Monday, October 8, 2012
八仙過海，各顯神通 Eight Immortals Cross the Sea
八仙過海，各顯神通
bā xiān guò hǎi，gè xiǎn shén tōng
The Eight Immortals cross the sea, each reveals its divine power
Indicates the situation that everybody shows off their skills and expertise to achieve a common goal.
The Eight Immortals are on their way to the Conference of the Magical Peach and encounter an ocean. Instead of using the clouds to traverse it they decide to each contribute their special power in the joint effort of crossing the ocean.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Trolley Problem
The trolley problem is a thought experiment in ethics. It looks to explore the concept of human morality and a philosophical view of consequentialism. It was first introduced by Philippa Foot in 1967, but also extensively analysed by Judith Jarvis Thomson,Peter Unger,and Frances Kamm.
Person A can take an action which would benefit many people, but in doing so, person B would be unfairly harmed. Under what circumstances would it be morally just for Person A to violate Person B's rights in order to benefit the group?
Original problem involved an out of control trolley car which is going to cause the death of five people on the track but this can be averted by switching the trolley to another track in which case it will only kill one person. Is it morally permissible or indeed is there a moral obligation to take an action which will kill one person but will save five? Or do nothing and let five die?
Different formulations are:
- A judge or magistrate is faced with rioters demanding that a culprit be found for a certain crime and threatening otherwise to take their own bloody revenge on a particular section of the community, perhaps kill five people. The real culprit being unknown, the judge sees himself as able to prevent the bloodshed only by framing some innocent person and having him executed.
- A pilot whose aeroplane is about to crash is deciding whether to steer from a more to a less inhabited area.
Related Variations
The Fat Man on the Bridge
This variation does not allow the trolley to be switched to another track but instead the trolley can be stopped by pushing a fat man off a bridge into the path of the trolley. Is there any difference between this action and the switching of the track?
The Fat Villain on the Bridge
A variation on the fat man scenario involves the man on the bridge being the individual who is responsible for sabotaging the trolley which is going to lead to the deaths of the five people. Does this change the morality of pushing him off the bridge to prevent the accident?
Transplant Variation
Five people are in hospital each needing a different organ or they will die. A healthy traveler comes to the hospital for a checkup and the doctor discovers his organs are compatible with the five patients who are going to die. This is the only chance those patients will have of getting a transplant. If the traveler disappeared or died nobody would suspect the doctor. What should the doctor do?
Mother Variation
As before, a trolley is hurtling down a track towards five people. You can flip a switch and divert the train to run one person over instead of five, but that person is your mother. Would you flip the switch?
Key Themes
- The irrationality of human ethics
- Utilitarianism (the greater good) (also act utilitarianism & rule utilitarianism)
- The incommensurability of human lives
- Moral obligation (e.g. if you are present it is your moral obligation to act and to do nothing would be immoral)
- Ticking time bomb scenario (which demands a choice between two morally questionable acts).
Original problem involved an out of control trolley car which is going to cause the death of five people on the track but this can be averted by switching the trolley to another track in which case it will only kill one person. Is it morally permissible or indeed is there a moral obligation to take an action which will kill one person but will save five? Or do nothing and let five die?
- A judge or magistrate is faced with rioters demanding that a culprit be found for a certain crime and threatening otherwise to take their own bloody revenge on a particular section of the community, perhaps kill five people. The real culprit being unknown, the judge sees himself as able to prevent the bloodshed only by framing some innocent person and having him executed.
- A pilot whose aeroplane is about to crash is deciding whether to steer from a more to a less inhabited area.
Related Variations
The Fat Man on the Bridge
This variation does not allow the trolley to be switched to another track but instead the trolley can be stopped by pushing a fat man off a bridge into the path of the trolley. Is there any difference between this action and the switching of the track?
The Fat Villain on the Bridge
A variation on the fat man scenario involves the man on the bridge being the individual who is responsible for sabotaging the trolley which is going to lead to the deaths of the five people. Does this change the morality of pushing him off the bridge to prevent the accident?
Five people are in hospital each needing a different organ or they will die. A healthy traveler comes to the hospital for a checkup and the doctor discovers his organs are compatible with the five patients who are going to die. This is the only chance those patients will have of getting a transplant. If the traveler disappeared or died nobody would suspect the doctor. What should the doctor do?
As before, a trolley is hurtling down a track towards five people. You can flip a switch and divert the train to run one person over instead of five, but that person is your mother. Would you flip the switch?
Key Themes
- The irrationality of human ethics
- Utilitarianism (the greater good) (also act utilitarianism & rule utilitarianism)
- The incommensurability of human lives
- Moral obligation (e.g. if you are present it is your moral obligation to act and to do nothing would be immoral)
- Ticking time bomb scenario (which demands a choice between two morally questionable acts).
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Si vis pacem, para bellum
Si vis pacem, para bellum
(if wish peace, prepare war)
Literally: "when you hope for peace prepare for war"
(or more generally - when you hope for peace be ready for war)
Peace though Strength
appears to have been derived from the published quote -
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
Literally: "Then, anyone who longs/wishes for peace should ready war plans" and it is taken from "Epitoma rei militari" (also known as "De Rei Militari","Of the art of war") by Publius Flavius Vegetius, a writer of the 4th century a.D.
The idea also possibly exists in Plato amongst others (e.g. He who makes war his object instead of peace, or who pursues war except for the sake of peace, is not a true statesman. Plato Laws).
Also some variations on the theme:
Si vis bellum para pacem
If you want war, prepare for peace.
Applied to Bonaparte as an example of planning for a war by making other nations think you are wanting peace.
Could also mean that if you prepare for peace you are inviting another party to start a war with you.
Si vis pacem para pacem
If you want peace, prepare for peace.
If nations really want peace it is difficult to see this while they build up their armaments (e.g. Andrew Carnegie 1907 National Arbitration and Peace Congress).
Si vis pacem fac bellum
If you want peace, make war.
The only way to liberate the world from military domination can in the extreme case be through war, an extension of the original: Si vis pacem, fac bellum (e.g. Richard Grelling 1918 on what is needed to make the world safe for democracy (comment on Woodrow Wilson speech before congress)).
.
(if wish peace, prepare war)
Literally: "when you hope for peace prepare for war"
(or more generally - when you hope for peace be ready for war)
Peace though Strength
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
Literally: "Then, anyone who longs/wishes for peace should ready war plans" and it is taken from "Epitoma rei militari" (also known as "De Rei Militari","Of the art of war") by Publius Flavius Vegetius, a writer of the 4th century a.D.
Also some variations on the theme:
Si vis bellum para pacem
If you want war, prepare for peace.
Applied to Bonaparte as an example of planning for a war by making other nations think you are wanting peace.
Could also mean that if you prepare for peace you are inviting another party to start a war with you.
Si vis pacem para pacem
If you want peace, prepare for peace.
If nations really want peace it is difficult to see this while they build up their armaments (e.g. Andrew Carnegie 1907 National Arbitration and Peace Congress).
Si vis pacem fac bellum
If you want peace, make war.
The only way to liberate the world from military domination can in the extreme case be through war, an extension of the original: Si vis pacem, fac bellum (e.g. Richard Grelling 1918 on what is needed to make the world safe for democracy (comment on Woodrow Wilson speech before congress)).
