Posts by OrphanCrow

315

Flat earth vs round earth

by Jrjw in

my brother has been talking about the earth being flat and some big conspiracy going on to make people beieve otherwise.

what are people's thoughts on this?.

OrphanCrow

i know the pain when you miss a perfect fly over ...

And the thrill and excitement, the heart racing as the ISS is spotted and tracks overhead

I am not sure why but I absolutely love a good sighting. The best one I had was on a -35C night a few years back. A full six minutes with a clear view of the wings of the ISS as it moved so quickly and brightly overhead - I stood outside and waved and jumped up and down while it flashed above. Lol! They were doing repairs to the outside at the time and I had my heart set on seeing one of them hanging outside the craft but I didn't have the proper viewing equipment to pick that up

I am in the flight path again and the night is clear, cold and exhilarating - gonna try again on the next pass. Fingers crossed that the sky stays clear

168

Where to draw the line: how Platonism haunts our discourse and the search for exorcism

by slimboyfat in

jw
friends

in the discussion about race i adopted a position i am not entirely comfortable with.

i think there is a sense in which it is useful to distinguish categories of description that can be fruitfully defended (apples and bananas) and those that cannot (caucasian or other racial descriptions for example).

but there is a more fundamental sense in which i believe that everything is socially constructed, every single line you can think of.

OrphanCrow

If not God, then what?

This

Just this

Why do you need a god?

Is existence not enough for you?

We exist

We live

and then we die

That is reality - reality is simply a clear (fearless) look at death

That is all

We are fleas on the back of a dog

Scary, huh?

315

Flat earth vs round earth

by Jrjw in

my brother has been talking about the earth being flat and some big conspiracy going on to make people beieve otherwise.

what are people's thoughts on this?.

OrphanCrow

Of course, Morph. Fake ;)

And I guess the ISS flyovers that appear overhead and curve across the sky are fake too

I am a big fan of the ISS - I watch for it all the time and I am a little pissed that I missed the flyover this morning because I neglected to check my emails last night. I was playing cards instead.

315

Flat earth vs round earth

by Jrjw in

my brother has been talking about the earth being flat and some big conspiracy going on to make people beieve otherwise.

what are people's thoughts on this?.

OrphanCrow

atomat: nasa has not produced one genuine photo of the planet earth...

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/live-iss-stream

315

Flat earth vs round earth

by Jrjw in

my brother has been talking about the earth being flat and some big conspiracy going on to make people beieve otherwise.

what are people's thoughts on this?.

OrphanCrow

kairos: No response to simple 6 minute video

Atmospheric refraction

*hint: mirage

168

Where to draw the line: how Platonism haunts our discourse and the search for exorcism

by slimboyfat in

jw
friends

in the discussion about race i adopted a position i am not entirely comfortable with.

i think there is a sense in which it is useful to distinguish categories of description that can be fruitfully defended (apples and bananas) and those that cannot (caucasian or other racial descriptions for example).

but there is a more fundamental sense in which i believe that everything is socially constructed, every single line you can think of.

OrphanCrow

Fair enough

But then your comment that it is the same thing doesn't apply

It isn't the same thing

168

Where to draw the line: how Platonism haunts our discourse and the search for exorcism

by slimboyfat in

jw
friends

in the discussion about race i adopted a position i am not entirely comfortable with.

i think there is a sense in which it is useful to distinguish categories of description that can be fruitfully defended (apples and bananas) and those that cannot (caucasian or other racial descriptions for example).

but there is a more fundamental sense in which i believe that everything is socially constructed, every single line you can think of.

OrphanCrow

It’s like arguing whether the sunset is beautiful.

No, it isn't

Beauty is subjective

The "rules of the universe" do not exist within your subjective experience

Feeling is subjective

The "rules of the universe" are not

"Feeling" has nothing to do with the rules of the universe

168

Where to draw the line: how Platonism haunts our discourse and the search for exorcism

by slimboyfat in

jw
friends

in the discussion about race i adopted a position i am not entirely comfortable with.

i think there is a sense in which it is useful to distinguish categories of description that can be fruitfully defended (apples and bananas) and those that cannot (caucasian or other racial descriptions for example).

but there is a more fundamental sense in which i believe that everything is socially constructed, every single line you can think of.

OrphanCrow

sbf: Where did they come from, if not from God? The idea that such laws can just exist of themselves and require no explanation seems unsatisfying somehow.

"Seems" unsatisfying

Eh..."seems" doesn't cut it

"Seems" is sooooo unsatisfying. "Seems" answers nothing. Nothing at all. "Seems" is only (and nothing else) a self centered positioning that begs to have a rational answer for its existence but has no solid positioning to base its assumption on

An "inch" on the other hand, is straightforwardly constructed, and I can't find the enthusiasm to press the point, when it seems so obvious.

Exactly. Of course it is obvious

So why are you obscuring the forest to spite the tree? Why can you not accept the simple and the obvious?

If the simple and the obvious won't hold, then neither will anything else that you try to build on top of it.

An inch is an inch is an inch

The beauty ( and truth) in that concept cannot be ignored in favor of "I'm more interested in Pi than an inch so therefore I will ignore the inch"

You disappoint me , Slim. I thought you were going to come up with at least the issues that mathematics encountered when it tried to define infinity and not just say: Oh, I like pi better than an inch. Therefore god

168

Where to draw the line: how Platonism haunts our discourse and the search for exorcism

by slimboyfat in

jw
friends

in the discussion about race i adopted a position i am not entirely comfortable with.

i think there is a sense in which it is useful to distinguish categories of description that can be fruitfully defended (apples and bananas) and those that cannot (caucasian or other racial descriptions for example).

but there is a more fundamental sense in which i believe that everything is socially constructed, every single line you can think of.

OrphanCrow

slimboyfat: How do you explain Pi without God?

I used to take you seriously, sfb

That comment, though, makes me question my perception of you

168

Where to draw the line: how Platonism haunts our discourse and the search for exorcism

by slimboyfat in

jw
friends

in the discussion about race i adopted a position i am not entirely comfortable with.

i think there is a sense in which it is useful to distinguish categories of description that can be fruitfully defended (apples and bananas) and those that cannot (caucasian or other racial descriptions for example).

but there is a more fundamental sense in which i believe that everything is socially constructed, every single line you can think of.

OrphanCrow

sfb: An inch of what?

An inch of anything and everything or nothing at all

just an inch

Do you not know what a "unit of measurement" is?

"What" that inch is measuring has nothing at all to do with defining the inch

The inch is defining the "what", the "what" that the inch measures does not define the inch

Inch is distance and that distance does not change regardless of "what" it is applied to