Monday, December 07, 2009

Government by Wishful Thinking

Something about trees

Curmudgeonly & Skeptical

 Theres a bit of philosophical discussion at the O Club as we speak.  It concerns "Government by Wishful Thinking." by Steven den Beste.  To wit, is he  "wrong on the use of teleology as an ontology in the realm of metaphysics - even though he correctly identifies materialism as a valid metaphysical ontology.

Right.  But that's only my segue into this delightful compound limerick from Old Spook.
So no, its not teleology, it is idealism that Obama subscribes to, like Hegel, one of his socialist philosophical forebears.

This limerick shows that idealism requires either magical thinking or else the existence of an omnipresent God as an observer: (Attributed to Knox or anonymous, variously)

There once was a man who said
"God Must find it exceedingly odd
To think that the tree
Should continue to be
When there's no one about in the quad."

Dear Sir:
Your astonishment's odd;
I am always about in the quad.
And that's why the tree
Will continue to be
Since observed by,
Yours faithfully, God.

3 comments:

Alear said...

Surber went to town today. Here's a taste, but I do recommend it all:

They called us Global Warming Holocaust Deniers — sneered at us, snarked at us, and snubbed us.

None of them bothered to read “The Emperor’s New Clothes.”

I have no time for paybacks or saying I told you so.

But pay attention to why they fell for this billion-dollar hoax which almost became a trillion-dollar tragedy.

1. The pseudo-intellectuals fell for it because none of them ever cracked a science book.
2. The policy wonks fell for it because it gave the government more control.
3. The bleeding hearts fell for it because they always want to save the Earth.
4. The communists fell for it because it portrayed capitalists as destroying the Earth to make money.
5. The capitalists fell for it because they saw a new way to make money.
6. The Hollywood crowd fell for it because it made their pampered lives seem to have a meaning and purpose.

MoFiZiX Gr4FiX said...

Surber - We are absolutely on the same page.

Anonymous said...

Alear, Good look'n out.
Juice

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