Dear friends,
First of all, apologies for not being able to coordinate the details for the visit to the cinema on
Christmas day. At face value, the problems seems to have been a misunderstanding with an airline web
page. But if I were to scratch the surface of what actually happened to us in Munich I might
discover issues of dooms day proportions; but that's another story.
In the meantime this Sunday we are discussing Catharsis.
I look forward to seeing on Sunday, and if not I wish you a better new year than 2012.
Take care
Lawrence
PhiloMadrid Meeting
Meet 6:30pm
Centro Segoviano
Alburquerque, 14
28010 Madrid
914457935
Metro: Bilbao
-----------Ignacio------------
Thursday's Open Tertulia in English
Important Notice: From December 1st, the Tertulia will take place at O'Donnells (ex-Moore's) Irish
Pub, c/ Barceló 1 (metro Tribunal)
http://sites.google.com/site/tertuliainenglishmadrid/
from Lawrence, Sunday PhiloMadrid meeting: Catharsis
PhiloMadrid - Pub Philosophy Meetings in Madrid
27 December 2012
19 December 2012
from Lawrence, Sunday PhiloMadrid meeting: The purpose of Christmas + NEWS
Dear Friends,
This Sunday we are discussing: The purpose of Christmas and Ceit kindly agreed to chair the meeting
because I won't be able to attend on Sunday.
So since the purpose of Christmas is to have a holiday I wish you a happy Christmas EVE.
On Christmas, Ceit was thinking of going to the cinema to see the Hobbit maybe you can fix the
details with her on Sunday. I look forward to see you on Christmas day and wish you the rest of the
season's greetings!!!!
In the meantime The Centro Segoviano have a Fiesta de Navidad and de los Abuelos today/tomorrow
Thursday 20th December. You have more details at this link of their poster:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lawlang/19December201202?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPS-89SN1NGfLg&feat=directlink
All the best and take care
Lawrence
PhiloMadrid Meeting
Meet 6:30pm
Centro Segoviano
Alburquerque, 14
28010 Madrid
914457935
Metro: Bilbao
-----------Ignacio------------
Thursday's Open Tertulia in English
Important Notice: From December 1st, the Tertulia will take place at O'Donnells (ex-Moore's) Irish
Pub, c/ Barceló 1 (metro Tribunal)
http://sites.google.com/site/tertuliainenglishmadrid/
from Lawrence, Sunday PhiloMadrid meeting: The purpose of Christmas + NEWS
This Sunday we are discussing: The purpose of Christmas and Ceit kindly agreed to chair the meeting
because I won't be able to attend on Sunday.
So since the purpose of Christmas is to have a holiday I wish you a happy Christmas EVE.
On Christmas, Ceit was thinking of going to the cinema to see the Hobbit maybe you can fix the
details with her on Sunday. I look forward to see you on Christmas day and wish you the rest of the
season's greetings!!!!
In the meantime The Centro Segoviano have a Fiesta de Navidad and de los Abuelos today/tomorrow
Thursday 20th December. You have more details at this link of their poster:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lawlang/19December201202?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPS-89SN1NGfLg&feat=directlink
All the best and take care
Lawrence
PhiloMadrid Meeting
Meet 6:30pm
Centro Segoviano
Alburquerque, 14
28010 Madrid
914457935
Metro: Bilbao
-----------Ignacio------------
Thursday's Open Tertulia in English
Important Notice: From December 1st, the Tertulia will take place at O'Donnells (ex-Moore's) Irish
Pub, c/ Barceló 1 (metro Tribunal)
http://sites.google.com/site/tertuliainenglishmadrid/
from Lawrence, Sunday PhiloMadrid meeting: The purpose of Christmas + NEWS
14 December 2012
from Lawrence, Sunday PhiloMadrid meeting: The risks of intelligence
Dear friends,
The topic for this Sunday maybe described as the mummy and daddy of philosophy, psychology and
everything else that is human: The risks of intelligence.
These are some quick ideas of mine on the subject:
Intelligence is such a big subject in the history of human culture that any discussion on the topic
wouldn't even begin to scratch the surface. But at the heart of the subject we have a clear idea of
what intelligence: the bringing together of our knowledge to our actions.
How we solve "problems" is a direct function of intelligence. Problems that are solved to our
satisfaction are evidence of intelligence; although it might be argued that problems that are not
solved to our satisfaction are not necessarily evidence of absence of intelligence. A good outcome
is evidence of intelligence, I would argue, is because there are so many things that can go wrong
between a desire and an action to bring about the desired, that bringing about the right results
must involve, at the very least a significant reduction in the factors that might affect a negative
outcome. If we want to find a cure of an ailment, mixing two random chemicals together are going to
have a different result than if we embark on a systematic understanding of the problems and the
function of chemicals.
