bernard wolsieffer
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Re: Is there a possibility of a creator?
as an adjunct ideology:http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1400/fv01386.htmand I will claim that any one person or group of persons is thoroughly arrogant to be monolithic. Read More
March 3, 2008
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Re: Is it the President's job to solve moral issues?
In following the previous post, I will also suggest that President Nixon did more for this country than many people realized then, let alone now. He allowed people to see the difference between the president, and the Presidency.It is that difference that, perhaps, caused the topic question to begin. There is a tradition of honor and distinction that the Presidency bestows upon the president. While corruption and scandal are not new to presidents, in almost all cases, the president elected to the Presidency has risen above themselves to make their tenure, if nothing else, an honourable o… Read More
February 27, 2008
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Re: Re: Is it the President's job to solve moral issues?
I'm not sure that a government official elected by the populace through the distillation of the electoral college qualifies de facto as a moral harbinger. Given the process through which an individual achieves the Presidency, I would suggest rather the opposite, at least in our time. A revisiting of The Best And The Brightest (David Halberstam) or Fear & Loathing On The Campaign Trail 1972 (Hunter Thompson) among others should clarify my meaning. Read More
February 27, 2008
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Re: What Are Some General Guidelines?
I would like to suggest that posters not be able to tweak the rating or vote on their own post. Seems self-defeating. Read More
February 25, 2008
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Re: What do you think of the Big Picture (Big Think's newsletter)?
I truly love the concept of the 'big picture'. But in this climate of 'spam filters' it isn't reaching enough of those who need to see it. I would love to say, for a forum such as this: the hell with spam filters - get people out there who don't necessarily have the 'contribute' meme active get this forum put before them.Yes, I'm what might be considered an 'overactive' contributor. And I challenge anyone within this forum who have already contributed to say to their friends: "Dig in. We want to have a say in the world. There are already major people who have had some input here. Is it … Read More
February 22, 2008
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Re: Why do we cheat to compete? What is to be done? What are we to think?
Let's look at some of the motivations for cheating in its various forms.One of them is one of the seven deadly sins: greed. Improving player stats is a great way to get a more lucrative contract, so a player may decide to cut corners. I will not deny that professional athletes work hard all their lives to enter the major leagues in whatever is their sport. However, the idea gets into some of them that by using artificial (and often illegal) methods to attain even higher levels of performance.One of them is the system. Part of the earliest stages of the system is Little League Baseball.… Read More
February 21, 2008
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The environment and personal behaviour
People who raise the hue and cry for the government to do something about the environmental issues the world faces should start the solution at the personal level. There are a myraid of things that an individual (multiply by approximately 200,000,000 to get the gross effect) can do on a daily basis. I will list a few:Stop driving everywhere. That effects petroleum consumption, carbon emissions, and one's weight. Walk or bicycle, or at the very least use public transport. Yes, I know that for some it is a humiliation beyond comprehension to ride with "the po' folk". In a lot of cases I t… Read More
February 20, 2008
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Re: Senator, why don't you actually DO something
There are two fundamental problems with this line of thinking in relation to vehicles:The Manufacturers are unwilling to participate except to the level of vehicle efficiency mandated by the government. The government is not going to change the efficiency improvement levels that are already in place. And the efficiency improvements do not sufficiently address things like trucks, SUVs, and the like. The Consumer is not going to go for such vehicles any time soon. The average consumer is only partly interested in fuel efficiency - size and amenities in a vehicle are also very much in the … Read More
February 20, 2008
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Baseball & the Energy/Environmental Crisis
As I was reviewing my posts from last night, a question occurred to me - would it be environmentally conscious of all major sports to schedule more day games to eliminate the need for the thousands of watts of lighting for night contests? I was apalled when Wrigley installed lights; I had been there a couple of times prior to that, and enjoyed it thoroughly. In fact, all the MLB games I have attended have been day games. I realize that attendance might be seriously impacted for weekday games; but weekends, at least would be fair game for all daytime scheduling.And, in my opinion, televi… Read More
February 20, 2008
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Why do we cheat to compete? What is to be done? What are we to think?
