emTel's Journal
[Most Recent Entries]
[Calendar View]
[Friends]
Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
emTel's LiveJournal:
[ << Previous 20 ]
| Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008 | | 9:50 pm |
Hello!...
Is anybody out there? | | Friday, June 15th, 2007 | | 2:06 am |
| | Monday, May 7th, 2007 | | 8:46 pm |
Zürich blog. I have started a separate blog to chronicle our stay in Switzerland. The URL is http://zurichbears.blogspot.com/This was easier than setting up all sorts of LJ access lists and such. | | Tuesday, May 1st, 2007 | | 9:38 pm |
Observations on Zurich
1. In the non-American parts of the world, May 1st is a holiday. Pretty much everything is closed. In Zurich, they celebrate May 1st by having riots and consequent clashes with riot police.
2. As soon as you set foot out your door, you are in danger of being run over by a beautiful woman piloting a bicycle at great speeds down the sidewalk. There aren't so many bicycles that they form a separate stream of traffic, as in Copenhagen. There are just enough so that you need to remain constantly wary.
3. There are two (2) model railroad specialty shops within a 5 minute walking radius of my apartment. | | Saturday, January 6th, 2007 | | 8:23 pm |
Question: Which of your beliefs do you think will be considered ridiculous in 50 to 100 years?
I've been thinking about this one a lot lately. I have a few guesses:
1. My belief that socialization and other environmental factors dominate over genetic factors in determining what people are capable of.
2. My belief that consciousness is ineffable and beyond the purview of rational empiricism.
What are your guesses? | | Wednesday, November 8th, 2006 | | 12:27 pm |
PWN3D!  Chaffey: PWN3D Burns: PWN3D! Santorum: PWN3D!! DeLay: PWN3D!!! Rumsfeld: PWN3d!!!11! Allen: PWN3D?? | | Monday, September 25th, 2006 | | 1:01 pm |
Daddy doesn't have tits, but he's still okay I guess
Emboldened by potty-training success, and spurred by Nico's mounting sleep-deprivation psychosis, we are night-weaning Corrin this week. The basic plan of attack is that Nico sleeps downstairs in the guest bedroom, and me and Corrin rough it upstairs by ourselves. When Corrin can smell Nico in the room, there is really no practical way to keep her from the tit. Also, Nico wakes up first if Corrin is crying, so it would be difficult to execute this plan with Nico in the room.
So far, this has been pretty uneventful. However, while I was bracing myself for a week of being up most of the night explaining to a pissed-off two year old that she can in fact make it through the night without nursing just fine, and yes, Mommy still loves her a lot, I've instead found that this whole thing is actually a great opportunity to re-connect with Corrin a little bit.
She's been an uber-mommy's bear lately. Anything Daddy can do, Mommy can do better, so the reasoning goes. However, I've noticed for a while that I'm A-Okay if Nico's not around during the day, and it turns out this applies to night-time too. She's still waking up in the middle of the night wanting to nurse, but after a few minutes of crying, she realizes that Nico's not there, so Daddy will just have to do. At that point, she snuggles in tight and falls asleep with the most cherubic expression of blankness on her face, her arms stretched out above her head. Amazingly, I would say all three of us are sleeping better so far. It will be interesting to see what happens when Nico moves back upstairs next week. Hopefully by that point Corrin will be sleeping the whole night through.
Next up: diaper-free night-times. | | Wednesday, June 28th, 2006 | | 10:00 pm |
The Moral Person Principle Many months ago, the New Yorker had an excellent article about Billy Graham and his son, Franklin Graham. It brought an old thread of thought back to the surface of my mind; the distinction between evangelicals and fundamentalists. Billy Graham is an evangelical. Franklin is a fundamentalist. What is the difference? The difference arises not from dogmatic issues; Evangelical Christianity is not simply Fundamentalist Christianity Lite(tm). Fundamentalist Christianity is not Evangelical Christianity with extra Hellfire. The difference between Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism arises from the degree of respect given by each to the unbeliever.
