Comments for Robosaur http://robosaur.us Tomorrow's extinctions today! Wed, 31 Aug 2011 20:26:33 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Comment on The trouble with ‘eternal wisdom’ in the philosophical counseling movement by jtfburgess http://robosaur.us/2011/08/30/eternal_wisdom/comment-page-1/#comment-134 jtfburgess Wed, 31 Aug 2011 20:26:33 +0000 http://robosaur.us/?p=162#comment-134 I have friends at Texas A&M who have put together a home driven by epicurean philosophy. Literally, they call the house "ataraxia". It's wonderful to see people of great enthusiam live out their philosophy in a meaningful way. While, that level of envolvement is not for everyone, I'm sure that there are more people who would appreciate a more casual approach to applied philosophy. Someone should advertise it like a fight club. Rule one, you do not talk about Philosophy Club... I have friends at Texas A&M who have put together a home driven by epicurean philosophy. Literally, they call the house “ataraxia”. It’s wonderful to see people of great enthusiam live out their philosophy in a meaningful way. While, that level of envolvement is not for everyone, I’m sure that there are more people who would appreciate a more casual approach to applied philosophy. Someone should advertise it like a fight club. Rule one, you do not talk about Philosophy Club…

]]> Comment on The trouble with ‘eternal wisdom’ in the philosophical counseling movement by Andrea http://robosaur.us/2011/08/30/eternal_wisdom/comment-page-1/#comment-133 Andrea Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:34:15 +0000 http://robosaur.us/?p=162#comment-133 I really enjoyed this article, both the bringing attention to the fact that these exist, and your take on them. The medicalization of what seems to me a normal range of human experiences, emotions, and expressions is something that I often worry about. So, in that sense, these are very attractive, but I think I agree that there are better models to adopt than the therapist model (even if that might be the most lucrative for philosophers). Creating communities with others who are interested in shared human wisdom sounds more edifying than paying someone to give me the Cliff's notes version for $80 an hour in response to my personal dilemas. I really enjoyed this article, both the bringing attention to the fact that these exist, and your take on them. The medicalization of what seems to me a normal range of human experiences, emotions, and expressions is something that I often worry about. So, in that sense, these are very attractive, but I think I agree that there are better models to adopt than the therapist model (even if that might be the most lucrative for philosophers). Creating communities with others who are interested in shared human wisdom sounds more edifying than paying someone to give me the Cliff’s notes version for $80 an hour in response to my personal dilemas.

]]> Comment on Should we welcome our reference overlords? by Tweets that mention Should we welcome our reference overlords? | Robosaur -- Topsy.com http://robosaur.us/2011/02/23/should-we-welcome-our-reference-overlords/comment-page-1/#comment-47 Tweets that mention Should we welcome our reference overlords? | Robosaur -- Topsy.com Wed, 23 Feb 2011 17:00:34 +0000 http://robosaur.us/?p=154#comment-47 [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by John Burgess and Lauren Dodd, hacklibschool. hacklibschool said: RT @jtfburgess: I've written a new Robosaur.us blog post up on IBM Watson as a "Sputnik moment" for librarianship. http://is.gd/Y5YXjN [...] [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by John Burgess and Lauren Dodd, hacklibschool. hacklibschool said: RT @jtfburgess: I've written a new Robosaur.us blog post up on IBM Watson as a "Sputnik moment" for librarianship. http://is.gd/Y5YXjN [...]

]]> Comment on Fish don’t always rot from the head. by ross macphee http://robosaur.us/2010/07/29/fish-dont-always-rot/comment-page-1/#comment-34 ross macphee Sun, 08 Aug 2010 16:42:59 +0000 http://robosaur.us/?p=132#comment-34 Thanks for a rational appraisal of my interview with i09. The route to understanding of any phenomenon is through the brain, not the heart. I care as much about the planet and its contents as anyone does. I don't care, however, for automatic, gut-level appraisals that merely repeat common knowledge without demanding supporting facts and figures--which is my entire point about perceptions of the current "mass" extinction. Leave cud-chewing of predigesta to the cow; think for yourself; demand answers to obvious questions. Phytoplankton reduction is interesting and important. Question: To place the current reduction in perspective, were there reductions of equivalent magnitude at, say, the beginning of the Holocene or the end of the last glaciation? Could this be investigated with ocean-sediment cores? In other words, how good is the historical picture for one to be reasonably certain current climate change is the forcing mechanism? If flux is an important feature of the system, what is the amplitude historically? And so on and on. I don't know the answer(s), but would like to see attention paid to this matter, because that permits a rational assessment of the finding's importance. Thanks for a rational appraisal of my interview with i09. The route to understanding of any phenomenon is through the brain, not the heart. I care as much about the planet and its contents as anyone does. I don’t care, however, for automatic, gut-level appraisals that merely repeat common knowledge without demanding supporting facts and figures–which is my entire point about perceptions of the current “mass” extinction. Leave cud-chewing of predigesta to the cow; think for yourself; demand answers to obvious questions.
Phytoplankton reduction is interesting and important. Question: To place the current reduction in perspective, were there reductions of equivalent magnitude at, say, the beginning of the Holocene or the end of the last glaciation? Could this be investigated with ocean-sediment cores? In other words, how good is the historical picture for one to be reasonably certain current climate change is the forcing mechanism? If flux is an important feature of the system, what is the amplitude historically? And so on and on. I don’t know the answer(s), but would like to see attention paid to this matter, because that permits a rational assessment of the finding’s importance.

