I saw something about Mars shortly being at its closest to the Earth in some thousands of years, which in itself may be true. Like the nonsense from a few years back, it went on to say that Mars would appear to be like a second Moon in the sky.
All I can say is that shows a singular lack of understanding of math, and geometry in particular, not to mention astronomy. Lets look at the numbers, and pardon me for rounding. It should not distort the results appreciably.
The Moon has a diameter of 2159 miles, while Mars has a diameter of 4212 miles. Just looking at that, Mars has twice the diameter of the Moon. But the distance is an even more important factor. The Moon is roughly 238,000 miles from Earth, while Mars at its closest is 33,900,000 miles from Earth.
What we see is how wide it APPEARS to be, which is a factor of both diameter and distance. That can be expressed in degrees of an angle. The Moon will have an apparent size of 0.525 degrees, while Mars will have an apparent size of 0.0071 degrees. That means the apparent diameter of the Moon will be about 74 times the diameter of Mars.
When you then look at the whole size, in terms of area, size the area of a circle is pi times the radius squared. The radius of the Moon would be 74 times the radius of Mars, so a full Moon would be some 17,000 times bigger in apparent area than Mars at its closest approach.
I trust that if my calculations are askew, that my mathematician friends will correct me. None of this will stop the fools who want to believe that Mars will appear as big as the Moon in the sky.
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Integrity Has No Need of Rules
Had a friend (former friend) post a quote from Camus, “Integrity has no need of rules”. When I challenged that, he got snotty. I read some Camus, many years ago. I might even still have “The Myth of Sisyphus” in my library – I’m not sure. The book was about the absurdity of this world, yet this quote from his book was the height of absurdity. To Camus ‘everything is permitted, which simply shows that Camus was an ass.
Integrity in this world does not exist as an absolute. There are no real absolutes in this world. Everything is relative, and much of it is in a sense absurd. It is absurd in part because people live as though absolutes did exist. They live as though good was wholly good and evil was wholly evil, like there was a true black and a true white and the world was absolutely divided between the two.
Yet in truth, the whole world is gray. There is no unalloyed good. Power corrupts, money corrupts. These corruptions, along with the various lusts that all creatures are prone to, mean that society must set rules, limits, and boundaries in order to maintain some poor semblance of civilization. All too often what passes for civilization is indeed only a poor semblance.
People have individual rights that ought not be breached – regardless of whether some fool feels that the absurdity of life gives him the right to live without rules. A person who chooses to live without rules, can only truly do so outside society.
We can look around the world and see the results of ‘living without rules’ in many of the lawless regions. Murder, rape, theft, etc. are rampant, because too many people in those areas feel that the only rules that apply are those that suit themselves. We end up with the strong forcing their will upon the weak until or unless the weak can come together and as a group force the strong to stop.
Camus’ cry is that of someone who wishes for the freedom to force their will on others. It is the cry of the so called ‘libertarian’ who seems to want nothing so much as to be freed from societal constraints, so they can cheat, exploit, and use others at will. Their hope, of course, is that they do not get cheated, exploited, or used in turn.
They want a ‘dog eat dog’ world, where the strongest (read themselves) can rise to the heights which they feel they deserve, but which they feel they can’t reach because of governmental or societal rules and limits. In truth, they want the protections of society, but not the constraints. They, of course, are always free to move to a more lawless area and try to exercise their freedoms there – for so long as they manage to live. That is not what they want.
There will always need to be a balance between the rights of individuals to freedom and the rights of society as a whole. That balance is not easily maintained and will constantly be in flux. At times society (and through society, government) will impose unreasonable limitations. As our understanding changes, that which is reasonable will also change. As a general rule, one person’s liberty ends when it impairs the liberty or rights of another.
John Stuart Mill, in his essay “On Liberty” said there were three basic liberties: “1) The freedom of thought and emotion. 2) The freedom to pursue tastes (provided they do no harm to others), even if they are deemed "immoral". 3) The freedom to unite so long as the involved members are of age, the involved members are not forced, and no harm is done to others.”
Mill generally felt that a person should be left as free to pursue his own interests so long as that does not harm the interests of others. That is a crucial difference between the liberty of Mill and the philosophy of Camus and the libertarians. Camus allows no limitations even when the interests of others are being harmed. That is where Camus is wrong, and where the libertarians are wrong.
Do we have more rules and regulations than are necessary to protect the interests of others? Yes, we do. Laws against drug use, laws against prostitution, laws against any number of ‘victimless’ crimes are genuine infringements against the liberty that Mill speaks of. Yet in many other instances, some in our society seem to wish to roll back or ignore those rules which protect the interests of others.
Environmental laws and rules are society and government trying to protect the interests of others against those who would despoil the air, water, or land. Consumer protection laws are trying to protect the interests of common consumers against businesses which would cheat or exploit them for their own gain. Balance becomes the key. We must protect the weak from exploitation, while not unduly limiting the freedoms of others.