In the intellecutal bad-lands of business-speak, there is a worthwhile concept called the "Reasonable Person Principle". It states that if you have a disagreement with someone, you have to start from the assumption that they are a reasonable person, and are not being willfully stupid or dishonest. We can adapt this principle to the present discussion, and call it the "Moral Person Principle". I define this principle as stating that if you have a moral disagreement with someone, you start with the assumption that they are a moral being like yourself, and are not being willfully evil. (By "moral being", I mean an individual capable of moral reasoning, i.e. an adult human, not a cow or an infant.) The fundamentalist does not adopt this principle. Anyone who does not echo their creed is called a witch, a heathen, or a democrat, depending what century you live in. The evangelical, while they may appear similar to the fundamentalist in dogma, is qualitatively different as a result of their adherence to the Moral Person Principle. While many evangelicals adopt roundly conservative stances on issues such as homosexuality, abortion, and pre-marital sex, you can often have reasoned and calm debates with them about these issues. Not so with the fundamentalist, who sees no problem harassing or assaulting people entering a planned parenthood clinic. The reason that evangelicals are so much less noxious is that they respect your faculties of moral reasoning. While they do think they're right and you're wrong, they attribute this difference to a divergence in the reasoning you each have used.
This makes them more like you and I than most people care to admit. While many people take offense at pages such as this one, which claims that "with enough prayer, homosexuals can change", espousing such a position does not make one a fundamentalist. If it did, most of us would have to accept the label of fundamentalist liberal, since we of course believe that any jesusfreak can change too, if only they would read some Nietzsche. In fact, many of the liberals I know do in fact deserve the label fundamentalist, as they do not observe the MPP. It is all well and good to disagree, even vehemently, with the idea that homosexuals need to change or be "cured". But many people go farther, saying that anyone espousing such an idea is either willfully or congenitally stupid, or perhaps simply brainwashed. To attribute such shortcomings in these cases completely denies the agency of the Christian human to make moral judgements; it is a blatant rejection of the MPP.
I am not arguing for moral relativism. I believe that many beliefs held by conservative Christians are morally wrong, and I am always eager to present arguments refuting these beliefs. But without the MPP, we are essentially reduced to a pack of screaming apes. If you believe that anyone who disagrees with you is either too stupid to understand why you're right, or too brainwashed to see beyond their indoctrination, the implication is that your beliefs are the only beliefs a moral person could possibly hold. Are you really that sure of yourself? Would you really say that your way is the one, true way, the only path to the mountaintop? Because that sounds awfully familiar...
Some readers may object that you are not obligated to give respect to sufficiently backward beliefs, in much the same way that a science magazine need not host a debate between a flat-earther and geologist. However, that analogy is not suitable. Science is a framework for rational thought driven by empirical observations (i.e. an epistemology). The flat-earther has rejected that epistomology, and so the geologist, who still operates within the strictures of the scientific framework, is under no obligation to take the flat-earther seriously. In moral reasoning, no such framework exists, because part of moral reasoning is choosing the framework in the first place. A refutation of this idea would have to define the unique and superior moral framework that subsumes all others (Is is pragmatism? Or libertarianism? Maybe darwinism?).
Pragmatism, by the way, is what underpins my thesis. If we do not accept the MPP, we can never convince those we disagree with that they are wrong. You can't argue with someone if you don't first respect their humanity - i.e., their moral agency. You can only shout at someone who you regard as little more than an ape, even if you use big words to do it. The MPP is, quite simply, the only hope for changing people. | | Thursday, May 18th, 2006 | | 2:20 pm |
My close friends have put up with a lot of my borderline-paranoid libertarianesque ranting about mass schooling (public school in particular). In the hopes that I can further convince them that, at the very least, I'm not a complete crank, here's a really good (and brief!!) synopsis of the basic position I take on the issue: http://www.thememoryhole.org/edu/school-mission.htm. It's basically an executive summary of John Talyor Gatto's "The Underground history of American Education", who, I understand, is slightly more long-winded and libertarian than most people I know can tolerate. This page spends a lot of time quoting prominent figures in the formation of our current system of public education over the years. The sheer volume, nay, superabundance of ghastly quotations from captains of industry, secretaries of education, presidents, chairs of the columbia teacher's college, behavioral psychologists, etc, was what ultimately convinced me of Gatto's message. Otherwise, I might have passed him off as an embittered libertarian crank. Quotations of course, can be taken out of context, and so I've started to read the entirety of some of the more important works that he cites, when I can find them. Here's a link to Horace Mann's 7th annual report to the Massachussetts Board of Education: http://www.disabilitymuseum.org/lib/docs/1701.htm. It gets interesting around page 5, where Mann says:
But allowing all these charges against the Prussian system to be true, there were still two reasons why I was not deterred from examining it.
