Category Archives: Other
How can we decide whether strikes are justifiable?
The global recession has resulted in numerous strikes around the world. On June 30th there will be public sector strikes in the UK, and up to a million people are thought to join in. Yet there are strong voices and arguments both for and against the strikes. And that argument should most certainly be had. So what do you think? Are strikes justifiable in the midst of these cuts?
Is there more ‘bubble trouble’ ahead?
Our global economy is still recovering from the collapse of the US housing market and the ensuing credit crunch. And in the past 2 years prices of many essentials such as food, energy and basic commodities have doubled. Is this due to fundamentals? Or is this the latest sign of more ‘bubble trouble’?
If we could ensure ‘No More Secrets’ would we want to?
First watch this video: http://youtu.be/9l6VPpDublg
I promise you you’ll find it interesting if you watch to the end.
What are your thoughts on Michael Persinger’s lecture? He assumes it would be a terrific thing to have no more secrets, that it would be like a ‘second literacy’ and that it would end war and suffering. Do you agree?
How far can humanity advance?
Economic growth is a new concept, existing on a global level only since the Industrial Revolution. So what makes us think we can keep driving ever onward and upward if so little of history suggests we can?
Indeed much of our growth has been based on our imagination and creativity. But is man able to create anything entirely new? Try it now and you’ll find that what you think of in fact adapts something else that already exists. The greatest example in human history is the wheel. But that too we could have derived from a stone or a piece of fruit rolling down a hill, or perhaps more likely a log.
In addition, countries like China are able to grow fast because they are playing ‘Catch-up economics’. This occurs where new ideas, capital and technologies are being adapted/taken from abroad. Yet if the paragraph above is true then aren’t we all just playing ‘catch-up’ with nature? If we can’t ever think of anything new then we can only ever advance as far as nature allows us too. Right? Or wrong?
>Who really knows what justice is?
>Plato said that only philosophers know what justice is, and that as such philosophers should rule. Clearly this is far from the case today. But I’ve heard people espouse the same view (ironically people who dabble in philosophy…).
Is the fact that Plato’s view is seen as silly today a mark that it is wrong? Or is the fact that it’s still talked about, and promoted by the few, a mark that there is some logic in the idea? After all if philosophers don’t know what justice is then who does?
>Has the time for ‘national history’ passed?
>In an age of globalisation should schools still be teaching history with such a heavy focus on national history? Is it right that many of todays children and adults alike can tell you obscure facts about their own national histories and yet don’t have a clue about major global developments?
>Are there such things as "inalienable rights" & "self-evident truths"?
>An inalienable right is one that cannot be taken or given away from/by the possessor. The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are supposedly such rights, as indicated by the US Declaration of Independence, which says:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
This second sentence of the declaration also refers to “self-evident” truths. So a second question is can any truths be self-evident?
>Is existence, in all its entirety, good and proper? Or would you change things?
>This is a very difficult subject to put into words, and could get either an infinite number of different responses, or just complete confusion. But let me explain.
People often cite many problems with reality e.g. the problem of evil, death, misery etc. It is my belief however, that the science of reality is the way it has to be. In other words given the chance to end death I would not do it. But do you agree? If you were a supernatural, all-powerful God, would you change anything? If so, what? And why?
>Do democratic freedoms aid economic growth?
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See this link for more: http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2007/07/prosperity_in_jackboots
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