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Proof You Can Do Hard Things: An Essential Piece to Your Life Resume

blog.nateliason.com link posted by c_prompt in parenting

When a precocious yet nonconformist teenager asks why they need to learn calculus, what should you say? You know they will never use it in adulthood, outside of certain career choices. You co...

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• self-esteem,
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Ancestral Mathematics

editorial posted by c_prompt in Note to Self

In order to be born, you needed: 2 parents 4 grandparents 8 great-grandparents 16 second great-grandparents 32 third great-grandparents 64 fourth great-grandparents 128 fifth...

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A Philosophical Game: An Interview with Saul Steinberg

theparisreview.org link posted by c_prompt in baseball

The artist Saul Steinberg, who immigrated to the United States in 1942, was deeply preoccupied with identifying the essential threads of American life. For him, baseball was rich material. In 1954, h...

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How Imaginary Numbers Were Invented

youtube.com link posted by c_prompt in todayilearned

A general solution to the cubic equation was long considered impossible, until we gave up the requirement that math reflect reality. References: Some great videos about the cubic: 50...

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Debate: Be an Anarchist, Not a Minarchist

reason.com link posted by c_prompt in anarcho-capitalism

Should we be satisfied with limited government rather than no government? AFFIRMATIVE: Private, Contractual Methods Are More Efficient and More Just (Katherine Mangu-Ward) NEGATIVE: In Praise o...

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• philosophy,
• government,
• non-aggression principle,
• libertarianism,
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The political significance of LSD - the shifts in consciousness brought about by psychedelics could help to dissolve our fear of the other

opendemocracy.net link posted by c_prompt in politics

“Microdosing” on psychedelic substances like LSD—ingesting just enough to heighten cognitive faculties, enhance creativity, improve concentration and alleviate depression—is currently back i...

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• psychedelics,
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• social change,
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Rewarding Disobedience: 2018 - MIT Media Lab is giving out a no-strings-attached cash award of $250,000 for "disobedience" that benefits society

media.mit.edu link posted by c_prompt in politics

Nominations are now open for the second MIT Media Lab Disobedience Award, which carries a $250,000 cash prize, no strings attached. This award will go to a person or group engaged in what we...

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Tu Quoque: Anatomy of an online argument

bardoloi.com link posted by pot_kettle_black in pot.kettle.black

The real goal of tu quoque (or any ad hominem attack) is to shift the focus to your opponent’s weaknesses as a way to hide your argument’s weaknesses. To create a hypocrisy meme: 1) pick a trigger...

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Does hypocrisy invalidate an argument? A great discussion from Philosophy Stack Exchange

philosophy.stackexchange.com link posted by pot_kettle_black in pot.kettle.black

The general rule is that a person’s behavior does not invalidate that person’s arguments. This is because ideally philosophical arguments are based on reason. Thus if the reasoning is valid, it do...

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The Worst Man In Modern History

goldmoney.com link posted by c_prompt in capitalism

It seems extraordinary that in defiance of all factual history and philosophical knowledge anyone should celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of Karl Marx. More than anyone, through wrong-headed ide...

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Jeff Bezos Just Revealed the Remarkably Powerful Mind Trick That Made Him a Multibillionaire

inc.com link posted by c_prompt in Note to Self

Live without regrets: On November 4, Jeff Bezos was interviewed by his brother Mark at the ideas festival Summit LA17 event in Los Angeles. During the course of this interview, Jeff revealed...

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The Great Hoax of Equality

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

History repeats itself. Men have constantly fought and died in the war for equality throughout the centuries. However, not all of them had in mind the same idea of equality when they gave their lives...

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Manipulating Americans is easy

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

You're an idiot. That's right. According to New York spin doctor Sheherazad Jaafari (aka press-aide or press attaché), Americans are easily manipulated. All politicians need to do is admit that th...

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Oh No! Science Supports... The Anarchists!!

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

I'm talking about the real anarchists here, not bloody bomb-throwers or anti-capitalist window breakers. I'm referring to people who have faced the scary fact that all coercive power corrupts and tha...

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Irrational self-interest

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Selfishness is often defined as an evil that deals with one caring for oneself more than for others. Many evils in the world are blamed on selfishness. Hunger, poverty and illness are supposedly all...

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Dealing with pain during the holidays

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

The holidays are often difficult, and can be downright depressing, especially for those who have pain from a loss, a traumatic experience, or just plain loneliness (e.g., not having a date for holida...

