Philosophy & Ethics

Who interviewed who?  There's Scopes Monkey Choir-- the podcast interviewing me.  And there's 365 Days of Astronomy-- the podcast where I interview them.  Welcome to an irrational approach to "music in a rational universe". My take?  Well, it's in the aforementioned 365DOA transcript.  Did you read it?  Isn't that the point of the web?  Do I have to summarize it here?  Oh, okay. Hai-ting says it best:  "The more I find out scientifically about things, the cooler I think they are, and the more attached I get to them emotionally." She adds "people…

There is a theory in economics known as the median voter theorem, attributed to Duncan Black in 1948. The theory has been used to justify the two party, winner take all system, mathematically by political economists, as the best possible system.   Its conclusions are that given his assumptions, a two politician model maximizes the likelihood of a policy outcome to be closest to the policy preference of the citizens, because a politician maximize his chances of winning by choosing the mean voters policy preference. Because both parties and candidates would thus compete for the median…

Turning and turning in the widening gyre     The falcon cannot hear the falconer;     Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;     Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,     The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere     The ceremony of innocence is drowned;     The best lack all conviction, while the worst     Are full of passionate intensity. Perhaps the political crisis which has turned our representative organs into playgrounds for endless debates, childish maneuvering, and endless factionalism, stems from the…

This is the second of two parts. Read part one here In this discussion we will attempt to perfect the definition of eudaemonia by replacing the word "flourishment" with the word "promotive." Previously, we used the following list of words in an attempt to describe and define the second aspect of “eudaemonia,” beyond “happiness.” Success, fulfilment, flourishing, promotion, evolution, action and contentment have been suggested, over the years, to fill the tangent that seems to represent “doing” more than “being,” or the process more than the result. To this end, let us formally split our…

In this first of two installments defining eudaemonia we will attempt the impossible, circumnavigating the sphere of "the good." For something to be eudaemonic it must be conducive to our happiness. It is not just our “happiness” because there are connotations attached: success, fulfilment, flourishing, promotion, evolution, action and contentment. In ancient Greek, “eu” is “well” and “daemon” is “spirit.” So it could be said we have room for interpretation. There is the philosophical movement of Eudaemonism, which is a system of ethics that puts a moral value on the likelihood of actions…

Martin Gaskell did not get a job as the director of a new student observatory at the University of Kentucky and says he thinks his religion is behind it. So for all those who say academia is too politically correct, take heart - if this is true, academics can be bigots just like anyone else, at least as long as it's a Christian being denied rights. One member of the hiring board described his qualifications as "breathtakingly above the other applicants" but there are lots of things that go into hiring so that can't be the only factor and if it turns out to be other issues, that is okay…

It's rare that a government commission won't take the opportunity to increase its authority and its importance.  It's good job security and makes people feel relevant, even if it's not only unnecessary but being resisted by virtually everyone outside the commission, like in the case of the FCC trying to take over the Internet. Yet The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, created by executive order in 2009, released its report on synthetic biology yesterday and said, just this once, things are okay without more rules. Wait, didn't J. Craig Venter already create…

In the 1990s, virtually everyone except those closest to environmental issues knew biofuels were a bad idea in their current incarnation.   But evangelists like Al Gore insisted they were the future and concerns about what it would do to the food supply for poor people went unheeded. Now we know - at least in ethanols based on that technology, biofuels are worse for the environment and made food more expensive and Mr. Gore has said he made a mistake endorsing them to garner support for his presidential race but once government policies - and therefore lobbyists - are in place, it is hard…

Near the end of my book, Anti-Social Engineering the Hyper-Manipulated Self, I discuss twenty-two interesting intentions. Some of these intentions had, as their sole purpose, a control beside which other, more pressing, relevant intentions could be measured. Such is it that I came to discuss Santa Claus. Merry Christmas. Intention: If you're good, Santa Claus will bring you a Christmas Present. I'm not intentionally being silly. This examination will demonstrate the relevance of point of view and the power of contemplation. I need you to remember back to the innocence of your childhood,…

It seems a silly question to ask, given the self-evident answer: we know that all beliefs and opinions are not equally valid. Obviously, it's important to acknowledge that the person who believe something believes it to be true, but it doesn't mean it is. The reason I raise this question is that most of us in the skeptical community patently reject the assumption that all "truths" are equally valid. What matters is evidence. Where there is no clear answer, rather than assuming a position of absolutism regarding "truth," we tend to adopt a "wait and see" approach or an honest "I don't know"…