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Food for thought

Started by Icarus, July 09, 2017, 03:02:31 AM

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Icarus

Most of us are pretty much on the same page as far as our outlook on religion, politics, science, and such.
Because of that, we are largely of the same mind but may not have sufficient justifications for our closely held attitudes and beliefs.

Here is a Ted Talk that examines our mindsets. It is only about eleven minutes and it is done by a young woman that speaks clearly and directly.  Are we soldiers or scouts? https://www.ted.com/talks/julia_galef_why_you_think_you_re_right_even_if_you_re_wrong.


Dave

Good one, Icarus, thanks.

But I have to ask,"Where is this significantly different from the subjective ("soldierly") and objective ("scouting") mindset labels that we often use to describe peoples' perceptions"? Ditto "closed" v "open" minded? Maybe even "conservative" v "liberal"!

"Rebranding" concepts is a time honoured practice but it is still useful when it drives a concept home to a new audience or reaffirms it in an older one.

Consider me reaffirmed.
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

Tank

90% Scout, 10% Soldier. I'll defend what I currently think is right, but not I hope to a delusional extent. It also depends on if I'm in an investigative situation or adversarial one. For example if I'm reading phys.org I'll tend to be ready to accept new and different ideas but if I'm on fb with some fundi evolution denier I'm very much a soldier. Richard Dawkins said it well  that one should have an open mind but not so open that your brains fall out. But definitely a scout at heart. I hoard new ideas like jewels.
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

Dave

Quote from: Tank on July 09, 2017, 10:44:54 AM
90% Scout, 10% Soldier. I'll defend what I currently think is right, but not I hope to a delusional extent. It also depends on if I'm in an investigative situation or adversarial one. For example if I'm reading phys.org I'll tend to be ready to accept new and different ideas but if I'm on fb with some fundi evolution denier I'm very much a soldier. Richard Dawkins said it well  that one should have an open mind but not so open that your brains fall out. But definitely a scout at heart. I hoard new ideas like jewels.
In these terms I am probably similar to yourself,Tank, I doubt that any sane human can be wholly one or the other.

However, though I welcome new ideas, in or out of the box, I prefer to consider them before I take them fully on board. Trouble is, like many, my humour for some types of new ideas (like untidy people being the brainy ones) tends rowards the flippant or ironic and this often backfires!

Also, maybe, new ideas in psychology turn out to be a restatement of existing ones or an attempt at the formulation, or an attempt at codification, of inherent everyday human behaviours. Thus they seem to resonate with us, when put into words, because we already "own" them. Maybe subconciously, maybe directly if we are to any degree introspective or have reasonable insight.

Just :thinking: here!
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

Dragonia

Thanks for the link, Icarus. I thought it was very interesting, as I've never considered this division before.
The entire talk, I was thinking, wow,  I'm almost totally Scout. And I'll confide in you: Very often, I feel like my.... shall I call it an ability?... to see the values in opposite sides, to be able to see a subject or event from both directions, because I really care about getting to the heart of something....i feel like this habit of mine makes me wishy-washy on so many things, especially politics. I don't necessarily consider it a good thing.
It's also glaringly obvious that as much as I'm a scout, my husband is a Soldier. One can imagine the tension and frustration that causes sometimes!
Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. ~ Plato (?)

Icarus

More food for thought, or concern as the case might be. Humor if you must.

Malthus was concerned with the population overtaking the earths ability to provide food for the growing masses.  So far so good about the food.  Now we have something else to worry about. It is sand.  Sand you say? Yes we are going to run out of it sooner or later.  How can that be ? 

Think of all the concrete and glass in those huge, incredibly impressive, buildings in Quatar, Shanghai, Singapore, and elsewhere. Think of the interstate highway system, the Autobahn..........think about the houses that we live in. Private houses have concrete, and glass and other silica based materials.

A two lane highway uses about 4000 cubic yards of concrete per mile. Multiply that by hundreds of thousands of miles and we get a really big number. .........something like 400 million cubic yards of concrete for the first and each of the succeeding hundred thousand miles.  Ordinary concrete mix uses one part cement, two parts sand, and three parts of gravel. Sand is then one third of the total mixture.  We will have consumed 1,333 cubic yards of silica sand for every mile of two lane highway.  Imagine a sandbox that is three feet square and it is filled with sand that is piled 4000 feet high.  Asphalt roads also uses sand in the mix

An ordinary house weighs something like 100 tons. Much of it is concrete. My house is concrete block and covered in stucco. Glass is a byproduct of sand. My house and yours has lots of glass unless you live in a cave.  If you have a swimming pool you probably have sand in your filtering system.  Then if you have cats, there is the requisite sand box.

