S.T.H.O.L.T.B.I.D.
(songs to hear one last time before i die)
-by bruce hornsby
I think one doesn't want to hear songs that are TOO on the nose on this day ("All Things Must Pass", "Days are Numbers", "Dust in the Wind", "Lost Soul"...), but bruce is the first artist to have two songs herein. Of course, miles will have two too (but not from TUTU).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8M4aAfttpo
Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Saturday, May 18, 2019
"The Moral Arc"
(How Science and Reason Lead Humanity Toward Truth, Justice, and Freedom)
-by michael shermer
2015
One of those exceedingly rare books in which you can actually feel yourself getting smarter as the chapters roll by. The central thesis is that since the Enlightenment and Age of Reason, humynity has been on a measurably upward moral swing (and in the big picture, a stunningly speedy one), a direct result of the embrace of science over superstition. So many of our ancient inhumynities are based upon assumptions (wimyn and non-pinks inferior, etc.) which science conclusively de-pants. And this process will only continue, as we accumulate more data which shows that democratic, egalitarian, free-trade societies flourish (a brilliant example being North and South Korea over the past half-century), and that as autocracies decrease, so does war. Notwithstanding a media that feeds us unrelenting images of violence and deprivation, shermer contends that a smaller percentage of the world's population are impoverished and a smaller percentage die from violence, than at any time in recorded history. Slavery is outlawed everywhere, rape is outlawed in all western states, and the death penalty/torture are almost universally outlawed...nor have you seen many witch-burnings lately. Compare all that with just a century or two ago.
The driving force is the expansion of the moral sphere, those to whom we show ethical consideration. Not long ago, this included only our families, then our tribe...but it has grown to encompass the entire humyn race (and now beyond). The advent of game theory has contributed to the rejection of the winner/loser mentality. Shermer details the moral march from civil rights to wimyn's rights to gay rights to animal rights. He contrasts retributive and restorative justice, to show the future (and for New Zealand, the present) of jurisprudence. He graphs the statistical superiority of non-violent protest over violent. An in-depth analysis of nazi Germany shows how easy it is for any state to backslide...a lesson which probably would have been hammered with more force had this book been written post-2016.
Shermer writes with style, humor, concision, and statistics. He perhaps plays a bit fast and loose with his contention that all prehistoric humyns were startlingly violent, as he lumps pre- and post-agricultural people together. And the latter half of the first chapter drags. But get through that, and it's sparkling sailing. This is a work of far-reaching breadth, which belongs on the must-read list of any thinking humyn.
-by michael shermer
2015
One of those exceedingly rare books in which you can actually feel yourself getting smarter as the chapters roll by. The central thesis is that since the Enlightenment and Age of Reason, humynity has been on a measurably upward moral swing (and in the big picture, a stunningly speedy one), a direct result of the embrace of science over superstition. So many of our ancient inhumynities are based upon assumptions (wimyn and non-pinks inferior, etc.) which science conclusively de-pants. And this process will only continue, as we accumulate more data which shows that democratic, egalitarian, free-trade societies flourish (a brilliant example being North and South Korea over the past half-century), and that as autocracies decrease, so does war. Notwithstanding a media that feeds us unrelenting images of violence and deprivation, shermer contends that a smaller percentage of the world's population are impoverished and a smaller percentage die from violence, than at any time in recorded history. Slavery is outlawed everywhere, rape is outlawed in all western states, and the death penalty/torture are almost universally outlawed...nor have you seen many witch-burnings lately. Compare all that with just a century or two ago.
The driving force is the expansion of the moral sphere, those to whom we show ethical consideration. Not long ago, this included only our families, then our tribe...but it has grown to encompass the entire humyn race (and now beyond). The advent of game theory has contributed to the rejection of the winner/loser mentality. Shermer details the moral march from civil rights to wimyn's rights to gay rights to animal rights. He contrasts retributive and restorative justice, to show the future (and for New Zealand, the present) of jurisprudence. He graphs the statistical superiority of non-violent protest over violent. An in-depth analysis of nazi Germany shows how easy it is for any state to backslide...a lesson which probably would have been hammered with more force had this book been written post-2016.