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• psychology,
• holidays,
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Killer viruses - should we make them?

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

We all have previously learned about the Great Flu Pandemic of 1918, which killed between 20-40 million people worldwide in our history classes. Now with the advance of modern molecular biology techn...

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The last line of defense when the law is wrong

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

There's a button that some wear on election day. It says "I voted." It's as if voting makes them feel powerful. But the vote they cast typically isn't for a specific law - it's usually for a polit...

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TIL Plato didn't believe in Platonic love and supported erotica

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Today I learned that Platonic love isn't what we thought it was. In fact, Plato didn't even believe in it, was pro-sex, thought erotica was a spiritual force that helps us find our true selves, and e...

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What really matters in life - it should be our first lecture

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Life is a constant struggle, especially because the lessons we learn are oftentimes knowledge gained after we really needed it. It's one of the reasons mentors are so important - they've "been there,...

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The revolution for individual freedom and the principles of cooperation

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Throughout most of human civilization, centuries of men have starved, died from the elements (for lack of proper housing), suffered terrible health, and barely lived. Even today, starvation kills mil...

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Madly in love - is there a rational basis to love?

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

We need a new demotivational poster: "Science. A quick way to mess-up all those great love poems." The definition of rational isn't very controversial: "having reason or understanding." The defini...

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An interview with David Eagleman, neuroscientist

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

A neuroscientist is someone who studies "the anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, or molecular biology of nerves and nervous tissue and especially their relation to behavior and learning." Although the...

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Ron Paul didn't go far enough - unleash the retirement accounts

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Ron Paul just came out with a plan to cut $1 trillion from the US's federal budget and severely curtail entitlement programs. According to the "Plan to Restore America," it cuts $1 trillion in spendi...

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• politics,
• libertarian,
• economics,
• philosophy,
• retirement,
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The rationality of alternative medicine

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

As many mourn the death of Apple founder Steve Jobs, they use words such as visionary, brilliant, innovative, leader, entrepreneur, capitalist, and philanthropic to describe him. Many aren't aware th...

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Imagine... what a wonderful world it would be

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Aristotle spoke of music as having "influence over the character and the soul." He noted that "Rhythm and melody supply imitations of anger and gentleness, and also of courage and temperance, and of...

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What happened to the "we" in "yes we can?"

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

How we do like to complain about politicians. We vote them into office (well, some don't vote) and expect them to change the world. To reduce war. To make our lives better. To keep their promises. Af...

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TIL you CAN prove a negative

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Today I learned the adage "you can't prove a negative" is false because you can prove a negative. It's very easy. We need to stop saying that. A better statement to use is "he who asserts a positive...

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Breaking the laws of physics - will philosophy become more important?

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Just when you thought you understood how the world works, the tachyons come to shake things up. For those who haven't heard by now, the masterminds at CERN who brought you the LHC rap have made wh...

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The ethics of competition and our obligations to each other

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Competition increases change and motivates people to excel. For example, gamers recently competed to solve a scientific problem that has "vexed researchers for a decade." Companies compete for your b...

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It doesn't always get better, so stop faking what's real

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

It was all the rage. Following 14-year old Jamey Rodemeyer's tearful "It Gets Better, I promise!" video, in which he tried to show how positive he was in the face of gay bullying, other well-know...

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• children,
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• psychology,
• homosexuality,
• teenagers,
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Listen to my music - the philosophy of The Trees

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Make everyone equal. It is a common battle cry across the centuries. Just look at the current class warfare that Obama is pushing because we are not all equal. (Or, as Orwell famously put it in Anima...

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• music,
• philosophy,
• ayn rand,
• objectivism,
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The examples adults set for children

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Why are so many children familiar with the adage "do as I say, not as I do?" The answer should be obvious - because we, as adults, often do things that we don't want our children doing. Let's face it...

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The enemy to slay in a constant state of emergency

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Ron Paul famously said of neocons: The neoconservative ethos, steeped in the teachings of Leo Strauss, cannot abide an America where individuals simply pursue their happy, peaceful, prosperous l...

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How to get decent people to do terrible things - put them in positions of power

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Einstein once wrote that "our conscious acts spring from our desires and our fears." Many agree. For example, David Hume suggested in A Treatise of Human Nature that humans are prone to letting emoti...

