Saturday, February 1, 2014
[1650 - Rene Descartes, philosopher, scientist, died]
[1790 - First session of the U.S. Supreme Court is held]
[1820 - Harriet Tubman (Araminta Harriet Ross), abolitionist, humanitarian, Union spy, born in Dorchester County, Maryland]
[1859 - Victor Herbert, musician, composer, conductor, born in Dublin, Ireland]
[1894 - John Ford (John Martin Feeney), Academy Award-winning film director, born in Cape Elizabeth, Maine]
[1901 - (William) Clark Gable, Academy Award-winning actor, born in Cadiz, Ohio]
[1902 - Langston Hughes, poet, author, born in Joplin, Missouri]
[1904 - S.J. Perelman (Sidney Joseph Perelman), humorist, writer, born in Brooklyn]
[1906 - Hildegarde (Hildegarde Loretta Sell), cabaret entertainer, born in Adell, Wisconsin]
[1908 - George Pal, film director, producer, born in Cegled, Hungary]
[1922 - Renata Tebaldi, opera singer (Soprano), born in Pesaro, Italy]
[1931 - Boris Yeltsin, President of Russia, born in Butka, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia]
If you would be a real seeker after truth, you must at least once in your life doubt, as far as possible, all things.
Discours de la Methode
The philosopher Descartes embraced the primacy of self-awareness (Cogito, ergo sum). We have now learned that certain monkeys (and not even the smartest of the non-human primates at that) can solve and remember multiple complex, seven-part sequences of images (just as can college students). Both the monkeys and the college students can also compare and analyze a pair of images taken from different sequences to determine which of the two images should come first.
Given these findings that were not available to Descartes in the 17th Century, I wonder if he were alive today whether he might formulate his approach differently.
All are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusions is called a philosopher.
William's Whimsical Words:
Puteo, ergo sum (I stink therefore I am) seems now to be just as defensible a position in light of the new evidence. [Pardon the poor Latin grammar]
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