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Doug1943

['Member']Joined: June 17, 2019 at 00:19Last active: June 25, 2019 at 11:42None discussions22 comments
Location: United Kingdom

Bio

No one of consequence. A reader, a snapper-up of unconsidered trifles. Trying to always ask, with respect to all my beliefs about matters of fact, the question, 'What evidence would make you change your mind?'

Favourite Philosopher

When I was young, I enjoyed reading Bertrand Russell.

Favourite Quotations

You can get a lot further in life with a kind word, and a gun, than you can with a kind word alone.

Dulce bellum, inexpertis.

The historic ascent of humanity, taken as a whole, may be summarised as a succession of victories of consciousness over blind forces – in nature, in society, in man himself.

People do not love missionaries with bayonets.

Comments

In: Physical question  — view comment
David Deutsch. I love that guy. I once went to a lecture by him on Quantum Computing, decades ago. Didn't understand much, but his books are wonderful...
June 25, 2019 at 08:29
In: Physical question  — view comment
I think what we're looking at here is apparently non-deterministic behavior. That is, there are some systems whose behavior is deterministic, predicta...
June 24, 2019 at 06:17
In: Physical question  — view comment
I think it's always helpful in these sorts of discussions to try to avoid using the verb "to be". So we may get more clarity if, rather than saying, "...
June 23, 2019 at 20:46
In: Physical question  — view comment
As for the binary number system, I always thought that our current computing machines use binary for engineering reasons -- it's easier to design circ...
June 23, 2019 at 19:15
In: Physical question  — view comment
Can we use the concept 'information' to describe the behavior of non-living matter? Obviously we can, for machines built by us. But what about the obj...
June 23, 2019 at 16:55
In: Physical question  — view comment
Yes, indeed. There needs to be compensation for good work, in order for the good work to continue. If I were a billionaire, I'd fund a few 'Open Sourc...
June 23, 2019 at 13:12
In: Physical question  — view comment
An analogy, of course. What's interesting are the differences. Energy is conserved, knowledge isn't. I don't deplete my knowledge by using it, nor doe...
June 22, 2019 at 13:30
In: What is "cultural appropriation" ?  — view comment
All organized human groups have standards of behavior. Primitive tribes who are perfectly happy torturing captives to death have rigid codes of behavi...
June 20, 2019 at 23:42
In: The leap from socialism to communism.  — view comment
I think the most interesting socialists are those who have tried to grapple with 'the Socialist Calculation Question' put by the 'Austrian' economists...
June 20, 2019 at 10:10
In: What is "cultural appropriation" ?  — view comment
I'm sorry if it sounds condesending. I believe people are a product of their material circumstances, including their past circumstance, ie. their hist...
June 20, 2019 at 09:54
In: What is "cultural appropriation" ?  — view comment
With respect to the Soviet Union: it actually did have pretty advanced ethical standards -- in some ways superior to those of free (capitalist) countr...
June 20, 2019 at 09:23
In: What is "cultural appropriation" ?  — view comment
Surely all decent people can agree that it's wrong to needlessly cause pain to others. So if some group is genuinely made unhappy by thoughtless refer...
June 19, 2019 at 13:38
In: What is "cultural appropriation" ?  — view comment
No, I wouldn't think so. But there may be people who are naive about the reality of life among aboriginals, where the sensibilities of advanced societ...
June 19, 2019 at 05:14
In: What is "cultural appropriation" ?  — view comment
Another example of white imperialists disrespecting Native American customs and trying to impose their standards on Native Americans can be found here...
June 18, 2019 at 22:18
In: The leap from socialism to communism.  — view comment
You are right that the words 'socialism' and 'communism' have been pretty much drained of all content. There are various reasons for this: some people...
June 18, 2019 at 17:39
In: What is "cultural appropriation" ?  — view comment
Yes, it is. With respect to the Yamomani, I've read a plausible argument that it was whites, giving them steel axes and even shotguns, that really cau...
June 18, 2019 at 16:11
In: What is "cultural appropriation" ?  — view comment
Yes, you're right. Thanks. Just learning the customs here.
June 18, 2019 at 14:13
In: What is "cultural appropriation" ?  — view comment
Of course, with the important qualifications I mentioned. (And having a standard does not mean always adhering to that standard.) So there is a strong...
June 18, 2019 at 11:55
In: What is "cultural appropriation" ?  — view comment
Saying what everyone knows to be true, but everyone is afraid, or too polite, to say, is a cheap way of getting reactions. But I just couldn't resist ...
June 18, 2019 at 11:28
In: What is "cultural appropriation" ?  — view comment
Mankind advances, but unevenly. Some cultures put men on the moon, others remain in the stone age. The people in both cultures believe that the stone ...
June 18, 2019 at 11:00
In: Is a major conflict imminent in the Middle East?  — view comment
Those tankers were obviously attacked by torpedo boats from the Gulf of Tonkin.
June 18, 2019 at 10:30
In: The leap from socialism to communism.  — view comment
Up until some point in the 1970s, the idea of a centralized planned economy -- with 'production for need, not for profit' -- appeared to many people t...
June 17, 2019 at 17:28
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