A Curious Little Blog

If someone asked what kind of person you are, what would say?  "I like horses, ice hockey, and red wine, and I hate skin care products"?  You might think that reveals a lot about you, but your likes and dislikes are not necessarily that helpful for someone who wants to know what you are like as a person. Let me tell you what kind of person I am -- and I'll warn you, it's not pretty.  You know the song "Stranglehold" by Ted Nugent?  Great guitar song, really rocks.  The lyrics are kind of weird, arguably misogynistic, but I can ignore that.  I ignore all kinds of annoying lyrics in songs I like; they won't be my favourite songs, but if they have a nice sound, I will still like them.  What I can't ignore is the line where he sings, I've got you in a stranglehold baby You best get out of the way. WTF??  If you have someone in a stranglehold, it is way too late for him to get out of the way.  Suggesting that he (or she) do so is a sign th...

I don't like to accuse people of lying, because usually what they have done can be accounted for by mistakes, excessive optimism, and other non-malicious reasons. What Jonathan Gruber has done can only be described as bald-faced lying. He did not make a "speak-o," the speaking equivalent of a typo, as he claims. A speako would be saying that there are 57 states (for instance). Stating over several complete sentences that the ACA required states to set up their own exchanges in order for their citizens to qualify for subsidies, on the other hand, can only be done through deliberate and conscious choice. Stating it three times on three different days could not possibly have been a mistake, and claiming now that it was a mistake cannot be anything but a lie. A cowardly, shameful lie. This much is obvious to pretty much everyone. What I wanted to make special note of was Gruber's initial response to the argument that providing subsidies through the federal excha...

What my last post failed to address is the question of whether ideas "exist" in a meaningful sense.  In one way, my explanation seems to support Plato's belief that ideas are the only thing that exist, and everything else is merely a poor imitation.  The idea of a triangle, for example, is clear and precise; triangles in the real world, however, by definition are never as precise as the ideal triangle (remember, lines have no width in geometry).  And if everything has only a relative existence, measured against an idea, it seems logical to say that ideas exist more completely than the material things of which they are copies. This might be true, except for two things.  First, we don't have such a precise definition of most things as we do of triangles or other geometric concepts (and geometry, of course, was central to Plato's philosophy -- the words over the Academy read, "Let none ignorant of geometry enter here").  For example, we know that a chair ...

I have been reading a lot of philosophy recently, and that has got me thinking about the meaning of "existence" and "being."  Some philosophers make a great deal of existence (e.g. Heidegger, whom I have not read), and of course some of the great debates of history have concerned the reality of concepts (Plato and Aristotle, Realists and Nominalists). I have always thought that existence is synonymous with physical existence. What does it mean for non-material objects (Congress, the mind, a word) to "exist"? They exist as a series of relationships, e.g. Congress is a building associated with a number of people who are related by their position and responsibilities. In that sense, it can be said to exist only relatively, i.e., to the extent that the relationships may be considered coherent. (In other words, Congress exists "more" than society, because there is a relatively clear set of rules defining Congress, whereas society is a much...

A few smaller categories of vocabulary words to close out this brief series. "Gnomic" and "sententious" both describe someone who writes or speaks in aphorisms, while an "atticism" is a concise and elegant expression, not necessarily aphoristic. A "sybarite" is someone devoted to pleasure, while a "feckless" person has no sense of responsibility or is just lazy.  "Otiose" can describe someone at leisure, or a lazy person; or it can mean ineffective, futile, or useless -- I'm surprised we don't see this word more often, as it seems to cover a number of common insults. I found three words that begin with the prefix "pleo-," whose meaning I did not know before.  A "pleonasm" is the use of unnecessary words, such as "will and testament" -- which essentially mean the same thing -- or "burning fire."  "Pleochroic" describes something (often a crystal) that appears to be...

I seem to have come across an unusual number of words associated with the heavens (literal or metaphorical) and with religion, Christianity specifically.  This is a little odd because I haven't read any theology at all -- these words all came from books on other subjects. supernal - celestial or divine welkin - the sky beatific - blissful or bestowing bliss empyrean -  the highest heaven.  (In spite of its -an ending, this word is actually a noun, not an adjective.  It was an ancient term for a region containing pure fire -- the element that rises the most -- and was adopted by Christians.) numinous - spiritual; supernatural; mysterious; beyond comprehension paraclete - an advocate or intercessor; when capitalized, the Holy Spirit theophany - an appearance of a god to a person afflatus - inspiration, especially a divine imparting of knowledge.  (This word comes from the Latin meaning "to blow on," so it has the bad association in my mind with som...

For today, I have some words that describe sounds, and others that are adjectival words, mostly derived from substances -- common substances, but uncommon words. Sounds: ululate - to howl pule - to cry in the thin voice; whimper sough - to make a rushing, rustling, or murmuring sound.  (I imagine the sough of wind in the boughs.) sursurrus - a whispering or rustling sound vagitus - the cry of a newborn.  (I can think of all kinds of metaphorical applications for this.) Materials: ligneous - woody flocculent - wooly coriaceous - leathery margaritaceous - pearly velutinous - velvety horrent - bristly lacustrine - of lakes telluric - terrestrial chthonic - infernal or ghastly