tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post2031612531577414640..comments2024-03-29T06:03:45.545-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: The Science of Values and the Mythology of FactGagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-4015290391500591182012-03-14T12:00:19.229-07:002012-03-14T12:00:19.229-07:00willian channels his inner self... ♫ ♪ ♬ Nothing ...willian channels his inner self... ♫ ♪ ♬ Nothing from nothing leaves nothing... ♬ ♪ ♫Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-71323630845820246852012-03-14T08:42:59.640-07:002012-03-14T08:42:59.640-07:00Gagdad said "But perhaps that's the purpo...Gagdad said "But perhaps that's the purpose, because the left assures itself a constant flow of cash by howling about the insecurity of abortion rights."<br /><br />I think it has more to do with their oppostiont to what you said next: "A right can only be truly secure if it is grounded in nature...", laws that are grounded in true principles are beyond the reach of govt to manipulate to their benefit. Laws which are grounded in convoluted sophistry, can be made, changed, applied and ignored, to the hearts content of those in power, whether they be judges, legislators, agency functionaries, POTUS, school board member, etc., etc., etc.<br /><br />Power thrives in ambiguity and darkness.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-385037630060596312012-03-14T07:48:27.073-07:002012-03-14T07:48:27.073-07:00And given the howling woman I linked above (yester...And given the howling woman I linked above (yesterday at 3:37), I suspect it isn't only about creating cash flow. For such as they, having a chronic fuel source to feed their all-consuming rage is an end unto itself.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-77837376702188182992012-03-14T07:44:37.780-07:002012-03-14T07:44:37.780-07:00The point is, abortion "rights" will be ...The point is, abortion "rights" will be insecure so long as they are founded upon pure legal sophistry. <br /><br />But perhaps that's the purpose, because the left assures itself a constant flow of cash by howling about the insecurity of abortion rights. <br /><br />A right can only be truly secure if it is grounded in nature, which -- I think we can all agree -- is one thing abortion can by definition never be. Unless one argues that human beings have a natural right to be aborted.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-50878380258081367092012-03-14T07:37:34.368-07:002012-03-14T07:37:34.368-07:00Verdiales:
I remember having a similar conversati...Verdiales:<br /><br />I remember having a similar conversation with a liberal lawyer. I said, I realize that you're pro-abortion and all, but just between you and me, can't you at least admit that you're ashamed of the legal reasoning behind Roe v Wade? She responded with the usual blather about an evolving constitution. I said, that being the case, can you envision a day when people are sufficiently evolved to recognize the sanctity of human life, or that no human being falls beneath the protection of the law? <br /><br />Spluttering.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-16349673329164361732012-03-14T07:15:42.916-07:002012-03-14T07:15:42.916-07:00Any form of relativism, including contemporary lib...Any form of relativism, including contemporary liberalism, feeds on its own tail. Which is why the tale always ends the same.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-77508706269631930822012-03-14T07:09:00.562-07:002012-03-14T07:09:00.562-07:00It's all relative until someone doesn't wa...It's all relative until someone doesn't want to pay for your contraceptives.<br /><br />I thought this comment was a beaut:<br /><br />"The real humbug of the relativists is revealed when you turn their own arguments against one of their pet political projects. When I have argued in conference lectures and in print that politically correct censorship of the media or liberal judicial activism is merely the codification of power relations, a mere statement about who is going to be the boss round here,they went primate-excrement. They deny absolutes yet they act as if there were absolutes. When I taught a course on the Hindu caste system I used strict moral neutrality and said that we could not criticise another civilisation which was based on different values , those of justified lifelong inequality, and that we had to treat the idea of equality in an entirely relativist way.The liberal students were baffled and had no answer. It is curious that left-relativists always exempt equality from their relativism."Tonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00987042455512485699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-59770587439635923662012-03-14T07:05:56.606-07:002012-03-14T07:05:56.606-07:00I'm still laughing at "arsenhole."I'm still laughing at "arsenhole."Tonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00987042455512485699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-79288688968674766982012-03-14T07:00:42.199-07:002012-03-14T07:00:42.199-07:00The saddest part is not that he is reduced to maki...The saddest part is not that he is reduced to making straw man arguments, but that he actually believes them. Which means that by his own logic, his brains are composed of straw.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-43837421115574467792012-03-14T06:48:59.889-07:002012-03-14T06:48:59.889-07:00willian said "The fact is, it doesn't mat...willian said "The fact is, it doesn't matter who wrote the book, except to people like you. That's my point."