rattus rattus’ blog

One should respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny, and is likely to interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways.

What if this actually were public opinion? Or is it? Respect respect. I do not know whether I would want my opinion to become public. Or, as Bertrand Russell is quoted:

I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong.

I am afraid people engaged in sustainable development are seriously endeavored to sustain sustainability; sustainability of themselves.

[Ratta says: It’s fine. I excuse your excuse.]

A conversation of Calvin with his cartoon fellow Hobbes from 1995-08-05.

Calvin:

When a person pauses in mid-sentence to choose a word, that’s the best time to jump in and change the subject!
It’s like an interception in football! You grab the other guy’s idea and run the opposite way with it!
The more sentences you complete, the higher is your score! The idea is to block the other guy’s thoughts and express your own! That’s how you win!

Hobbes:

Conversations aren’t contests!

Calvin:

OK. A point for you, but I’m still ahead.

[*] [WP]

Truth and knowledge often enter the arena hand in hand. Knowledge being honored if true, truth being more valued if known.

Imagine Socrates were living in Crete. Say, being Epimenides‘ brother. A liar saying he knows nothing but the fact of his ignorance. The Honorable Chief Judge Aristotle, as yesterday so today, might have had him burn at the stake much earlier.

In some languages a double negative resolves to a negative, while in others it resolves to a positive. (Wikipedia, as of 2006-08-06)

Let’s try this. Do the following resolve to a negative or to a positive?

• I can’t get no satisfaction.
• But never do what you are not told.
• He doesn’t know nothing ’bout no knowin.
• Though, she does not know her ignorance.
• Anyway, no words ought not to be trusted.

It’s a weird thing.

I am glad I am a liar who knows nothing save that there is more to know than knowledge. Now, go ahead, sue me!

Using use in misuse is no abuse
but users use use for no use
or reuse use to overuse
until use’s usage is
only usefully useless usance.
At least.

“Use” first used in “Use” @ Verbloggtnoamal

Hoax websites are the WWW’s optical illusions. As of today, Wikipedia’s entry on Hoax begins:

A hoax is an attempt to trick an audience into believing that something false is real.

Imagine a liar’s website about a hoax. How do you tell right from wrong? Is this blog a hoax? Yes, in some way it probably is. As there is more to it than its trueness.

We have been featuring the World Jump Day, recently. Here are some more hoaxes:

• Clones-R-Us by Dream Technologies International, the world’s “largest reproductive cloning provider”: Buy your clone child on-line.
• Bonsai Kitten: preserving the long lost art of body modification in housepets (Wikipedia’s entry, Web.archive version)
• Dihydrogen Monoxide Info about controversies surrounding DHMO. “Yes, you [really] should be concerned about DHMO!”
• GenoChoice: “Create your own genetically healthy child online!”
• PetsOrFood: “The best place for pet and food products on the Web!”

The Museum of Hoaxes maintains a weblog about hoax websites.