.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
The Gregor Effect - (from Kafka's The Metamorphis)
From Gregor Samsa - protagonist in The Metamorphosis - referring to how people respond to those with serious illness.
Refers to the relationships of patients with those around them, the ''Gregor Effect'' (first postulated by Preston (1979) more recently popularised by Howard Brody (2002)) is a reference to German author Franz Kafka's 1915 short story The Metamorphosis. In the story, the protagonist Gregor Samsa turns into an insect. His family and friends, although at times empathetic and still loving, find ways to avoid him, to distance themselves from his ''illness''. Psychologists ascribe this ''Gregor effect'' to how some view the terminally ill. The ''Gregor effect'' can make people uncomfortable, scared, and at times present a challenge to their own mortality.
The Gregor effect implies that the diagnosis of disease becomes a stigma, a mark that impinges on all other social roles and affects all other relationships and interactions.
Ronald Preston (1979) used Kafka's analogy (he referred to the impact on others of serious illness or bodily deformity as the "Gregor effect") to study the reactions of nurses caring for the chronically ill and aged. He was interested specifically in reactions to people whom he labelled "acutely ambigious" in that they are like us and yet not like us (Preston 1979:37-46).
Preston observed a range of reactions in hospital wards to people in these catagories:
Howard Brody (2002) Stories of Sickness. Oxford University Press.
Ronald Preston (1979). The dilemmas of care: social and nursing adaptations to the deformed, the disabled, and the aged.
Ronald Preston (1979) used Kafka's analogy (he referred to the impact on others of serious illness or bodily deformity as the "Gregor effect") to study the reactions of nurses caring for the chronically ill and aged. He was interested specifically in reactions to people whom he labelled "acutely ambigious" in that they are like us and yet not like us (Preston 1979:37-46).
- impulsive reactions (startle, flight)
- prejudiced reactions (based on preconceived social values rather than emotion)
- obscenity reactions (attempt to resolve ambiguity through identification with deformed or disabled)
- ritual separation (banishment or sequestration of the sick as a prelude to the separation of death)
- humanitarian (observor broadens perspective and expands what it is to be human to resolve the ambiguity the condition causes, embracing the patient as fully human - often can become superficial attempt to do good rather than sincere)
- spiritual transcendence (often tied to religion has a firmer basis than humanitarian to resolve ambiguity)
- normalisation (conceptualises the the sick and disabled as just like us thereby deflecting any threat)
- diversionary tactics (such as using black humour)
- induration (may develop gradually and result in diminished perception of the ambiguity (Preston 1979:47-84))
Howard Brody (2002) Stories of Sickness. Oxford University Press.
Ronald Preston (1979). The dilemmas of care: social and nursing adaptations to the deformed, the disabled, and the aged.
Rational Choice Theory
Rational Choice Theory also also known as choice theory or rational action theory is a framework for understanding and often formally modeling social and economic behavior
General Definition: Individuals will make the best possible (optimized) decision from their point of view (the view of the decision maker).
A principle that assumes that individuals always make prudent and logical decisions that provide them with the greatest benefit or satisfaction and that are in their highest self-interest. Most mainstream economic assumptions and theories are based on rational choice theory.
The Individual as Representative
Rational Choice Theory generally begins with consideration of the choice behavior of one or more individual decision-making units – which in basic economics are most often consumers and/or firms. The rational choice theorist often presumes that the individual decision-making unit in question is “typical” or “representative” of some larger group such as buyers or sellers in a particular market. Once individual behavior is established, the analysis generally moves on to examine how individual choices interact to produce outcomes.
Rational Choices of Consumer Behaviour
The rational choice theory of consumer behavior is based on the following axioms regarding consumer preferences:
When economists speak of “rational” behavior, they usually mean only behavior that is in accord with the above axioms.
Criminology and Rational Choice Theory
Law Definition: Concept that criminals consciously weigh the risks and rewards of a crime and proceed accordingly.
In criminology, the rational choice theory adopts a utilitarian belief that man is a reasoning actor who weighs means and ends, costs and benefits, and makes a rational choice.
In general, the criminology theory of rational choice theory is that would-be offenders consider the potential costs and benefits before deciding whether to engage in crime.
The rational choice perspective in criminology has evolved largely from two previous and complementary explanations of human behavior. One of these is the classical school of thought characterized by the Enlightenment scholars Cesare Beccaria (1764) and Jeremy Bentham (1789) . These early philosophers proposed that individuals would refrain from offending out of fear of the potential punishment that would result from such behavior (this is also the conceptual basis for the deterrence perspective in criminology).
Criticisms:
Rational Choice Theory is based on the assumption that individual behaviour is guided by free will.
Individuals do not always seem to make rational, utility-maximizing decisions:
- The field of behavioral economics is based on the idea that individuals often make irrational decisions and explores why they do so.
- Nobel laureate Herbert Simon proposed the theory of bounded rationality, which says that people are not always able to obtain all the information they would need to make the best possible decision.
-Economist Richard Thaler’s idea of mental accounting shows how people behave irrationally by placing greater value on some dollars than others even though all dollars have the same value. They might drive to another store to save $10 on a $20 purchase, but they would not drive to another store to save $10 on a $1,000 purchase.
General Definition: Individuals will make the best possible (optimized) decision from their point of view (the view of the decision maker).
The Individual as Representative
Rational Choice Theory generally begins with consideration of the choice behavior of one or more individual decision-making units – which in basic economics are most often consumers and/or firms. The rational choice theorist often presumes that the individual decision-making unit in question is “typical” or “representative” of some larger group such as buyers or sellers in a particular market. Once individual behavior is established, the analysis generally moves on to examine how individual choices interact to produce outcomes.
Rational Choices of Consumer Behaviour
- The consumer faces a known set of alternative choices.
- For any pair of alternatives (A and B, say), the consumer either prefers A to B, prefers B to A, or is indifferent between A and B. This is the axiom of completeness.
- These preferences are transitive. That is, if a consumer prefers A to B and B to C, then she necessarily prefers A to C. If she is indifferent between A and B, and indifferent between B and C, then she is necessarily indifferent between A and C.
- The consumer will choose the most preferred alternative. If the consumer is indifferent between two or more alternatives that are preferred to all others, he or she will choose one of those alternatives -- with the specific choice from among them remaining indeterminate.
When economists speak of “rational” behavior, they usually mean only behavior that is in accord with the above axioms.
Criminology and Rational Choice Theory
Law Definition: Concept that criminals consciously weigh the risks and rewards of a crime and proceed accordingly.
In general, the criminology theory of rational choice theory is that would-be offenders consider the potential costs and benefits before deciding whether to engage in crime.
The rational choice perspective in criminology has evolved largely from two previous and complementary explanations of human behavior. One of these is the classical school of thought characterized by the Enlightenment scholars Cesare Beccaria (1764) and Jeremy Bentham (1789) . These early philosophers proposed that individuals would refrain from offending out of fear of the potential punishment that would result from such behavior (this is also the conceptual basis for the deterrence perspective in criminology).
Criticisms:
Rational Choice Theory is based on the assumption that individual behaviour is guided by free will.
Individuals do not always seem to make rational, utility-maximizing decisions:
- The field of behavioral economics is based on the idea that individuals often make irrational decisions and explores why they do so.
- Nobel laureate Herbert Simon proposed the theory of bounded rationality, which says that people are not always able to obtain all the information they would need to make the best possible decision.
