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Friday Filosophy v.04.08.2022

Friday Filosophy v.04.08.2022

Carl Edward Sagan (November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996) was an American astronomerplanetary scientistcosmologistastrophysicistastrobiologist, author, and science communicator. Sagan argued the hypothesis, accepted since, that the high surface temperatures of Venus can be attributed to, and calculated using, the greenhouse effect. He testified to the US Congress in 1985 that the greenhouse effect will change the earth’s climate system. Initially an assistant professor at Harvard, Sagan later moved to Cornell where he would spend the majority of his career as the David Duncan Professor of Astronomy and Space Sciences. Sagan published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and was author, co-author or editor of more than 20 books. 

He wrote many popular science books, such as The Dragons of EdenBroca’s BrainPale Blue Dot and narrated and co-wrote the award-winning 1980 television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage. The most widely watched series in the history of American public television, Cosmos, has been seen by at least 500 million people in 60 countries. The book Cosmos was published to accompany the series. He also wrote the 1985 science fiction novel Contact, the basis for a 1997 film of the same name. His papers, containing 595,000 items, are archived at The Library of Congress

Sagan advocated scientific skeptical inquiry and the scientific method, pioneered exobiology and promoted the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI). He spent most of his career as a professor of astronomy at Cornell University, where he directed the Laboratory for Planetary Studies. Sagan and his works received numerous awards and honors, including the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, the National Academy of Sciences Public Welfare Medal, the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction for his book The Dragons of Eden, and, regarding Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, two Emmy Awards, the Peabody Award, and the Hugo Award. He married three times and had five children. After suffering from myelodysplasia, Sagan died of pneumonia at the age of 62, on December 20, 1996.

  • We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.
  • For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love
  • Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception.
  • In our obscurity – in all this vastness – there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. It is up to us.
  • Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.
  • The brain is like a muscle. When it is in use, we feel very good. Understanding is joyous.
  • The dangers of not thinking clearly are much greater now than ever before. It’s not that there’s something new in our way of thinking – it’s that credulous and confused thinking can be much more lethal in ways it was never before.
  • Our species needs, and deserves, a citizenry with minds wide awake and a basic understanding of how the world works.
  • When you make the finding yourself – even if you’re the last person on Earth to see the light – you’ll never forget it.
  • I am often amazed at how much more capability and enthusiasm for science there is among elementary school youngsters than among college students.
  • A celibate clergy is an especially good idea, because it tends to suppress any hereditary propensity toward fanaticism.
  • We’ve arranged a civilization in which most crucial elements profoundly depend on science and technology.
  • The professed function of the nuclear weapons on each side is to prevent the other side from using their nuclear weapons. If that’s all it is, then we’ve gotta ask: how many nuclear weapons do you need to do that?
  • Today, we’re still loaded down – and, to some extent, embarrassed – by ancient myths, but we respect them as part of the same impulse that has led to the modern, scientific kind of myth. But we now have the opportunity to discover, for the first time, the way the universe is in fact constructed as opposed to how we would wish it to be constructed.
  • Personally, I would be delighted if there were a life after death, especially if it permitted me to continue to learn about this world and others, if it gave me a chance to discover how history turns out.

The Time is Now

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Friday Filosophy v.10.01.2021

FRIDAY FILOSOPHY v.10.01.2021

Sun Tzu’s historicity is uncertain. The Han dynasty historian Sima Qian and other traditional Chinese historians placed him as a minister to King Helü of Wu and dated his lifetime to 544–496 BC. He was a Chinese general, military strategist, writer, and philosopher who lived in the Eastern Zhou period of ancient China. Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the author of The Art of War, an influential work of military strategy that has affected both Western and East Asian philosophy and military thinking. His works focus much more on alternatives to battle, such as stratagem, delay, the use of spies and alternatives to war itself, the making and keeping of alliances, the uses of deceit, and a willingness to submit, at least temporarily, to more powerful foes. The name Sun Tzu by which he is best known in the Western World is an honorific which means “Master Sun“. Before hiring Sun Tzu, the King of Wu tested Sun Tzu’s skills by commanding him to train a harem of 180 concubines into soldiers. Sun Tzu divided them into two companies, appointing the two concubines most favored by the king as the company commanders. When Sun Tzu first ordered the concubines to face right, they giggled. In response, Sun Tzu said that the general, in this case himself, was responsible for ensuring that soldiers understood the commands given to them. Then, he reiterated the command, and again the concubines giggled. Sun Tzu then ordered the execution of the king’s two favored concubines, to the king’s protests. He explained that if the general’s soldiers understood their commands but did not obey, it was the fault of the officers. Sun Tzu also said that, once a general was appointed, it was his duty to carry out his mission, even if the king protested. After both concubines were killed, new officers were chosen to replace them. Afterward, both companies, now well aware of the costs of further frivolity, performed their maneuvers flawlessly.[11]

