h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

In similar vein I read a book by the physicist Stephen Weinberg a couple of years ago (can't remember the title) which had a chapter entitled "On the Unreasonble Ineffectiveness of Philosophy". It struck me as odd because the entire book was essentially a philosophical treatise on how science works. The problem is not that philosophy is useless to science, but that mainstream philosophers have largely abandoned this part of philosophy to philosophically inclined scientists, and it's therefore seen as science, not philosophy.

Noggin

Which prompts a quotable quote:

"To despise philosophy is a philosophical act"

It's like history, isn't it; to affect indifference is to be doomed to repeat it.

R'man. I fear that I've yet to be impressed by those Mormon academics from the states. They may think carefully and be extremely assiduous, but they seem to lack originality. Why not make a large pot out of ice and put it in a rather larger metal one? This makes the experiment possible and the ice pot will boil bit by bit even as we watch it!

Mormon psychology is particularly suspect. The subjects always seem to do as the experimenter expects. Can this be to do with the fact that they're always students at a Mormon university?

toxx

Is this the same Toxxin that accused me of arguing ad hominem?

Meanwhile, at the philosophical coal-face:

Wu Wei Wu: "We do not possess an ego; we are possessed by the idea of one."

Sorry, that should, of course, have been Wei Wu Wei. ( Action in non-action.)

Is that one, or one each?

Is that the same R'man who accused me of arguing when I was merely speaking anecdotally? There is a point of argument somewhere in that message though!

toxx

Yes.














and other philosophical observations.

Oh b*gg*r. My "yes" was in response to R'man , not Toxxin

Well honestly does it matter whether he was writing from Brigham Young University, Bob Jones University or Mickey Mouse University? It's still a great letter, you can go to it from this post by hitting the "this-is-in-reply-to" button if you have one, or this: F99908?thread=212558&skip=839

R'man. I've been to seminars with some of these guys over here on sabbatical etc. OK, perhaps I overgeneralise. I wouldn't want to pick on them in particular. After all, Sturgeon's Law applies: 90% of everything is trash.

toxx

Does that apply to this conversation?

There, there, R'man. Don't upset yourself. We're philosophers, so we're cool!

Recall the old joke about the philosophy and maths departments and the pencils.

toxx

Synchronicity! I was just remembering that one. Our friend with the misfortune of possibly being a Mormon is a good antidote to that.

[To the gentle lurker: College bursar expostulates "Bloody scientists! How can we raise the money they want? Why can't they be like the mathematicians? All they need is paper and pencils and rubbers! Or better still the philosophers, they don't even need rubbers!]

[Erasers, O gentle American lurker]

It was funnier without explaining what 'rubber' meant.

I was afraid it would be.

In my version, it's "waste paper baskets".

toxx

Aaagh! That's even worse!

as my little appearance on this wonderful conversation one or two months ago seems to have been left unnoticed, I shall try again to join the guild.
okay, here's what philosophical thing I've been thinking about, and I put it in a phrase:
You want to be where you are not,
You want to be what you are not,
And often you don't want what you need.