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coberst

<t>Nobel Peace Prize: A world sigh of relief? Awarding the Nobel Peace Prize might represent a world wide sigh of relief. The United States, the most powerful nation on this planet, follows up eight years of President George Bush with an election in which the Republican Party ...

coberst

<t>In a throw-away society is longevity of little value? For a period of some two hundred years America had an every moving new frontier. One of the appeals of this ever-present frontier was the sense that there was always a place for the rugged individualist. A place existed for the indi...

coberst

<t>oscar;1249427 wrote: How do you explain people who seem devoid of any emotion? Some commit the most heinious of crimes where no emotion seems to play any part. Emotion does not apply to all that is around us. People are affected emotionally by different things. I am more likely to cry at some thi...

coberst

<t>Three stages to consciousness Suppose something happens that frightens me. My blood pressure goes up, my heart starts beating very fast, the release of adrenalin creates a great burst of energy, I may even jump or start to run. All of the feelings that are a result of these biological ...

coberst

<t>An oligarchy controls public policy in America. The oligarchy consists of those who manage the great wealth of American institutions. This oligarchy designs our educational system to graduate good producers and consumers and does not desire independent thinkers. CA (Corporate America) ...

coberst

<t>Education in America It appears to me that there are two categories of educational techniques. One focuses on creating graduates with large databases and the other focuses on the individual creativity of its graduates. The US system concentrates on large database...

coberst

<t>Whatdaya mean "I am always in denial"? X says to Y 'You will take "A" as an insult but it is not meant to be so.' In this case X does not want to accept (denial) the truth that to say A to Y is an insult. Typical of a denial is that X labels a phenomenon 'saying A to Y is an insult' bu...

coberst

<t>Bruv;1248254 wrote: A good teacher doesn't throw facts at you, they give you the tools or keys to build that 'frame'. Knowing facts doesn't make anybody clever, or wise. The big problem for most people seems to come when they no longer have a teacher to hold their hand...

coberst

<t>What can one dummy tell another about self-learning? I often face the frustration of responders who find them selves confused by my words. This has led me to post my OP â€œKnowledge is a puzzleâ€ (which I copy and place at the end of this OP) I constantly study books writte...

coberst

<t>What does philosophy do? I claim that the task of philosophy is to look inward to find the basis for the presuppositions that form the foundation for all human created theories. I claim that in our first effort to look inward primitive humans saw thier mortality; they hated what they s...

coberst

<t>Why do we do the things we do? If I had the ability I would draw a cartoon character with an Arnold Schwarzenegger-like upper torso supported on two thin, spindly, and varicose veined legs. This cartoon character would represent humanity as I visualize the human species. Th...

coberst

<t>When folk theory meets scientific theory? All of us ordinary folks, even those with little or no technical expertise, have theories. These theories are the way that we try to comprehend our world. Some are explicit and some implicit. Cognitive scientists call these folk theories. ...

coberst

<t>Is negativity critical, cool, and courageous? â€˜To be negativeâ€™ is not the same as â€˜to be criticalâ€™. The dictionary has many definitions for the word â€œcriticalâ€, but I would choose the critical (decisive) meaning, as regarding learning, to beâ€”exercising or invo...

coberst

<t>Transference: is it because we fear life? The human condition is just beyond the capacity of humans to endure without defensive illusions. William James informs us that fear is â€œfear of the universeâ€. Otto Rank informs us â€œThe adult may have fear of death or fear of s...

coberst

<t>And deliver me from all evil That which promotes life is good that which promotes death is evil. â€œEvil lies not in the hearts of men but in the social arrangements that men take for granted.â€ Wo/man lives a debased life under tyranny and self delusion because...

coberst

<t>What your teacher canâ€™t tell you, I will! Philosophy has always been an a priori domain of knowledge. In other words, philosophy is generally not considered to be a science because it shows little regard for empirical experience beyond the rationalist model. SGCS (Second G...

coberst

<t>Do the sophisticated practice demagoguery? The demagogue is a â€œleader who makes use of popular prejudice and false claims and promises in order to gain powerâ€--Webster. Demagoguery is often the preferred tool of politicians and plutocrats because the muddled masses are moved more e...

