August 30
So I
was reading some stuff on Wikipedia the other day because I came across a
reference to logical positivism in a book I was reading for work, and I
couldn't remember what that was, although I know I've learned about it before.
I normally don't trust Wikipedia as the most accurate or reliable site for
information; however, when I just need to get the main idea for something or
the gist, it's often a quick way to get that information. Anyways, after
reading about logical
positivism and its reference to Hegelian historicism, it has
provided some of the answers to the questions I had before about truth and
knowledge, and especially the question asking if anyone knew which philosophers
had already written on this topic before. I'm not going to write about it all
here, but if you're really interested in reading about it, you can click on the
link above.
5:00 PM | Permalink | Philosophy
August 27
Strangely,
the Kleenex box entry is the one that generated the most comments I've had on a
single entry. Who knew that a banal and inane observation would generate the
most discussion? Well, on a more interesting note--at least maybe only for me
again--I went to one of the best salsa parties I've been to in a long time. It
was a farewell party for an acquaintance, and I wasn't even sure I wanted to go
because I figured I wouldn't know anyone. But I found out a friend was going,
so we arrived together, and it turned out to be one smokin' salsa party! I
think I must have danced for at least an hour straight in total. I can't
remember the last time there were actually so many guys to dance with that
could actually dance salsa. Any given night in the salsa clubs, when they
existed, there were lots of guys, but most were there to pick up women. For
those of us there to dance, well, many of you already know that I don't give
the time of day to those guys that can't dance. Anyways, it was a super fun
night, definitely worth the dark circles under my eyes that won't go away
because I haven't slept enough! Someone definitely needs to open up a club
again.
Outside
of that, I have been contracted to work at the university for another 2 months
with a promise of 2 months more beyond that. This is a good thing for mortgage
approval. It will also give me some time to stimulate some discussion about one
of the topics I'm working on, for which I've already co-written one article
that we have submitted for publication. It's kind of exciting. Unfortunately,
this field won't allow me to coin the word I'd like to get added to the
dictionary, which I can't tell you here because this is not a copyright site,
and I don't want anyone to steal my word! OK, I realise that if I stated it
here, someone else might start using it, and that's how it could get coined,
but then maybe that person will get the credit, and I'm selfish in this case!
In any case, it's still a publication, and it's a great privilege to have the
opportunity to publish.
Also,
for any of you reading this that are interested in seeing some statistics about
the world around us, see this video
by
Sarah Mclachlan. It's pretty cool.
7:55 PM | Permalink
August 21
I've
noticed a lot lately that people often put their Kleenex boxes in the back of
their cars. This makes sense if you're usually driving around with a lot of
passengers, but I've seen people with no one in the car and a Kleenex box in
the back. If you're the only one driving, how can you reach it from there?
Maybe I've just seen these people the odd time there's no one in their car, but
I do wonder. I know that people probably don't want to leave it on the seats
for those times they do have passengers because then it's in the way--and
clearly way too heavy to lift to get it out of the way. I just find it funny.
Outside
of that, nothing much else happening. Just working. It's not that exciting,
well, I guess probably not that exciting to the majority of the population, so
no sense in putting it here. Of course, not like most of what I write is
probably interesting to my readership, but such is life :o) Anyways, I can't
think of another thing to update you on, so you'll just have to wait for some
good stuff to happen.
5:35 PM | Read comments (3) | Permalink
August 13
Thanks
to people for actually leaving comments on my last entry. I love getting
comments! Anyways, I did want to respond to my cousin Chris's comment.
After I
wrote my last entry, I was thinking I should have maybe referred to my entry
way back when on Pluto, where I did distinguish between truth and knowledge
with no dictionary required. It is probably a good exercise to read that as a
background to my last entry, because I was kind of thinking along the same
lines at the time.
