There are a couple of services that are really important to my life and my business. One of them is Tumblr and the other is Evernote. In promoting Evernote for example I often tell people that if Microsoft buys it I will retire. That is because it has become so important to my work flow and…
See on Scoop.it - Philosophy everywhere everywhenIn this article, I explore Stephenson’s use of mathematical objects and philosophies in his novel Anathem (2008).Comparing it to Plato’s Timaeus, I argue that the novel should not be read as a literal expression of Stephenson’s own…
“It’s just human nature” is a shitty defense
Well, humans branched from animals, so we’re just like animals in regards to our violent nature.
No, excuse you, are you going to forsake our unique ability to reason so you can defend something that is completely wrong? For years, we have revered our intelligence. It is what separates us from animals. Our ability to reason is more than just the ability to make tools and solve problems. It is the force that has driven us to survive for so long. It is what we use to observe our world and even create worlds of our own. We are even able to think about how we think. It is my being able to translate all the anger and frustration and desire to punch someone in the face I feel into words on complex, compact machinery that humans have also designed using reason. It is your being able to read this message and interpret the angry-sounding words you see on your screen. It’s even your being able to interpret these words as angry-sounding! Our ability to reason is too beautiful to set aside so we can say that the abuses someone inflicts on others is due to our “inherent animal nature.”
Finally, real animals don’t behave like brutes who tear each other apart on a whim. Animals don’t do more than is necessary.
So stop comparing us to animals, goddamnit.
