walk a while back. #BumperSticker #Rainbow ...

2026-02-01T01:31:16Z

Seen on a neighborhood walk a while back. #BumperSticker #Rainbow #Ethics #Voting

Open borders are natural and possible in a more civilized world. ...

2026-01-24T16:42:48Z

Open borders are natural and possible in a more civilized world. #WislawaSzymborska #Poetry #Borders #Immigration #Civilization #Humanity #Empathy

PSALM* by Wislawa Szymborska, winner of the 1996 Nobel Prize for Literature.

Oh, the leaky boundaries of man-made states!
How many clouds float past them with impunity; how much desert sand shifts from one land to another; how many mountain pebbles tumble onto foreign soil in provocative hops!

Need I mention every single bird that flies in the face of frontiers or alights on the roadblock at the border?
A humble robin—still, its tail resides abroad
while its beak stays home. If that weren't enough, it won't stop bobbing!

Among innumerable insects, I'll single out only the ant between the border guard's left and right boots blithely ignoring the questions "Where from?" and "Where to?"

Oh, to register in detail, at a glance, the chaos prevailing on every continent!
Isn't that a privet on the far bank
smuggling its hundred-thousandth leaf across the river?
And who but the octopus, with impudent long arms, would disrupt the sacred bounds of territorial waters?

And how can we talk of order overall when the very placement of the stars leaves us doubting just what shines for whom?

Not to speak of the fog's reprehensible drifting!
And dust blowing all over the steppes as if they hadn't been partitioned
And the voices coasting on obliging airwaves, that conspiratorial squeaking, those indecipherable mutters.

Only what is human can truly be foreign.
The rest is mixed vegetation, subversive moles, and wind.

*Translated from Polish by Stanislaw Baranczak and Clare Cavanagh and excerpted from the book, Wislawa Szymborska, Poems New and Collected 1957-1997.

Guapo, my rescue dog, doesn’t put up with any nonsense from ice ...

2026-01-06T22:07:50Z

Guapo, my rescue dog, doesn’t put up with any nonsense from ice cream trucks cruising down the street with their ridiculous pseudo-calliope electronic music blaring. He clearly chased the truck away with his loud barking, because it is now quiet outside. Guapo is recovering from his exertion on a sofa. Good boy! #Dogs

Counterpoints Integrated or interdisciplinary studies at colleges ...

2025-12-31T17:56:48Z

Counterpoints

Integrated or interdisciplinary studies at colleges and universities have at least partly bridged the divides between academic disciplines. Nonetheless, I think contrasts in the viewpoints of physicist and Nobel laureate Richard Feynman (1918-1988) with naturalist and philosopher Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) remain interesting.

Richard Feynman (1918-1988), a physicist and Nobel laureate, once reportedly said "Philosophy of science is as useful to scientists as ornithology is to birds."

Aldo Leopold (1887-1948), a naturalist and philosopher, wrote this in A Sand County Almanac—And Sketches Here and There: “There are men charged with the duty of examining the construction of the plants, animals, and soils which are the instruments of the great orchestra. These men are called professors. Each selects one instrument and spends his life taking it apart and describing its strings and sounding boards. This process of dismemberment is called research. The place for dismemberment is called a university. A professor may pluck the strings of his own instrument, but never that of another, and if he listens for music he must never admit it to his fellows or to his students. For all are restrained by an ironbound taboo which decrees that the construction of instruments is the domain of science, while the detection of harmony is the domain of poets… Professors serve science and science serves progress. It serves progress so well that many of the more intricate instruments are stepped upon and broken in the rush to spread progress to all backward lands. One by one the parts are thus stricken from the song of songs.”

#Science #Philosophy #Counterpoints #Bookstodon #Physics #Ecology #Nature

I received a Pendleton wool shirt for Christmas this year. I ...

2025-12-26T13:07:07Z

I received a Pendleton wool shirt for Christmas this year. I wonder when I would get to wear it with the high temperature forecast to exceed 80F today in Austin, Texas. I really hate this weather.