-Economist Richard Thaler’s idea of mental accounting shows how people behave irrationally by placing greater value on some dollars than others even though all dollars have the same value. They might drive to another store to save $10 on a $20 purchase, but they would not drive to another store to save $10 on a $1,000 purchase.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Noble Cause Corruption - Climate Change Science
Noble Cause Corruption also referred to as 'Virtuous Corruption' is a concept originally applied to police who do whatever they think is necessary to get a conviction of someone they think is guilty (the ends justifies the means). It has recently been applied to the deceptions and fraud regarding climate change science but the connection might not be so sound. With climate change it might not necessarily be a 'noble cause' as much as a scam involving the pursuit of personal enrichment, for many involved anyway.
The phrase 'noble cause corruption' is believed to have first been used in the UK by Sir John Woodcock in 1992 when, as Chief Inspector of Constabulary, he was attempting to explain how miscarriages of justice occur.
Noble cause corruption is a mindset or sub-culture which fosters a belief that the ends justify the means. Noble cause corruption is a police crime in which police officers violate legal or ethical standards in pursuit of what they perceive to be the benefit of society at large.
An example of this is when police might justify fitting up people they "know" to be guilty, but for whom they can't muster forensic evidence that would satisfy a jury.
This mindset has expanded into many areas of contention including climate change science.
"The Climategate revelations opened the door to a frighteningly careless segment of the scientific world in which top climate researchers lose their raw data, "homogenize" data using non-validated computer programs, and resist FOI requests. Some of these scientists accept the precepts of "post-normal science". The late Steven Schneider expressed the basic philosophy of "post-normal science" when he said, "we have to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified, dramatic statements, and make little mention of any doubts we might have. . . . Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and being honest."
The book written by Ansley Kellow - Science and Public Policy: The Virtuous Corruption of Virtual Environmental Science.
This book argues that the virtual nature of much environmental science and the application of non-science principles such as the precautionary principle facilitate the virtuous corruption of environmental science. Drawing upon examples from conservation biology and diversity Aynsley Kellow illustrates that the problem is more widespread than this area alone would suggest and is common in the important field of climate science. He argues the importance of reliable science as the basis for environmental policy and management also proposing that a purely scientific basis for public policy is a chimera - there is rarely a linear relationship between science and public policy, with scientific understanding leading to only one policy option.
'Crusading environmentalists won't like this book. Nor will George W. Bush. Its potential market lies between these extremes. It explores the hijacking of science by people grinding axes on behalf of noble causes. "Noble cause corruption" is a term invented by the police to justify fitting up people they "know" to be guilty, but for whom they can't muster forensic evidence that would satisfy a jury. Kellow demonstrates convincingly, and entertainingly, that this form of corruption can be found at the centre of most environmental debates. Highly recommended reading for everyone who doesn't already know who is guilty.' - John Adams, University College London, UK
Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Science-Public-Policy-Corruption-Environmental/dp/1847204708
(also read reviews and comments for author discussion)
The phrase 'noble cause corruption' is believed to have first been used in the UK by Sir John Woodcock in 1992 when, as Chief Inspector of Constabulary, he was attempting to explain how miscarriages of justice occur.
Noble cause corruption is a mindset or sub-culture which fosters a belief that the ends justify the means. Noble cause corruption is a police crime in which police officers violate legal or ethical standards in pursuit of what they perceive to be the benefit of society at large.
An example of this is when police might justify fitting up people they "know" to be guilty, but for whom they can't muster forensic evidence that would satisfy a jury.
This mindset has expanded into many areas of contention including climate change science.
The book written by Ansley Kellow - Science and Public Policy: The Virtuous Corruption of Virtual Environmental Science.
This book argues that the virtual nature of much environmental science and the application of non-science principles such as the precautionary principle facilitate the virtuous corruption of environmental science. Drawing upon examples from conservation biology and diversity Aynsley Kellow illustrates that the problem is more widespread than this area alone would suggest and is common in the important field of climate science. He argues the importance of reliable science as the basis for environmental policy and management also proposing that a purely scientific basis for public policy is a chimera - there is rarely a linear relationship between science and public policy, with scientific understanding leading to only one policy option.
'Crusading environmentalists won't like this book. Nor will George W. Bush. Its potential market lies between these extremes. It explores the hijacking of science by people grinding axes on behalf of noble causes. "Noble cause corruption" is a term invented by the police to justify fitting up people they "know" to be guilty, but for whom they can't muster forensic evidence that would satisfy a jury. Kellow demonstrates convincingly, and entertainingly, that this form of corruption can be found at the centre of most environmental debates. Highly recommended reading for everyone who doesn't already know who is guilty.' - John Adams, University College London, UK
Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Science-Public-Policy-Corruption-Environmental/dp/1847204708
(also read reviews and comments for author discussion)
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Who moved my cheese? overview
Don't expect everything to always stay the same. Don't be afraid of change. Expect and prepare for the possibility of change.
Two mice (sniff & scurry) and two humans (hem & haw) live in a maze (the environment) and have found an abundant source of cheese (success, happiness) at one location within the maze.
The mice and the humans settle down to a life of eating the cheese.
One day the cheese is all gone.
The mice had noticed the amount of cheese was declining and had started looking for more cheese elsewhere which they soon found. The humans discovered the cheese they relied on was no longer there and became angry asking 'who moved my cheese?'.
The humans played the role of victims complaining about how they once had all the cheese they needed but now it was gone. The mice didn't complain, didn't play the role of victims, they just found some more cheese somewhere else.
The humans were very fearful of moving away from their old source of cheese but realised it is something which they must do. One of the humans overcomes his fear and goes looking for other sources of cheese, which he finds.
Quote: What would you do if you weren't afraid?
Broad Outline (as written on a wall by human character Haw who goes out and finds the new cheese)-
Criticism
The book is popular in management and is sometimes used to deflect criticism during the introduction of unfavourable or unfair changes in a workplace such as cost-cutting or structural re-organisation. Any dissent or complaining can be countered by telling the employee they are not moving with the cheese. An example of a 'patronising parable' often ridiculed by Dilbert creator Scott Adams.
The mice and the humans settle down to a life of eating the cheese.
One day the cheese is all gone.
The mice had noticed the amount of cheese was declining and had started looking for more cheese elsewhere which they soon found. The humans discovered the cheese they relied on was no longer there and became angry asking 'who moved my cheese?'.
The humans played the role of victims complaining about how they once had all the cheese they needed but now it was gone. The mice didn't complain, didn't play the role of victims, they just found some more cheese somewhere else.
The humans were very fearful of moving away from their old source of cheese but realised it is something which they must do. One of the humans overcomes his fear and goes looking for other sources of cheese, which he finds.
Quote: What would you do if you weren't afraid?
- Change Happens (They Keep Moving The Cheese)
- Anticipate Change (Get Ready For The Cheese To Move)
- Monitor Change (Smell The Cheese Often So You Know When It Is Getting Old)
- Adapt To Change Quickly (The Quicker You Let Go Of Old Cheese, The Sooner You Can Enjoy New Cheese)
- Change (Move With The Cheese)
- Enjoy Change! (Savor The Adventure And Enjoy The Taste Of New Cheese!)
