Month: December 2004
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Humanism
Basic Humanism Somewhere in the list of articles in the “Hypotheses” section of this site is an article entitled “Scientism 2.0,” where I define my faith in Science as my closest estimation of a religion. My reasons for creating my own religion was that I had failed to find a School of Thought that mirrored…
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The Implications of Cosmetic Prosthesis
Modifications to our genetic expressions are commonplace and extend back to ancient times. Men shave their facial hair; women use makeup. Primitive peoples paint their bodies, tattoo and scar their skins into complex, meaningful designs. Lip-plates, nose-bones, piercings, all of these are attempts to modify, decorate, or otherwise enhance our genetic foundation. Practices not used…
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Great Books: Dr. J. Bronowski’s “The Ascent of Man”
The Ascent of Man Dr. J.Bronowski begins this story, our story, five million years ago with the emergence of Australopithecus africanus, ancestors to the human race, and continues through our modern adventures into the Quantum World. The Human Race’s social, architectural, agricultural, metallurgical, and scientific accomplishments are all catalogued with rich and wonderful detail. Although…
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Great Films: Renoir’s “La Grande Illusion”
La Grande Illusion Poster Illusion takes place during a time of epic cultural change, the first World War. The French Revolution has produced a burgeoning middle-class and the advent of modern warfare meant a new definition of honor in battle. Noblemen and commoners were forced into fraternization. The opening scene seems almost satirical. The German…
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School Tracking Sucks
I consider myself a victim of tracking. My sixth-grade elementary school teacher, completely on her own perceptions of my aptitude, placed me in remedial mathematics and average English for my first year of Junior High School (that’s “Middle School” for most of you out there). I don’t bare that woman any ill-will for passing such…