We’re at the point where people are morally certain about the empirical facts of what happened between Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman on the basis of their general political worldviews. This isn’t exactly surprising—we are tribal creatures who like master narratives—but it feels as though it’s gotten more pronounced recently, and it’s almost certainly making us all stupider.
It starts to seem, as Albert Camus once put it, that we’ve made the mind into an armed camp—in which not only politicians and legislative proposals, but moral philosophies, artworks, even scientific theories, have to wear the insignia of one or the other army
Does anyone know the exact quote to which he is referring here?
Well, third-person pronouns were always political—it’s just that only the last century’s shift in values and ideological attitudes has allowed the spread of gender-neutral pronouns. Before that the issue was taken to be completely one-sided.
Sorry to have to tell you this, but Pythagoras of Samos probably didn’t even exist. More generally, essentially everything you’re likely to have read about the Pythagoreans (except for some of their wacky cultish beliefs about chickens) is false, especially the stuff about irrationals. The Pythagoreans were an orphic cult, who (to the best of our knowledge) had no effect whatsoever on mainstream Greek mathematics or philosophy.
Well, my source is Dr Bursill-Hall’s History of Mathematics lectures at Cambridge; I presume his source is ‘the literature’.
Sorry I can’t give you a better source than that.
Wait, is there any actual disagreement about what happened? I’m reading older Julian Sanchez posts, but the only point of disagreement seems to be “Once Zimmerman confronted Martin with a gun, did Martin try to disarm him before getting shot?”. None of what I’ve read considers the question relevant; they base their judgements on already known facts such as “someone shot someone else then was let free rather than have a judge decide whether it counted as self-defense”.
There’s substantial disagreement about the facts. For example, someone was heard yelling for help, but no one agrees whether that was Zimmerman or Martin.
I can talk about Stand-Your-Ground laws and their apparent effect in this case, but I don’t want to drone on.
There is the minor matter of people trying to very hard to spin and misrepresent events. At this point I can’t help but link to this very relevant Aurini talk on the subject.
I am much more confident that Zimmerman was not the attacker than I was about the innocence of Amanda Knox. His instant demonization and near lynching (people putting out a dead or alive bounty) seems a very troubling development for American society.
On politics as the mind-killer:
-- Julian Sanchez (the whole post is worth reading)
Does anyone know the exact quote to which he is referring here?
We’ve reached the point where the weather is political, and so are third person pronouns.
Well, third-person pronouns were always political—it’s just that only the last century’s shift in values and ideological attitudes has allowed the spread of gender-neutral pronouns. Before that the issue was taken to be completely one-sided.
Conversely, evolution does not count as “political” here because we all belong to one camp. (Posted from Louisiana.)
I think it’s this but I’m not sure:
Tell that to Socrates.
Given that they supposedly drowned people for discussing irrational numbers that seems false.
Sorry to have to tell you this, but Pythagoras of Samos probably didn’t even exist. More generally, essentially everything you’re likely to have read about the Pythagoreans (except for some of their wacky cultish beliefs about chickens) is false, especially the stuff about irrationals. The Pythagoreans were an orphic cult, who (to the best of our knowledge) had no effect whatsoever on mainstream Greek mathematics or philosophy.
Source?
Well, my source is Dr Bursill-Hall’s History of Mathematics lectures at Cambridge; I presume his source is ‘the literature’. Sorry I can’t give you a better source than that.
Can anyone confirm this? Preferably with citation?
It’s not like the United States hasn’t also killed people for betraying its secrets.
Wait, is there any actual disagreement about what happened? I’m reading older Julian Sanchez posts, but the only point of disagreement seems to be “Once Zimmerman confronted Martin with a gun, did Martin try to disarm him before getting shot?”. None of what I’ve read considers the question relevant; they base their judgements on already known facts such as “someone shot someone else then was let free rather than have a judge decide whether it counted as self-defense”.
There’s substantial disagreement about the facts. For example, someone was heard yelling for help, but no one agrees whether that was Zimmerman or Martin.
I can talk about Stand-Your-Ground laws and their apparent effect in this case, but I don’t want to drone on.
There is the minor matter of people trying to very hard to spin and misrepresent events. At this point I can’t help but link to this very relevant Aurini talk on the subject.
Thank you for the link!
Checking out some of his other videos and links I found this podcast on the topic rather interesting commentary.
Especially the summary of facts starting at the 23 minute mark.
Link doesn’t work. Here is a new one.
Thank you! Fixed the link to match yours.
Yes I listened to that podcast as well.
I am much more confident that Zimmerman was not the attacker than I was about the innocence of Amanda Knox. His instant demonization and near lynching (people putting out a dead or alive bounty) seems a very troubling development for American society.
More justice for Trayvon I guess.