- Be Ready To Change Quickly And Enjoy It Again (They Keep Moving The Cheese)
The book is popular in management and is sometimes used to deflect criticism during the introduction of unfavourable or unfair changes in a workplace such as cost-cutting or structural re-organisation. Any dissent or complaining can be countered by telling the employee they are not moving with the cheese. An example of a 'patronising parable' often ridiculed by Dilbert creator Scott Adams.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
The Occultation - (Shia Islam)
The Occultation (Arabic: غيبة Ghaybah) in Shia Islam refers to a belief that the messianic figure, or Mahdi, who in Shi'i thought is an infallible male descendant of the founder of Islam, Muhammad, was born but disappeared, and will one day return and fill the world with justice. Some Shi'is, such as the Zaidi and Nizari Ismaili, do not believe in the idea of the Occultation. The groups that do believe in it differ on the succession of the Imamate, and therefore which individual is in Occultation. The Hidden Imam is still considered to be the Imam of the Time, to hold authority over the community, and to guide and protect individuals and the Shi'i community.
Twelver
In Twelver Shia Islam, the largest branch of the Shia faith, the twelfth imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, went into Occultation in 873. The Occultation is split into the Minor Occultation and the Major Occultation.
Minor Occultation
The Minor Occultation (Ghaybat al-Sughra) refers to the period when the Twelver Shia believe the Imam still maintained contact with his followers via deputies (Arab. an-nuwāb al-arbaʻa). During this period, from 874-941, the deputies represented him and acted as agents between him and his followers.
Major Occultation
The Major Occultation denotes the second, longer portion of the Occultation, which continues to the present day. Shia believe, based on the last Saf’ir's deathbed message, that the Twelfth Imam had decided not to appoint another deputy. Thus, al-Samarri's death marked the beginning of the second or Major Occultation. According to the last letter of Muhammad al-Mahdi to Ali ibn Muhammad al-Samarri:
Background Information
YaleCourses: The Early Middle Ages, 284--1000 (HIST 210)
15. Islamic Conquests and Civil War
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuRtuYgekuE
Poster inside the Muslim American Youth Academy, a private elementary school attached to the Islamic Center of America, the largest mosque in the United States (and a Twelver Shi'i one) located in Dearborn, Michigan.
Twelver
In Twelver Shia Islam, the largest branch of the Shia faith, the twelfth imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, went into Occultation in 873. The Occultation is split into the Minor Occultation and the Major Occultation.
Minor Occultation
The Minor Occultation (Ghaybat al-Sughra) refers to the period when the Twelver Shia believe the Imam still maintained contact with his followers via deputies (Arab. an-nuwāb al-arbaʻa). During this period, from 874-941, the deputies represented him and acted as agents between him and his followers.
Major Occultation
The Major Occultation denotes the second, longer portion of the Occultation, which continues to the present day. Shia believe, based on the last Saf’ir's deathbed message, that the Twelfth Imam had decided not to appoint another deputy. Thus, al-Samarri's death marked the beginning of the second or Major Occultation. According to the last letter of Muhammad al-Mahdi to Ali ibn Muhammad al-Samarri:
Rest assured, no one has a special relationship with God. Whoever denies me is not from my (community) [there is no deputy after him]. The appearance of the Relief depends solely upon God. Therefore, those who propose a certain time for it are liars. As to the benefit of my existence in occultation, it is like the benefit of the sun behind the clouds where the eyes do not see it.
Background Information
YaleCourses: The Early Middle Ages, 284--1000 (HIST 210)
15. Islamic Conquests and Civil War
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuRtuYgekuE
Birth of the Clinic - Michel Foucault
The Birth of the Clinic: An Archaeology of Medical Perception (French: Naissance de la clinique: une archéologie du regard médical) is the second major work of twentieth-century French philosopher Michel Foucault. First published in French in 1963, the work was published in English translation in 1973. Developing the themes explored in his previous work, Madness and Civilization, Foucault traces the development of the medical profession, and specifically the institution of the clinique (translated as "clinic", but here largely referring to teaching hospitals). Its central points are the concept of the medical regard ("medical gaze") and the sudden re-organisation of knowledge at the end of the 18th century, which would be expanded in his next major work, The Order of Things.
Key Points:
Medical Gaze
The term medical gaze was coined by French philosopher and critic, Michel Foucault in his book, The Birth of the Clinic (1963) (trans. 1973), to denote the dehumanizing medical separation of the patient's body from the patient's person (identity); (see mind-body dualism).
In modern medicine, the detached and value-free approach taken by medical specialists in viewing and treating a sick patient.
Episteme (implicit in this book, not explicit)
The historical a priori that grounds knowledge and its discourses and thus represents the condition of their possibility within a particular epoch.
Quotes
"The years preceding and immediately following the Revolution saw the birth of two great myths with opposing themes and polarities: the myth of a nationalized medical profession, organized like the clergy, and invested, at the level of man's bodily health, with powers similar to those exercised by the clergy over men's souls; and the myth of a total disappearance of disease in an untroubled, / dispassionate society restored to its original state of health."
“Death left its old tragic heaven and became the lyrical core of man: his invisible truth, his visible secret.”
“The first task of the doctor is ... political: the struggle against disease must begin with a war against bad government." Man will be totally and definitively cured only if he is first liberated...”
"How can the free gaze that medicine, and, through it, the government, must turn upon the citizens be equipped and competent without being embroiled in the esotericism of knowledge and the rigidity of social privilege?"
"What was fundamentally invisible is suddenly offered to the brightness of the gaze, in a movement of appearance so simple, so immediate that it seems to be the natural consequence of a more highly developed experience. It is as if for the first time for thousands of years, doctors, free at last of theories and chimeras, agreed to approach the object of their experience with the purity of an unprejudiced gaze."
"There's a famous book by Michel Foucault called 'The Birth of the Clinic' and I will wish you luck with that particular work. Its one of the classic studies which everyone refers to with regard to the Paris School [of Medicine] and its importance but let me just tell you anecdotally that I've read it I think four times. The first time I read it in French and thought there was something wrong with my French so I read it in English and decided there was also something wrong with my English, and then my third and fourth times I decided there was maybe something wrong with Foucault but I will leave that for you to judge and make your own decisions." - Professor Frank Snowden, Yale University, Epidemics in Western Society Since 1600 (HIST 234), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7YNY4MHBW8
Key Points:
Medical Gaze
The term medical gaze was coined by French philosopher and critic, Michel Foucault in his book, The Birth of the Clinic (1963) (trans. 1973), to denote the dehumanizing medical separation of the patient's body from the patient's person (identity); (see mind-body dualism).
In modern medicine, the detached and value-free approach taken by medical specialists in viewing and treating a sick patient.
Episteme (implicit in this book, not explicit)
The historical a priori that grounds knowledge and its discourses and thus represents the condition of their possibility within a particular epoch.
Quotes
"The years preceding and immediately following the Revolution saw the birth of two great myths with opposing themes and polarities: the myth of a nationalized medical profession, organized like the clergy, and invested, at the level of man's bodily health, with powers similar to those exercised by the clergy over men's souls; and the myth of a total disappearance of disease in an untroubled, / dispassionate society restored to its original state of health."
“Death left its old tragic heaven and became the lyrical core of man: his invisible truth, his visible secret.”
“The first task of the doctor is ... political: the struggle against disease must begin with a war against bad government." Man will be totally and definitively cured only if he is first liberated...”
"How can the free gaze that medicine, and, through it, the government, must turn upon the citizens be equipped and competent without being embroiled in the esotericism of knowledge and the rigidity of social privilege?"