Integrity in this world does not exist as an absolute. There are no real absolutes in this world. Everything is relative, and much of it is in a sense absurd. It is absurd in part because people live as though absolutes did exist. They live as though good was wholly good and evil was wholly evil, like there was a true black and a true white and the world was absolutely divided between the two.
Yet in truth, the whole world is gray. There is no unalloyed good. Power corrupts, money corrupts. These corruptions, along with the various lusts that all creatures are prone to, mean that society must set rules, limits, and boundaries in order to maintain some poor semblance of civilization. All too often what passes for civilization is indeed only a poor semblance.
People have individual rights that ought not be breached – regardless of whether some fool feels that the absurdity of life gives him the right to live without rules. A person who chooses to live without rules, can only truly do so outside society.
We can look around the world and see the results of ‘living without rules’ in many of the lawless regions. Murder, rape, theft, etc. are rampant, because too many people in those areas feel that the only rules that apply are those that suit themselves. We end up with the strong forcing their will upon the weak until or unless the weak can come together and as a group force the strong to stop.
Camus’ cry is that of someone who wishes for the freedom to force their will on others. It is the cry of the so called ‘libertarian’ who seems to want nothing so much as to be freed from societal constraints, so they can cheat, exploit, and use others at will. Their hope, of course, is that they do not get cheated, exploited, or used in turn.
They want a ‘dog eat dog’ world, where the strongest (read themselves) can rise to the heights which they feel they deserve, but which they feel they can’t reach because of governmental or societal rules and limits. In truth, they want the protections of society, but not the constraints. They, of course, are always free to move to a more lawless area and try to exercise their freedoms there – for so long as they manage to live. That is not what they want.
There will always need to be a balance between the rights of individuals to freedom and the rights of society as a whole. That balance is not easily maintained and will constantly be in flux. At times society (and through society, government) will impose unreasonable limitations. As our understanding changes, that which is reasonable will also change. As a general rule, one person’s liberty ends when it impairs the liberty or rights of another.
John Stuart Mill, in his essay “On Liberty” said there were three basic liberties: “1) The freedom of thought and emotion. 2) The freedom to pursue tastes (provided they do no harm to others), even if they are deemed "immoral". 3) The freedom to unite so long as the involved members are of age, the involved members are not forced, and no harm is done to others.”
Mill generally felt that a person should be left as free to pursue his own interests so long as that does not harm the interests of others. That is a crucial difference between the liberty of Mill and the philosophy of Camus and the libertarians. Camus allows no limitations even when the interests of others are being harmed. That is where Camus is wrong, and where the libertarians are wrong.
Do we have more rules and regulations than are necessary to protect the interests of others? Yes, we do. Laws against drug use, laws against prostitution, laws against any number of ‘victimless’ crimes are genuine infringements against the liberty that Mill speaks of. Yet in many other instances, some in our society seem to wish to roll back or ignore those rules which protect the interests of others.
Environmental laws and rules are society and government trying to protect the interests of others against those who would despoil the air, water, or land. Consumer protection laws are trying to protect the interests of common consumers against businesses which would cheat or exploit them for their own gain. Balance becomes the key. We must protect the weak from exploitation, while not unduly limiting the freedoms of others.
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Depression
The death of Robin Williams made me think about depression.
I have dealt with depression in my life. I won’t try to say that my depression was comparable to his. I am in my head, I’ve never been in his head. Even now I deal with depression regularly, though it is nowhere near as severe as it once was.
In my late 20s, I went through a very stressful period. I don’t want to get into the gory details, but will say I left a secure job for another job, which fell apart on me, taking all my savings and leaving me in debt. I found a new job, but less secure and not enough to easily cover my bills. I fell in love with someone who ultimately decided she cared for me, but didn’t love me, at least not that way.
I questioned myself very hard, and found I hated myself. I tried alcohol, mostly beer, but it didn’t really help, and I’m not inclined towards alcoholism. I tried pot, and it seemed to help for a while. The high would take the edge off the depression. I never smoked a lot – maybe the equivalent of a joint a day, when I came home from work.
After a while, I found that when I came off the high, the depression came back worse than before. I never before and never since felt the profound sense of self hatred, and self loathing that I did as I came off some of my highs. I remember lying on my bed, writhing in emotional agony, feeling a self hatred that I can’t even describe.
Any aspect of my being, I hated. I’ve always been fairly bright, if nerdy, and not at all athletic. I even questioned my own intelligence. Most people, when dealing with someone not too bright, will treat them kindly. I wondered if I was an intellectual imbecile who was merely being humored by the people around him. There was nothing about myself that I found of value. I even thought about how I might commit suicide – taking a car at very high speed and running flat into a concrete light pole or overpass support, with no one else around to be hurt.
