Comments for Vornasblogi

Comment on An Ethical Boycott: Shadow Complex by Snowy Retreat to the Countryside : Vornasblogi

Snowy Retreat to the Countryside : Vornasblogi — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 20:20:06 +0000

[...] at play, since it turned out to be as captivating and interesting as I remembered. I got a slight twinge of distaste when I noticed the name Orson Scott Card in the credits, though. It’s irritating how his [...]

Comment on Wreck Diving in Åland by Kim

Kim — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 13:38:23 +0000

Your post has been included in the 1st Edition of the Your Dive Buddy Carnival which you can find here: http://ameasureofthings.blogspot.com/2010/01/your-dive-buddy-1st-edition.html

Comment on Christmas Under the Red Sea by Christmas Under the Red Sea : Vornasblogi

Christmas Under the Red Sea : Vornasblogi — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 21:32:05 +0000

[...] You find the original post here blog.vornaskotti.com … | Janos [...]

Comment on A Short Introduction to Critical Thinking by Janos

Janos — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:31:01 +0000

It’s of course easy to operate in a world of black and white truths, which has the unfortunate downside of not corresponding to the real world. You are right – nobody is completely objective and to claim so is totally silly. Everybody has a bias and everybody has their own pet ideas.

The thing is, most people are not aware of their own bias and principles, which is the mistake number one. They have an idea they stand behind, but they haven’t actually investigated the idea at all: what is it based on, why it appeals to them, does it stand to critique, whatever. It just feels intuitively right, “just the way things are”, and quite often people don’t even want to change their mind. Any attempt to prove the idea wrong, or even slightly inaccurate, is seen as an attack against the person himself.

And this is the problem. Freedom of thought can only be found when you can question your own ideas and values. Questioning them doesn’t mean you’ll have to throw them out of the window if you get even a whiff of contradictory evidence, it just means keeping your mind open to the possibility that you might be wrong. And I know, admitting that is tough, especially publicly. I’ve done that now and then in conversations and it really throws the other side of the conversation off. Then again, finding the flaws in your thinking and refining the idea to correct them might help you make your position stronger.

One thing people should be taught far more strenuously is to ask “why?”. Why is someone advocating a certain point of view, why are things the way they are and why am I thinking like this about these issues. There is no better inoculation for extremist and reactionary views.

Comment on A Short Introduction to Critical Thinking by kris

kris — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:11:35 +0000

It’s so easy to say what we should do, so hard to actually do it.

I don’t think anyone actually lives by the rules they lay down, however fine the rules may be. They just pick and choose whichever truth suits them, and filter the evidence either consciously or subconsciously. It’s possible to bend all of these rules to support conflicting viewpoints, yet conflicting viewpoints cannot both be true.

People develop an emotional attachment to a particular idea, and to discard that idea feels like an act of betrayal. The pleasure they get from defending that idea outweighs the pleasure they get from finding the truth. Even worse is when there’s been a bitter argument over an idea, people cannot stand admitting that a person they hate is factually correct.

In the end people aren’t looking for the truth, they’re looking for a sense of satisfaction, and if the truth is unsatisfactory they may decide to ignore it.

Comment on All Operating System User Interfaces Suck – I Want Something Task-Oriented by Janos

Janos — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:48:15 +0000

I have actually been using Linux now and then for some tasks, but got rid of the dual boot a while ago simply because I used it so rarely that it didn’t make any sense to keep it. Most of my work and hobby related tasks are more or less reliant on Mac/Windows environments. Also I tended to still run a bit too often into situations where editing config-files with Emacs was the only resolution to the problem (like trying to get Ubuntu find a second monitor and extend the desktop on it – this was a few years back, true, but still fucking absurd). This something I just don’t want to do anymore in my free time just to accomplish something that I feel should work right out of the box. Tinkering with stuff out of my free will, that’s a different thing of course and it can be fun, but being forced to do it, blahh.

Comment on All Operating System User Interfaces Suck – I Want Something Task-Oriented by jyri

jyri — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:14:09 +0000

Well, your problem is that you are limited to MS and MAC OSes, the functionality you are describing has existed for years in GNOME and KDE desktops.

Comment on Wreck Diving in Narvik by Janos

Janos — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:04:44 +0000

Thanks, nice to hear you liked the entry! Unfortunately I don't have any information on the wreck you mentioned. My only info about the Narvik wrecks is from the Dive Narvik operator's website.

Comment on Wreck Diving in Åland by Pablo (yo)

Pablo (yo) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:23:03 +0000

Great blog!
Jos haluat, palaa takaisin ja käydä minun: http://albumdeestampillas.blogspot.com

Kiitos,
Pablo Argentiinasta

Comment on Wreck Diving in Narvik by Pat H

Pat H — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:21:42 +0000

Hi from London – great stuff guys, very interesting.

Personal question – do you know anything of the wreck of the MV Cedarbank? It was sunk in the Battle of Narvik, June 1940. There’s a family connection and as a diver myself, wondered if it has ever been dived.

Cheers!