"What was fundamentally invisible is suddenly offered to the brightness of the gaze, in a movement of appearance so simple, so immediate that it seems to be the natural consequence of a more highly developed experience. It is as if for the first time for thousands of years, doctors, free at last of theories and chimeras, agreed to approach the object of their experience with the purity of an unprejudiced gaze."
"There's a famous book by Michel Foucault called 'The Birth of the Clinic' and I will wish you luck with that particular work. Its one of the classic studies which everyone refers to with regard to the Paris School [of Medicine] and its importance but let me just tell you anecdotally that I've read it I think four times. The first time I read it in French and thought there was something wrong with my French so I read it in English and decided there was also something wrong with my English, and then my third and fourth times I decided there was maybe something wrong with Foucault but I will leave that for you to judge and make your own decisions." - Professor Frank Snowden, Yale University, Epidemics in Western Society Since 1600 (HIST 234), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7YNY4MHBW8
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
If you think you are beaten you are
If you think you are beaten you are
If you think you dare not, you don't
If you like to win, but you think you can't
It's almost certain you won't
If you think you'll lose, you're lost
For out of the world we find
Success begin's with a fellow's will
It's all in the state of mind
If you think you are outclassed you are
You've got to think high to rise
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger for faster man
But soon or late, the man who wins
Is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN!
If you think you dare not, you don't
If you like to win, but you think you can't
It's almost certain you won't
For out of the world we find
Success begin's with a fellow's will
It's all in the state of mind
If you think you are outclassed you are
You've got to think high to rise
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger for faster man
But soon or late, the man who wins
Is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN!
- napoleon hill
Aphoristic Thinking - Susan Sontag
In an entry dated April 26, 1980, Sontag offers a short but brilliant meditation on aphorisms — the ultimate soundbitification of thinking:
Aphorisms are rogue ideas.
Aphorism is aristocratic thinking: this is all the aristocrat is willing to tell you; he thinks you should get it fast, without spelling out all the details. Aphoristic thinking constructs thinking as an obstacle race: the reader is expected to get it fast, and move on. An aphorism is not an argument; it is too well-bred for that.
To write aphorisms is to assume a mask — a mask of scorn, of superiority. Which, in one great tradition, conceals (shapes) the aphorist’s secret pursuit of spiritual salvation. The paradoxes of salvation. We know at the end, when the aphorist’s amoral, light point-of-view self-destructs.
Then, ten days later, on May 6, she continues:
With the (1943) epigraph of Canetti. ‘The great writers of aphorisms read as if they had all known each other very well.’
One wonders why. Can it be that the literature of aphorisms teaches us the sameness of wisdom (as anthropology teaches us the diversity of culture)? The wisdom of pessimism. Or should we rather conclude that the form of the aphorism, of abbreviated or condensed or rogue thought, is a historically-colored voice which, when adopted, inevitably suggests certain attitudes; is the vehicle of a common thematics?
The traditional thematics of the aphorist: the hypocrisies of societies, the vanities of human wishes, the shallowness + deviousness of women; the sham of love; the pleasures (and necessity) of solitude; + the intricacies of one’s own thought processes.
[…]
Aphoristic thinking is impatient thinking: by its very brevity or concentratedness, it presupposes a superior standard …
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/07/20/susan-sontag-on-aphorisms/
Aphorisms are rogue ideas.
Aphorism is aristocratic thinking: this is all the aristocrat is willing to tell you; he thinks you should get it fast, without spelling out all the details. Aphoristic thinking constructs thinking as an obstacle race: the reader is expected to get it fast, and move on. An aphorism is not an argument; it is too well-bred for that.
To write aphorisms is to assume a mask — a mask of scorn, of superiority. Which, in one great tradition, conceals (shapes) the aphorist’s secret pursuit of spiritual salvation. The paradoxes of salvation. We know at the end, when the aphorist’s amoral, light point-of-view self-destructs.
With the (1943) epigraph of Canetti. ‘The great writers of aphorisms read as if they had all known each other very well.’
One wonders why. Can it be that the literature of aphorisms teaches us the sameness of wisdom (as anthropology teaches us the diversity of culture)? The wisdom of pessimism. Or should we rather conclude that the form of the aphorism, of abbreviated or condensed or rogue thought, is a historically-colored voice which, when adopted, inevitably suggests certain attitudes; is the vehicle of a common thematics?
The traditional thematics of the aphorist: the hypocrisies of societies, the vanities of human wishes, the shallowness + deviousness of women; the sham of love; the pleasures (and necessity) of solitude; + the intricacies of one’s own thought processes.
[…]
Aphoristic thinking is impatient thinking: by its very brevity or concentratedness, it presupposes a superior standard …
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/07/20/susan-sontag-on-aphorisms/
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Marengo: The Myth of Napoleon's Horse
Marengo - legend has it that it was captured during the Egyptian campaign, that Napoleon rode it on all his famous campaigns from the second Italian campaign, through the retreat from Moscow, to the final battle at Waterloo. The horse reputedly was captured after that climatic battle and taken to Britain, where it was put on exhibition and even today its skeleton is on display in the National Army Museum.
Jill Hamilton has found that no horse with the name Marengo appears in the registers of Napoleon's stables or in any primary source. Historian Dr. Jean-François Lemaire has stated, "The French archives are silent about Marengo." It is possible that Marengo was a nickname of another horse. Napoleon had a penchant for giving nicknames (Josephine's, his wife, real given name was Rose). A number of his horses had nicknames, Mon Cousin was nicknamed Wagram, Intendant was given Coco, Cirus was bestowed with Austerlitz, Cordoue was also known as Cuchillero, Bonaparte was called Numide, Moscou nicknamed Tcherkes, Ingenu also was Wagram and Marie was called Zina.
Napoleon's coach, which had been captured after Waterloo, was placed on display at Bullock's Museum in Piccadilly. Though it has often been said that Marengo was also put on display at the same time, this is not the case. Marengo first appeared on display in 1823 or 1824 in the Waterloo Rooms in Pall Mall. Later Marengo was put out to stud. After the horse's death in 1831, its skeleton was sent to London Hospital to be articulated. Its hide, with its distinctive "N" brand, was lost. The skeleton went on display at the RUSI museum. One of its hooves was incorporated into the Guards' Officer's Mess at Buckingham Palace, another hoof had been lost. Another stuffed Napoleon horse, Vizir, also wound up in Britain. It had been on display at Manchester's Natural History Museum, in 1868 the museum presented it to Napoleon III.
In the end, Marengo remains something of a mystery. Hamilton concludes the horse may actually be Ali (or Aly), a horse Napoleon did ride throughout his career and which could be considered a "favorite."
Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Marengo-The-Myth-Napoleons-Horse/dp/1841153516
Review:
http://www.napoleon-series.org/reviews/biographies/c_hamilton.html
Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Marengo-The-Myth-Napoleons-Horse/dp/1841153516
Review:
http://www.napoleon-series.org/reviews/biographies/c_hamilton.html
Bourse
Bourse
The name is derived from the 13th-century inn named Ter Beurze in Bruges, Belgium where traders and foreign merchants from across Europe conducted business in the late medieval period.
bourse
noun \'bu?rs\
Definition of BOURSE
1
: exchange 5a; specifically : a European stock exchange
2
: a sale of numismatic or philatelic items on tables (as at a convention)
Origin of BOURSE
Middle French, literally, purse, from Medieval Latin bursa — more at purse
First Known Use: 1597
noun \'bu?rs\
Definition of BOURSE
1
: exchange 5a; specifically : a European stock exchange
2
: a sale of numismatic or philatelic items on tables (as at a convention)
Origin of BOURSE
Middle French, literally, purse, from Medieval Latin bursa — more at purse
First Known Use: 1597
Monday, August 27, 2012
Definition of Wealth - Buckminster Fuller
"Wealth is our organised capability to cope effectively with the environment to sustain our healthy regeneration and decreasing both the physical and metaphysical restrictions of the forward days of our lives." from Buckminster Fuller - Operating manual for Spaceship Earth
Friday, August 24, 2012
When Lovely Woman Stoops To Folly: Oliver Goldsmith
Oliver Goldsmith (November 10, 1730(?) April 4, 1774) was an Irish writer and physician known for his novel The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), his pastoral poem The Deserted Village (1770) (written in memory of his brother), and his plays The Good-natur'd Man (1768) and She Stoops to Conquer (1773)
Oliver Goldsmith: When Lovely Woman Stoops To Folly (English)
When lovely woman stoops to folly,
And finds too late that men betray,
What charm can soothe her melancholy,
What art can wash her guilt away?
The only art her guilt to cover,
To hide her shame from every eye,
To give repentance to her lover,
And wring his bosom, is-to die.
Orfèvre D'Oliver: Si Belle La Femme Se penche À la Folie (French)
Quand est-ce que la belle femme se penche à la folie, et trouve trop
tard que les hommes trahissent, quel charme peut apaiser sa
mélancolie, quel art peut enlever sa culpabilité ?
Le seul art sa culpabilité pour couvrir, cacher sa honte de chaque
oeil, de donner le repentance à son amoureux, et d'extorquer sa
poitrine, être- à la matrice.
Oliver Goldschmied: Wenn Reizend, Stoops Frau Zur (German)
Unsinnigkeit
Wann stoops reizende Frau zur Unsinnigkeit und findet zu spät, daß
Männer verraten, welcher Charme kann ihre Melancholie beruhigen,
welche kunst kann ihre Schuld weg waschen?
Die einzige kunst ihre Schuld, zum ihrer Schande von jedem Auge zu
umfassen, zu verstecken, repentance zu geben ihrem Geliebten, und
seinen Busen, sein- zum Würfel auszupressen.
Goldsmith De Oliver: Quando Encantadora A Mulher Inclina-se Ao (Portuguese)
Folly
Quando a mulher encantadora se inclina ao folly, e se encontra
demasiado tarde que os homens betray, que encanto pode soothe sua
melancolia, que arte pode lavar sua culpa afastado?
A única arte sua culpa para cobrir, esconder seu shame de cada olho,
dar o repentance a seu amante, e wring seu bosom, est- ao dado.
Orfebre De Oliver: Cuando Es Encantadora La Mujer Se inclina A la (Spanish)
Locura
¿Cuándo la mujer encantadora se inclina a la locura, y encuentra
demasiado tarde que los hombres traicionan, qué encanto puede calmar
su melancolía, qué arte puede lavar su culpabilidad lejos?
El único arte su culpabilidad para cubrir, para ocultar su vergüenza
de cada ojo, de dar repentance a su amante, y de sacar su pecho, ser-a dado.
When lovely woman stoops to folly,
And finds too late that men betray,
What charm can soothe her melancholy,
What art can wash her guilt away?
The only art her guilt to cover,
To hide her shame from every eye,
To give repentance to her lover,
And wring his bosom, is-to die.
Quand est-ce que la belle femme se penche à la folie, et trouve trop
tard que les hommes trahissent, quel charme peut apaiser sa
mélancolie, quel art peut enlever sa culpabilité ?
Le seul art sa culpabilité pour couvrir, cacher sa honte de chaque
oeil, de donner le repentance à son amoureux, et d'extorquer sa
poitrine, être- à la matrice.
Oliver Goldschmied: Wenn Reizend, Stoops Frau Zur (German)
Unsinnigkeit
Wann stoops reizende Frau zur Unsinnigkeit und findet zu spät, daß
Männer verraten, welcher Charme kann ihre Melancholie beruhigen,
welche kunst kann ihre Schuld weg waschen?
Die einzige kunst ihre Schuld, zum ihrer Schande von jedem Auge zu
umfassen, zu verstecken, repentance zu geben ihrem Geliebten, und
seinen Busen, sein- zum Würfel auszupressen.
Goldsmith De Oliver: Quando Encantadora A Mulher Inclina-se Ao (Portuguese)
Folly
Quando a mulher encantadora se inclina ao folly, e se encontra
demasiado tarde que os homens betray, que encanto pode soothe sua
melancolia, que arte pode lavar sua culpa afastado?
A única arte sua culpa para cobrir, esconder seu shame de cada olho,
dar o repentance a seu amante, e wring seu bosom, est- ao dado.
Orfebre De Oliver: Cuando Es Encantadora La Mujer Se inclina A la (Spanish)
Locura
¿Cuándo la mujer encantadora se inclina a la locura, y encuentra
demasiado tarde que los hombres traicionan, qué encanto puede calmar
su melancolía, qué arte puede lavar su culpabilidad lejos?
El único arte su culpabilidad para cubrir, para ocultar su vergüenza
de cada ojo, de dar repentance a su amante, y de sacar su pecho, ser-a dado.
Monday, August 20, 2012
The Cult of the Expert - Brian J Ford
The Cult of The Expert
The Cult of the Expert is a highly entertaining and ingenious attack on the Experts who blind us with science, confuse us with jargon, frustrate us with bureaucracy, intimidate us with superiority - and yet - precisely because they are so successful at all this - have the power to appropriate huge shares of public funds and to make decisions which fundamentally affect our daily lives.
Author's Website:
http://www.brianjford.com/wcult01.htm
Author's Website:
http://www.brianjford.com/wcult01.htm
Vermeer's Maps
World Maps in Vermeer's painting reflect the power and reach of the Dutch seaborne empire and the emergence of mapmaking as a pursuit of the superrich Dutch merchants.
With Dutch naval power rising rapidly as a major force from the late
16th century, the Netherlands dominated global commerce during the
second half of the 17th century during a cultural flowering known as the
Dutch Golden Age.
At the time maps were popular among prosperous citizens: they were
good to look at as well as educational and useful for showing off their
owners’ interest in geography and politics and even their patriotism.
This trend is very eloquently demonstrated in the most accurate
witnesses of everyday-life scenes of the time: the famous interior
paintings of the 17th century Dutch masters, Vermeer being the most
remarkable amongst them.
Johannes, Jan or Johan Vermeer (1632 – December 1675) was a Dutch
painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle class
life. Vermeer was a moderately successful provincial genre painter in
his lifetime. He seems never to have been particularly wealthy, leaving
his wife and children in debt at his death, perhaps because he produced
relatively few paintings.
Bureaugamy
In 1999 Lionel Tiger (born 5 Feb 1937 Montreal, Quebec, Professor of Anthropology, Rutgers University) coined the word “bureaugamy” to refer to the relationship between officially impoverished mothers of illegitimate children and the government.