<br /><br />If Adam Smith wrote "The Communist Manifesto" & "Das Kapital", instead of Karl Marx, you'd still believe it.<br /><br />And you'd still try it. Over and over and over again. No matter how many times it's failed (every), no matter how many people it has killed (hundreds of millions), you'd still believe it because it tells you what you want to believe, and it tells you that your belief is evidence that it is true, and that reality is mistaken.<br /><br />That is your point.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-57762844172016896882012-03-14T06:43:45.855-07:002012-03-14T06:43:45.855-07:00That's what I get for trying to give a koan to...That's what I get for trying to give a koan to a drone.mushroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07651027035577798096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-15313743132704369042012-03-14T05:54:58.377-07:002012-03-14T05:54:58.377-07:00William, in my sidebar I have a couple of quotes a...William, in my sidebar I have a couple of quotes about the value of skepticism -- one from Sheldrake and one from Orville Wright: <i>If we all worked on the assumption that what is accepted as true is really true, there would be little hope of advance. </i><br /><br />We are all for seeking truth. And, for the record, it is not us who are lacking in skepticism about the predictions of, oh, climate science.<br /><br />If you do not value myths, you do not understand what a myth is. Myths are true. When you grasp the fact that a myth or a Divine revelation is true the same way a microscope is true, you will not be far from the kingdom. Until then, good luck.mushroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07651027035577798096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-11648883702380874482012-03-13T23:29:00.352-07:002012-03-13T23:29:00.352-07:00Some value their 'beliefs' and 'faith&...Some value their 'beliefs' and 'faith' moreso than what they know to be fact. The area becomes black and white in the minds of the dogmatic because beliefs and faith cross the line into fact. How many times have we heard: "it has to be true because it's in the Bible." ?<br /><br />I would welcome a statement like, "I believe it is likely true because I believe what the Bible says." At least that admits supposed fact based on belief rather than an outright statement of 'truth'. <br /><br />I value perception, science, information, scholarship, and awareness moreso than legends, myths, and dogmatic imperatives. <br /><br />Admire those who seek the truth, but beware of those who claim to have found it. Skepticism is integral to the advancement of learning.Williamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05861596158055480390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-69973417785546274352012-03-13T21:37:36.648-07:002012-03-13T21:37:36.648-07:00"You will have noticed that leftists are fore..."You will have noticed that leftists are forever accusing conservatives of supporting principles that are in their economic self-interest. First of all, this is based upon a peculiar theory of economics that we do not accept. <br /><br />Secondly, it only highlights the fact that we support principles that are universal, regardless of self-interest."<br /><br />What's strangest of all about their accusation of supporting principles that are in our economic self-interest, is what it says about their conception of principles. Are there really principles which are true, that you <i>could</i> choose to ignore? Even if they accomplished something as despicable as working towards your self-interest... what kind of proven principle could you possibly choose to ignore because it dared favor, or stymie, you?<br /><br />I wonder how often leftists curse principles of aerodynamics while jetting over flyover country, because they serve their self-interest?<br /><br />What does such a muddle say about their ability to perceive or appreciate anything that's true?<br /><br />Oh, yeah, that's right. Never mind.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-56115435159699220862012-03-13T21:25:14.545-07:002012-03-13T21:25:14.545-07:00"Your stuff has to go over there, on the shel..."Your stuff has to go over there, on the shelf with Zeus and Thor and the Kraken, with the stuff that is not evidence-based, stuff that religious people never change their mind about, no matter what happens."<br /><br />You've gotta admir... (no... admire isn't the right word... Gape, that's better) you've gotta just gape at their ability to even use the words 'evidence-based', when they deny man's ability to perceive reality or to know what is true.<br /><br />So, yeah, gaping is find, and appropriate, just don't try reasoning with them (at least not for any reason other than for your own amusement), their off the shelf arbitrariness isn't even fit for playing connect the falacies with - having no connection to reality, they aren't even wrong.<br /><br />But they are funny.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-79461448760000315282012-03-13T20:46:38.164-07:002012-03-13T20:46:38.164-07:00I have been out the past two days and just got a c...I have been out the past two days and just got a chance to drop in. I guess what I see is that it is impossible for those with no morals to be immoral, and it is impossible for those without standards to be hypocritical.