The wool fabric was made in the USA. But I am disappointed to see the shirt was assembled in El Salvador where the working conditions in garment factories are known to often be deplorable. The online retailer did not disclose this information. I think I’ll return it.

#GlobalWarming #ClimateChange #Labor

“Do you believe,” said Candide, “that men have always ...

2025-11-30T10:59:59Z

“Do you believe,” said Candide, “that men have always massacred each other as they do today, that they have always been liars, cheats, traitors, ingrates, brigands, idiots, thieves, scoundrels, gluttons, drunkards, misers, envious, ambitious, bloody-minded, calumniators, debauchees, fanatics, hypocrites, and fools?”

“Do you believe,” said Martin, “that hawks have always eaten pigeons when they have found them?”

“Yes, without doubt,” said Candide

“Well then,” said Martin, “if hawks have always had the same character why should you imagine that men may have changed theirs?”

“Oh!” said Candide, “there is a vast deal of difference, for free will——“

- excerpt from Candide by Voltaire

#Bookstodon #Voltaire #Freewill #Ethics

I just finished reading Caught In The Pulpit: Leaving Belief ...

2025-11-24T17:53:04Z

I just finished reading Caught In The Pulpit: Leaving Belief Behind by Daniel Dennett and Linda LaScola based on interviews with former clergy and current clergy who no longer believe in the divine. It was kind of interesting, especially in places, but the qualitative design of the research on which it is based made it more speculative than another Dennett book titled Breaking The Spell: Religion As A Natural Phenomenon which I liked more. Books I’ve recently read have given me a more interdisciplinary view of some subjects. I haven’t yet decided what I’ll read next. But I have a few possibilities in mind.

#Bookstodon #Philosophy #Religion #Science
#Dennett

Walking / Hiking 1/ Beginning a 10k hike from Brodie Lane in ...

2025-11-16T18:21:32Z

Walking / Hiking

1/ Beginning a 10k hike from Brodie Lane in Austin, Texas along the Bauerle Ranch / Slaughter Creek trails going eastward.

“I have often started off on a walk in the state called mad: Mad in the sense of sore-headed, or mad with tedium or confusion; I have set forth dull, null and even thoroughly discouraged. But I never came back in such a frame of mind, and I never met a human being whose humor was not the better for a walk.”
- Donald C. Peattie (1898-1964)

#Walking #Hiking #Nature #Philosophy #Austin #Texas

That paragraph from the Nobel Committee also caught my eye and ...

2025-10-10T13:55:42Z

In reply to nevent1q…rr89
_________________________

That paragraph from the Nobel Committee also caught my eye and made me wonder who in the U.S. is best putting such principles into consistent practice with their oratorial or writing skills. Anyone?

Some excerpts from Breaking the Spell (2006) by Daniel Dennett ...

2025-10-09T16:37:22Z

Some excerpts from Breaking the Spell (2006) by Daniel Dennett

“We need to secure our democratic society against the subversions of those who would use democracy as a ladder to theocracy and then throw it away, and we need to spread the knowledge that is the fruit of free inquiry…

A research topic of particular urgency, but also particular ethical and political sensitivity, is the effect of religious upbringing and education on young children… What do we teach them until they are informed enough and mature enough to decide for themselves? We teach them all the world’s religions, in a matter-of-fact, historically and biologically informed way, the same way we teach them about geography and history and arithmetic. This should all be part of the mandated curriculum for both public schools and homeschooling…

As communications technology makes it harder and harder for leaders to shield their people from outside information, and as the economic realities of the twenty-first century make it clear that education is the most important investment any parent can make in a child, the floodgates will open all over the world with tumultuous effects…

As the experience in the former Soviet Union shows only too clearly, the worst features of capitalism and high tech are among the most robust replicators in this population explosion of memes, and there will be plenty of grounds for xenophobia, Luddism, and the tempting ‘hygiene’ of backward-looking fundamentalism…

Cults and prophets proclaiming the imminent end of the world have been with us for several millennia, and it has been another sour sort of fun to ridicule them the morning after… [but] some are working hard to ‘hasten the inevitable,’… taking political action to bring about the conditions they think are the prerequisites for that occasion...