But there is a fundamental issue with intelligence: it is amoral. In other words, like all
biological functions, it does not have a safety feature against inappropriate or, worse, unethical
use. But if intelligence is indeed a biological function, it also means that all human beings have
the potential to inherit this characteristic. So what might give one an advantage is the nature of
knowledge or experience one has.
The risks of intelligence, I would say, are directly linked with this advantage someone might have.
In the normal sense of risk, we usually do not use this term if we are guaranteed that the outcome
of an action will benefit everyone: now whether that benefit is equal to all, fair or reasonable is
a detail we need not examine here. No one really speaks of risks if good things are guaranteed. On
the other hand, we usually associate risk with negative outcomes. We insure a car because there is a
real chance we might not use it correctly to take us to our destination.
Thus I would conclude that the risks of intelligence are associated with the use of intelligence:
not so much to give us an advantage over others, but rather to disadvantage others so that we have
unfair advantage over others.
Best Lawrence
PhiloMadrid Meeting
Meet 6:30pm
Centro Segoviano
Alburquerque, 14
28010 Madrid
914457935
Metro: Bilbao
-----------Ignacio------------
Thursday's Open Tertulia in English
Important Notice: From December 1st, the Tertulia will take place at O'Donnells (ex-Moore's) Irish
Pub, c/ Barceló 1 (metro Tribunal)
http://sites.google.com/site/tertuliainenglishmadrid/
from Lawrence, Sunday PhiloMadrid meeting: The risks of intelligence
The topic for this Sunday maybe described as the mummy and daddy of philosophy, psychology and
everything else that is human: The risks of intelligence.
These are some quick ideas of mine on the subject:
Intelligence is such a big subject in the history of human culture that any discussion on the topic
wouldn't even begin to scratch the surface. But at the heart of the subject we have a clear idea of
what intelligence: the bringing together of our knowledge to our actions.
How we solve "problems" is a direct function of intelligence. Problems that are solved to our
satisfaction are evidence of intelligence; although it might be argued that problems that are not
solved to our satisfaction are not necessarily evidence of absence of intelligence. A good outcome
is evidence of intelligence, I would argue, is because there are so many things that can go wrong
between a desire and an action to bring about the desired, that bringing about the right results
must involve, at the very least a significant reduction in the factors that might affect a negative
outcome. If we want to find a cure of an ailment, mixing two random chemicals together are going to
have a different result than if we embark on a systematic understanding of the problems and the
function of chemicals.
But there is a fundamental issue with intelligence: it is amoral. In other words, like all
biological functions, it does not have a safety feature against inappropriate or, worse, unethical
use. But if intelligence is indeed a biological function, it also means that all human beings have
the potential to inherit this characteristic. So what might give one an advantage is the nature of
knowledge or experience one has.
The risks of intelligence, I would say, are directly linked with this advantage someone might have.
In the normal sense of risk, we usually do not use this term if we are guaranteed that the outcome
of an action will benefit everyone: now whether that benefit is equal to all, fair or reasonable is
a detail we need not examine here. No one really speaks of risks if good things are guaranteed. On
the other hand, we usually associate risk with negative outcomes. We insure a car because there is a
real chance we might not use it correctly to take us to our destination.
Thus I would conclude that the risks of intelligence are associated with the use of intelligence:
not so much to give us an advantage over others, but rather to disadvantage others so that we have
unfair advantage over others.
Best Lawrence
PhiloMadrid Meeting
Meet 6:30pm
Centro Segoviano
Alburquerque, 14
28010 Madrid
914457935
Metro: Bilbao
-----------Ignacio------------
Thursday's Open Tertulia in English
Important Notice: From December 1st, the Tertulia will take place at O'Donnells (ex-Moore's) Irish
Pub, c/ Barceló 1 (metro Tribunal)
http://sites.google.com/site/tertuliainenglishmadrid/
from Lawrence, Sunday PhiloMadrid meeting: The risks of intelligence
06 December 2012
from Lawrence, Sunday PhiloMadrid meeting: Self Esteem
Dear friends,
This Sunday we are discussing: self esteem.
One way we can describe self esteem is as being our view of how much we value ourselves. How much we
think we are useful to ourselves and to others, and as a consequence how much we are valued by
others. Closely associated with self esteem I would probably add shyness and timidity.
