A blog which is mainly about home educating in the UK.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
The New (and Better) Moses
No...honestly, in many ways I mean it, since for me it is an extremely unusual experience to feel passionately that someone is producing deep truths, that these truths are vitally important and that they dignify human nature and endeavour.
4 comments:
Anonymous
said...
I confess I was temped to watch. Very nice speech, actually. First time I hear his voice.
Be careful with idolatry, though. All humans have flaws.
Well, I've noticed an almost religious aspect to the wi(l)der parts of TCS, but I wasn't expecting *that*!
What's he saying there, then? What are the deep truths? I don't have speakers, see, and I can only be bothered to faff around plugging my headphones in to watch long-thought-lost musical performances/documentaries on You Tube. Not that the documentaries are of a musical nature. Ooh, speaking of nature - what is human nature to you?
More questions, but nurse says they're thinking of restricting my computer time.
You are right to question the apparently idolatrous/religious component of the above, but fear not!...that bit about "in many ways" was actually meant to exclude these possibilities, and the Moses imagery was merely included because of his concluding reference to two stone tablets.
For the difference between faith/idolatry and excitement over good ideas: I don't instantaneously take DDs word for anything. As a matter of course, I wouldn't do this, but I am all the more immune to it since I have actually seen DD change his thinking on various matters over time, I have seen him admit to error, to having not solved problems as yet and generally demonstrate his fallibility and humanity. I do not revere him in any way that could be construed as being blindly faithful or idolatrous. I am not interested in him personally.
I simply think, having subjected his ideas to scrutiny, that much of what he says makes wonderful and useful sense.
And David...don't worry re your headphones. The talk was an elaboration/oral version of the article he wrote not long ago about problem fixing and the nature of man.
Accessible via this blog...search under: David Deutsch on fixing the Big Problems
4 comments:
I confess I was temped to watch. Very nice speech, actually. First time I hear his voice.
Be careful with idolatry, though. All humans have flaws.
Well, I've noticed an almost religious aspect to the wi(l)der parts of TCS, but I wasn't expecting *that*!
What's he saying there, then? What are the deep truths? I don't have speakers, see, and I can only be bothered to faff around plugging my headphones in to watch long-thought-lost musical performances/documentaries on You Tube. Not that the documentaries are of a musical nature. Ooh, speaking of nature - what is human nature to you?
More questions, but nurse says they're thinking of restricting my computer time.
Hi Leo and David, (re a similar point)...
You are right to question the apparently idolatrous/religious component of the above, but fear not!...that bit about "in many ways" was actually meant to exclude these possibilities, and the Moses imagery was merely included because of his concluding reference to two stone tablets.
For the difference between faith/idolatry and excitement over good ideas: I don't instantaneously take DDs word for anything. As a matter of course, I wouldn't do this, but I am all the more immune to it since I have actually seen DD change his thinking on various matters over time, I have seen him admit to error, to having not solved problems as yet and generally demonstrate his fallibility and humanity. I do not revere him in any way that could be construed as being blindly faithful or idolatrous. I am not interested in him personally.
I simply think, having subjected his ideas to scrutiny, that much of what he says makes wonderful and useful sense.
And David...don't worry re your headphones. The talk was an elaboration/oral version of the article he wrote not long ago about problem fixing and the nature of man.
Accessible via this blog...search under: David Deutsch on fixing the Big Problems
Oh, stone tablets/ Moses! Now I get it! XD
The speech is surprisingly lighter/ funnier than the article. His writing tends to come across as... I don't know, cold?
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