The resources that husbands traditionally have been able to contribute to reproduction and marriage -- financial support, protection, and socialization of their children -- have been supplanted, and sometimes replaced, by what Tiger terms government "bureaugamy" (women's dependency on the government, or the "government-as-husband").
While medical reproductive technology has had the effect of marginalizing men reproductively, the state's "bureaugamy" has marginalized the importance of men's marital and parental contributions. Women are often encouraged to live independently (as evidenced by the feminist slogan: "A woman needs a man about as much as fish needs a bicycle"). The bureaugamy supports the superfluousness of husbands by assuring a woman that it will provide what historically a husband did -- with government help she can live independently and generally without fear of hunger, lack of shelter, attack, or lack of socialization and education of her children.
Book:
Tiger, Lionel (1999). The Decline Of Males (sometimes subtitled: The First Look at an Unexpected New World for Men and Women)
http://www.amazon.com/The-Decline-Males-Lionel-Tiger/dp/1582380147
Book Review:
http://www.drmillslmu.com/publications/tiger-review.htm
The resources that husbands traditionally have been able to contribute to reproduction and marriage -- financial support, protection, and socialization of their children -- have been supplanted, and sometimes replaced, by what Tiger terms government "bureaugamy" (women's dependency on the government, or the "government-as-husband").
While medical reproductive technology has had the effect of marginalizing men reproductively, the state's "bureaugamy" has marginalized the importance of men's marital and parental contributions. Women are often encouraged to live independently (as evidenced by the feminist slogan: "A woman needs a man about as much as fish needs a bicycle"). The bureaugamy supports the superfluousness of husbands by assuring a woman that it will provide what historically a husband did -- with government help she can live independently and generally without fear of hunger, lack of shelter, attack, or lack of socialization and education of her children.
Book:
Tiger, Lionel (1999). The Decline Of Males (sometimes subtitled: The First Look at an Unexpected New World for Men and Women)
http://www.amazon.com/The-Decline-Males-Lionel-Tiger/dp/1582380147
Book Review:
http://www.drmillslmu.com/publications/tiger-review.htm
The Road to Serfdom - Ferdinand von Hayek (1899–1992)
The Road to Serfdom is a book written by the Austrian-born economist and philosopher Friedrich von Hayek (1899–1992) between 1940–1943.
Hayek warned of the danger of tyranny that inevitably results from government control of economic decision-making through central planning," and in which he argues that the abandonment of individualism, classical liberalism, and freedom inevitably leads to socialist or fascist oppression and tyranny and the serfdom of the individual.
Hayek challenged the general view among British academics that fascism was a capitalist reaction against socialism, instead arguing that fascism and socialism had common roots in central economic planning and the power of the state over the individual.
About experts: “Parliaments come to be regarded as ineffective “talking shops,” unable or incompetent to carry out the tasks for which they have been chosen. The conviction grows that if efficient planning is to be done, the direction must be “taken out of politics” and placed in the hands of experts – permanent officials or independent autonomous bodies”
Hayek warned of the danger of tyranny that inevitably results from government control of economic decision-making through central planning," and in which he argues that the abandonment of individualism, classical liberalism, and freedom inevitably leads to socialist or fascist oppression and tyranny and the serfdom of the individual.
Hayek challenged the general view among British academics that fascism was a capitalist reaction against socialism, instead arguing that fascism and socialism had common roots in central economic planning and the power of the state over the individual.
About experts: “Parliaments come to be regarded as ineffective “talking shops,” unable or incompetent to carry out the tasks for which they have been chosen. The conviction grows that if efficient planning is to be done, the direction must be “taken out of politics” and placed in the hands of experts – permanent officials or independent autonomous bodies”
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
wǔ yán liù sè 五颜六色
wǔ yán liù sè 五颜六色
multi-colored; every color under the sun
wǔ = 5
yán = face
liù = 6
sè = color, look, appearance
yán sè = color
Originally the term 'color' (yán sè) referred to the color of a person's face before later being adapted to mean color in general.
multi-colored; every color under the sun
wǔ = 5
yán = face
liù = 6
sè = color, look, appearance
yán sè = color
Originally the term 'color' (yán sè) referred to the color of a person's face before later being adapted to mean color in general.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
The Importance of Being Ernest - HTC 2012
The Importance of Being Ernest - Heidelberg Theatre Company 2012
Algernon: “Nothing will induce me to part with Bunbury, and if you ever get married, which seems to me extremely problematic, you will be very glad to know Bunbury. A man who marries without knowing Bunbury has a very tedious time of it.”
Jack: “You don’t think there is any chance of Gwendolen becoming like her mother in about a hundred and fifty years, do you, Algy?”
Algernon: “All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That’s his.”
Jack: “Is that clever?”
Algernon: “It is perfectly phrased! and quite as true as any observation in civilized life should be.”
***
Algernon: “Oh! I am not really wicked at all, cousin Cecily. You mustn’t think that I am wicked.”
Cecily: “If you are not, then you have certainly been deceiving us all in a very inexcusable manner. I hope you have not been leading a double life, pretending to be wicked and being really good all the time. That would be hypocrisy.”
Lady Bracknell: “I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance. Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone. The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a serious danger to the upper classes, and probably lead to acts of violence in Grosvenor Square.”
Lady Bracknell: “My nephew, you seem to be displaying signs of triviality.”
Jack: “On the contrary, Aunt Augusta, I’ve now realized for the first time in my life the vital Importance of Being Earnest.”
Algernon: “All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That’s his.”
Jack: “Is that clever?”
Algernon: “It is perfectly phrased! and quite as true as any observation in civilized life should be.”
***
Algernon: “Oh! I am not really wicked at all, cousin Cecily. You mustn’t think that I am wicked.”
Cecily: “If you are not, then you have certainly been deceiving us all in a very inexcusable manner. I hope you have not been leading a double life, pretending to be wicked and being really good all the time. That would be hypocrisy.”
Jack: “On the contrary, Aunt Augusta, I’ve now realized for the first time in my life the vital Importance of Being Earnest.”
Friday, July 13, 2012
helter skelter
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Memento Mori
Memento = (“remember!”), imperative form of memini (“I remember”).
Mori = verb - present active infinitive of morior (I die)
memento mori = "Remember your mortality", "Remember you must die" or "Remember you will die"
Ancient Origins
When a Roman general had won a particularly spectacular victory, he was given a triumph. He would parade his army through the city itself, normally taboo in Republican Rome, and he would display the loot and slaves he had won.
He rode a chariot, and stretched out in front of him marched the senate, musicians, exotic animals, white bulls for slaughter, and captured enemies. Upon his head was a crown of laurel leaves, and all around him the populace cheered his glorious achievement.
By tradition, though, a slave rode behind him. Every once in awhile, the slave would whisper this into his ear:
"Memento mori."
Remember, you too are mortal.
Perhaps the most famous memento mori from ancient times comes from Greece, rather than Rome. It is said that a monument was placed at the pass at Thermopylae, where the 300 Spartans fended of a million Persians and saved Western Civilization. A Spartan of course was to come home with his shield or upon it; victory or death, in other words.
Inscribed in the stone was a poem which served to remind the living of this stark practice. It read:
"Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here, obedient to their laws, we lie."
Mori = verb - present active infinitive of morior (I die)
memento mori = "Remember your mortality", "Remember you must die" or "Remember you will die"
When a Roman general had won a particularly spectacular victory, he was given a triumph. He would parade his army through the city itself, normally taboo in Republican Rome, and he would display the loot and slaves he had won.
