Character Makes a Great Scientist
by Admin on Oct.01, 2014, under Character, Ethics / Morality, Logic / Fallacies
“Most people say that it is the intellect which makes a great scientist. They are wrong: it is character.” Albert Einstein
Why is that?
There are several traits that make up character, including Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship. One list of character traits includes 638 items!
I’d like to put Honesty at the top of the list for this discussion. Honesty with yourself, honesty with others, honesty with Nature, etc. There is no room for politically correct pussyfooting around. There is no room for fudging the data to make some point.
I was trained to be honest about (in fact, to point out) every counterpoint I could possibly imagine to any point I might be trying to make, to any theory I might try to posit. In today’s discussions, it seems to me, not only are too many scientists willing to ignore “inconvenient” facts, but also will use all manner of fallacy to dismiss anyone that suggests anything negative about their position.
It’s a shame. But it can help you spot junk science, and junk scientists.
What about “Big Government”?
by Admin on Oct.01, 2014, under Uncategorized
It’s cool to be against Big Oil. Cool to be against Big Food. Cool to be against Mansanto. Even cool to be against Capitalism.
If you’re against all those “bigs”, how in the world can government be the answer? Talk about big. Government is not only the biggest business on the face of the earth, but it also brandishes far more power than any corporation could ever imagine. You don’t have to do business with AT&T if you don’t want to, but you’ll go to jail if you don’t do business with the government when and where it wants.
Liberty. Freedom. Individual Responsibility. They’re the opposite of big government. And they’re what made this country great.
How’s that War on _________ Comin’?
by Admin on Oct.01, 2014, under Uncategorized
How’s that war on poverty comin’ along? That war on drugs? That war to prevent war on women? Racism?
If you look to government to solve the ills of a nation, you look in the wrong place. This video and short article sum up the discussion quite well. It happens to pick heavily on one politician, but it applies to far too many.
http://allenbwest.com/2014/10/must-watch-powerful-message-2014-midterms-video/
? Million Americans Not Working
by Admin on Sep.30, 2014, under Do the Math, Words Have Meanings
How do you define unemployed?
The official unemployment rate is down to 6.1%. That’s what they say. They also say that there are but 9.6 million people out of work. They use a very specific (and I’d say misleading) unemployment calculation, and it doesn’t reflect what us regular folk would think of as unemployed.
Try, instead, what they call the U-6 number. That gets closer as it includes not just the unemployed searching for jobs, but also the underemployed and those who have flat out quit looking for work (but would work if they could). The U-6 number is over 12% these days. That’s closer, at 20 million plus unemployed.
Add in students who should be working, immigration effects, and such and the unemployment rate starts pushing 20%. Now we’re getting closer to 30 million out of work.
There are actually 90+ million adults (>16), out of about 250 million, who are not working, including retirees, stay at home parents, etc. To the extent that any of these is on social security, medicare, welfare, or the like, that’s a current taxpayer burden.
The immorality of overspending on environmental protection
by Admin on Sep.25, 2014, under Do the Math, Ethics / Morality
There’s a right size for everything. Both too much and too little can be too bad.
Money spent over protecting is money spent immorally. It’s money that would have been far better spent on real problems.
Let’s say that we can show that 2 ppm SO2 in the air is harmful. And, there is no evidence that 0.2 ppm SO2 in the air has any harmful effects. Requiring plants to scrub emissions to 0.02 ppm as opposed to 0.2 ppm is wasting money. And the amounts of money spent to get that “last little bit” can be outrageous compared to getting to a reasonable emission. The difference between the money spent getting to reasonable and getting to unreasonable is money immorally spent. It’s wrong to force the emitter to cough that much extra up, and it’s wrong to mandate that it be spent on “just in case”.
So, yes, the details matter. You do have to do the math. If the evidence changes regarding what’s harmful and what isn’t, then fine; reevaluate. Otherwise, find better fish to fry.
But then, I’m conservative.