coberst

<t>Managing mass mind: heads I win tails you lose? I say it is 5 feet and you say it is 5 feet 1 inch; do we argue or do we bring in a standard of measurement? I say it is a matter of self-interest and you say it is a matter of fairness; do we argue or do we bring in a standard...

coberst

<t>When is a lie not a lie? The word “bachelor” is a noun for those individuals defined as being an unmarried adult male. Most people would not say that the Pope is a bachelor even though he is an unmarried adult male. Let us examine the process that is called “framing the iss...

coberst

<t>Why do seductive sound bites often win? Framing is a means for placing a matter into a context for discussion and contemplation. â€œFrames are the mental structures that allow human beings to understand realityâ€”and sometimes to create what we take to be realityâ€. Thinking Pointsâ€”...

coberst

<t>I challenge the student of mathematics It appears to me that most people look on math as something with supernatural qualities. I challenge the student of math to develop and post short essays on Internet discussion forums about those fundamental aspects of math that you think people c...

coberst

<t>How can I walk in the shoes of Socrates? The following is an attempt to develop a means for us to empathesize with Socrates. Many decades ago a professor of philosophy told me that â€œphilosophy is about radically critical self-consciousnessâ€. It was thirty years later tha...

coberst

<r>luciferjohn;1238807 wrote: if i understand correctly ,i agree, the human understanding of his/her world has been getting narrower over time, the "supernatural" was once a common place thing everyone seen and interacted with it now most people say its impossible so they can no longer s...

coberst

<t>Net-worth and self-worth: what is difference? The difference between net worth and self worth to my mind rests on that which is extrinsic and intrinsic to our humanity. Abraham Maslow defined a hierarchy of needs to be: 1) Biological and Physiological (water, foo...

coberst

<t>Ian;1237435 wrote: Then it is how we perceive it... perceive what we see? Thoughts rule our perceptions of reality. We bring to perceiption all of our past experiences and knowledge. Only the meaningful is perceived. We can see only what we are prepared to see. We can ...

coberst

Ian;1237265 wrote: It amazes me that there is nothing there until we view it, my friends do not believe that "matter" does not exist.

Everything we observe we created.

Everything that we think, know, and perceive is subjective to one degree or another.

coberst

<t>I challenge the student of quantum mechanics I am a retired engineer and read QED, a book about Quantum Electro Dynamics (QED), several years ago and in trying to explain light reflection to a friend I discovered that I was not certain about my ideas on this matter. I do not want any c...

coberst

<t>Clodhopper;1236169 wrote: I am very suspicious of anything - anything at all - which says "learn this and all your problems are solved". Cognitive thinking is in that range. At the same time, if it helps people engage with issues, then I'm probably for it. W...

coberst

<t>I suspect that most of us are willing to agree that, broadly speaking, we have â€˜fact knowledgeâ€™ and â€˜relationship knowledgeâ€™. I would like to take this a step further by saying that I wish to claim that fact knowledge is mono-logical and relationship knowledge is multi-logical. ...

coberst

<t>Scientific vs. Socratic Method: the winner is? Hypothetico-deductive model for scientific method from Wikipedia: â€œ1. Use your experience: Consider the problem and try to make sense of it. Look for previous explanations. If this is a new problem to you, then move to step 2....

coberst

<t>Do we perceive it because it is meaningful? Yes! How does the man with agnosia (loss of ability to perceive the familiar due to brain damage) manage on the street? Quoting such an individual â€œOn the sidewalk all things are slimâ€”those are people; in the middle of the street, everyth...

coberst

<t>Is knowing about symbols and understanding about images? I suspect that both knowledge and understanding are constructed from symbols (words) and images but I also suspect that most of knowledge is constructed of symbols and most of understanding is constructed of images. Le...

coberst

<t>Clodhopper;1234751 wrote: Well, I think "replace" is overstating it. Consider a mother with a child and tell me we've replaced our animal instincts. Or panic, for example. We all do it the same way, no matter what race. If you agree we haven't replaced our animal instincts, then the argument as s...