A question we can ask ourselves is why do some people suffer from low self esteem, when they
shouldn't, and others ooze with self esteem when they can only be described as cads. In our society
money is a good booster of self esteem, because this gives us access to all sorts of things, such as
property, freedom, sex and respect.
But of course, not everyone can be super rich, and neither does everyone want to change partners. So
money whilst useful is neither sufficient nor necessary to one's self esteem. Nevertheless, those
who do suffer from low self esteem do seem to give an unfair advantage to predators and maybe those
who have excessive self-esteem. Maybe not being noticed is still a valid and successful way to lead
a peaceful life.
All's well and good. But it is quite ironic that I should be sending this email on a mid week
holiday supposedly to celebrate a constitution that seems to look much sexier, like all
constitutions, on paper than it is virile in reality. With a recession in most European countries,
with unemployment reaching 26% in some members of the EU, and other members so low down the
corruption list that one has enough time to make two cups of tea before we find them, 18th and 19th
century format constitutions seem not to be fit for purpose any more.
But 26% unemployed, unfair mortgage contracts, super black holes in the economies of some countries
and corruption have two certain effects. First, the fall out from all this affects real people, who
all they want is to live a peaceful and dignified life for themselves and their family. And that the
direct victims of this abuse of human rights affect the self esteem of many.
Actually, today, there are people who really cannot afford to buy presents to their children this
Christmas. Some Christmas, some morality! After all, probably the worst form of low self esteem is
when one feels helpless in front of one's family. And the most exciting form of high self esteem is
to receive the exclusive present in the neighbourhood; at least for twenty four hours, anyway!
Best Lawrence
PhiloMadrid Meeting
Meet 6:30pm
Centro Segoviano
Alburquerque, 14
28010 Madrid
914457935
Metro: Bilbao
-----------Ignacio------------
Thursday's Open Tertulia in English
Important Notice: From December 1st, the Tertulia will take place at O'Donnells (ex-Moore's) Irish
Pub, c/ Barceló 1 (metro Tribunal)
http://sites.google.com/site/tertuliainenglishmadrid/
from Lawrence, Sunday PhiloMadrid meeting: Self Esteem
This Sunday we are discussing: self esteem.
One way we can describe self esteem is as being our view of how much we value ourselves. How much we
think we are useful to ourselves and to others, and as a consequence how much we are valued by
others. Closely associated with self esteem I would probably add shyness and timidity.
A question we can ask ourselves is why do some people suffer from low self esteem, when they
shouldn't, and others ooze with self esteem when they can only be described as cads. In our society
money is a good booster of self esteem, because this gives us access to all sorts of things, such as
property, freedom, sex and respect.
But of course, not everyone can be super rich, and neither does everyone want to change partners. So
money whilst useful is neither sufficient nor necessary to one's self esteem. Nevertheless, those
who do suffer from low self esteem do seem to give an unfair advantage to predators and maybe those
who have excessive self-esteem. Maybe not being noticed is still a valid and successful way to lead
a peaceful life.
All's well and good. But it is quite ironic that I should be sending this email on a mid week
holiday supposedly to celebrate a constitution that seems to look much sexier, like all
constitutions, on paper than it is virile in reality. With a recession in most European countries,
with unemployment reaching 26% in some members of the EU, and other members so low down the
corruption list that one has enough time to make two cups of tea before we find them, 18th and 19th
century format constitutions seem not to be fit for purpose any more.
But 26% unemployed, unfair mortgage contracts, super black holes in the economies of some countries
and corruption have two certain effects. First, the fall out from all this affects real people, who
all they want is to live a peaceful and dignified life for themselves and their family. And that the
direct victims of this abuse of human rights affect the self esteem of many.
Actually, today, there are people who really cannot afford to buy presents to their children this
Christmas. Some Christmas, some morality! After all, probably the worst form of low self esteem is
when one feels helpless in front of one's family. And the most exciting form of high self esteem is
to receive the exclusive present in the neighbourhood; at least for twenty four hours, anyway!
Best Lawrence
PhiloMadrid Meeting
Meet 6:30pm
Centro Segoviano
Alburquerque, 14
28010 Madrid
914457935
Metro: Bilbao
-----------Ignacio------------
Thursday's Open Tertulia in English
Important Notice: From December 1st, the Tertulia will take place at O'Donnells (ex-Moore's) Irish
Pub, c/ Barceló 1 (metro Tribunal)
http://sites.google.com/site/tertuliainenglishmadrid/
from Lawrence, Sunday PhiloMadrid meeting: Self Esteem