Until the priests and rabbis and imams and their flocks explicitly condemn by name the dangerous individuals and congregations within their ranks, they are all complicit.”

#Religion #Extremism #Ignorance #Democracy #Theocracy #Philosophy #Dennett #Bookstodon #Education #Indoctrination #Misinformation #Disinformation #Internet

Driving home from a poor round of golf today, I was behind a ...

2025-10-02T18:25:28Z

Driving home from a poor round of golf today, I was behind a vehicle with a bumper sticker showing a Christian cross superimposed on the U.S. flag. I am going to guess that driver and I would not see eye-to-eye. Now I will return to reading Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon (2006) by Daniel Dennett. I am only about 15% into it on my wife’s Kindle and like it, but not quite as much as I enjoyed Consciousness Explained (1991) and Darwin’s Dangerous Idea (1996) by the same author. Many of the points Dennett makes in Breaking the Spell are ones that I had already considered, whereas the other two books had more “wow” moments for me.

#Philosophy #Religion #Christianity #Books #Bookstodon #Dennett

Courtesy and patience play to one’s advantage, I think. I was ...

2025-09-30T00:55:15Z

In reply to nevent1q…hxf8
_________________________

Courtesy and patience play to one’s advantage, I think. I was once boarding a delayed flight. The airline employee was apologized to each grumpy passenger. When she got to me, I smiled and said the delay was not a problem and certainly was not her fault. She looked at my 2-meter height and quickly modified my boarding pass to seat me at a bulkhead where there was plenty of leg room. 😀

False Imprisonment (related to the Austin Yogurt Shop Murders) ...

2025-09-29T16:23:03Z

False Imprisonment
(related to the Austin Yogurt Shop Murders)

The murders of four young women at a yogurt shop in Austin, Texas nearly 34 years ago has been in the news for the last few days after it was announced that DNA and ballistics testing results have tied the crime to a serial killer who died by suicide 25 years ago. The identification of the murderer has fairly been touted as a triumph of persistence by investigators who refused to give up on the case. Too bad investigators initially charged, convicted, and put two innocent persons in prison. Oops.

One thing that has received very little mention in recent news articles about the case is the wrongful conviction and imprisonment for nearly ten years of two persons who were coerced into falsely confessing to the crimes. As I recall, one of the two claimed he was interrogated by a police officer holding a gun to his head. After their release after nearly ten years in prison at least one of the two sought compensation under Texas law for wrongful conviction and imprisonment. But he was denied by Texas judges who, perhaps based on wishes of some prosecutors to retrial him, thought he was not really innocent. Is that not also a tragedy? It seems to me the injustice of the false charges, convictions, imprisonment, and victimization of two men who are still living today should be a bigger part of news stories. That this angle has been mostly ignored tell us something about a retributive emphasis that dominates the justice paradigm in the U.S. at the expense of what could otherwise be a more civilized restorative approach, and how that paradigm influences the narrative in mainstream U.S. journalism.

#Austin #Texas #Murder #Justice #Courts #Judges #Journalism #Law #Police #Prison #Jail #Retribution #Rhetoric #Civilization #Morality #Ethics #RestorativeJustice

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/suspect-identified-in-infamous-texas-yogurt-shop-murder-case-48-hours/

The first three associations my brain formed were the look of the ...

2025-09-28T11:34:39Z

In reply to nevent1q…ljkx
_________________________

The first three associations my brain formed were the look of the warehouse at the end of the movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and imagining how the insides of the Borg cube in Star Trek or the Death Star in Star Wars might look.

21/25 “According to a recent poll, 48 percent of the people in ...

2025-09-27T00:35:12Z

In reply to nevent1q…va0c
_________________________

21/25

“According to a recent poll, 48 percent of the people in the United States today believe that the book of Genesis is literally true. And 70 percent believe that “creation science” should be taught in school alongside evolution. A faith, like a species, must evolve or go extinct when the environment changes. It is not a gentle process in either case.”

20/25 “There is really not that much difference between the ...

