Horizon - What is Reality?

Ancient Greek philosophers like Parmenides, Zeno and Plato stumbled upon a radical discovery: the distinction between appearance and reality. If we are to ask the question of what reality is (and how we can know this), our best bet at finding some sort of answer would require that we delve deeply into science, mathematics and philosophy.

The following documentary explores some of the questions that are currently at the border between scientific inquiry and philosophical speculation: What are the basic constituents of the universe? How does quantum mechanics make sense? What's up with the double-slit experiment? Is mathematics the language in which the laws of the physical universe are written, or is the universe actually part of a mathematical structure? Do we live in a multi-dimensional universe, or are we simply the holographic projection of information forever trapped in the event horizon of some supermassive black hole? And why can't a guy get a date on a Saturday night? :)

I think the pony tail might help explain the mystery of the last question :)

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Weiner Gives "Half-Time Report" in Debate over Healthcare Repeal

Yes, I may be on a bit of a ranting spree, but I'd rather end the week on a positive note instead of one that just makes me more upset than I already am. Hopefully you feel the same way.

So, what we have now is Congressman Anthony Weiner adeptly summarizing the nature of the shady strategies used by Republicans trying to repeal the notion that American citizens should have access to health coverage. Sure, it may be fun to mock the Republicans, but what Weiner's powerful speech does is focus the debate back to the real issues instead of all the distractions and scare tactics. This is one dude who's not fooled by the conservative prestidigitation.

What I still don't get is how people let themselves be fooled against their own interests so easily...
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Another Teabagging Bimbo Flunks American History

Did I miss something here? Has it become official policy for teabagging conservatives (like Michelle Bachmann this time) to either distort or be ignorant of basic American history? I can understand if ordinary Americans don't really know their own history, but those who run for office and feel themselves qualified to make decisions for the rest of us should really get an education (based on facts, not on what fantasies Glenn Beck and other douchebags make) before they start pontificating and making complete asses of themselves.

And if they really do know their history, and still make these assertions, I'm not sure they could escape the condemnation of racism and bigotry that's already associated with them.

I know these people are obsessed with wanting to seem patriotic, but loving your country doesn't mean being in denial about its past blunders; it means doing your best to overcome that shady past and turn the country into the ideal you'd like it to be.

Anderson Cooper may have been pwned by a bonobo, but he won't be fooled by Bachmann, and that probably tells you something about the difference in intelligence levels we're dealing with here...

And how come all the hotties happen to be Republican and dumber than a retarded dodo bird? My penis is getting really confused here!
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Sarah Palin - Petty Woman

In these difficult times, I do have to thank teabaggers for providing an easy outlet to vent some frustration :)



I don't know whether you agreed with my assessment of Sarah Palin's sleazy use of special pleading and double standards when it comes to the issue of criticizing her vs criticizing her opponents, but it seems that Jon Stewart did...

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Petty Woman
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog</a> The Daily Show on Facebook

With that kind of pettiness, I wouldn't be surprised if she joins the cast of Jersey Shore soon. Watch out, Snookie, your days may be numbered...

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Thank You!

Dear readers: While taking a break from this blog, and as I've been trying to figure out how to deal with some recent personal problems, I've received many words of support and encouragement from good friends, former students and regular readers of this blog, including many I've never met.

So, I wanted to say thanks to all of you for your support. It really means a lot to me that there are people out there who care. Who needs invisible gods when there is real flesh and blood to create communities of warm support? :)

As I continue to struggle through these difficult times, I will start to blog again, but I do expect my entries to be sporadic, intermittent and random for a while. And in all likelihood, I imagine that I may also use some of them to vent some anger and frustration, so please bear with me.

And again, thank you!
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Blog Hiatus

As you probably surmise, dear readers, this blog is a product of love. I firmly believe that exposing others to interesting, challenging and diverse ideas might just be the spark that can inspire someone to pursue any of these questions in more depth. And my sincere hope is that the Philosophy Monkey blog may create even the smallest difference for a better and more educated world.

And while I love blogging and sharing with all of you, I've recently been dealt a heavy personal blow whose impact is simply making it impossible for me to sleep or concentrate on anything else. I am announcing, therefore, that I will be taking a break from this blog until I can get my life back in order.

I don't know when I'll be back, but if you subscribe to this blog through email, facebook or an rss feed, you'll be notified the next time there is a new entry.

In the meantime, I would like to thank to all the people who visit regularly. Seeing the number of hits this page receives daily, even though it's a one-man operation from a nobody in a dark corner of the world, is always an inspiration to continue sharing good stuff.
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Sarah Palin's Blood Libel

If you were Sarah Palin, and you were confronted with the fact that the one-sided, delusional, bigoted and inflammatory rhetoric of your speeches (as well as your overt political tactics) may have influenced a deranged lunatic to go on a shooting spree (that left many dead and wounded as he tried to off Arizona's first Jewish congresswoman), and you wanted to wash your hands from the affair instead of taking some responsibility for your role (after all, didn't she once urge liberals to 'man up'?), what would you do?

I'm pretty sure I know what you wouldn't do: you wouldn't use anti-semitic expressions to describe how the media is portraying your role in this fiasco that resulted in the near-death of... drum-roll please... a Jew. Oy vey...

Then again, you are not Sarah Palin, so you wouldn't make that kind of dumbass mistake. Sadly, Sarah Palin is Sarah Palin (oh, curse of curses), and when you're that stupid, you're probably too stupid to hire ghost writers who are smart enough to write your stupid speeches for you... just look at your twitter account for lots of examples, Ms. Refudiate Blood Libel...

But here is the weird thing: ignoring all the false claims, bad logic, distorted history and politicized rhetoric in her address, she does manage to make a number of sensible points...

I know! I fell off my chair too!

But here's the thing: it's not enough to say reasonable things only when you're pressed against the wall and you have to face the consequences of your own actions. It's true we shouldn't vilify our opponents simply because we disagree with them, but that also means that you don't get to do it either! If you want everyone to abide by the rules of reasonable discourse, you gotta play by the same rules as well. You can't expect everyone to play by the rules while you get to do whatever the hell you want.

So, when some liberal wants to guarantee access to medical healthcare for all Americans, don't go spouting incendiary claims about 'death panels.'

When your opponent has briefly found himself in the same committee as someone with a shady past, you don't get to call him a terrorist.

When someone wants to give the poor some relief by taxing the rich a little more, you don't get to call that person a socialist, as if socialism were even a bad thing...

When someone argues that maybe semi-automatic weapons are not exactly what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they wrote the Second Amendment, you don't get to call them unpatriotic traitors who hate America and who want to take our guns.

When someone in the media asks you a question you can't answer because you haven't done your homework, you don't get to dismiss them by calling them the lame stream media conspiracy, especially when you get your paychecks from the mainstream media!


And when you want to eliminate your political competition, either don't target them with sniper rifle crosshairs and incite lunatics to violence, or if you do, don't be bitching when someone does your bidding and the country expects you to take some fucking responsibility!

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