]]> Comment on Fish don’t always rot from the head. by jtfburgess http://robosaur.us/2010/07/29/fish-dont-always-rot/comment-page-1/#comment-31 jtfburgess Fri, 30 Jul 2010 15:37:20 +0000 http://robosaur.us/?p=132#comment-31 Much of our response would be predicated in whether it was excess heat that was causing the die off, or some other factor of climate change. If it is heat, then steps to mitigate the stockpile of greenhouse gasses is the first priority. According to an upcoming article to be published in the Journal of Geophysical Research (Atmospheres) by Stanford professor of environmental engineering Mark Jacobson we should be focusing on the reduction of soot. Soot influences the way clouds, snow and surfaces store and release heat. Unlike CO2, soot gets washed out the the atmosphere quickly. So while it will take hundreds of years for CO2 levels to decrease, if we can start capturing soot at its production points, we can remove it as a factor from climate change. Jacobson's models show that soot has more on an impact that methane on climate change, so it's a significant contributor. It's still a challenging technical problem, since a goodly fraction of the soot comes from wood and dung burning cook fires (and also from summertime charcoal BBQ grills, I'm guessing. ) It's one thing to regulate factory and automobile soot, it's another to keep destitute people from cooking and staying warm. Still, until carbon capture and real alternative fuel sources come on line, this is something we can do now that will make a difference. Much of our response would be predicated in whether it was excess heat that was causing the die off, or some other factor of climate change. If it is heat, then steps to mitigate the stockpile of greenhouse gasses is the first priority. According to an upcoming article to be published in the Journal of Geophysical Research (Atmospheres) by Stanford professor of environmental engineering Mark Jacobson we should be focusing on the reduction of soot. Soot influences the way clouds, snow and surfaces store and release heat. Unlike CO2, soot gets washed out the the atmosphere quickly. So while it will take hundreds of years for CO2 levels to decrease, if we can start capturing soot at its production points, we can remove it as a factor from climate change. Jacobson’s models show that soot has more on an impact that methane on climate change, so it’s a significant contributor. It’s still a challenging technical problem, since a goodly fraction of the soot comes from wood and dung burning cook fires (and also from summertime charcoal BBQ grills, I’m guessing. ) It’s one thing to regulate factory and automobile soot, it’s another to keep destitute people from cooking and staying warm. Still, until carbon capture and real alternative fuel sources come on line, this is something we can do now that will make a difference.

]]> Comment on Fish don’t always rot from the head. by Andrea Wright http://robosaur.us/2010/07/29/fish-dont-always-rot/comment-page-1/#comment-30 Andrea Wright Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:30:13 +0000 http://robosaur.us/?p=132#comment-30 Those phytoplankton numbers really shocked me. I hadn't realized how big the problem was before. I think the answer to your question is no. Now what? Those phytoplankton numbers really shocked me. I hadn’t realized how big the problem was before. I think the answer to your question is no. Now what?

]]> Comment on Why we should consider a post-literate society by A'Llyn http://robosaur.us/2009/03/31/considering-post-literacy/comment-page-1/#comment-8 A'Llyn Thu, 02 Apr 2009 01:38:37 +0000 http://transitionalhuman.com/?p=71#comment-8 Interesting! I like the idea that we should stress curiosity, mental flexibility maybe, over a specific set of skills. I love reading, and confess to feeling a small chill of horror at the thought of post-literacy, but I can acknowledge that that's my own hideboundedness (which fortunately doesn't prevent me from making up words) rather than some inherent sacred value of reading as a communication form. I'm sure whatever comes next will make just as much sense to its users, and lively, thoughtful minds will be able to express just as much with it. Interesting! I like the idea that we should stress curiosity, mental flexibility maybe, over a specific set of skills.

I love reading, and confess to feeling a small chill of horror at the thought of post-literacy, but I can acknowledge that that’s my own hideboundedness (which fortunately doesn’t prevent me from making up words) rather than some inherent sacred value of reading as a communication form.

I’m sure whatever comes next will make just as much sense to its users, and lively, thoughtful minds will be able to express just as much with it.

]]> Comment on Beautiful enhancement by alwright1 http://robosaur.us/2009/03/17/beautiful_enhancement/comment-page-1/#comment-5 alwright1 Tue, 17 Mar 2009 20:03:04 +0000 http://transitionalhuman.com/?p=47#comment-5 I really enjoyed this video. Thanks for sharing! I really enjoyed this video. Thanks for sharing!

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