coberst

<t>Have we replaced our animal instincts? We are also creatures â€œprone to anxiety, extremely helpless in his natural state, almost entirely devoid of instincts.â€ Therein lay the paradox. â€Instead of remaining free and broadly adaptive, the new symbolic animal immediately became â€˜s...

coberst

<t>Why does the fluttering red cape prevail? The confident Matador flutters the red cape, the massive bull charges, energetically hooking empty air in bewilderment. Please be reasonable! Let us reason together. There was no reason for that. What do we mean by these common expre...

coberst

<t>Do we need a new farm system for elitism? Quickie from Wiki: â€œIn sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team or nursery club, generally refers to a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pla...

coberst

<t>How do animals form categories? Quickie from Wiki: â€œIn metaphysics (in particular, ontology), the different kinds or ways of being are called categories of being or simply categories. According to the Aristotelian tradition, a being is anything that can be said to be in the various s...

coberst

<t>Where would we be sans â€˜container schemaâ€™? â€˜Containerâ€™ is a ubiquitous (constantly encountered) metaphor in the cognitive sciences. A single cell creature, such as the amoeba, is not merely alive but has the urge to stay alive. This creature knows nothing...

coberst

<t>What tool is available to break the hold of apathy? Our habit of seeking accustomed satisfactions prevents us from finding new sources of energy with which to see or create new meanings. Blind habit controls our every turn. Familiar modes of thought and accustomed perceptions lock our...

coberst

<t>What are â€œconcrete conceptsâ€? I remember having watched, on TV, a high-jumper performing an obvious mental imagery of his up-coming jump just before he actually performed his physical feat. I could watch his gaze going through the running to the bar and lifting himself up and over ...

coberst

<t>How do we gain power over death? Psychology informs me that it is the nature of humans to be influenced greatly by the recognition of the self and that the self must die. All of us have a great energy directed toward not dying. We dread the conscious thought of dying because our instin...

coberst

<t>Is positivism like trimming all fat from bacon? Meaning is the fat on bacon. Positivism is jerky (strips of spicy meat trimmed of fat and dried with low heat). Following WWI a group of scientists, mathematicians, and philosophers gathered in Vienna to discuss recent events i...

coberst

on second thought I have deleted my comment

coberst

<t>What does the Cheetah and the human have in common? Quickie from Wiki: â€œThe cheetah is a vulnerable species. Out of all the big cats, it is the least able to adapt to new environments. It has always proved difficult to breed in captivity, although recently a few zoos have managed to ...

coberst

<t>What is relative and what is objective? SGCS (Second Generation Cognitive Science) informs me that objectivity is our shared subjectivity. That is to say that everything that we think, know, or perceive is subjective to some degree and this degree of subjectivity is dependent upon the ...

coberst

<t>Clodhopper;1228045 wrote: coberst: Not sure what you are getting at with the aging population thing. I fear very much that the older segments of population will make up the earliest stacks of corpses. In the United States 16% of GDP goes to health care. 50% of the hea...

coberst

<t>Is time an abstract idea? Time, motion, and change are such basic philosophical concepts that we see them being considered by all philosophers throughout Western philosophical thinking. These are fundamental concepts about which philosophers theorize and they are fundamental concepts a...

coberst

<t>If I know nothing can I be responsible for anything? Hogan's Heroes was an American television situation comedy that ran from 1965, to 1971. The showâ€™s stage, a fictional account of Stalag 13, is situated in a German POW camp during the Second World War. The program featured Colonel ...

coberst

<t>According to current population forecasts, population aging in the first half of this century should exceed that of the second half of the 20th century. For the world as a whole, the elderly will grow from 6.9% of the population in 2000 to a projected 19.3% in 2050 (Table 1). In other words, the ...

coberst

<t>Is more technology the answer? Technology is a positive feed back system. When the output of the system increases the system goes at a higher rate. There is no equilibrium in a positive feedback system. Capitalism is such a system. In a negative feed back system when the out...

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