Shermer writes with style, humor, concision, and statistics. He perhaps plays a bit fast and loose with his contention that all prehistoric humyns were startlingly violent, as he lumps pre- and post-agricultural people together. And the latter half of the first chapter drags. But get through that, and it's sparkling sailing. This is a work of far-reaching breadth, which belongs on the must-read list of any thinking humyn.
Saturday, May 11, 2019
america's judicial flaws
The american judicial system is flawed and compromised, perhaps irreparably. Our culture in general is steeped in barbarism that will horrify anyone from the not-so-distant future, but let's focus on the specifics of how we mete out justice in the U.S.A. (mandatory minimums are bad, but they don't even crack the big four). In descending order...
1) CAGING SENTIENT BEINGS IS A CRIME AGAINST LIFE
...and makes convicts worse people, not better. The scientific data that bears this out is swiftly accumulating. I'd like to call this new information, but the natives of this continent had very effective judicial systems, and would have been appalled at the thought of locking someone in a cage.
2) JUSTICE FOR PROFIT IS JUSTICE BLIND (IN THE BAD WAY)
The newest entry into the big four. Making prisons independent of the state and profit-based, encourages corruption of the system and escalating inhumynity within prison walls. Capitalism has shown itself incapable of protecting the humyn rights of law-abiding citizens who are poor. How do you think it treats "less-than-citizens"?
3) WE SEEK THE WINNER, NOT THE TRUTH
The adversarial system is one in which neither side is interested in honesty. This leads to profound immorality and corruption. Imagine instead all parties focused on one goal - truth.
4) WE FOCUS ON THE OFFENDER, NOT THE VICTIM
Our system is vengeance-based, and ignores any responsibility we might have to help victims of crime. For victims who don't believe in vengeance, a punitive system only increases the suffering of all parties. Over the past two decades, New Zealand has been replacing it's retributive system with a restorative one, focused on the victim's needs.
1) CAGING SENTIENT BEINGS IS A CRIME AGAINST LIFE
...and makes convicts worse people, not better. The scientific data that bears this out is swiftly accumulating. I'd like to call this new information, but the natives of this continent had very effective judicial systems, and would have been appalled at the thought of locking someone in a cage.
2) JUSTICE FOR PROFIT IS JUSTICE BLIND (IN THE BAD WAY)
The newest entry into the big four. Making prisons independent of the state and profit-based, encourages corruption of the system and escalating inhumynity within prison walls. Capitalism has shown itself incapable of protecting the humyn rights of law-abiding citizens who are poor. How do you think it treats "less-than-citizens"?
3) WE SEEK THE WINNER, NOT THE TRUTH
The adversarial system is one in which neither side is interested in honesty. This leads to profound immorality and corruption. Imagine instead all parties focused on one goal - truth.
4) WE FOCUS ON THE OFFENDER, NOT THE VICTIM
Our system is vengeance-based, and ignores any responsibility we might have to help victims of crime. For victims who don't believe in vengeance, a punitive system only increases the suffering of all parties. Over the past two decades, New Zealand has been replacing it's retributive system with a restorative one, focused on the victim's needs.
Thursday, May 2, 2019
"Virtual Insanity"
S.T.H.O.L.T.B.I.D.
(songs to hear one last time before i die)
-by Jamiroquai
If my feet can still shuffle on the day i die, if my legs have any lingering leap, if i can only wiggle one little finger, play this song and dance with me...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JkIs37a2JE
(songs to hear one last time before i die)
-by Jamiroquai
If my feet can still shuffle on the day i die, if my legs have any lingering leap, if i can only wiggle one little finger, play this song and dance with me...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JkIs37a2JE
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