I stopped smoking pot. I decided that the aftermath was so very much worse than the high was good, that it wasn’t worth it. I decided that I really was moderately bright – standardized test scores are not merely trying to be kind, and are quite impersonal. I decided that I needed to look at my life and see what I could change that would improve my self-image.
I was slightly over-weight – not grossly, but some, and very out of shape. I hated my body and my body image. I started doing situps and pushups every day in the evening before I ate dinner. I would not allow myself to eat dinner until I had done them. I started with very few, and for the first few weeks, even those were often uncomfortable. For the record, I still do situps every night before I eat dinner, and it is many years later. I have only missed a very few nights from illness or injury in that time.
Eventually I got into racquetball and later running to improve my shape further. I reached the point, before injuring my foot, of being able to run over 9 miles without stopping. I had to quit for several years to let my foot heal and am now back to running 2 miles.
I looked at what I feared. I was somewhat scared of water, and forced myself to do some swimming in a pool at least, and usually when no one was around. I was afraid of speaking before groups, and took up acting. I was afraid of certain types of insects, and forced myself to touch them, at least a few times. I was afraid of rejection, so I asked girls out even when I doubted if they’d accept. I made myself face my fears, at least a few times in most instances, and often in some cases.
If I could not like myself the way I was, I forced myself to change those things I didn’t like. That cut away some of the underbrush that fueled the fire of my depressions. As I said, I still feel depressed. I also know that whatever I do not like about myself or my life is in my power to at least try to change.
What I did, worked for me, given the issues I faced and given where I started from. Then again, I can’t compare my depression to that of anyone else, and know that what worked for me may not worked for others.
I have dealt with depression in my life. I won’t try to say that my depression was comparable to his. I am in my head, I’ve never been in his head. Even now I deal with depression regularly, though it is nowhere near as severe as it once was.
In my late 20s, I went through a very stressful period. I don’t want to get into the gory details, but will say I left a secure job for another job, which fell apart on me, taking all my savings and leaving me in debt. I found a new job, but less secure and not enough to easily cover my bills. I fell in love with someone who ultimately decided she cared for me, but didn’t love me, at least not that way.
I questioned myself very hard, and found I hated myself. I tried alcohol, mostly beer, but it didn’t really help, and I’m not inclined towards alcoholism. I tried pot, and it seemed to help for a while. The high would take the edge off the depression. I never smoked a lot – maybe the equivalent of a joint a day, when I came home from work.
After a while, I found that when I came off the high, the depression came back worse than before. I never before and never since felt the profound sense of self hatred, and self loathing that I did as I came off some of my highs. I remember lying on my bed, writhing in emotional agony, feeling a self hatred that I can’t even describe.
Any aspect of my being, I hated. I’ve always been fairly bright, if nerdy, and not at all athletic. I even questioned my own intelligence. Most people, when dealing with someone not too bright, will treat them kindly. I wondered if I was an intellectual imbecile who was merely being humored by the people around him. There was nothing about myself that I found of value. I even thought about how I might commit suicide – taking a car at very high speed and running flat into a concrete light pole or overpass support, with no one else around to be hurt.
I stopped smoking pot. I decided that the aftermath was so very much worse than the high was good, that it wasn’t worth it. I decided that I really was moderately bright – standardized test scores are not merely trying to be kind, and are quite impersonal. I decided that I needed to look at my life and see what I could change that would improve my self-image.
I was slightly over-weight – not grossly, but some, and very out of shape. I hated my body and my body image. I started doing situps and pushups every day in the evening before I ate dinner. I would not allow myself to eat dinner until I had done them. I started with very few, and for the first few weeks, even those were often uncomfortable. For the record, I still do situps every night before I eat dinner, and it is many years later. I have only missed a very few nights from illness or injury in that time.
Eventually I got into racquetball and later running to improve my shape further. I reached the point, before injuring my foot, of being able to run over 9 miles without stopping. I had to quit for several years to let my foot heal and am now back to running 2 miles.
I looked at what I feared. I was somewhat scared of water, and forced myself to do some swimming in a pool at least, and usually when no one was around. I was afraid of speaking before groups, and took up acting. I was afraid of certain types of insects, and forced myself to touch them, at least a few times. I was afraid of rejection, so I asked girls out even when I doubted if they’d accept. I made myself face my fears, at least a few times in most instances, and often in some cases.
If I could not like myself the way I was, I forced myself to change those things I didn’t like. That cut away some of the underbrush that fueled the fire of my depressions. As I said, I still feel depressed. I also know that whatever I do not like about myself or my life is in my power to at least try to change.
What I did, worked for me, given the issues I faced and given where I started from. Then again, I can’t compare my depression to that of anyone else, and know that what worked for me may not worked for others.
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