[For the beginning of this thread, see http://www.bigthink.com/rest-diversions/7454].Babe Ruth had his beer and dogs; Paul Hornung (self-admittedly) had a near-all-night binge before Super Bowl I; Joe DiMaggio had Marilyn. Scandalous? Hardly. Public faux-pas? Certainly. Damaging to the profession? Not so far as I can tell. Ruth smacked homers. Hornung blew by the Raiders. DiMaggio was, by all accounts, a baseball hero.Those of us who follow sports in general, I believe, expect a certain level of e… Read More
February 20, 2008
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Re: Why do we compete? (cont'd)
Someone a while back (I think it was Bill James, but it has been a couple of decades since I read this) who pointed out some cultural ideas about the most popular sports in America.Football as an allegory for warBasketball as an allegory for street trafficI'm going to venture the connection and change it from the original for baseballBaseball as an allegory for law and orderIn football, there are the two teams (combatants) being overseen by the referees (international courts/governing bodies). In basketball, there are also two teams, but also simultaneously ten individuals whose ebb and… Read More
February 19, 2008
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I'm glad this has been broached; I was getting ready to instigate some ideas on this over the next few days. In a tag to the NBA All-Star Game last night, Chris Rock pointed out that competition in sports gives many cultures an affirmative resolution - someone wins, someone loses (with the interesting exception of futbol, and at some levels, hockey; this could provide some discussion all by itself). This provides a satisfaction missing from most people's lives.Of course, it also has a polarizing, my city/country/province is better than yours, effect, which, I believe, is counte… Read More
February 18, 2008
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Re: How do we know what good music is ?
Heart is not enough - there should be some aesthetically redeeming value to music as well. For example, I would much rather listen to a klezmer band, a navajo story song, or kabuki, than grindcore, or rap where half the words the lyrics start with 'f'. Read More
January 23, 2008
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Re: BigThink too in Spanish for the Latin people!..
Mais oui. Read More
January 22, 2008
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Re: How do we know what good music is ?
I refer you to my post in art and add that I've been a musician for fifty years now (recalling that recently was actually quite sobering in and of its own right) Read More
January 22, 2008
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Re: Is there such thing as bad art? What is good art?
I believe it was Thurgood Marshall (when deciding a pornography question):We'll know it when we see it.I take art to bee seen in that same spirit. De gustibus non disputandum. [There is no accounting for taste]And art has (almost) always reveled in that statement. Don't criticise what you don't understand. [Bob Dylan] Read More
January 22, 2008
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Re: what do you think of wikipedia?
There are segments of Wikipedia that are (peripatetically, in some cases) moderating the submissions to this volume of information; depending on the verbiage and logic within the topic submissions I take it with either a convincing level of veracity or an incredulous mental spit-take. Given my personal experience of search topics (I still use yahoo, by virtue of the fact that I can search on a qouted phrase and get exact matching), the topics I find are at least factual, if not thorough. Read More
January 22, 2008
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Re: What is considered a person under US law?
Although I am not a thorough scholar of constitutional law, i will suggest that an examination of the Forteenth Amendment might give some clue to the distinction.This from www.usconstitution.net:Amendment 141. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to thejurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the Statewherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridgethe privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall anyState deprive any person of life, liberty, or property,… Read More
January 22, 2008
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Although it may seem a trivial answer, at an individual level, the meaning of life is what meaning the individual gives it. As a species, the jury is very much still out, and probably will be for another two or three centuries, if at all. Unless one subscribes to the notion of omniquantism or to the ineffibility of permanent philosophical schism, there obviously is no one answer. Read More
January 22, 2008
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G.K. Chesterton wrote:He attacked logic - it's bad theology.One way to 'justify' faith, would be to read either Chesterton, or Aquinas. Both did a very elegant job, within their individual lights. Read More
January 22, 2008
Philosopher; programmer; musician; actor/director; web site
