Scientific Views of Nature

While sitting outside observing the nature around me, one of the things I noticed was the birds chirping around me. I began thinking about all the different bird sounds that we have discovered and wonder how many more there are that we are still unaware of. I know that each type of bird is known for its distinct bird sound but I wonder how much they can actually communicate with each other through that one sound.Just some things to think about the next time you hear a bird call.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

While reading the third section in Tao Te Ching, where it says:
"Don't glorify heroes,
And people will not contend.
Don't treasure rare objects,
And no one will steal.
Don't display what people desire,
And their hearts will not be disturbed."
I was reminded of the quote, "out of sight, out of mind" because both of these quotes present the concept that if someone does not realize what they are missing, they won't miss it and want it.

Love Songs

"...the suspicion does not appear improbable that the progenitors of man, either the males or females, or both sexes, before they had acquired the power of expressing their mutal love in articulate language, endeavoured to charm each other with musical notes and rhythm." (259)

Although Darwin just talks of our ancestors using music as a way to express their love and charm one another, we still use music to express our love in today's society. Try and count all the songs we now have about love and see how long it takes! Even though we now have an "articulate language" as a way to charm someone, we still use songs as well.

Syllogism

This is moving back a little bit but today my friends and I were using syllogisms in our conversation which reminded us of our CORE classes. In Plato's readings, Socrates also converses in syllogisms. Such as when he talks to Crito about leaving on pages 49 and 50; he starts with establishing that one must never do wrong, which also means "mistreating people is no different from wrongdoing." From this he realizes that "when one has come to an agreement that is just with someone, [one should] fulfill it" and since all of this is true, it must mean that if Socrates flees the city without permission, he is mistreating people who he should least mistreat, which would be wrong and the first thing extablished in this conversation was that one should never do wrong.

Economy

"That natural selection will always act with extreme slowness, I fully admit. Its action depends on there being places in the polity of nature, which can be better occupied by some of the inhabitants of the country undergoing modification of some kind."

Darwin discusses natural selection in the biological sense, but it also exists in the economical sense. In my sociology class today, we were talking about how the Middle Class is slowly decreasing and will eventually end, just as some species are overpowered by those around them, resulting in extinction.

Delphi

"He went to Delphi at one time and ventured to ask the oracle-as I say, gentleman, do not create a disturbance- he asked if any man was wiser than I, and the Pythian replied that no one was wiser."

Here's a picture of what's left of Delphi and the temple where the oracle of Delphi could be found.

Plato's Euthyphro

"It is then not right to say 'where there is fear there is also shame,' but that where there is shame there is also fear, for fear covers a larger area than shame."


This weekend I was having a conversation about how you can have truth without love, but you can't have love without truth. This reminded me of the part of Plato's Euthyphro about there can be fear without shame but not shame without fear.

Turkey

"We were sailing from Venice to Naples when the Turkish fleet appeared."

In March I went to Europe and one of the days we spent in Turkey. So I found a picture of the Turkish flag flying on a Turkish ship, not quite the same as the fleet mentioned in White Castle, but they are both Turkish!