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selected sayings from abelard, at www.abelard.org

collected by xavier

together with source document at abelard.org

New translation, the Magna Carta

 

  • It is not what you think that causes the majority of problems in communication,
    it is the
    way in which you think and the manner in which you communicate.

    Always, always, seek feedback.

    Dogmatism has yet to be driven from human concepts of individual and social behaviour.
    It is my intention to lay the logical basis for achieving that end.

    True thinking is silent.

    The meaning of the word ‘one’ is synonymous with the meaning of
    ‘thing’ or ‘that’ or ‘the’ or ‘bit’ or ‘object’.

    Every use of every word by every person is different.

    All ‘objects’ are in flux.
    note: All is flux: attributed to Heraclitus

    Time is movement.
    note: this is close to the view of Augustine

    To understand words, it is necessary to understand that words have no fixed or certain meaning.

    Zero has no existence or meaning outside of context. It is possible to have no elephants in a room.
    It is not possible to have no unicorns in a room, for there are no unicorns not to be in the room.

    We may always increase our precision, but we can never be precise.

    actions are objects.

    A ‘universal’ is an ‘individual’ residing in a particular human brain.

    Guessing right is not being right.

    Guessing is not ‘knowledge’, but it is the best we have.
    Therefore, tolerance and patience is an essential to any sane communication.
    why Aristotelian logic does not work

    marker at abelard.org

    There are great differences in the ability of humans to learn. It is also clear that
    a great deal may be achieved by efficient child rearing and education.

    The brain is alive and grows; it is not a static ‘machine’.

    Laws are a substitute for judgement.

    There is a direct link between the general level of education and the advance of freedom.
    franchise by examination, education and intelligence

    marker at abelard.org

    Remember that, as I cannot enter the minds of the proposers of these nonsense games, I cannot be sure just what errors they are making in their own minds.
    metalogic A1: Gödel and sound sets

    marker at abelard.org

    All acts take time, including decisions and chosen acts.

    Remember: all acts, even ‘stopping’, take finite time!

    Only the present is real.
    metalogic B: decision processes

    marker at abelard.org

    Watching TV violence can be harmful to the mental health of children
    children and television violence

    marker at abelard.org

    Ways of viewing the world: cause, chance and choice

    Mind reading—mad, bad or sad

    ‘Opposites’ do not exist in empiric reality. The greater (>) the extent of ‘fuzziness’of a category, the more impossible becomes the task of setting up an ‘opposite’.

    Opposition is, therefore, a relative concept; categories and ‘their’ ‘contraries’ must be subject to empiric validation, not treated as some ‘given’ or ‘absolute’ reality.
    The logic of ethics with commentary on the ethical teaching of Abelard le Pallet

    marker at abelard.org

    ‘Drugs’ mess with the chemistry of the brain; drug-taking is not a risk free activity.

    While being a widespread human activity, overuse of drugs does pose risks to your long-term health and happiness, and often to the health and happiness of those around you.

    You cannot know what is the mind of another.

    People adjust to their situations; they tend to feel comfortable with whatever they have become ‘used to’.

    You do not collect nearly as much pension if you kill yourself early in your retirement, after decades of paying your taxes.

    Criminalisation has the extremely damaging effect of inhibiting those who need help and support to free themselves from drugs, and from feeling safe to seek that help.
    drugs, smoking and addiction

    marker at abelard.org

    Production is a product of knowledge times work times resource.
    note: an idea abroad in economics

    Collectivist dogmas endanger societies and threaten your life.

    Collective identity is an illusion.

    All tax is collected from current production.

    It is useful to have a definition of fundamentalism: I put forward the following
    Any ‘creed’ that relies upon claims of ‘authority’ and of ‘absolute truth’; and the pushing upon the immature of such dogmas in isolation from the wider world.

    A reasonable model of human behaviour is: that humans tend to act to maximise what they perceive to be their returns, while seeking to minimise their costs.

    No ‘two’ objects can occupy the same space at the same time.
    Power, ownership and freedom

    marker at abelard.org

    The price of any object is exactly what someone is prepared to pay for it right now.
    note: once heard from a shopkeeper

    Inflation and rising prices are not the ‘same’.

    A currency is money, if and only if, the people are prepared to accept it as money.

    With stable money, every wage rise for one vested interest results in a wage drop for others in society.
    The mechanics of inflation: the great government swindle and how it works

    marker at abelard.org

    Correlation does not imply causation.
    note: an idea abroad in statistics

    Statistics are indicators, not definitive guides, and should never be used as a substitute for individual assessment.

    You cannot know what is in the mind of another.

    There is no such thing as ‘race’.
    Intelligence: misuse and abuse of statistics

    The capital of the British Empire has merely moved to Washington.

marker at abelard.org

 


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