…still has yet to be traversed.
Category Archives: Philosophy
The Philosophical Divide In Space
Go read this whole thread.
So Trump's science advisor says they are stripping NASA's earth sci division so they can focus on "exploration" ie colonization of space
— Dr. Chanda ?? (@IBJIYONGI) November 23, 2016
On record, @DNLee5 and I told y'all that white supremacist capitalists had a vision of "exploration" in mind and it was NOT Star Trek
— Dr. Chanda ?? (@IBJIYONGI) November 23, 2016
As I wrote a year and a half ago:
…we have to be ready for that debate. There is a moral case to be made for settling space by humanity, warts and all, and we have to be prepared to make it.
I think that many in the space community underestimate the depth of this cultural divide. And they’ve already deployed the race card against human expansion into the solar system.
Mars
Bob Zubrin reviews Ron Howard’s National Geographic series, and Elon Musk.
Patricia and I had dinner with Leonard and Barbara David Saturday night in Austin. He’s on a book tour for NatGeo for his new book that accompanies the series.
Arrival
This looks like an interesting movie.
Hillary Clinton
A liberal society is one in which everybody has free-speech rights. A society in which some people have free-speech rights and some do not, depending on the self-interested whim of people with political power, is a totalitarian society realized to a greater or lesser degree. Heinrich Heine’s advice on the connection between the treatment of books and the treatment of human beings is always and forever relevant.
As I wrote recently, Trump has never read the Constitution. She hates it.
The Ascent Of Populism
A long but useful history of the conservative intellectual, from Matthew Continetti.
Sexbots
Don’t worry, they won’t ruin sex. I think that, like other technological advances, they will increase opportunities for more people.
The Limits Of Knowledge
The climate debate has an epistemological problem that proponents of policy to deal with it want to pretend doesn’t exist. I wrote about the flawed precautionary principle years ago.
Colonizing Mars
Is Elon religious enough to do it?
I don’t know, but I think there will be room for plenty of religions off planet, including new ones.
[Update a while later]
A new paper from the White House called “Making Human Settlement of Space a Reality” that contains almost nothing that would actually enable human settlement of space.
[Afternoon update]
Adam Routh wants to do Apollo again.
One-Party Government
More Americans want it. Because the Left has succeeded in dumbing down the populace about the founding principles of the Republic. I agree with this:
…since the GOP will almost certainly hold the House — and looks like it’s got a good chance with the Senate — if you want one-party government you need to elect Trump. On the other hand, Trump’s so different from the Republicans in Congress that it would still be divided government, really. Which I personally find more of a comfort than a disappointment.
Yes.