“We think of the number "five" as applying to appropriate groups of any entities whatsoever - to five fishes, five children, five apples, five days... We are merely thinking of those relationships between those two groups which are entirely independent of the individual essences of any of the members of either group. This is a very remarkable feat of abstraction; and it must have taken ages for the human race to rise to it” ThinkingHumansChildrenTwoAgeIndividualNumbersRaceTakenFiveGroupsMembersLogicEssenceIndependentFishesCertaintyUncertaintyHuman RaceApplesReasoningAppropriateRemarkableEntityAbstractionFeatsOntology Author:Alfred North Whitehead
“We, all of us in the First World, have participated in something of a binge, a half century of unbelievable prosperity and ease. We may have had some intuition that it was a binge and the earth couldn't support it, but aside from the easy things (biodegradable detergent, slightly smaller cars) we didn't do much. We didn't turn our lives around to prevent it. Our sadness is almost an aesthetic response - appropriate because we have marred a great, mad, profligate work of art, taken a hammer to the most perfectly proportioned of sculptures.” WorldFirstsMayArtEarthTurnsEasyHalfSupportTakenOur LivesSadnessCenturyCarMadResponseProsperityIntuitionEaseAppropriateWorks Of ArtAestheticConsumerismUnbelievableSculptureHammersOverconsumptionEasy ThingsBingeBiodegradable Author:Bill McKibben
“I think the actions taken by the (rate-setting) Federal Open Market Committee have been the appropriate actions. And I assume we will continue to take the appropriate actions, depending on what is happening with the data and the dynamics of the economy” ThinkingHas BeensActionEconomyTakenHappeningsAssumingRateSettingSettingsDataAppropriateCommitteesDynamics Author:Bill Vaughan
“But, clearly, the prime minister has laid down some ground rules which any functioning democratic state would insist upon, having to do with, you know, arms belonging to the state, not to -- not in private hands. The current circumstances come out of what I think is a very important and indeed appropriate action that the Iraqi government has taken.” ThinkingKnowsImportantStatesHandsGovernmentActionDemocracyTakenArmsCircumstancesDemocraticCurrentsMinistersAppropriateBelongingPrimePrime MinisterGround Rules Author:Condoleezza Rice
“Theologians will protest that the story of Abraham sacrificing Issac should not be taken as literal fact. And the appropriate response is twofold: first, many, many people even to this day, do take the whole of their Scripture to be literal fact, and they have a great deal of political power over the rest of us, especially in the United States and in the Islamic world. Second, if not of literal fact, how should we take the story? As an alagory? Then an alagory for what? Surely, nothing praiseworthy. As a moral lesson? But what kind of morals could one derive from this appalling story?” PeopleWorldShouldFirstsKindTwoStatesWholeFactsStoriesPoliticalUnitedDealsMoralUnited StatesTakenSacrificeLessonsResponseScriptureIslamicAppropriateProtestThis DayTheologianFoldsAbrahamLiteralPolitical PowerPraiseworthyMoral Lessons Author:Richard Dawkins