Quick Observations Archives - Page 79 of 85

August

Demographically, PhDs are mostly on the left. As a group, they are also highly vaccine hesitant. These two trends seem contradictory. Are they or is there a logical explanation?

August 13, 2021

By B

Demographically, PhDs are mostly on the left. As a group, they are also highly vaccine hesitant. These two trends seem contradictory. Are they or is there a logical explanation? You draw an unsubstantiated conclusion. Data is key here. Assuming your premise (the observed) is true, the correct...

August

What have you implemented in your life to make sure your views are not the exclusive result of an echo chamber?

August 13, 2021

In Quick Observations

By B

What have you implemented in your life to make sure your views are not the exclusive result of an echo chamber? Reason. The echo chamber is irrationality. ...

August

Why do people answer a question with the most general information you’d find in a pamphlet or website (which doesn’t answer the question) which the person asking the question obviously knows all about given the nature of the question they’re asking?

August 13, 2021

In Quick Observations

By B

Why do people answer a question with the most general information you'd find in a pamphlet or website (which doesn't answer the question) which the person asking the question obviously knows all about given the nature of the question they're asking? People don’t develop answers through...

August

Can a philosopher be a national leader?

August 13, 2021

In Quick Observations

By B

Can a philosopher be a national leader? Can: Yes. Does their philosophical skills bring some special toolset to the problem that would make them better? Maybe, if they could somehow get the governed to seek objective truth with them. If they cannot (most likely), then I think philosophers...

August

What is the difference between knowledge and understanding?

August 12, 2021

In Knowledge, Quick Observations

By B

What is the difference between knowledge and understanding? Let’s say a hypothesis is understanding. I think it is. After all, a hypothesis is tested with predictions. When a hypotheses can predict outcomes accurately, it is considered true. That is, the person understands the behavior of a...

August

What are the limiting principles of your personal ideology? “I believe that applies to most people but beyond this point it stops working/becomes oppressive/simply fails.”

August 12, 2021

In Quick Observations

By B

What are the limiting principles of your personal ideology? "I believe that applies to most people but beyond this point it stops working/becomes oppressive/simply fails." I believe in reason. The value of reason is unlimited. It does not always occur because it is developmental. ...

August

Is creating rules more difficult than following rules?

August 12, 2021

In Quick Observations

By B

Is creating rules more difficult than following rules? Yes, if you want the consent of the governed. ...

August

Voltaire said “Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.” To what extent do you consider that certainty is absurd and how have you used your doubt to understand a subject better?

August 12, 2021

In Quick Observations

By B

This is an easy question. If I were at school taking a test, I would answer this question first. For reason, absolute truth cannot be known: Proof. Reason is how one comes to know anything. ...

August

What makes any form of control legitimate, and do we have a responsibility to stand up to illegitimate forms of control?

August 12, 2021

In Quick Observations

By B

What makes any form of control legitimate, and do we have a responsibility to stand up to illegitimate forms of control? What form is legitimate? In America, control we consent to through a representative government. Do we have a responsibility to stand up to illegitimate form: YES. ...

August

How did Descartes explain his existence?

August 11, 2021

In Quick Observations

By B

How did Descartes explain his existence? I think therefore I am. I don’t know if this is true. Instead I believe, I doubt, therefore I think. Maybe I am a piece of biological software only. However, I can program myself because I think (thus I possess free will)....