Mass Media

The first thing that usually comes to mind when I think about media, news, or journalism is my old sociology professor defining anchors as "talking heads". It's a point of view that just stuck. I recall he had a great deal to say about the media, but perhaps he wouldn't rightfully be a sociology professor if he did not. The second thing that comes to mind is, unfortunately, "commentation".

Free Will

For as long as I can claim to have attempted to be a calm, collected, and objective thinker, I have been a determinist. Determinism, for those who don't know, is the philosophical position that everything is in the state that it is because, giving the conditions up to that point, it is the only state it could be in. Another way to look at it, is that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes external to the will. In a nutshell, there is no such thing as free will.

Guns.

The subject of guns is sensitive. Extremely sensitive. Whoever presented the maxim, "religion and politics should not be a topic of conversation at work", forgot to add guns in there. Saying anything negative or positive about guns in any public place is almost hazardous. Rednecks from lands undefined will magically show up with every intent to "beat sense into you" at the mere utterance of distaste toward guns. While in contrast, those in opposition are likely to skip to commencing fisty cuffs for anything in favor. So despite the maxims exclusion, it seems people are better off removing the topic from "the list of things that are safe to talk about".

Subjects of Interest

Just a little insight into what I'm planning:

My hope is to attack many issues with this blog. Many are benign but many are controversial. I will try to be as objective as a subjective entity can attempt, and hopefully explain all points of view accurately. I will also give my own views and assessments on each subject with enough weight and evidence that it is hopefully unarguable. This is not, however, with hope of not being scrutinized. So, by all means, send your complaints. If there is fault, I will be happy to appeal. Being reasonable means, being able to accept logical criticism as well as being able to evolve one's thinking when new knowledge and evidence is revealed. If I feel your scrutiny or criticism is inaccurate, then I will produce a rebuttal. Argumentation, debating, and critical conversation are some of the best tools for discovering and understanding truth. 

I'm certain I will be able to come up with more issues to write about, but the list I have at the moment is as follows (probably not in this order and quite possibly more than once depending on the subject and its complexity).

1. Gun Control
2. Abortion
3. Human Rights (social)
4. Consciousness
5. Morality/Ethics
6. Scientific Experiment vs Animal Rights
7. Education
8. Food Processing and Farming
9. Religion
10. Evolution

I can already think of many more, but ten seems like a good start. Plus, considering many, like the subjects of Religion, Evolution, Education, and maybe a couple others, there will be multiple post per subject.

I hope to have the next post written soon.

Cheers

-Josh

Robots!!!

Yep, the first post is about robots, and for a huge reason. I've viewed many articles and streamed many videos with information regarding to robots of today, and of the future. Of the many are those that make notice of the decreasing mental capacity of humans who have fully immersed their lives with some device or another. An easy example, which most people can relate to, is losing the ability to recall phone numbers thanks to the contact feature on cell phones. Another, less popular example, is the loss of understanding one's position due to the use of navigational systems. I could note other negative effects of robots such as the loss of countless jobs due to the production of robot employed factories, but I would like to keep the subject focused on the consequences developed, or those that may be developed, in the brain through mankind's ever more intimate relationship with technology, and ultimately, robots.