<br /><br />It's a neat trick that by rejecting moral standards, a person can claim to be more moral than the person who adheres to moral standards. <br /><br />You'll have to excuse me because I have been spading up garden plots in the sun for three out of the last four days, and I'm obviously confused. <br /><br />Doesn't rejecting moral standards mean by definition that one is amoral? Is amoral really better than immoral? <br /><br />The truth is that being moral and good is hard and even the best of us fail at it sometimes. Because it is hard, it must be unnatural and inauthentic, therefore, the moral person is a phony who displaces his or her immorality into activities that the amoral adjudicator of morality (e.g., Maher or William) deems unacceptable. <br /><br />I am too tired to be safe.mushroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07651027035577798096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-37865820616949343892012-03-13T15:37:39.241-07:002012-03-13T15:37:39.241-07:00Via Taranto, Holy cow - evidence that taking a sta...Via Taranto, Holy cow - <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/consider-the-case-of-the-angry-white-woman/2012/03/11/gIQAZKvm5R_story.html" rel="nofollow">evidence</a> that taking a stance against morality can have dire consequences. The crazy is strong in this one...juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-9258530131329277802012-03-13T13:24:09.507-07:002012-03-13T13:24:09.507-07:00Not American slaves, European Jews, and the unborn...Not American slaves, European Jews, and the unborn, that's for sure.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-64962624887312147742012-03-13T12:56:30.010-07:002012-03-13T12:56:30.010-07:00"such illogical forms of pseudo-morality unde..."such illogical forms of pseudo-morality undermine the very basis of morality"<br /><br />cui bono?Tonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00987042455512485699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-2775757180467721202012-03-13T12:49:06.594-07:002012-03-13T12:49:06.594-07:00Taranto cites a NY Times editorial that explains t...Taranto cites a NY Times editorial that explains the principle that allows liberals to condemn others for acting as they do. Liberals who engage in hate speech are not hypocritical. Rather, it's just that<br /><br />"Schultz and Maher are the good guys; they are on the side of truth and justice. Limbaugh is the bad guy; he is on the side of every nefarious force that threatens our democracy. Why should he get an even break?"<br /><br />As Arkes explains, such illogical forms of pseudo-morality undermine the very basis of morality.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-21044360334299926942012-03-13T12:19:37.431-07:002012-03-13T12:19:37.431-07:00No kidding - I was glad not to have been drinking ...No kidding - I was glad not to have been drinking anything last Friday when his Maher quote came through, or I might have sprayed my keyboard. Who looks to Bill Maher as any kind of font of wisdom, virtue or intelligence? I'm so glad I don't live in his universe.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-90683218639504761452012-03-13T12:18:00.890-07:002012-03-13T12:18:00.890-07:00speaking of women, Obama's HHS mandate lost th...speaking of women, Obama's HHS mandate lost them:<br /><br />http://dailycaller.com/2012/03/13/psst-obama-lost-the-birth-control-mandate-debate/<br /><br />Kaus rightly calls attention to the NYT/Leftist's "cocooning"<br /><br />gated community liberals, herd animals, like pampered gazelles grazing in their gated preserveTonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00987042455512485699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-8406004299938306032012-03-13T12:03:24.139-07:002012-03-13T12:03:24.139-07:00Yes, I love how the humorless and irony-free Glori...Yes, I love how the humorless and irony-free Gloria Allred and Jane Fonda say that it is evil for Rush to refer to radical women as "feminazis" while they compare him to Josef Goebbels. Or William decrying "misogynistic" rhetoric while routinely linking to Bill Maher. Must be weird to live in a principle-free world, with no intellectual consistency.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-48173316490270627842012-03-13T11:50:37.923-07:002012-03-13T11:50:37.923-07:00Pew Research shows that the political Left is the ...Pew Research shows that the political Left is the most intolerant group on social networking sites:<br /><br />http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Social-networking-and-politics/Main-findings/~/media/178EB673B12B46E6BFB8B7BCC4E26377.jpg?w=529&h=403&as=1<br /><br />You might say they act precisely like a gated community, exclusivist, intolerant, and very much circle-the-wagons types<br /><br />i.e. RegressivesTonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00987042455512485699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-50305722839691758542012-03-13T11:29:51.219-07:002012-03-13T11:29:51.219-07:00"critical theory" purports to be anti-fo..."critical theory" purports to be anti-foundational on principle <br /><br />most leftists internalize critical theory as a set of intuitions and herding instincts<br /><br />this allows them to congratulate themselves in various ways without much reflection or effort<br /><br />"reality" is not something they want to be accountable to, but something to *shape*<br /><br />they are, as were the Fabians, imperialists and totalitarians to the core<br /><br />remember that the original motto of the French Revolution was "liberte, egalite, fraternite -- ou la Mort"<br /><br />they are a culture of death, a surgical culture purely<br /><br />I only have respect for the off-the-grid ecological types among them -- at least they have visionTonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00987042455512485699noreply@blogger.com