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The fashionable commonplace used to shout down religious believers is this:
“Faith is belief without evidence.”
If you pry at this simplistic and decidedly question-begging "definition" you will find, though, that what the accuser really means is:
“Faith is belief without scientific proof.”
Scientific proof being the only kind of evidence that the non-believer will typically accept from the believer....
Read moreIt is believed that there is a severe problem in the tech industry with lack of diversity, principally the fact that there are too few women. It is thought that this is something that needs to be fixed. Tim Cook on Apple's diversity report:
“Apple is committed to transparency, which is why we are publishing statistics about the race and gender makeup of our company. Let me say up front: As CEO, I’m not satisfied with the numbers on this page. They’re not new to us, and we’ve been working hard for quite some time to improve them. We are making progress, and we’re committed to being as innovative in advancing diversity as we are in developing our products.”
There is a practical argument that can be made, and indeed often is made, that the reason why diversity is good is because it creates a broader perspective in an organization. That's certainly true, but the real concern is: does justice demand better diversity stats?
Read moreTime:
“Under the amendments to the country’s 2002 euthanasia law, a child of any age can be helped to die, but only under strict conditions. He or she must be terminally ill, close to death, and deemed to be suffering beyond any medical help. The child must be able to request euthanasia themselves and demonstrate they fully understand their choice. The request will then be assessed by teams of doctors, psychologists and other care-givers before a final decision is made with approval of the parents.”
We aren't on a slippery slope. We're free-falling in the Abyss.
John Gruber of Daring Fireball recently spoke at XOXO, giving an account of how he became an independent writer. It's a great talk, worth watching in its entirety. One of his take-aways was: "Prioritize Quality Over Money". Gruber:
“It matters what order you put your priorities.... I firmly believe, I don’t know a way to prove it, but in my gut I do think it’s true that the surprising part is if you do it this way you can make more money than you would if you valued the money first and concentrated on it first.”
Such is the case because money is not the end, and to make it the end corrupts. "End" in the philosophical sense is the "that for which" or "final cause".
Read moreSPOILER ALERT! This discussion contains spoilers for the 'Doctor Who' episode "Into the Dalek".
I began my journey with the Doctor at the Eleventh Hour. The show is goofy, and fun, and a delightful ride, but at times, and this is what makes me love the show rather than merely enjoy it, it is achingly poignant and you catch glimpses of the transcendent.
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