I do
believe, though, that despite whatever the dictionary may say, people do equate
knowledge and truth. And despite dictionary definitions, there are sometimes
meanings that are more commonly accepted in people's minds than actually exist
in the dictionary. For example, people would tell you that a moron is a stupid
person. They would claim they know what moron means, and they would say
"it's true because everyone knows that moron means stupid person, that's
why so many people call a stupid person a moron." The logic doesn't follow
in this statement, but people do believe this to be the case. Originally, a
moron was a person with the mentality of a 12 year old. If I were only 6 years
old, and someone called me a moron in that context, it would be quite the
compliment. As an adult, of course, this would certainly be insulting. But 12
year-olds aren't necessarily stupid, so morons being defined as stupid people
doesn't follow here either. I'm sure the dictionary would add this newer
definition just based on common usage of the term, but this knowledge that
people claimed to have only became true when it was documented officially by a
dictionary. I'm sure there are better examples than this one, but this is the
only one that pops into my head at the moment. My point is that the dictionary
doesn't always give me the answer I need. No offence intended to Oxford!
In any
case, knowledge and truth are often at odds with other. If I remember right, it
was Plato that differentiated between "truth" and "Truth."
He claimed that Truth was absolute, whereas truth was relative. Perhaps
knowledge is true, then, but not True. I certainly would question Knowledge and
knowledge.
6:52 PM | Permalink | Philosophy
August 07
Normally
when I put these questions out there, no one responds in the comment section,
but I'll give it a go again anyways. I was thinking about the nature of
knowledge again today, its impermanence. Then this thought popped into my head:
Knowledge is not absolute. It is a set of assumptions based on a body of
scientific (and sometimes not-so-scientific) findings, which itself is based on
sociocultural and economic norms. OK, any philosophers out there who can tell
me which other philosopher(s) wrote about this? I have no idea, but whenever I
think I've discovered a new thought or idea, I always find out that not only is
it just an old idea, but a very old idea, at least by hundreds of years.
This also means that other people have thought these thoughts before and since,
but the issues remain curious to my mind. Would anyone like to comment? Please?
8:37 PM | Read comments (2) | Permalink | Philosophy
August 05
What
a surprise. I've had 7 marriage proposals in my life. They were offered in a
period of about 8 years from the time I was 16 until I was 24. Hadn't had one
in years. Suddenly I turn 30. The bags under my eyes don't seem to go away very
quickly, even 2 weeks after the party I stayed at until all hours of the
morning. I used to go out 3 or 4 nights of the week! I'm more concerned with
saving money to buy a property, wondering how my jobs are going to turn into a
career, concerning myself about all kinds of things other than being proposed
to.
People
used to tell me they thought I was lucky having been proposed to so many times.
But I always reply by asking, "What's the point having of 7 marriage
proposals you can't use?" And only the one--well, kind of two--were
flattering. A cute little old Chinese guy that owned and cooked in a restaurant
he and his wife used to have tried to arrange a marriage with my parents for me
and either one of his two sons, whom he claimed were very tall and very
good-looking. It was flattering because it was only after several months of us
going to eat there, which we did frequently because the food was outstanding,
did he approach my parents. It made me think that he had been observing me over
a period of time, and then decided that I was appropriate for his sons.
And
then it happened. A similar thing to that cute Chinese guy. A guy at the
Bosnian pavilion at Heritage Days tried to set me up with one of his two sons
as well. He thought it would be the best way for my dad to get to eat their
yummy roast lamb every weekend is if he had a Bosnian son-in-law. The
difference is that this guy just met me, but it was still kind of cute. Only
thing is that I feel for the sons, who would probably be mortified if they knew
what their dad was doing. As for Heritage Days itself, I'll try to get some
pics tomorrow to upload.
In
other news, I remember back to another blog entry I wrote much earlier when I
was talking about how I wished employers would value a person with a moral
standard and is willing to stick up for it rather than seeing it as a detriment
to the work site. Well, another thing I had always been frustrated about is
that I also found many employers to think that because I don't have a number of
years of experience in one area, that meant I would be as qualified for a job,
rather than recognising the number of skills I have as being a versatile
person. Then I met these profs from Occupational Therapy, and they really think
I have a number of useful skills that are valuable to their work and the work
of several people in the department. They are recommending me for jobs to
colleagues and even for other jobs--which I won't talk about just yet in case
it doesn't happen. But for now, I'm so thankful to be where I am and happy to
be working for people that actually believe in me. Last year was harder on my
self-confidence than I originally thought, and I really appreciate how much
these profs value my contribution. It makes me feel like maybe I do have skills
that are worthwhile. But I also stood up for my morals last year and ruffled
feathers because of it, and here God has blessed me by giving me more job
offers than I can keep up with. It's just amazing and wonderful.
8:54 PM | Permalink
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