Pause to Wonder

So, very briefly: realists think that mathematical truth is discovered, whereas non-realists about maths think that maths is a complex collection of useful games invented by us. Realists think that scientists discover ‘the laws of Nature’, readymade and out there, whereas non-realists think that scientists invent theories that help us to tell stories about why things go the way they do, and to predict outcomes successfully….

Realism tries to turn cultural fictions into objective facts.

For more on non-realism and its application to world views, religion and atheism, read the full article the above was quoted from or listen to the “Philosophy Bites” podcast interview with Don Cupitt.

I know I should aspire to the high road and in so doing always avoid the proverbial “cheap shot”.

Oh, but I just can’t resist this one!!!

Today a headline caught my eye: “Pope attacks blurring of gender”. Cheap shot: “Pretty rich from a guy in a dress.”

Sorry…

“The bag is estimated to be more than 200 miles above the Earth and travelling at 15,000mph.”

No, my laundry hasn’t escaped, but an astronaut’s tool bag has. Read how to spot it in the night sky and what will eventually happen to it (”Queen Mum Flattened in Freak Accident!”)

I wonder if they take that out of the astronaut’s paycheck, like when a waiter drops a plate?

Seems like such an simple and obvious idea… why don’t we do this more often? I’d love to see this in Paris. We could use a little more wildlife. This city doesn’t even have squirrels! (A bar of fine Parisian chocolate to the first one who can tell me the story behind that one!) Anyhow, have a gander at a video of city-worker goats doing their job in LA.

If only we could get them to gather autumn leaves, too. Those leaf blowers are evil. They pollute (the ones I’ve seen belch out a black cloud of pollution), they shatter the peace with a horrible amount of noise and ergonomically I’ve heard they’re very bad for the workers who use them.

Now if I can just get some goats to help me with the housework… who am I kidding? They’d just eat my throw rugs and scare the bejeezus out of the cats with their rectangular pupils.

“My passionate sense of social justice and social responsibility has always contrasted oddly with my pronounced lack of need for direct contact with other human beings and human communities. I am truly a ‘lone traveler’ and have never belonged to my country, my home, my friends, or even my immediate family, with my whole heart; in the face of all these ties, I have never lost a sense of distance and a need for solitude…”

Here’s a nice little abridged version to whet your appetite.