Anti-cyclical behavior is recommended among economists. When the economy is flourishing, it should reduce debt, but in times of decline, it should rather stimulate business by incurring debt. As far as I am concerned, acting counter-cyclically seemed advisable to me amid the current corona crisis. Seeing all around me people who want to save the world and themselves from the virus, I decided to save myself from thinking about the virus, lest it should not only infect my body but perhaps even my brain. In this state of forced self-isolation what could be better than to turn it into a time of self-contemplation?
Kategorie: general
Jenner on Jenner: Outline of a mind-related biography
As human beings we are controlled by emotions and by our intellect – at any time both are invariably involved, even if it sometimes seems as if we are dealing with either purely emotional people or pure intellectuals. A mathematic formula, for example, which to an average person may seem as cold, lifeless and repellent as a prison wall, may produce enchantment and ecstasy in a mathematician who perceives it something extremely beautiful and elegant. In other words, he experiences much the same feelings as a musician who is playing Mozart or Bach. Feelings and the intellect don’t present themselves to us with an either-or, but we may definitely speak of prevailing tendencies.
Jenner on Jenner: Outline of a mind-related biography weiterlesen
Socrates versus Minsky – can Artificial Intelligence replace the Human Brain?
Socrates
Let’s get away from the disturbing problems of the present, in order to turn back to those much more basic and lasting ones which concern the nature of man. Mr. Marvin Minsky, you were the leading authority on Artificial Intelligence, glad to meet you in paradise!
Socrates versus Minsky – can Artificial Intelligence replace the Human Brain? weiterlesen
Tasting Last Judgment
All of a sudden we experience a real collapse, this time the world changes so to speak overnight – not in an insidiously imperceptible way, as it always did. Frightened people are cowering in their dens, streets are empty, traffic is at a standstill, airplanes have disappeared from the sky.
Reason contra Virus – the Crisis as seen by a concerned contemporary
Corona virus poses such a massive threat that, besides virologists and politicians, medical laymen too should be allowed to express their opinion. Scientific statements concerning Covid-19 are now so well documented that, in addition to the two known courses of this epidemic, a third alternative may be envisaged – at least theoretically. The two known ones are first, the „Natural Outburst“, and second, „Imposed Quarantine“, as now practiced almost worldwide. The third alternative was originally envisaged in England; we could describe it as „Accelerated Immunization“.
Reason contra Virus – the Crisis as seen by a concerned contemporary weiterlesen
The Virus in our Heads
Almost daily I watch one or the other transmission of the Russian-speaking channel 1TVRUS, because I want to know about the mood of our largest neighbor. The English-language programs of RT (Russia Today) are less informative in this respect, because they are geared towards Western expectations. „Vremja pokazhet“ (Time will tell) is aimed at a Russian audience. It’s a talk show that’s louder and wilder than any other I know. Regularly discussants shout down each other, as if the volume of their voices were decisive for the quality of opinions.
Is Democracy still alive?
We are used to measuring this form of government above all by the degree of freedom that a government grants its citizens. Viewed from this perspective, the picture is as bright as it is gloomy. No one prevents me from expressing even the most absurd opinions. I may even call publicly for the overthrow of the government, provided that this is done without insulting specific individuals and without denouncing the democratic constitution as such. Is Democracy still alive? weiterlesen
De gustibus EST disputandum!
An important, perhaps the most important, task of a good teacher is to dissuade students from making hasty judgments, for it is with this craving that we come into the world, while on the contrary reason only develops very slowly. Infants immediately start crying when they feel unwell and they smile when being treated kindly. But the vocabulary of pubescent young people still contains mainly expressions like super, cool, great or negative ones like poo, disgusting, evil etc. The aversion to independent thinking and the tendency to replace arguments with hasty values and judgments remains in later life – for many people throughout their lives.
Thymos and Logic – Why we know, yet do not act
Francis Fukuyama, arguably America’s most profound political scientist, enriched our understanding of man and history by an important notion of Greek origin – „thymos“. This term, used extensively by Plato in „The State“, is well suited to illuminate our present situation. The Greek philosopher speaks of thymos to describe a decisive dimension of human action. In his opinion, man does not obey reason alone; in truth, something else is added, namely will, desire, passion, anger, self-assertion – in short, „thymos“. Whoever ignores this driving force hardly understands human behavior. Thymos and Logic – Why we know, yet do not act weiterlesen
Forced Betrayal – the delusions of European grandeur
The US has deliberately suspended the treaty with Iran only because the new President Trump wanted to undo everything that the old President Obama had left as his legacy. Forced Betrayal – the delusions of European grandeur weiterlesen
Vivat America! (Nevertheless)
The call may sound rather strange. America? Isn’t that the country where a populist president divides his own countrymen like no one before him sowing the seeds of mistrust even in up to then friendly and allied nations? Vivat America! (Nevertheless) weiterlesen
Unholy Martin – Capitalism and Christian Moral Theology
Opportunists use to swim with the current, only courageous outsiders dare to swim against it. Such a role has been assumed by the Catholic moral theologian Martin Rhonheimer, professor of ethics at the Pontifical University of Rome. Unholy Martin – Capitalism and Christian Moral Theology weiterlesen