2025-09-27T00:34:50Z

In reply to nevent1q…hsuy
_________________________

20/25

“There is really not that much difference between the roles of the Beefeaters who stand picturesque guard at the Tower of London, and the Cardinals who march in their magnificent costumes and meet to elect the next Pope. Both are keeping alive traditions, rituals, liturgies, symbols, that otherwise would fade. But hasn’t there been a tremendous rebirth of fundamentalist faith in all these creeds? Yes, unfortunately, there has been, and I think that there are no forces on this planet more dangerous to us all than the fanaticisms of fundamentalism, of all the species: Protestantism, Catholicism, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, as well as countless smaller infections. Is there a conflict between science and religion here? There most certainly is.”

19/25 “The childish joy of seeing what Santa Claus has brought ...

2025-09-27T00:34:16Z

In reply to nevent1q…7rkp
_________________________

19/25

“The childish joy of seeing what Santa Claus has brought for Christmas is a species of joy that must soon be extinguished in each child by the loss of ignorance. When that child grows up, she can transmit that joy to her own children, but she must also recognize a time when it has outlived its value.”

18/25 “Ethical decision-making, examined from the perspective ...

2025-09-27T00:33:53Z

In reply to nevent1q…glp5
_________________________

18/25

“Ethical decision-making, examined from the perspective of Darwin’s dangerous idea, holds out scant hope of our ever discovering a formula or an algorithm for doing right. But that is not an occasion for despair; we have the mind-tools we need to design and redesign ourselves, ever searching for better solutions to the problems we create for ourselves and others. Darwinian thinking helps us see why the traditional hope of solving these problems (finding a moral algorithm) is forlorn. We must cast off the myths that make these old-fashioned solutions seem inevitable. We need to grow up, in other words.”

17/25 “Do not expect the philosophers to come to your defense ...

2025-09-27T00:33:31Z

In reply to nevent1q…ucx0
_________________________

17/25

“Do not expect the philosophers to come to your defense if you claim that religion is a source of ethical wisdom that is superior in any way to science. Does that mean that religious texts are worthless as guides to ethics? Of course not. They are magnificent sources of insight into human nature, and into the possibilities of ethical codes.”

16/25 “Now, if you believe that the Bible (or some other holy ...

2025-09-27T00:33:00Z

In reply to nevent1q…n9mj
_________________________

16/25

“Now, if you believe that the Bible (or some other holy text) is literally the word of God, and that human beings are put here on Earth by God in order to do God’s bidding, so that the Bible is a sort of user’s manual for God’s tools, then you do indeed have grounds for believing that the ethical precepts found in the Bible have a special warrant that no other writings could have.”

15/25 “Persons, according to the meme model we have sketched, ...

2025-09-27T00:32:34Z

In reply to nevent1q…mned
_________________________

15/25

“Persons, according to the meme model we have sketched, are just such larger, higher entities, and the policies they come to adopt, as a result of interactions between their meme-infested brains, are not at all bound to answer to the interests of their genes alone—or their memes alone. That is our transcendence, our capacity to ‘rebel against the tyranny of the selfish replicators,’ as Dawkins says, and there is nothing anti-Darwinian or antiscientific about it.”

14/25 “Writing in collaboration with the philosopher of biology ...

2025-09-27T00:32:06Z

In reply to nevent1q…0del
_________________________

14/25

“Writing in collaboration with the philosopher of biology Michael Ruse, Wilson declares that sociobiology has shown us that ‘Morality, or more strictly our belief in morality, is merely an adaptation put in place to further our reproductive ends’ (Ruse and Wilson 1985). Nonsense. Our reproductive ends may have been the ends that kept us in the running till we could develop culture, and they may still play a powerful—sometimes overpowering—role in our thinking, but that does not license any conclusion at all about our current values. It does not follow from the fact that our reproductive ends were the ultimate historical source of our present values, that they are the ultimate (and still principal) beneficiary of our ethical actions.”

13/25 “What is wrong with Skinner is not that he tried to base ...

