Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful. - Seneca the Younger (ca. 4 BC - 65 AD)
Evolution
Who does the theory of evolution offend - the one we call the Uncaused Cause or the Blind Watchmaker, or man’s ego at the special-ness of his ‘creation’? If you believe in a God-being, you should be in love with science. If you believe in story-tellers and in your own importance, you should stick to…
Posterity is for the philosopher what the next world is for the man of religion - Denis Diderot
Military Spending
we spend 63% of our federal individual income tax on the department of defense (29% of the entire federal revenue). that $716 billion represents 42% of the world's military spending. i think it is immoral for an advanced society, deeply in debt, to spend that much on the military (a 133% increase in the last…
Just say NO to oppression
Sometimes it is up to the oppressed to stop the oppressor...by just saying NO. Whether it is a stranger, whether it is your father, whether it is your husband...just say NO. Say that you won't tolerate it anymore. Say that no relationship is worth if it is oppressive. Just say NO.
Scientific misconduct
This paper was published today in the journal mBio. Moral of the story - men should stop lying. 228 cases of academic misconduct in the past 18 years is a very low number. As a scientist, I do wish that number was ZERO. And I also accept that vast cases of misconduct is not reported.…
Who is a scholar?
A person can study one topic or field their entire life, but I wouldn't call such a person a scholar. For example, I can study how the arbitrary location of stars visible to the naked eye, at the time of a person's birth, might affect that person's behavior or personality. But no one can, or…
Intellectualism is beauty
Beauty is directly proportional to intellectualism. I don't believe stupidity is a lack of intelligence, but intellectual laziness. For me, the most attractive girl is an independent thinker who possesses intellectual curiosity. And my biggest turn off is when someone says "you are ____, therefore you are supposed to do/not do ____." No thank you,…
A baseball season
A baseball season has a story. It has drama. It has failure. It has redemption. It has collapses and comebacks. April and September can feel an eternity apart. Players and teams can be unrecognizable at the beginning and at the end of those six months. Football is fun. Baseball is love. It is a game…
Urban folks vs rural folks
New York metropolitan population - 19 million. In big cities like this, you cannot survive without government. It is needed everywhere - from security to sanitation to public transportation to education...you name it. Try libertarian-ism in these cities and you will have anarchy. On the flip side, take the case of Wyoming - population half…
The Philosopher-Scientist 