Philosophy, besides being a good major of choice for fast food workers (kidding! No hate mails please - those fries will get cold if you don't bag them right away), makes for a pretty good blog reading.
You'd think that after a few thousand years of thinking, all philosophical problems would be solved, but that isn't so. Road Tickle has a list of 4 unsolved philosophical problems for you to ponder. For example:
LinkSorites Paradox
What’s the problem? Language uses many poorly defined predicates. A fine example is measurement; assume that you define a heap of sand as having one-million grains. You then establish that taking away a single grain doesn’t unmake the heap and it is still defined as being heap. If you accept both of these as fact then what does your definition of a heap actually mean? When does it stop being a heap?
By not giving the heap an precise definition you are simply stating that the heap does or does not exist in some form. Meanwhile, you realize you’ve been sitting and counting individual grains of sand for the sake of a hypothetical question.
What’s the answer? Defining a change in the object require you to set specific boundaries. If you can say that a heap of sand is only a pile of sand if it contains nine-thousand or fewer grains then you can say that a pile is only a heap when it contains more than nine-thousand grains.
At least, that’s one answer. Sorites paradox is what’s referred to as an unsolved problem in philosophy, meaning there is no one method of approaching the question as to solve it universally. Because it’s hinged on definition and perception, the answer is going to vary from individual to individual without a commonly accepted answer overlapping.
Comments (12)
When is a man officially bald? when he loses the last hair on his head? When it no longer covers the top? WHat percentage? what if it's just really sparse and thin?
Fun stuff. One of my personal favorites is the Ship of Theseus.
A mound is rounded on top.
A pile has an uneven surface.
That's the problem with being human. We call a wall a wall because we don't want to list every atom that consists of said wall (or every subatomic particle that consists of those atoms, etc). Language is all just a method of optimization, and it's lack of definition to words that causes problems like that. It gets even more confusing when you realize in 5 years they might not call them walls anymore, and instead use a word with slightly different definitions.
That was the whole problem with Pluto and it being a planet. We can't explain to everyone the size and mass of each body of material in our solar system every time we talk about it. We call them planets (and now dwarf planets) instead. And then if you need to adaptively contrast your definitions, you can go further and say said planet is Earth, then go even further and say that Earth's surface is 30% solid, then you can say what percentage of the crust is titanium, then you can go on to explain the physical properties of titanium if you really need to.
Adaptive sampling!
I am by no means an expert, however I have spent a good portion of my life around those who wear the makes of multiple failed attempts. I sincerely hope that the person who posted this has rethought the idea, no matter how it was meant. Do what's right stranger, what ever that may be.
"I would feel real trapped in this life if I didn't know I could commit suicide at any time." -Hunter S. Thompson
My dad had suicidal thoughts for about a year he told my mother and went to a crises center where they set him up with a couple councilors he saw on a regular basis. He did end up taking his own life and it was mostly well thought out. He knew where he was going to leave his car because he didn't want family or children to find him. He had a couple post it style notes on his desk that implied he did not plan on being there later in the week. He was social and an active member of the community was not giving stuff away and dressing in black. The only sign that he was going to kill himself was that he had told people a few times over the past year that he wanted to end it.
The main thing right now would be to stop the person from doing something irreversible. There are ways to stay in the country or you could always go back to their homeland (depending on how bad the place is) make a life there and get in the proper way.
If this *is* legitimate, I hope the writer seeks assistance from some of the good people and organizations affiliated with PostSecret. The ability to create such an attention getting postcard shows real talent; this talent should not be wasted.
What a silly observation. Of course it's a cry for attention. That doesn't make it unimportant.
Homo sapiens are pack-animals; receiving attention is vital to our mental and emotional health. Your post was a plea for attention. This comment I'm typing is a plea for attention. We humans thrive on attention. There's no shame in it.
The touching and moving part about this story isn't whether or not the suicide note is legit or a call for attention but the fact that 20,000 people came together to show compassion and sympathy (regardless of where, how, or if it was effective).
What's your point?
Except to people who feel compassion.
I call shenanigans on this one.
In all honesty I lost interest with PS some time ago, but maybe I should take another look.
Young illegals very often are encouraged to think of the country they left behind as home, by their elders. I saw this all the time in France with the North African illegal and immigrant population.
They very openly speak of their hate of France and their love of a country they hardly know. And they don't feel welcome because they are always somewhere that belongs to other people and refuse to even try to fit in.
Being an illegal is always uncomfortable. It takes its toll.
Postsecret is like a joke stereotype of the real diversity that exists underneath the facade of humanity, a pop-culti version of secrets that mocks reality and truth. Truth and actual reality are important, and I hate the people who make these fake projects like Postsecret, they are the same ilk that publish 'memoirs' like "A Million Little Pieces" (or David Sedaris books, etc), filling up unwary people's brains with a manipulative cloud of lies.