2025-09-27T00:31:39Z

In reply to nevent1q…95dx
_________________________

13/25

“What is wrong with Skinner is not that he tried to base ethics on scientific facts about human nature, but that his attempt was so simplistic! I suppose pigeons might indeed fare as well as they ever could want in a Skinnerian utopia, but we are really much more complicated than pigeons. The same defect can be seen in the attempt at ethics by another Harvard professor, E. O. Wilson, one of the world’s great entomologists and the coiner of the term ‘sociobiology’ (1975).”

12/25 “Even if [B.F.] Skinner were right (and surely he ...

2025-09-27T00:31:09Z

In reply to nevent1q…5zhz
_________________________

12/25

“Even if [B.F.] Skinner were right (and surely he isn’t) that a behaviorist regime is our best chance of preserving our culture into the future, I hope it is clear to you that Skinner may well have been mistaken when he deemed ‘survival of the culture’ to be the highest goal any of us could ever imagine wanting to further. In chapter 11, we briefly considered how mad it would be to put survival of one’s own genes ahead of everything else. Is survival of one’s own culture a clearly saner item to put on the pedestal above everything else? Would it justify mass murder, for instance, or betraying all your friends?”

11/25 “Nietzsche indulged in prose so overheated that it no ...

2025-09-27T00:30:36Z

In reply to nevent1q…gy5j
_________________________

11/25

“Nietzsche indulged in prose so overheated that it no doubt serves him right that his legion of devotees has included a disreputable gaggle of unspeakable and uncomprehending Nazis and other such fans whose perversions of his memes make Spencer’s perversions of Darwin’s seem almost innocent.”

10/25 “It is amusing to note that the fundamental (bad) ...

2025-09-27T00:30:13Z

In reply to nevent1q…nk3j
_________________________

10/25

“It is amusing to note that the fundamental (bad) argument of the Social Darwinists is identical to a (bad) argument used by many religious fundamentalists. Among the Social Darwinists’ ideas was a political agenda: efforts by do-gooders to provide nurture for the least fortunate members of society are counterproductive; such efforts permit those to replicate whom nature would wisely cull. These are abominable ideas.”

9/25 “Friedrich Nietzsche published his Genealogy of Morals in ...

2025-09-27T00:29:47Z

In reply to nevent1q…p7cs
_________________________

9/25

“Friedrich Nietzsche published his Genealogy of Morals in 1887. He was the second great sociobiologist, and, unlike Hobbes, he was inspired (or provoked) by Darwinism. As I noted in chapter 7, Nietzsche probably never read Darwin. Nietzsche’s friend Paul Rée, whose ‘tidy’ book, Origin of the Moral Sensations (1877), provoked Nietzsche’s untidy masterpiece. The Social Darwinists were sociobiologists, but certainly not great ones. In fact, their efforts almost did in the memes of their hero, by popularizing second-rate (per)versions of them. The ‘survival of the fittest,’ [Herbert] Spencer proclaimed, is not just Mother Nature’s way, but ought to be our way. According to the Social Darwinists, it is ‘natural’ for the strong to vanquish the weak, and for the rich to exploit the poor. This is simply bad thinking, and Hobbes has already shown us why.”

8/25 “Rawls’ theory has received, and deserved, more ...

2025-09-27T00:29:14Z

In reply to nevent1q…hj9a
_________________________

8/25

“Rawls’ theory has received, and deserved, more attention than any other work in ethics in this century, and, as usual, I am presenting an oversimplified version of the issues. My point is to draw attention to the placement of this work, and all the work that it has provoked and inspired, relative to Darwinian thinking in general, and ‘evolutionary ethics’ in particular.”

7/25 “Following in his footsteps, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and ...

2025-09-27T00:28:45Z

In reply to nevent1q…py2q
_________________________

7/25

“Following in his footsteps, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and various English thinkers, including John Locke, offered their own rational reconstructions of the birth of society. The most famous, and most sophisticated, is John Rawls’ Theory of Justice (1971), but there are others. They all agree in seeing morality to be, in one way or another, an emergent product of a major innovation in perspective that has been achieved by just one species, Homo sapiens, taking advantage of its unique extra medium of information transfer, language.”