In the first place, the evils imputed to it were easily and naturally separable from the good which it was not denied to possess. If the Prussian schoolmaster has better methods of teaching reading, writing, grammar, geography, arithmetic, &c., so that, in half the time, he produces greater and better results, surely, we may copy his modes of teaching these elements, without adopting his notions of passive obedience to government, or of blind adherence to the articles of a church. By the ordinance of nature, the human faculties are substantially the same all over the world, and hence the best means for their development and growth in one place, must be substantially the best for their development and growth every where. The spirit which shall control the action of these faculties when matured, which shall train them to self-reliance or to abject submission, which shall lead them to refer all questions to the standard of reason or to that of authority, -- this spirit is wholly distinct and distinguishable from the manner in which the faculties themselves should be trained; and we may avail ourselves of all improved methods in the earlier processes, without being contaminated by the abuses which maybe made to follow them. The best style of teaching arithmetic of spelling has no necessary or natural connection with the doctrine of hereditary right: and an accomplished lesson in geography or grammar commits the human intellect to no particular dogma in religion.
You could argue from all this that at least Mann was well-meaning. Perhaps he was. Still, he knowingly helped create a system that, by his own admission, could be used to instill blind obedience to whatever power structure came to wield it, and then assumed that by some act of providence, the system would never fall into the hands of those who would use it to secure and advance their own power. His assumption that the teaching of grammar and the training of subservient citizens are totally orthagonal is also suspect. By what method other than making them totally subservient to authority can you get a room full 3rd graders to sit still long enough for a grammar lesson? | | Wednesday, March 22nd, 2006 | | 12:19 pm |
blog roll So Chthonic asked for my "blog roll". I've managed to find some really good ones, and now waste far too much of my day keeping up with all of them. Here are some of the very best: * Notschool, The blog of a secular michigan homeschooler. This is a must read, even if homeschooling doesn't interest you. - http://notschool.blogspot.com/* Why peak oil might not be the apocalypse. Lots of data at the second one (peakoildebunked): - http://peakoiloptimist.blogspot.com/ - http://peakoildebunked.blogspot.com/* Scott Aaronson's blog, who, I think, in 20 years might be regarded as the Feynman of Computer Science (yes, I know that Feynman was the Feynman of computer science). - http://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/* The anti-Paul Graham, a polish guy who's name I can't remember. Not really a blog, since he writes actual articles with actual content - all evidence suggests he might spend multiple days or even weeks writing each entry. Will wonders never cease! - http://www.idlewords.com/* Aaron Swartz's blog, the somewhat odd RSS-coinventer cum stanford student cum internet startup founder. He never updates any more, but you could spend an afternoon reading the past year or two of entries. Unless you're a libertarian, in which case reading his blog would make your head explode. - http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/ | | Friday, February 17th, 2006 | | 10:00 am |
why doesn't mark ever post anymore? Because I don't love you. Well, not really. I love you. I love all of you, because you are all unique, magical snowflakes who radiate the sublime beauty of the transcendental. *hack hack cough puke* No, seriously. Y'all are alright. I'm not posting here very much because I'm sick of posting about how things are going, and how I feel about how things are going. I'm much more interested in blogging about non-personal or semi-personal things that interest me. And livejournal doesn't seem like the appropriate place to post that sort of stuff. So, look for updates at emtel.blogspot.com. It has an atom feed at http://emtel.blogspot.com/atom.xml, maybe you can add that to your lj friends page if you care. (i don't know if lj supports atom or what). In the meantime, if you want to know how things are going - and how I feel about how things are going, you know how to reach me. I might still post here occasionally, but it will continue to be very rare. | | Wednesday, January 11th, 2006 | | 2:04 pm |