Wait a damned minute we will not run out of sand...The Sahara, and the Gobi deserts have plenty of it.... Sorry.  That sand will not do for concrete. Builders sand is crystal like, that is to say that it has sharp corners and an indeterminate number of sides. The desert sand grains are almost round and reduces the strength of concrete by a large margin.

Much, probably most, builders sand is dredged up from lake beds, and river beds. So much of it is removed that the body of water is endangered, bridge foundations are compromised, natural flow patterns are affected. 

Enjoy this reference to sand, even though it is spoken of in German. "Liebster Schneemann....Tom will no doubt understand the words. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd6XikRIxww

Dave

Yup, there is an environmental sand crisis.
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/feb/27/sand-mining-global-environmental-crisis-never-heard

Not sure if it went anywhere but one company started recycling crushed glass to add the sand used in pre-cast forms. Probably uses about the same energy as mining and transporting sand. There have been bans on sand minIng in some parts of Britain IIRC.

Recovering metals etc from printed circuit boards slowly became a viable process as the cost of extracting abd processing the raw stuff increased, perhaps recycling bricks and concrete will one day become necessary.

And, as far as concrete is concerned, sourcing gravel is also a bit of an environmental hot potato. Though we have some great water gardens in the UK on ex-gravel out sites!

However, I think there are other resources, like water and food, that will become critical before buildlng materials. Mid-Africa is getting towards crisis point in both. The food aspect is maybe being exacerbated by China's ever growing appetite for arable land (and mineral resources) in Africa.
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

Dave

Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

Icarus

#8
Getting into a tither about something as common and familiar as sand is not a reach of the imagination anymore.  Worrying about sand is  humorous and ridiculous to the vast majority of people who have not given it even an instants thought mainly because they had no reason to do so or any information that would have enlightened them.   We are collectively, and for the most part ignorantly, fucking up this magnificent earth upon which we live.

We old folk are inclined to focus attentions ahead for the damaging things that we cannot hope to change.  Our only remedy is to try to make our own lives, hopefully to others, as pleasurable or as humorous as we can. That is why I sometimes post links that give me pleasure or provide a source of laughter.

Glous I know that you have said that you are not keen on music.  I beseech you my brother, find a way to enjoy, even exult, in the emotional content and primal beauty of music.  Above, I posted a link to a quartet of German chicks who are not only accomplished musicians but also comedians who can make us laugh.  The sandman song is one of the few that they vocalize. Try this one for a little bit of mirth mixed with some demonstrations of musical talent........................... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKezUd_xw20&list=PLdyoEi-XMm44aQpm-k9g4Wmc9q0wD6m-W     They are not bad looking either.  There are so many other sources of pleasure with music that I can not adequately describe them with mere words.

(remember Jesus is coming soon....maybe he will bring more sand......and music)




Dave

#9
^
OFF TOPIC

I am not anti-music, just anti music where I do not want it - on the bus, in the shops, from cars parked outside, from neighbours etc. Especislly repetitive "techo" and rap. Some cannot live without music it seems, often too loud and not-my-choice-and-I-can-hear-it type music.

Yes, Bizzand are great (and beautiful and with a great play on words for a title!) and there is a lot of music I do like, it just very, very rarely occurs to me to play it, I have to be in a very special mood. Otherwise it is just polution to me.

If fhe "Sandman" song is the one about dreams, "The Sandman is a mythical character in Western and Northern European folklore who puts people to sleep and brings good dreams by sprinkling magical sand onto the eyes of people while they sleep at night." (Wiki) Just another form of pixie dust. We can always dream of a day when mankind's vision is truly clear on the environment.
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

Dave

The other environmental aspect of hundreds of thousands of square miles of concrete is that it starves the aquifers and promotes floods.

I think it should be illegal to install solid concrete drives and patios and that every house should have a soakaway drain for roof water. As well as having some form of solar energy collection on that roof. A local council run amenity area has a carpark "paved" with gravel and plastic netting (lasted five years so far) and uncemented paved areas for walkways and stands for carboot sales/funfares etc.

OK, that example still used "new" natural resources but that purpose seems open to the use of recycled brick and concrete - cosmetics are not quite so important.
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

Dave

Articke on BBC Workd Servuce re "sand harvesting" in Nigeria told of a local policeman who was killed with poisoned arrows and knives fir investigating this.

It also said that some people have lost access to their water supply. They had to dig in river beds for their water, "harvesting" now neans the river bed is up to 10 meters below the surrounding land. I am not so sure about this though, that neans they have almost certainly been "harvesting" below the ground water level - though it was mentioned that the "harvesting" was hazardous.

I was occupied at the time and not concentrating on the programme I have to admit.
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74