6/25 “Hobbes’ rational reconstruction was a huge ...

2025-09-27T00:28:01Z

In reply to nevent1q…56up
_________________________

6/25

“Hobbes’ rational reconstruction was a huge oversimplification, a model intended to illustrate the essentials while ignoring the grubby and unknowable details. And, without any doubt, it was too simple even in its own terms.”

5/25 “And then, one fine day, a mutation happened to arise. One ...

2025-09-27T00:27:35Z

In reply to nevent1q…ay60
_________________________

5/25

“And then, one fine day, a mutation happened to arise. One day, when yet another conflict arose, just like all the others that had come before it, something new happened to happen. Instead of persisting in the myopically selfish policies of mutual defection and distrust that had reigned heretofore, these particular lucky competitors hit upon a new idea: cooperation for mutual benefit. They formed a ‘social contract.’ Whereas before there had been families, or herds, or tribes, this was the birth of a different kind of group, a society. This was the birth of civilization.”

4/25 “Once upon a time, he said, there was no morality at all. ...

2025-09-27T00:27:08Z

In reply to nevent1q…flkv
_________________________

4/25

“Once upon a time, he said, there was no morality at all. There was life; there were human beings, and they even had language, so they had memes (to commit a third anachronism). We can presume that they had words—and hence memes—for good and bad, but not ethical good and bad. ‘The notions of Right and Wrong, Justice and Injustice have there no place.’ They had no concept of right or wrong because ‘They are Qualities, that relate to men in Society, not in Solitude.’ Hobbes called this epoch in our prehistory ‘the state of nature,’ because it resembled in its most important features the plight of all the other animals in the wild, to this day.”

3/25 “On the Origin of Morality” - Daniel Dennett “Why do I ...

2025-09-27T00:26:31Z

In reply to nevent1q…67zq
_________________________

3/25

“On the Origin of Morality” - Daniel Dennett

“Why do I call [Thomas] Hobbes [1588-1679] a sociobiologist? He couldn’t have wanted to exploit Darwin’s ideas in an analysis of society, like today’s sociobiologists. But he did see, clearly and confidently, the fundamental Darwinian task: he saw that there had to be a story to be told about how the state first came to be created, and how it brought with it something altogether new on the face of the Earth: morality.”

2/25 Dennett goes into cultural evolution as an explanation for ...

2025-09-27T00:26:00Z

In reply to nevent1q…kw5r
_________________________

2/25

Dennett goes into cultural evolution as an explanation for advancements of human society that he thinks are unique to humans due to our ability to use introspection, memes, and complex language to engage in philosophical conversations about why we think like we do and what we think is good for the advancement of human society. This is a small part of the book which focuses mostly on the biological aspects of natural selection as laid out by Charles Darwin. But I want to share some of Dennett’s writing on this topic of ethics and morality toward the end of the book beginning in a chapter titled, ‘On the Origin of Morality.’ I think it may be relevant to understanding our political predicament in the United States.

Darwin, Morality, Religion, Politics, Extremism 1/25 I just ...

2025-09-27T00:25:24Z

Darwin, Morality, Religion, Politics, Extremism

1/25

I just finished reading Darwin’s Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life (1995) by Daniel Dennett, a difficult book that is probably 30% wordier than it needs to be but was well worth it for me. The subtleties of Dennett’s explanations, and his defense of natural selection as the explanation for life on Earth, go well beyond what I was taught during my bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in the biological sciences. He even challenges what he considers misunderstandings by several academicians of Darwin’s fundamental beliefs as laid out in On the Origins of Species and does a pretty convincing job in my opinion.

#Evolution #NaturalSelection #Biology #Darwin #Philosophy #Religion #Morality #Ethics #Dennett #USPol #Extremism #Dogma #Fanaticism #Books #Bookstodon

Oxford Languages online defines character as “the mental and ...

2025-09-23T16:35:49Z

Oxford Languages online defines character as “the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual.” My main impression of Donald Trump and his supporters is they are either unable to judge character or they don’t value character. I would not want any of them as a boss, employee, or friend.

