Saturday, 15 April 2023

The Frontier Of Knowledge

A Circus of Hells, CHAPTER TWELVE.

In Eriau, "datholch":

"'...designates an aristocrat who heads an enterprise concerned with expanding the Race's frontier.'" (p. 281)

Ydwyr who explains this probably does not differentiate between frontiers of knowledge, trade, influence, territory or anything else. It seems to me right that knowledge should be valued as much as trade or territory but then we already do this. Courses at the same University include Philosophy, Literature, Arts, Economics, Politics, Business Studies, Accountancy, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Medicine etc. I could have philosophized professionally although I do not think that it would have been good for my personal development.

The Admissions Tutor at UMIST (University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology) told a group of Careers Advisers that, of any potential student, he wanted to know: "Does he speak the language that we speak? That is the language of mathematics. And does he obey the laws that we obey? Those are the laws of physics." A school leaver applying to UMIST would need high grades in three subjects, including Maths and Physics, but the third subject could be anything: Literature, Religious Studies etc. A degree from UMIST sounds like a good qualification for a hard sf writer.

19 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

A big problem however, is that we now live in insane and irrational times, with many crazed ideologues rebelling against those laws of physics, because they resent how scientific FACTS contradicts their pet insanities. In the US Politically Correct crazies are pressuring medical schools to agree to the "transgender" bull twaddle, because they resent how genetics, a branch of physics, contradicts that lunacy.

Ad astra! Sean

S.M. Stirling said...

At Harvard, a doctorate in Classical History is still technically called "Doctor of Philosophy in Classical History".

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Mr. Stirling!

Good, some bits of tradition still survives!

Ad astra! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

And, of course, a Ph.D. ("Doctor of Philosophy") can be in any subject.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

True, but there are some variants. I have heard of doctorates of theology, divinity, literature, etc.

Ad astra! Sean

Jim Baerg said...

Sean: "transgender" bull twaddle

Ah, a point we agree on.
The short version of my position on 'transgender'
If person A with a penis likes to do 'feminine' things
or person B with a vagina likes to do 'masculne' things
and either person is given a hard time about those preferences by person C

person A is a man
person B is a woman
and
person C is an @$$h0le

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Jim,

But unfortunately Person C is a large part pf society at present which gives As and Bs a lot of problems.

Paul.

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

of

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Jim and Paul!

Jim: I agree, BUT I resent how fake women and fake men are trying to force the rest of us to agree to their pathetic lunacy.

Paul: Wrong. The real problem is how Politically Correct bullies and thugs are trying to coerce us into pretending to believe the "transgender" nonsense. I refuse to assent to that!

Ad astra! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,

But the transgender stuff arises because of a lot of prejudice and stereotypes in existing society.

Paul.

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

BTW, I have big problems when I am told that someone who looks and sounds like a man is to be regarded as a woman. And the use of personal pronouns which is so basic to language becomes difficult. However, I am trying to understand what is going on and to see how it pans out. We will have a better understanding and acceptance of each other's similarities and differences when society as a whole becomes saner. The problem in the US is not just the left. Trump is surpassing himself and is getting way too much support.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Still wrong. The problem is lunatic Politically Correct types rebelling against the objective facts of genetics determining one's sex. And I refuse to cooperate in further corrupting the language we use by using female pronouns for men (or vice versa).

I don't share this obsession so many have for Trump. I could talk the same way about how so many still support that corrupt senile dotard "Josip"!

Ad astra! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,

ONE problem is what is happening around the trans issue.

But "Josip" has not denied an election result, has not tried to prevent the result from being implemented, has not instigated a riot and attempted coup in which people were killed, has not then celebrated people charged for their parts in the riot! I don't think it is obsessive to point this out. It is a puzzle as to why he has not been prosecuted already.

It is a pity to have to say that, if even one Senator or Representative had been among those killed, then the political fallout would have been very different.

Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Because, like it or not, LEGALLY, most of the charges against Trump are weak. You need to look up what LAWYERS, like Andrew McCarthy, a former prosecutor, have written about those charges. Even "Josip's" Justice Department, currently controlled by Democrats, have declined pressing any serious charges against Trump.

MY view is that many left wingers HOPE Trump runs again as the GOP nominee in 2024, because they think only someone as alienating as Trump would enable a person as weak and incompetent as "Josip" to win again. A candidate like Ron DeSantis, with most of Trump's better ideas and none of his baggage, might well SMASH the Democrats.

Ad astra! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,

Trump was recorded making a telephone call asking for extra votes to be found. He urged his followers to take action at the Capitol to prevent the election result being ratified. Him losing the vote was equated to them losing their country. He has consistently without any evidence lied about the election being stolen. Large numbers of people willingly embrace this lie only because he has said it. He consistently says what it suits him to say, not what is true. The court staff were "crying" when he went in there! On this basis, he is almost bound to have inflated the value of his companies when it was in his interests to do so. This is being investigated. It is insufficient to quote some LAWYERS saying the charges are weak. The charges still need to be investigated. The whole scene is bizarre.

Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Those charges against Trump have been investigated ad nauseam for seven years--and many lawyers, some of whom dislike him, are not convinced they amount to much. ESP. the laughably weak indictment against Donald Trump in NYC. A lot of this STINKS as a mere partisan witch hunt by corrupt and hypocritical Democrats, people I despise.

Ad astra! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,

But the attack on the Capital, the deaths caused, the attempt to prevent the election result from being ratified, the phone call asking that more votes be found, the still-repeated unsubstantiated claim that the election was stolen!

If Republicans do not investigate any of this and if only Democrats do so, then this alone is an indictment of party-political polarization. On top of all that, re-electing Trump would mean re-electing a climate change denier. There is a great deal wrong - and not just in the US.

Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

No, all of the things charged against Trump should be handled only by the courts, to be judged impartially, on their merits, not by vile, hate crazed woke leftists.

I don't really care about climate denialists, as long as CHINA AND INDIA continue to pour out as much as 80 percent of CO2 pollution. Compared to THAT, whatever pollution comes from the US or the UK is TRIVIAL.

Ad astra! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,

Of course by the courts. Isn't that how it's being done?

You don't care about climate change denial? Caring about climate change does not involve denying how much pollution China and India are responsible for. You seem to have these two issues permanently confused. Instead of denying climate change, Koch could be using his wealth and influence to point out how much pollution is going on, to point out who is doing it, to point out what needs to be done about it, to join with other influential people to start doing something about it and so on. Instead, he tries to disprove that there is any climate change and this doesn't matter?

Paul.