In order to prevent violent people from inflicting violence, controversial MP Wilder Geert has been chased out of the country. BBC link. Other bad foreigners who are to be banned from UK entry in similar legislation:
1. PJ O'Rourke. His book was known to cause extreme offence to all devotees of the lord David Icke. He won't be allowed any nearer than Lizard Point.
2. Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. Controversial astronaut. It is rumoured that he has evidence that the earth is round. This has caused extreme offence to the National Flat Earth Society, and he will be stopped at all ports.
3. John Barrowman. Apparently he is gay. There must be some religious people who find this deeply offensive.
4. Daniel Dennett. He writes books that are a bit complicated. This is deliberate provocation of the large and respected national society of idiots.
5. Raymond Blanc. In an act of deliberate provocation to followers of the holy Brian, he publicly humiliated (and ate) a snail. Sick. And sacrilege.
These people are dangerous. Foreign Secretary David Willi-banned said: "We have profound commitment to freedom of speech, but we are also bloody scared."
Showing posts with label freedom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label freedom. Show all posts
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Free Will Defined
Yes, I know that my previous note quoted Rush completely out of context, I know the lyrics actually appear to be a simple rejection of astrological and theological bullshit rather than any serious objectivist anthem, and it was certainly not written to be a justification for indecision.
But within the simplified hundred-word school-level boundaries of this blog, can I define free will? Without recourse to any Kant or Locke or Hume. Define it to be a useful phrase in a practical sense with no philosophical spin at all. Free will as it should be defined, here today.
Free will is simply an expression of the fact that nobody else can control your thoughts. Nobody else can read your mind. If only you see a coin turn to heads or tails, nobody else can tell which it was. Sure there are machines that might start to use predictive indicators such as sweat and blood flow and even general areas of brain activity to start to approximate your maniacal tendencies. But today those are expensive unreliable fakeable proxy indicators.
Nobody else can read your thoughts, let alone control them. That's it.
But within the simplified hundred-word school-level boundaries of this blog, can I define free will? Without recourse to any Kant or Locke or Hume. Define it to be a useful phrase in a practical sense with no philosophical spin at all. Free will as it should be defined, here today.
Free will is simply an expression of the fact that nobody else can control your thoughts. Nobody else can read your mind. If only you see a coin turn to heads or tails, nobody else can tell which it was. Sure there are machines that might start to use predictive indicators such as sweat and blood flow and even general areas of brain activity to start to approximate your maniacal tendencies. But today those are expensive unreliable fakeable proxy indicators.
Nobody else can read your thoughts, let alone control them. That's it.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Schadenfreunde
See jhal. If Lewis Carroll and Douglas Adams and Stephen Fry can coin their own words, then so can I.
Without the "n", the word is a well known import from Germany. But the original carries strong negative connotations, malicious pleasure from the discomfort of others. And that is not nice.
But sometimes the others are your friends, people for whom you genuinely wish well. Yet occasionally, despite your best advice, they may make the wrong decision. Free will. No harm done, but a lesson learned. Schadenfreunde.
Without the "n", the word is a well known import from Germany. But the original carries strong negative connotations, malicious pleasure from the discomfort of others. And that is not nice.
But sometimes the others are your friends, people for whom you genuinely wish well. Yet occasionally, despite your best advice, they may make the wrong decision. Free will. No harm done, but a lesson learned. Schadenfreunde.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Free Will
This is not going to be a textbook philosophical treatise, more just the view from the hangover after a big night out.
There is an oft-quoted saying - that people regret more of the things they didn't do than the things they did do ...
but like all oft-quoted sayings, that's a load of context-specific twaddle.
Sometimes you might think that you'll regret not going somewhere - but when you later learn the fate of those who did go there, then you'll be grateful. Grateful to whom? To your own decision-making capability.
Or as noted by Neil Peart - if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.
There is an oft-quoted saying - that people regret more of the things they didn't do than the things they did do ...
but like all oft-quoted sayings, that's a load of context-specific twaddle.
Sometimes you might think that you'll regret not going somewhere - but when you later learn the fate of those who did go there, then you'll be grateful. Grateful to whom? To your own decision-making capability.
Or as noted by Neil Peart - if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Free the slave
I asked a frivolous question in the last post; over at Marginal Revolution some serious economists have discussed broadly the same issue in a more serious way:
1. Risk Free No Longer - Government Bonds were generally considered the safest investment, but even they can be insured, and the premiums required to do so are rising sharply.
2. Spend More Today - that is the general suggestion to those who expect their salaries to rise, to those who have welfare guarantees, and to those who expect to die soon.
But I leave you with a comment from that article. Isn't real happiness freedom? And isn't freedom in a capitalist/consumerist system money?
1. Risk Free No Longer - Government Bonds were generally considered the safest investment, but even they can be insured, and the premiums required to do so are rising sharply.
2. Spend More Today - that is the general suggestion to those who expect their salaries to rise, to those who have welfare guarantees, and to those who expect to die soon.
But I leave you with a comment from that article. Isn't real happiness freedom? And isn't freedom in a capitalist/consumerist system money?
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