Michael Flynn's Blog, page 112
April 20, 2009
m_francis @ 2009-04-20T15:01:00
The Four Horsemen of the Causocalypse
To clarify finality: Here is an example I ran across some time ago that may clarify the distinction of the four causes. It may be helpful to replace the tainted term "cause" (which to modern ears always has an echo: "[efficient:] cause") with the original Greek "aition," or with the term "because."
The Four Causes of Biological Evolution
1. Material Cause:
The genetic factor: the tendency to variation resulting from constant small random mutations in the gen
To clarify finality: Here is an example I ran across some time ago that may clarify the distinction of the four causes. It may be helpful to replace the tainted term "cause" (which to modern ears always has an echo: "[efficient:] cause") with the original Greek "aition," or with the term "because."
The Four Causes of Biological Evolution
1. Material Cause:
The genetic factor: the tendency to variation resulting from constant small random mutations in the gen
m_francis @ 2009-04-20T11:34:00
Final Causes are the Causes of Causes
Crypto-Spinozans [who have largely replaced crypto-Lockeans:] claim that final causes are merely a "projection" into nature of our own self-seeking desires. Because we hunger and thirst, we impute purpose to food and water. The water is there in order to quench our thist. But because this is a projection, it is not true. Notice that this is a "just so" story. It seeks to explain a thing by providing an origin myth, in this case that of projection. (Even
Crypto-Spinozans [who have largely replaced crypto-Lockeans:] claim that final causes are merely a "projection" into nature of our own self-seeking desires. Because we hunger and thirst, we impute purpose to food and water. The water is there in order to quench our thist. But because this is a projection, it is not true. Notice that this is a "just so" story. It seeks to explain a thing by providing an origin myth, in this case that of projection. (Even
April 19, 2009
m_francis @ 2009-04-19T13:25:00
Galileo in a Pram
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m_francis @ 2009-04-18T20:20:00
Cycles Riding on Trends
A very long time ago, I saw a graph that related the frequency of the sunspot cycle with the temperature of the earth. This was just after the Global Cooling scare and just before the Global Warming scare became institutionalized with its own bureaucracy. What I noted was that as the sun hit maximum more frequently (shorter frequency) the earth warmed up, and when it hit maximum less often in a given time frame (longer frequency) she cooled down. The pattern matched per
A very long time ago, I saw a graph that related the frequency of the sunspot cycle with the temperature of the earth. This was just after the Global Cooling scare and just before the Global Warming scare became institutionalized with its own bureaucracy. What I noted was that as the sun hit maximum more frequently (shorter frequency) the earth warmed up, and when it hit maximum less often in a given time frame (longer frequency) she cooled down. The pattern matched per
April 18, 2009
m_francis @ 2009-04-17T23:46:00
Stanley Jaki, RIP
I saw the notices a couple of days ago, and thought it worth mentioning here. Jaki was a world-renowned philosopher, with degrees in both physics and theology. It was he who pointed out to Gell-Mann and others at a Nobel Conference in Stockholm the consequences for physics of Goedel's incompleteness theorem. In the end, even Hawking came to the realization - something Jaki called "Hawking's Late Awakening."
www.giffordlectures.org/Author.asp
A Late Awakening to Goedel in Phys
I saw the notices a couple of days ago, and thought it worth mentioning here. Jaki was a world-renowned philosopher, with degrees in both physics and theology. It was he who pointed out to Gell-Mann and others at a Nobel Conference in Stockholm the consequences for physics of Goedel's incompleteness theorem. In the end, even Hawking came to the realization - something Jaki called "Hawking's Late Awakening."
www.giffordlectures.org/Author.asp
A Late Awakening to Goedel in Phys
April 17, 2009
m_francis @ 2009-04-17T16:44:00
You Can't Make This Stuff Up
About 390,000 people listed their religion as Jedi in the 2001 Census for England and Wales. In Scotland the figure was a reported 14,000. The Office for National Statistics did not recognize it as a separate category and incorporated followers of Jedi with the atheists.
scifiwire.com/2009/04/force-is-strong-with-the.php#more
About 390,000 people listed their religion as Jedi in the 2001 Census for England and Wales. In Scotland the figure was a reported 14,000. The Office for National Statistics did not recognize it as a separate category and incorporated followers of Jedi with the atheists.
scifiwire.com/2009/04/force-is-strong-with-the.php#more
m_francis @ 2009-04-17T09:21:00
Nick Biddle Day
One-hundred and forty-eight years ago today, the aging, 65-year old Nick Biddle, an orderly to Captain James Wren of the Washington Artillerists (Pottsville PA; later incorporated into the 48th Pennsylvania), shed the first blood of the Civil War as the Washington Artillerists, together with the National Light Infantry (also of Pottsville), the Logan Guards (Lewistown), Ringgold Light Artillery (Reading), and the Allen Infantry (Allentown) marched through Baltimore to the defence
One-hundred and forty-eight years ago today, the aging, 65-year old Nick Biddle, an orderly to Captain James Wren of the Washington Artillerists (Pottsville PA; later incorporated into the 48th Pennsylvania), shed the first blood of the Civil War as the Washington Artillerists, together with the National Light Infantry (also of Pottsville), the Logan Guards (Lewistown), Ringgold Light Artillery (Reading), and the Allen Infantry (Allentown) marched through Baltimore to the defence
April 16, 2009
m_francis @ 2009-04-16T10:13:00
If SF Writers Wrote the News
all headlines would read like these:
Man bites snake in epic strugglenews.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7999909.stm
5 cm. fir tree removed from patient’s lungwww.mosnews.com/weird/2009/04/13/firtree/
Mutant snake attacks fisherman in Moscow region english.pravda.ru/society/anomal/14-04-2009/107397-Mutant_snake-0
Folks, you can't make this stuff up.
OK, maybe you can....
The python story reads, in part:
all headlines would read like these:
Man bites snake in epic strugglenews.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7999909.stm
5 cm. fir tree removed from patient’s lungwww.mosnews.com/weird/2009/04/13/firtree/
Mutant snake attacks fisherman in Moscow region english.pravda.ru/society/anomal/14-04-2009/107397-Mutant_snake-0
Folks, you can't make this stuff up.
OK, maybe you can....
The python story reads, in part:
The serpent seized farm worker Ben Nyaumbe in the Malindi area of Kenya's Ind
m_francis @ 2009-04-15T22:55:00
Some Aphorisms and Quotations
For some reason I have been collecting sentences that seem to me at the time to capture something interesting. Chesterton may seem over-represented, but that is only because he was so good at being quotable.
A good aphorism is the tip of an iceberg of thought. One gets the point but is spared the proof.-- Bill Vallicelli
We are far too seldom reminded that just as church-going is not religion, so reading and writing are not knowledge, and voting is not self-government
For some reason I have been collecting sentences that seem to me at the time to capture something interesting. Chesterton may seem over-represented, but that is only because he was so good at being quotable.
A good aphorism is the tip of an iceberg of thought. One gets the point but is spared the proof.-- Bill Vallicelli
We are far too seldom reminded that just as church-going is not religion, so reading and writing are not knowledge, and voting is not self-government
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