The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks
Tag Archives Reason
or "Look, you who think the gods have no care of human things, what do you say to so many persons preserved from death by their especial favour?", to which Diogenes replied: "Why, I say that their pictures are not here who were cast away, who are by much the greater number." - Diogenes
Sam Harris on the fifth anniversary of Christopher Hitchen's death. Missing Hitch It has been five years, my friend. Five short years since you taught us how to die with wisdom and wit. And five long ones, wherein the world taught us how deeply we would miss you. Syria. Safe spaces. President Trump. What would you have made of these…
Always timely People who don't want you to think are never your friend Links TheraminTrees A study in Logic - Burn the Witch!
Consilience. The word of the day, Year, Decade or Epoch? I recently [briefly] participated in a planning session and debate [through my WhaleSongServices consultancy business ] with an ex-colleague and some of his senior/executive staff regarding particular public policy challenges for a Government Department in the near to medium term [5-10 years] and the broader strategic needs of their planning. We…
Hearing the Universe We have detected gravitational waves. We did it. - David Reitze, executive director of LIGO At a time when reason and evidence appear under siege, and "belief" and "opinion" have a seeming privileged status in civil discourse unknown since the enlightenment, I am reminded of the words of the 17th Century Dutch Philosopher, Spinoza: The highest activity…