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The seven blunders of the world that lead to violence

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

When it comes to non-violent, ideological leaders, Mahatma Gandhi has got to be toward the very top of the list. His resistance to British tyranny through mass civil disobedience is famous. Needless...

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Taxation is a fight between individualism and collectivism - which side are you on?

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

When it comes to politics, it's difficult to say "liberals believe this" or "conservatives believe that." After all, within each political ideology, there are many views; sometimes even views that se...

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The makings of a good apology - act like a changed person

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Paris Hilton did it to Lindsay Lohan. Tiger Woods did it. American Idol did it. Couples do it. Sometimes we even do it to ourselves. Politicians do it as well, but they do it badly (just like everyth...

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If I voted, Ron Paul is the man I would vote for

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

First, let me make this perfectly clear: I am an anarchist (or, more specifically, an anarcho-capitalist). I do not support any kind of government, including a president. The last election I voted in...

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Space and "empty space": Much ado about nothing, or is it?

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Space is a concept which is very rarely correctly understand by anybody, including modern physicists. However, the purpose of this essay is not to discuss the confusions of others in relation to this...

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Three cheers for capitalism - not two

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

As scary as it might sound, we already know that evidence doesn't matter much in the context of politics. So, even when there is clear evidence of a certain idea being factually true, many people don...

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The Davies Certainty Principle (Two-Minute Case Against The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle)

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Most of you are probably aware of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. It states that it is not possible to know the precise position and momentum of subatomic particles such as electrons. (There is...

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Short-selling - the protected companies

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

(Meanwhile, as the Italian cabinet approves a tough austerity plan, and as Nero feasts while Rome burns...) According to the AP, "France, Italy, Spain and Belgium are banning short-selling on sele...

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Gaming theory - why it matters and a definition

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

As this is an article about the theory of games, I thought that, as I intend to do this systematically, I should start with a brief post defining what a game actually is. You might think that I could...

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Superstitions - finding an impenetrable prophylactic against ignorant beliefs

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

One of the many fun things to do as a kid is to sit around a campfire late at night and hear adults tell ghost stories. Our imaginations would run wild - are there really such things as ghosts? Bu...

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• psychology,
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Does porn hurt relationships? Science says no

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Porn is like bacon: some won't eat it for religious reasons, some consider it filthy, some feel guilty after eating it, but everyone else (which is most of the population) loves it. Funny enough, sci...

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Selling organs for education

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Nowadays, you have to take on massive amounts of debt to go to college, only to graduate and find that there aren't any jobs available. So you leave college, go back to living with your parents, and...

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How to understand people - look at their actions

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Praxeology is a general theory of human action or, more specifically, purposeful behavior. Unlike unconscious behavior such as breathing or reflexes, we act in conscious, chosen ways to achieve vario...

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The courage of convictions - rational people don't agree to disagree

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Politics. Morality. Religion. Relationships. Even science. These are examples of the many categories in which you will find disagreements. These debates occur just as much with intelligent people as...

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The poor don't want charity - they want justice

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

The latest weapon of mass destruction: starvation. The situation is dire. It's the worst drought in Africa in 60 years. The UN is airlifting food to Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya. It's estimated th...

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• politics,
• economics,
• charity,
• poverty

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The savages among us

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Imagine that you are a human brought to another planet. You are not religious. You haven't any belief in God or the supernatural. On this planet, the aliens are immediately able to cure all your dise...

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Let's raise the debt ceiling to $1 quadrillion

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Remember the guy who talked about change? Where'd he go? In 2006, Obama said this: The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a...

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Have you no shame, and whose fault is that?

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

You sometimes have to wonder why teaching children seems to be more complicated than rocket science. There are many valid debates in education as to the proper conditions required for a child to lear...

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• children,
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Tough love - the philosophy of BDSM

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

No doubt about it - we humans have a strong desire for sexual intercourse. It certainly makes sense from an evolutionary perspective, as the desire helps further humanity. But some are programmed for...

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Scary - facts don't change our minds

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

"Facts don't necessarily have the power to change our minds. In fact, quite the opposite." Before you read this article to determine where that conclusion came from, ponder that quote for a moment...

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The courage to resist

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Winning people's hearts and minds through ideas is one way to affect change, but it's a very, very slow process. Most would consider it "impractical." For those who want to implement change quicker,...

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The spirit of revolution

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

"Philosopher of revolution" Pyotr Kropotkin (aka Peter Kropotkin) once wrote: "America is just the country that shows how all the written guarantees in the world for freedom are no protection against...

