THRAWN RICKLE

By arGee - About Me - E-mail this page - Add to My Favorites - Add to Blog List - See other blogs in Opinion

Thursday, September 4, 2003

Don’t Blame Me!

One of the most significant apparent differences between primitive and modern societies is how each perceives reality. Without an understanding of the real causes and effects within nature, primitive man created his own. He animated his world. Objects assumed purpose, good or evil intentions. Since his own society quite obviously thrived within a structure, primitive man created an analogous structure for his animated world. Today we know a great deal about the causes and effects surrounding us.... Sign in to see full entry.

Government—by the Bureaucrat, for the Bureaucrat

I recently saw a bumper sticker that read: If you like the Post Office, you will love socialized medicine. Point taken. The Post Office can’t seem to move into the state-of-the-art world of modern computers at any level that seems to matter. Not that the Post Office doesn’t try. Unfortunately, its technology implementation lags by about ten years. Think back to the PC you had on your desk ten years ago. Compare it to what you probably use today. Imagine trying to cope with that anachronism. The... Sign in to see full entry.

Beam me up, Scotty!

In all the episodes of the original “Star Trek” series, not once did Captain Kirk actually use the words: “Beam me up, Scotty!” It might be interesting to examine not only why he never said this, but also why he never could have said it. Although not completely obvious when we examine something, we really are interpreting the pattern of reflected photons from the object as they fall on the retina of each eye. The process is incredibly complicated—so much so, in fact, that computer scientists... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, September 2, 2003

Free Will

On September 23, 1971, B. F. Skinner’s new book rocked the intellectual world. Beyond Freedom and Dignity was a smashing success that seemed to explain some of the hidden mysteries underlying human behavior. Indeed, the author purported to set aside the very concepts of “freedom” and “dignity” as we normally think of them. You change human behavior, Skinner asserted, not by appealing to the “inner person,” not by teaching “self-reliance,” not by elevating human “freedom” and “dignity,” but by... Sign in to see full entry.

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