#Character #Morality #Ethics

Psychiatric Illness Has Behavioral Symptoms In Texas, persons ...

2025-09-15T15:06:42Z

Psychiatric Illness Has Behavioral Symptoms

In Texas, persons with serious psychiatric disorders are jailed and forcibly treated so their competency can be restored and they can be tried for what they did while incompetent. Make that make sense. Conservatives have sold us the simpleminded paradigm that behavioral symptoms of illness deserve punishment rather than empathy.

#Justice #MentalHealth #Psychiatry #Texas #Crime #Homelessness #Morality #Ethics

https://sanantonioreport.org/as-state-hospital-waitlists-grow-bexar-county-jail-fills-the-gap-in-mental-health-treatment/

It’s perfect. Driving home a few days ago, I saw a brown vinyl ...

2025-09-13T15:45:15Z

In reply to nevent1q…zdr7
_________________________

It’s perfect. Driving home a few days ago, I saw a brown vinyl sofa on the curb for garbage pickup. All three seat cushions were held together with abundant gray duct tape. The thought that occurred to me was this: Its owner sacrificed over the years, extending the life of a sofa dilapidated long ago, to help millionaires and billionaires afford a vacation home or private airplane.

Several years ago I began reading On The Origin Of Species by ...

2025-09-09T17:32:47Z

Several years ago I began reading On The Origin Of Species by Charles Darwin. It seems like a book that naturalists and biologists like myself should read. But I found the old writing style difficult and was distracted enough by some things Darwin got wrong to the extent that even small nuances bothered me. I never finished reading it. A few days ago, I decided to instead read Darwin’s Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meaning of Life by Daniel Dennett. Although I am only about one-quarter of the way through it, I am really enjoying the historical context given by Dennett and his insights into some of the major implications of Darwin’s theory that I might have otherwise missed. #Nature #Evolution #NaturalSelection #Biology #Darwin #Dennett #DanielDennett #Philosophy #Bookstodon

Seen on a different social media platform four years or so ago. ...

2025-09-06T04:28:31Z

Seen on a different social media platform four years or so ago. #Internet #SocialMedia #Misinformation #Disinformation

I am inspired by @npub1ppe…qv2g this morning to pick a favorite ...

2025-09-02T11:48:50Z

I am inspired by myrmepropagandist (npub1ppe…qv2g) this morning to pick a favorite bug. I think the dragonfly will be my bug, since I enjoy seeing them fly back and forth across my yard in the evening, presumably eating mosquitoes. The mosquito is not my bug, though I seem to provide just the right amounts of carbon dioxide and heat to be its preferred human being. #Insects #Bugs #Nature #Photography

The Banality of Evil I went back and look into when I purchased ...

2025-08-29T05:53:09Z

The Banality of Evil

I went back and look into when I purchased and read They Thought They Were Free, The Germans 1933-45 by Milton Mayer. It is a book based on interviews of Germans not long after World War II, including their reflections on what Adolph Hitler wrought and Milton Mayer’s commentary. The book seems to confirm what Hannah Arendt, a German philosopher, called “the banality of evil” — that many ordinary Germans without evil forethought or plans thoughtlessly went along with Hitler’s actions because they were morally detached and apathetic. So I found that I read Mayer’s book in November 2024, after the presidential election, but before Donald Trump’s second inauguration. Reflecting now on what my thoughts were while reading the book, it is clear to me that I was mostly thinking about the evils of Naziism and its parallels to the rhetoric I was hearing from MAGA disciples. But I was not thinking very much about the banality of evil. Perhaps I could not imagine the Trump administration would move so quickly to dismantle democratic institutions and spread disinformation while facing so little organized and meaningful opposition. Now I am thinking about that and how many of us, including me, are so far mostly watching and not putting up much resistance. #Democracy #Fascism #Disinformation #Truth #Ethics #Bookstodon

In just 200 days Vance has learned how to be a prevaricator, ...