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Well I'll be a monkey's uncle - evolution is not a matter of faith

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Humans and chimpanzees share 96% of the same DNA. In other words, from a scientific perspective, humans and chimpanzees are genetically very similar. As the battle between evolution and intelligen...

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The morality of helping the poor family - where does it end?

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who "passionately" believes in the welfare system, is lashing out at parents who are raising their children through social welfare programs. He thinks the issue is a...

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The Horse in the Plain

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Once upon a time, in a land far away which has nothing at all in common with the world we humans inhabit, a horse was running free in the plain. He longed to climb up the mountains and see the world...

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TIL hot water freezes faster than cold water (and be careful with reigning paradigms)

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Today I learned hot water sometimes freezes faster than cold water. Although there isn't one, conclusive scientific explanation for the phenomenon, one of the theories for why this occurs is that hot...

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Abolish political parties and add none of the above

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Jesse Ventura, of wrestling, acting, and conspiracy theory fame, is disgusted with politics. (And anyone who isn't disgusting isn't sane.) So he's come up with some new ideas. What do you think el...

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Slut walks, rape, and hypocrisy - what's eye candy got to do with it?

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

How we do love eye-candy. And, after all, "since when is a woman dressing sexy in public a bad thing?" By now, you've probably heard about the various "slut walks" that are happening all over the...

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Apathy - ignorance going through the motions

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Considered the third, best-selling poet of all time, Khalil Gibran once said "Desire is half of life; indifference is half of death." Apathy is defined as having a lack of emotion, interest, or conce...

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Why is there so much hate and anger in the world?

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

From a WoW forum: Original post: "So many trolls be trolling....thugs be thugging....haters be hating.... I love everyone on this server Spread the love." Reply post: "Homo." Sarcasm aside,...

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Are safety and freedom opposites?

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

When it comes to protecting civil liberties, it just keeps getting worse. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is now testing what it calls Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST). It i...

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Mine! The never-ending fight over Palestine

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Obama is currently getting criticized because of his recent speech asserting that the US government officially supports a two-state solution based on Israel's pre-1967 borders along with negotiated...

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O Me! O Life! and being thankful for what you have

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Monty Python famously sang "life's a piece of shit when you look at it." There's also the adage that, if everyone threw all their problems on the table, most would reach back down and pick up their...

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Ray Kurzweil - bringing my dreams to real life in a virtual world

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

When I was much younger, I told my father I believed I would live forever. He asked how that would happen and gently reminded me that we all die sooner or later. I explained that I believed we would...

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• technology,
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• second life

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The ethics of the placebo effect

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

A placebo is a sham or simulated medical intervention by a doctor in which some patients experience actual improvements in their conditions. Although it doesn't work on everyone, these effects in pat...

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Good form - etiquette and manners for politeness

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Good etiquette facilitates relationships, and good relationships help us live better lives. We've previously discussed proper manners in communications. Continuing in our etiquette and manners series...

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The essence of political definitions: what does it mean to be a liberal?

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Ayn Rand once wrote that "Definitions are the guardians of rationality, the first line of defense against the chaos of mental disintegration." Perhaps that's one of the reasons politics always appear...

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Other people are not your property

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Ron Paul has entered the US presidential race for the third time as a Republican. But he's not really a Republican - he's a Libertarian. Ron Paul, like all Libertarians, is always talking about limit...

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The right to health care

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Here's the backdrop: in 2005, the US Supreme Court ruled in Castle Rock v. Gonzales that a person does not have a constitutional right to police protection, even in the presence of a restraining orde...

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Would you, personally, force someone to give charity?

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

The great political theorist and economist Frédéric Bastiat wrote in The State: "The oppressor no longer acts directly by his own force on the oppressed. No, our conscience has become too fastidiou...

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Is neurobiology making us morally ill?

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Getting people to agree on objective moral principles is difficult, to say the least. Moral codes seem to span the gamut of culture, time, environment, experience, geography, gender, race, etc. Could...

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The cosmic conflict of religion and science

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

If you're looking for the meaning of life, religions are ready with an answer. As of yet, science doesn't have an answer, other than to possibly claim that there isn't any purpose. (Nihilists of the...

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The ethics of capitalism

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Ethics is a branch of philosophy that deals with morality, and the moral code/ideology used when differentiating between right and wrong is critical (e.g., consider that Hitler used national socialis...

