Bertrand Russell's "The Problems of Philosophy"

I just finished Bertrand Russell's "The Problems of Philosophy". It's a short book, but I found it a good review of the ideas of philosophers on what what we 'know' and what is 'true'. The in-depth discussion made it clear that 'absolute knowledge' of objects (vs. the sense-data that is our perception of things) is unknowable (or certainly unproveable). It is interesting that some philosophers take that as license to promote theories that involve those objects not even existing or being 'in the mind of God'... and they find a lot of believers out there. Of course Russell doesn't buy into any such crap. He promotes instead the idea of basing believe on an assessment of likelihood of the accuracy of knowledge... an approach that supports the existence of real objects behind the sense-data.

What I found most interesting was actually the last chapter where Russell talks about the value of Philosophy. Here's an out-take:

"The value of philosophy is, in fact, to be sought largely in its very uncertainty. The man who has no incture of philosophy goes through life imprisoned in the prejudices derived from common sense, from the habitual beliefs of his age or his nation, and from convictions that have grown up in his mind without the co-operation or consent of his deliberate reason. To such a man the world tends to become definite, finite, obvious; common objects rouse no questions, and unfamiliar possibilities are contemptuously rejected. As soon as we begin to philosophize on the contrary, we find as we saw in our opening chapters, that even the most everyday things lead to problems to which only very incomplete answers can be given. Philosophy, though unable to tell us with certainty what is the true answer to the doubts which it raises, is able to suggest many possibilities which enlarge our thoughts and free them from the tyranny of custom. Thus, while diminishing our feeling of certainty as to what things are, it greatly increases our knowledge as to what they may be; it removes the somewhat arrogant dogmatism of those who have never travelled into the region of liberating doubt, and it keeps alive our sense of wonder by showing familiar things in an unfamiliar aspect.

Apart from its utility in showing unsuspected possibilities, philosophy has a value -- perhaps its chief value - through the greatness of the objects which it contemplates, and the freedom from narrow and personal aims resulting from this contemplation. The life of the instinctive man is shut up within the circle of his private interests: family and friends may be included, but the outer world is not regarded except as it may help or hinder what comes within the circle of instinctive wishes. In such a life there is something feverish and confined, in comparison with which the philosophic life is calm and free. The private world of instinctive interests is a small one, set in the midst of a great and powerful world which must, sooner or later, lay our private world in ruins. Unless we can so enlarge our interests as to include the whole outer world, we remain like a garrison in a beleagured fortress, knowing that the enemy prevents escape and that ultimate surrender is inevitable. In such a life there is no peace, but a constant strife between the insistence of desire and the powerlessness of will. In one way or another, if our life is to be great and free, we must escape this prison and this strife." Great words describing the motivation for a life as a free-thinker!

I also was excited to see that Russell seems to have felt something that I too have felt when he says "through the infinity of the universe the mind which contemplates it achieves some share in infinity". I've expressed to some of my friends the feeling I've gotten looking into the night sky... that its like a little piece of immortality, perhaps the only one we can have, to see what Carl Sagan described as "all that is, or ever was, or ever will be". We can lead our lives imagining the immortality of our imaginary "souls", or we can free ourselves from those "instinctive desires" (as Lord Russell stated it) in the serious pursuit of knowledge of the natural world and a little taste of what real immortality might entail.

The book now in progress: "Teaching Thinking Skills: Theory and Practice", edited by Joan Boykoff Bacon and Robert J. Sternberg.

Observing from Mt. Hood

I just got back from a trip to Mt. Hood and, as promised, have a picture (below, 1/500th sec., 1600 Iso like the other) and a report. Unfortunately, the pictures didn't turn out very good. Possible contributors were the wind and a bright light at the observing sight, however I suspect that something else is at play. Observing with the lens (not through the camera), I had the best view of Jupiter I've ever had. The bands in the atmosphere were very distinct and the moons were also sharp, so I believe that the conditions were dramatically improved over low altitude. I'm attending an Astrophotography Interest Group meeting on Monday sponsored by the Rose City Astronomers (which I just re-joined), so hopefully I can start learning from others.

Yet Another Jupiter Photo

Another clear night at low altitude and another attempt at taking a picture of Jupiter and capturing features in the atmosphere. This time I was successful by going to a much shorter exposure time. This loses resolution of the moons, but does show the two major bands in the atmosphere (see picture below at 1/500th sec. exposure, 1600 Iso, using my 8" C8). I believe higher magnification with eye-piece projection is the next step. I started getting a feel today for how much I need to cut down my old adapter to make this work for my Nikon. I'm not sure I can do this in time for my high altitude shots, but I may give it a try.

Another Jupiter Photo

The skies in the city were much clearer tonight, so I took more shots of Jupiter. I've included one of the better ones below. I tried a range of exposures from 1 sec. (way too long) to 1/50th sec. (moons too faint... could barely see two) and found anywhere from 1/5th to 1/10th sec. to be about right. In no cases could I resolve the darker bands in the atmosphere. The inner moon is Io, which had just completed a transit of Jupiter a little over three hours earlier than this photo. The next two out are Europa and Ganymeade (very close together with Europa just inside and slightly above) and the outer moon is Callisto. I'm going to try to get a shot at higher elevation in darker and clearer skies on Wednesday and should post it Wednesday.

Naturalism Links

My own humanistic philosophy has always been rooted in science and reason with a distaste for any kind of dogma, religious or political. I have recently re-centered myself in this regard after realizing how far astray from this foundation many "Humanists" are. Humanists groups have a tendency to stray towards political dogma and emotionality and away from science and critical thinking. In thinking again about my own philosophy, "naturalism" has more appeal than Humanism with the political stigma it is earning itself. Check out www.naturalism.org . There is a great link on this site ( http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1022039654662139670&hl=en ) to a presentation done by a Tom Clark where he suggests it may be "the next step for Humanists". I found this a bit ironic, in that for me as a humanist I considered it the first step.

The Eastern Oregon Trip

We just got back from our whirlwind eastern Oregon trip... only three nights (overnights at Pendleton, John Day and Burns). Unfortunately, fires in Northern California made conditions hazy throughout eastern Oregon so no astrophotography to share. I do intend to get better Jupiter photos before July 10th, even if it involves a special trip to Mt. Hood.

For me, the highlights of the trip were 1) a 5.5 mile day-hike in the Strawberry Mtn. Wilderness and 2) Driving to the east-rim of the Steens Mountains and looking out over the Alvord Desert and Kiger Canyon (see pictures below). The Steens are definitely worth a return-trip.

Wildlife was sparse and I have no photos. The real surprise was the Big Horn Sheep (a beautiful ram) while traveling I84 east of The Dalles. We just got a quick look but it was spectacular and a very rare siting. Bey0nd that, we saw a handful of deer and antelope throughout the rest of the trip.