MLP Even if you don't like Garrison Keillor as much as I do, even if you think he's sexist/chauvanist/whatever, I think you'll agree that this is a damn, damn, damn funny column. | | 9:10 am |
cross posting i know some people think it's kinky, but: cross postHowever, I'll try make this a value-added lj update! I'm gradually becoming more and more certain that I want to homeschool Corrin. It's a difficult decision. I no longer believe any of the crap about being socially stunted, etc. It's becoming pretty clear to me that mass schooling stunts kids socially, and the homeschoolers don't know how to interact with them because they don't have a good enough understanding of pathological personalities. I found an absolutely spell-binding blog written by a home schooler. It's at notschool.blogspot.com. The author has taken a lot of time to chronicle all the horrid things that she recalls from school. It all sounds pretty familiar, though I haven't come up with as long a laundry list as she. Still, I'm conflicted about what to do. I have selfish desires. It would be nice to continue doing exciting Mark Things, like having a job or maybe going to grad school or maybe starting a business. Nico might want to go back to work but she might not. How early can we both stop working? I don't know. Part of it may be in getting rid of the notion that homeschooling is going to be equivalent, time-wise, to sending Corrin to public school. As in, 6 hours a day. I don't think there's anything to support that notion. Mass schooling is such an incomprehensible waste of time. I imagine home schooling might be a much lower-impact, but sort of continuous time committment. As in, school is always in session. Which is how it ought to be. Life is learning. School is hell. | | Friday, December 9th, 2005 | | 10:44 am |
rant-o-blog I've started a new blog for political ranting. Writing, even about stupid stuff, seems better than reloading reader while waiting for compiles and regtests, and political crap is always easy to write about. Anyway it's at emtel.blogspot.com. Feed is here. Maybe a post a week. We'll see. | | Thursday, December 1st, 2005 | | 3:12 pm |
Despite it having a sometimes-too-libertarian slant, I've found that reason.com is now my online news magazine of choice. It makes Salon look like Newsweek. Recently posted, an article about the stupidity of outlawing pseudoephedrine. | | Wednesday, November 23rd, 2005 | | 8:43 am |
| | Wednesday, November 9th, 2005 | | 8:46 am |
viva la moral superiority Finally, some good political news! http://vote2005.ss.ca.gov/Returns/prop/00.htmHappy happy happy dancy dancy joy joy joy arnold is a poopy-head won't you all come traipsing through the flowers with me and help me write folk songs about defeating the Company Men with their prescription drug plans and their cigars and their port and their media blitz. | | Sunday, September 18th, 2005 | | 4:15 pm |
some perspective we all need
(I did not make this up)
"Through the evolving process of change, all things turn into something else."
Think about it. | | Friday, June 10th, 2005 | | 1:41 pm |
"sleeping is a gateway drug to being awake again"
"being awake is swimming around in a lake of the undead"
Let it be known that They Might Be Giants still live. | | Tuesday, April 5th, 2005 | | 9:07 pm |
My parents were visiting for the past week and I've had a tough time getting back into
work now that they're gone - so I'm slacking off and reading the internet all day.
I found two interesting articles on textbooks at
http://www.textbookleague.org/103feyn.htm
and
http://www.edutopia.org/magazine/ed1article.php?id=Art_1195&issue=nov_04.
The unmitigated, complete, and criminal inadequacy of the public education system of this country is a frequently recurring theme in my inner monologue.
Every time I read an article like the above, I get riled up and spend most of the day thinking about it. And I get every bit as riled up when I read
an article in "mainstream" publications or hear a radio piece on NPR about public education, because in such outlets, the reporters inevitably fail to
point out that the emperor is butt-naked.
( Read more... ) |
[ << Previous 20 ]
|
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
emtel's journal