  • If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.
  • Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent’s fate.
  • There is no instance of a nation benefitting from prolonged warfare.
  • Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance.
  • The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy’s not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable.
  • To fight and conquer in all our battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.
  • The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.
  • A good commander is benevolent and unconcerned with fame.
  • The general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom.
  • Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death.
  • Victory usually goes to the army who has better trained officers and men.

The Time is Now.

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Friday Filosophy v.9.10.21

September 10, 2021

FRIDAY FILOSOPHY

Throughout history, women have been working hard to ensure that the female voice is heard. Whether that means working in politics, becoming an activist for social change, or breaking barriers in athletics, women have gone the extra mile to gain equality and advocate for a better world. Regardless of age, race, or nationality. By working with purpose and confidence, women demonstrate that having strength and tenacity doesn’t mean sacrificing your vulnerability. And all of these quoted women show that failure shouldn’t be an obstacle in meeting your goals. So, in honor of all the incredible women who have blazed a trail forward—both in the past and present—here are some inspirational quotes. The words of these wise women prove that through action, anything is possible.

  • Girls are capable of doing everything men are capable of doing. Sometimes they have more imagination than men. – Katherine Johnson, mathematician and one of the first African-American women to work as a NASA scientist
  • I raise up my voice—not so I can shout but so that those without a voice can be heard… We cannot succeed when half of us are held back. – Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate
  • Tremendous amounts of talent are being lost to our society just because that talent wears a skirt.” – Shirley Chisholm, first African-American woman elected to U.S. Congress
  • Have no fear of perfection; you’ll never reach it. – Marie Curie, chemist who was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize.
  • You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist. – Indira Gandhi, first female Prime Minister of India
  • No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” – Eleanor Roosevelt, former U.S. First Lady and U.S. Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly
  • Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don’t believe is right. – Jane Goodall, world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees and environmental activist
  • We are here, not because we are law-breakers; we are here in our efforts to become law-makers. Emmeline Pankhurst, leader of the UK suffragette movement
  • Nothing is worth more than laughter. It is strength to laugh and to abandon oneself, to be light. – Frida Kahlo, was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits

The Time is Now.

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Friday Filosophy #2016-9

Today – for Friday Filosophy #2016-9 – I would like to address productivity. First is the definition. Productivity is an economic measure of output per unit of input. Inputs typically cover labor (other things as well but labor for our purpose today) while output is typically measured in revenues.

Today we are living in “The Computer Age.” How has the computer changed productivity? Is it for the better or not? A recent TED talk I saw highlighted that our world is one where it is now “Brains not Brawn” – “Ideas not Things” – “Mind not Matter.” We are also seeing a decoupling of our economy in traditional ways. Productivity increases have not translated into either more jobs or better pay. So here is our Friday Filosophy for you to contemplate.  Please send me your thoughts or comments. Thanks.

 

The perfect is the enemy of the good.

Voltaire

 

There is no substitute for hard work.

Edison

 

The least productive people are usually the ones who are most in favor of holding meetings.

Thomas Sowell

 

No matter how great the talent or efforts, some things just take time. You can’t produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.

Warren Buffett

 

Nine men impregnating the same woman cannot deliver a baby in a month.

          Ron Slee

 

Nothing is less productive than to make more efficient what should not be done at all.

Peter Drucker

 

The way we measure productivity is flawed. People checking their BlackBerry over dinner is not the measure of productivity.

Timothy Feriss 

 

The time is now.

Friday Filosophy #2015-3

It is only our 3rd Friday Filosophy of the year, and we are off to a strong start.

 

There is no failure except in no longer trying.

Elbert Hubbard

 

One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.

Arthur Ashe

 

The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts; therefore guard accordingly.

Marcus Aurelius

 

The time is now.

Friday Filosophy 2015-2

It is time for our second Friday Filosophy of the New Year.

 

Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood.

Marie Curie

 

Heaven never helps the man who will not act.

Sophocles

 

Who aims at excellence will be above mediocrity; who aims at mediocrity will be far short of it.

Burmese Saying

 

The time is now.