Budgets and deficits and debts… Oh my!
by Admin on Sep.24, 2014, under Analogies
This might prove a fun beginning. Dave Ramsey made this analogy of a home budget situation that reflects the federal state of affairs in 2011:
Income: $55,000
Expenses: $96,500
Overspending by: $41,500
Debt: $366,000
The rhetorical question that usually follows is something like: “Who’d run their household budget like that?”
The problem is not so much the debt (many people have mortgages on their homes of that magnitude), but the amount of overspending – not living within the means.
If you multiply the numbers above by about 39 million (!), that’s what was happening within the federal government in 2011. To be fair, there are problems with comparing the federal budget to a household budget. Here are two discussions along those lines: The Federal Budget is NOT like a Household Budget: Here’s Why and Why the federal budget can’t be managed like a household budget. My feeling? Just because the federal government can borrow more readily than a family can, and just because it has more assets than a family does, doesn’t mean it should overspend.
And I think we should be careful about assessing the government’s assets. For instance, I don’t think private enterprise should be counted as an asset of the government (i.e. in GDP) just because it can tax it to death or grab it outright. Actual government assets, like oil fields on federally owned property, should likewise be counted carefully. If the government makes it impractical or impossible to develop that oil, that asset isn’t worth much?
As for me, I stay within my means (generally). And I don’t let my debts ever outweigh my assets. And I say this applies as a principle equally well to organizations large and small.But then, I’m conservative.
But then, I’m conservative.
Book Fave: Picasso at the Lapin Agile
by Admin on Aug.04, 2014, under Book Faves
Did you know Steve Martin wrote plays?! The SLO Little Theatre (now SLOREP) is doing Picasso at the Lapin Agile this October. It all takes place in a bar called the Lapin Agile (Nimble Rabbit) in Montmartre, Paris where Einstein and Picasso fictitiously meet, along with a couple of other characters that fill out the evening. It’s a fun exploration of the nature of art and science, pretty funny, too. I would have liked to play Einstein in this adventure, but alas, at the time, Albert was a youngster by my standards. As fate would have it, though, I did try out for the play and got the role of Schmendiman. What a great experience; a few photos are here.
Here’s the Wikipedia entry.
This book also contains three other Steve Martin scripts: Zig-Zag Woman, Patter for a Floating Lady, and Wasp. Don’t buy the book just for any of these, but as “extras” they can be fun, and they’re short.
Book Fave: Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims & Rush Revere and the First Patriots
by Admin on Jul.04, 2014, under Book Faves
A fascinating romp through history with “Rush Revere” and a time-traveling horse. Kids are eating it up, I understand, and I enjoyed them, too. Limbaugh received the “Author of the Year” award at the Children’s Choice Book Awards for these titles.
Book Fave: Proof
by Admin on Jan.10, 2014, under Book Faves
SLO Little Theatre (now SLOREP) is doing this play in the next few months, and I was intrigued by the father/mathematician character – so I bought the script to see what it was really like. A fascinating, quick read (couple hours max). This play explores many things: love, science/math, genius/insanity, family, and even has a mystery element to it. You will relate if you’re trying to decide whether to fear or hope that you become like your parent(s).
Update: I auditioned for the father/mathematician role. I told you it was intriguing to me. My first theater audition ever. It’s a little daunting to prepare and present “two contrasting monologues”. I thought about backing out at the last minute, but realized this would be my only opportunity to show off what I’d put hours into. So I auditioned. An audience of one, the director. Felt surprisingly good. Afterward, I mentioned to a friend that I couldn’t remember saying half the lines; he said that was a good sign. I didn’t get the part; nobody goes one for one. Except for Serafina.
Book Fave: The U.S. Constitution
by Admin on Jan.02, 2014, under Book Faves
I happen to think that the best overall approach to getting this country back on track, straightening out the mess in Washington, convincing people of the best environment to create for the most success by the greatest number of people, etc. is to get back to living by the U.S. Constitution. There are all kinds of versions available, from leather to paper, including free printings for which you pay modest shipping & handling.
My New Year’s resolution is to fully assimilate this material and focus any political discussions in which I might find myself on this content.
