Reblogged from campbellsuppes
PINK PHILOSOPHER
I like philosophy, sci-fi, music and coffee. How do you do?
(via whakatikatika)
Is the Hunger Games too violent?
One of my most beloved childhood authors, Kenneth Oppel, thinks so. In his op ed, “The Hunger Games is an appeal to our baser appetites” he argues that there is not enough parental disapproval and/or public debate about the glamorization of teen…
Why did the chicken cross the road? I don’t know.
Printable solar cells could turn anything into an energy source.
A team at MIT has developed a process to ‘print’ solar cells onto almost any surface. Using chemical vapour deposition, the process uses “abundant organic molecules” to convert about 2 percent of the available energy into light. Typical solar panels are around 12-17% efficient, but the team thinks 10% efficiency is achievable.
The cost of installing panels keeps many people from adopting solar power, Barr says. By integrating it into ordinary materials, he thinks he can clear that hurdle. “You’re already hanging a curtain in your house,” he says. “Why not add some energy to that?”
Viva Julian Simon.
(Source: businessweek.com)
It could be that the western world never got past Descartes’ ‘cogito ergo sum’. We all idealise our own individual ability to think independent thought, right? People love to say they’re entitled to their opinion and the cogito seems to be the foremost verification for that. And it is undoubtedly true that Descartes fundamentally changed the direction of human thought irreversibly. Yet people fail to acknowledge, or do not wish to know, the flaws of cartesianism because to do so would mean the individual is required by responsibility to continue to think of the rather difficult problem of other people. Many choose to shirk such an ethical responsibility because it is just such a comfortable thought to only worry about your own thoughts. This is one of the core reasons why, against all presented evidence, humans continue to behave abominably towards each other, towards animal and plant life and towards the planet in which we live. The argument at the heart of such atrocities is not a purely selfish one but has some small element of logic behind it, which is to say that I, Pink Philosopher cannot prove the existence of anyone else. I only know that my pain exists and that it is very real for me. Logically, the cartesian solipsist will say that he has no responsibility to another being whose existence he cannot prove apart from to say that he knows that other entity affected him in a certain way. ‘The average man is a cartesian.’ There are clear reasons for why this cannot be the logical default for humanity.
For talking about stuff that’s only a little about philosophy. It’s called Sketchy Periphery
This blog will be entirely philosophy now. So, on the insane offchance that any of you are following me because, in some sick world, you like my personality, you’re probably looking for the other blog now. Happy Friday! =)