He rode a chariot, and stretched out in front of him marched the senate, musicians, exotic animals, white bulls for slaughter, and captured enemies. Upon his head was a crown of laurel leaves, and all around him the populace cheered his glorious achievement.
By tradition, though, a slave rode behind him. Every once in awhile, the slave would whisper this into his ear:
"Memento mori."
Remember, you too are mortal.
Perhaps the most famous memento mori from ancient times comes from Greece, rather than Rome. It is said that a monument was placed at the pass at Thermopylae, where the 300 Spartans fended of a million Persians and saved Western Civilization. A Spartan of course was to come home with his shield or upon it; victory or death, in other words.
Inscribed in the stone was a poem which served to remind the living of this stark practice. It read:
"Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here, obedient to their laws, we lie."
Mappa mundi
Mappa mundi (Latin [ˈmappa ˈmʊndiː]; plural = mappae mundi) is a general term used to describe medieval European maps of the world. These maps range in size and complexity from simple schematic maps an inch or less across to elaborate wall maps, the largest of which was 11 ft. (3.5 m.) in diameter.
The term derives from the Medieval Latin words mappa (cloth or chart) and mundi (of the world).
Hereford mappa mundi
The Hereford Mappa Mundi is a mappa mundi, of a form deriving from the T and O pattern, dating to ca. 1300. It is currently on display in Hereford Cathedral in Hereford, England. It is the largest medieval map known to still exist.
0 - At the center of the map: Jerusalem, above it: the crucifix.
1 - The Paradise, surrounded by a wall and a ring of fire.
2 - The Ganges and its delta.
3 - The fabulous Island of Taphana, sometimes (possibly mis-)interpreted as Sri Lanka or Sumatra.
4 - Rivers Indus and Tigris.
5 - The Caspian Sea, and the land of Gog and Magog
6 - Babylon and the Euphrat.
7 - The Persian Gulf.
8 - The Red Sea (painted in Red).
9 - Noah's Ark.
10 - The Dead Sea, Sodom and Gomorrha, with River Jordan, coming from Sea of Galiliee; above: Lot's wife.
11 - Egypt with the River Nile.
12 - River Nile [?], or possibly an allusion to the equatorial Ocean; far outside: a land of freaks, possibly the Antipodes.
13 - The Azov Sea with Rivers Don and Dnjepr; above: the Golden Fleece.
14 - Constantinoples; left of it the Danube's delta.
15 - The Aegean Sea.
16 - Oversized delta of the Nile with Alexandria's Lighthouse.
17 - A person skiing.
18 - Greece with Mt. Olymp, Athens and Corinth
19 - Misplaced Crete with Minotaur's circular labyrinth.
20 - The Adriatic Sea; Italy with Rome, honored by a popular heptameter: Roma caput mundi tenet orbis frena rotundi [Rome, the head, holds the reins of the world].
21 - Sicily, and Carthage, opposing Rome, right of it.
22 - Scotland.
23 - England.
24 - Ireland.
25 - The Baleares.
26 - The Strait of Gibraltar (the Pillars of Hercules).
"Hereford’s mappa mundi is many things — an encyclopedia of all the world’s knowledge, a memento mori, a remarkable piece of medieval art. It remains a unique testament of a vanished world and a vivid illustration of the depth, complexity and artistic genius of maps themselves.”
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/06/29/bbc-the-beauty-on-maps/
The term derives from the Medieval Latin words mappa (cloth or chart) and mundi (of the world).
Hereford mappa mundi
The Hereford Mappa Mundi is a mappa mundi, of a form deriving from the T and O pattern, dating to ca. 1300. It is currently on display in Hereford Cathedral in Hereford, England. It is the largest medieval map known to still exist.
(note the orientation to the east at the top)
0 - At the center of the map: Jerusalem, above it: the crucifix.
1 - The Paradise, surrounded by a wall and a ring of fire.
2 - The Ganges and its delta.
3 - The fabulous Island of Taphana, sometimes (possibly mis-)interpreted as Sri Lanka or Sumatra.
4 - Rivers Indus and Tigris.
5 - The Caspian Sea, and the land of Gog and Magog
6 - Babylon and the Euphrat.
7 - The Persian Gulf.
8 - The Red Sea (painted in Red).
9 - Noah's Ark.
10 - The Dead Sea, Sodom and Gomorrha, with River Jordan, coming from Sea of Galiliee; above: Lot's wife.
11 - Egypt with the River Nile.
12 - River Nile [?], or possibly an allusion to the equatorial Ocean; far outside: a land of freaks, possibly the Antipodes.
13 - The Azov Sea with Rivers Don and Dnjepr; above: the Golden Fleece.
14 - Constantinoples; left of it the Danube's delta.
15 - The Aegean Sea.
16 - Oversized delta of the Nile with Alexandria's Lighthouse.
17 - A person skiing.
18 - Greece with Mt. Olymp, Athens and Corinth
19 - Misplaced Crete with Minotaur's circular labyrinth.
20 - The Adriatic Sea; Italy with Rome, honored by a popular heptameter: Roma caput mundi tenet orbis frena rotundi [Rome, the head, holds the reins of the world].
21 - Sicily, and Carthage, opposing Rome, right of it.
22 - Scotland.
23 - England.
24 - Ireland.
25 - The Baleares.
26 - The Strait of Gibraltar (the Pillars of Hercules).
"Hereford’s mappa mundi is many things — an encyclopedia of all the world’s knowledge, a memento mori, a remarkable piece of medieval art. It remains a unique testament of a vanished world and a vivid illustration of the depth, complexity and artistic genius of maps themselves.”
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/06/29/bbc-the-beauty-on-maps/
Friday, June 29, 2012
Sexagesimal (base 60)
Sexagesimal (base 60) is a numeral system with sixty as its base. It originated with the ancient Sumerians in the 3rd millennium BC, it was passed down to the ancient Babylonians, and it is still used — in a modified form — for measuring time, angles, and geographic coordinates.
The number 60, a highly composite number, has twelve factors, namely { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30, 60 } of which 2, 3, and 5 are prime numbers. With so many factors, many fractions involving sexagesimal numbers are simplified. For example, one hour can be divided evenly into sections of 30 minutes, 20 minutes, 15 minutes, 12 minutes, 10 minutes, 6 minutes, 5 minutes, etc. Sixty is the smallest number that is divisible by every number from 1 to 6; that is, it is the lowest common multiple of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
Possible Origin
It is possible for people to count on their fingers to 12 using one hand only, with the thumb pointing to each finger bone on the four fingers in turn. A traditional counting system still in use in many regions of Asia works in this way, and could help to explain the occurrence of numeral systems based on 12 and 60 besides those based on 10, 20 and 5. In this system, the one (usually right) hand counts repeatedly to 12, displaying the number of iterations on the other (usually left), until five dozens, i. e. the 60, are full.
The number 60, a highly composite number, has twelve factors, namely { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30, 60 } of which 2, 3, and 5 are prime numbers. With so many factors, many fractions involving sexagesimal numbers are simplified. For example, one hour can be divided evenly into sections of 30 minutes, 20 minutes, 15 minutes, 12 minutes, 10 minutes, 6 minutes, 5 minutes, etc. Sixty is the smallest number that is divisible by every number from 1 to 6; that is, it is the lowest common multiple of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
Possible Origin
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