links for 2008-09-29
September 29th, 2008 by timelady
-
SpaceX has made history. Its privately developed rocket has made it into space.
After three failed launches, the company founded by Elon Musk worked all of the bugs out of their Falcon 1 launch vehicles.
-
Ever played a game where simply thinking about winning was enough to ensure you lost?
-
The first virtue is curiosity. A burning itch to know is higher than a solemn vow to pursue truth. To feel the burning itch of curiosity requires both that you be ignorant, and that you desire to relinquish your ignorance. If in your heart you believe you already know, or if in your heart you do not wish to know, then your questioning will be purposeless and your skills without direction.
karma Says
I believe that rationality is valuable, but it isn’t everything. This opinion stems mainly from the observation that the best choice for an entity in a situation can vary depending on the point of view (the information available can vary depending on scope and/or on how accurately the environment is perceived).
My opinion is that while rationality is usually a “Good”, it should not be treated as a “God” — and this is the crux of my dislike of the strong-atheism position (where irrationality, especially where associated with conventional religions, can be ridiculed to an extent that I feel is excessive).
I look on rationality as a tool, and tool use is one of the major characteristics of the human race. While tools can be valuable, they can have limitations, and so may not be the best choice in some situations.
–karma
Oct 3rd, 2008 at 10:12 pm