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US has highest prison population - why?

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Let this sink in for a moment: the United States has the highest prisoner population rate in the world. That's right, even more than China. (And, no - that doesn't include all of the hidden prisons i...

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Legislating morality and homosexuality

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Politics are a disgusting abyss of failed attempts to legislate morality. But why is it like that? Perhaps one of the primary reasons is because people can't seem to agree on what morality is; or, mo...

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Sports socialism

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Discussing sports, Noam Chomsky once remarked: "Take, say, sports -- that's another crucial example of the indoctrination system, in my view. For one thing because it -- you know, it offers people so...

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Environmental suicide

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Contrary to what the United Nations does, Mother Earth doesn't have a conscience. She can't tell us which of her resources she wants us to save, which to take care of, and which to use. Ergo, how we...

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Reducing HIV/AIDS by eliminating IP laws

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

In the adventure film Sahara, General Kazim states: "Don't worry. It's Africa. Nobody cares about Africa." In 2009, it's estimated that 33 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, with almost 70% liv...

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Government's taunt: "I know you are but what am I?"

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

There's an old Russian political joke where an American and a Soviet car salesmen are arguing about who makes better cars. The American asks: "How many decades does an average Soviet man need to work...

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Copyright trolling

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin which revolutionized the cotton industry. But he had a hard time profiting from his invention because he tried to charge farmers a huge price (2/5 of their profits...

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Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand's vision and warning

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

There's an adage that goes: if you've got enemies, it means you stood up for something in life. Out of all of the potential philosophies that you could adopt in your life, perhaps none may be more co...

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Learned helplessness

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

In 1967, psychologist Martin Seligman performed an experiment on dogs by shocking them with electricity which appeared to start and stop at random. After the dogs were conditioned, he put the dogs in...

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If women ruled the world

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Do a search on the web and you'll find all sorts of criteria for what makes an effective leader. People can't even seem to agree on the definition of leadership. As a result, theories abound. But wha...

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People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

The US government consists of a bunch of hypocrites. I know, tell you something you don't know, right? Recently, Hillary Clinton and her lackeys at the US State Department released the Country Re...

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Pronouncing moral judgment

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Sometimes it seems that the worse things get, the more we tolerate. It's not that we become impartial to a particular wrong, but it does seem that we often "sit on the fence" when we see wrongdoing....

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Beauty and the eyes of the beholder

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Many women like having big breasts. They also like looking good. According to the American Society for Plastic Surgeons, of the 13 million cosmetic plastic surgeries performed annually, women seek 9...

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When what you're doing in economics doesn't work, just do more of it

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

You can call a fish a duck, but that doesn't make it so. Does anyone else find it funny that people claiming to be anarchists - which is, by definition, being against government - are rioting in su...

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The value of "no"

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Alexander Pope once said: "A man should never be ashamed to own that he has been in the wrong, which is but saying that he is wiser today than he was yesterday." As in any discussion about a topic of...

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Any monkey can be an artist

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

We experience art as an emotional reaction to our senses. Enjoying art has a personal meaning and relevance; therefore, we evaluate art differently depending upon our own values, perceptions, and kno...

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Epic win - making a better world with video games

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

"Gamers are super-empowered hopeful individuals." They are masters at figuring things out, even medical problems. So who wants to use gaming to change the world? There are many problems to address...

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What's an hour of your life worth?

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

So many consider money as the primary asset in life. Sometimes we are so caught up in the "rat race" that we forget that money, and each possession we acquire from it, costs us something very valuabl...

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America is very hostile to many businesses, believe it or not

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Attention US government. You're not very bright. By having a high corporate tax rate, you are pushing jobs, profits, patents, executives, research, and operations of US companies overseas. (And, as a...

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OMG! There's Discrimination in the Modeling Industry!

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

New research confirms scandal: not just anyone can be a supermodel. Such discrimination! Say the word discrimination and most immediately think of prejudice. In many countries, by law, employers cann...

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Administering justice through self-injury

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Pain is a part of life, and we all have different ways to deal with it. In what might appear to be a strange contradiction, some even go so far as to self-inflict pain in order to avoid pain. It's al...

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Better ideas - the Socratic method

editorial posted by braincrave in braincrave

Socrates, the philosopher who claimed the contradiction "I know that I know nothing," provided us with a method to help us question what we think we know and to demonstrate otherwise: the Socratic me...

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