2025-08-29T00:46:28Z

In reply to nevent1q…r2h7
_________________________

In just 200 days Vance has learned how to be a prevaricator, abandoning his principles to be a stooge after once likening Trump to Hitler.

What Made You Who You Are? I am in my late sixties. My nature or ...

2025-08-20T20:42:37Z

What Made You Who You Are?

I am in my late sixties. My nature or personality from birth was surely a big contributing factor for me. I am quiet by nature, measuring my words before speaking, introverted, and not ambitious. My parents were not extremists in any way, reasonably progressive for their time, though with disapproving biases about sexual orientation and substance use. My mother was a Democrat and my father was a Republican. But I recall them both being understanding about the civil rights movement of the 1960s as broadcast on television. I never heard either of them speak negatively about those events or use a racist slur. But I tried one out at home one day while my mother was cooking at the stove, after hearing a school classmate use it. She spun around and slapped me across the face—the only time she ever did that. We had our disagreements on some issues, but nothing serious. We moved from Washington, D.C. to Texas during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

I had a devout Catholic upbringing and, though I’m no longer religious, I think it contributed to but was not entirely responsible for my personal and professional values. Unethical behavior is more offensive to me than anything else, though I realize that what one considers unethical is an individual choice. I value diversity and don’t consider the things the religious right judges unethical to be so. I consider behaviors that deliberately harm others to be unethical, including primarily greed and bigotry.

I was radicalized some in college after being invited to join the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES). Social justice concerns in Central America aligned with my Catholic upbringing, especially since the U.S. was involved in training government soldiers who were subsequently involved in the murders of Catholic priests and nuns. That led me to join the U.S. Peace Corps where I was exposed to additional cultures and beliefs while working on reforestation in the Sahel region of Senegal after earning a degree in biology and a minor in statistics. I continued to study those subjects while earning a master’s degree in plant science.

To the extent that I was successful in a long career leading statistical policy studies, I attribute it to the luck of being a tall white male, being in the right place at the right time again by luck, and having a exaggerated need to please others including my superiors and colleagues by working outside of normal work hours and not complaining. I mostly attribute my critical thinking skills to higher education. I always tried to please in the workplace, unless I thought something unethical, which only happened a couple times in my career. I am now retired and doing a lot of reading I was often too tired to do while employed.

#Nature #Nurture #Ethics #Personality

They must have had a good teacher.

2025-08-19T13:26:19Z

In reply to nevent1q…rzqg
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They must have had a good teacher.

“And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He ...

2025-08-17T14:59:59Z

“And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence.” - Bertrand Russell
#Religion #Philosophy

Well, you’ve crafted in lovely prose a mental picture of that ...

2025-08-02T12:10:37Z

In reply to nevent1q…ph9d
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Well, you’ve crafted in lovely prose a mental picture of that abandoned house and the dense vegetation engulfing it. 🙂

Seeing a Wall Street Journal poll this morning that finds more ...

2025-07-27T15:56:00Z

In reply to nevent1q…26n9
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Seeing a Wall Street Journal poll this morning that finds more U.S. voters now identify as and trust Republicans than Democrats for issues important to them is discouraging and is evidence that ignorance knows no bounds.

Empathy, Morality, and Caregiving Albert Camus wrote a few ...

2025-07-26T20:56:06Z

Empathy, Morality, and Caregiving

Albert Camus wrote a few different books about humanity, morality, empathy, and the inequities of justice in governments. Having just finished reading The Fall by Camus, I thought about the experiences of a local parent and her daughter who lives with a serious psychiatric illness and is currently in jail. Was kicking her father in the shin during a mental health crisis, or putting her in a jail cell for four months while attorneys argued if she could be involuntarily treated the greater immorality? I think the answer is obvious. By accepting and relying on the justice system to deal with mental health crises, we validate a traumatizing and punitive approach over medical and social responses. I have lost my confidence in the ability of government agencies in Texas to contribute humane solutions. (1/6)

#Empathy #Morality #Ethics #Government
#Trauma #MentalHealth #MentalIllness
#NAMI #Policy #Justice #Caregiving #Policing #Psychiatry #Healthcare