Monday 12 October 2015

Autumn is coming

Motto:
“There is no better time than the autumn to begin forgetting the things that trouble us, allowing them to fall away like dried leaves. There is no better time to dance again, to make the most of every crumb of sunlight and warm body and soul with its rays before it falls asleep and becomes only a dim light bulb in the skies.”
Coelho - Adultery


What we will talk today. I have some ideas

* I will start with good news. If you ever heard me rambling about off the grid houses and other stuff like this, here is something that will make to think about. They made a battery that it is working on air. Of course, it is not only air, as it is based on a reaction of oxidation of a Zinc element, which is interchangeable. And it is providing only enough energy for charging your phone tens of times, or to have a light bulb working for a bit more than a week. But it is a start. More about this on this link.
**If i am talking about houses and energy independence, you can check here for some interesting free plans. Choose one and you will save at least 6-800 dollars for not paying for the planning and project.
***We got Edward Thorndike and his Kansas Experiment, where people where asked how much money they would ask for some pain related experiences as pulling a front tooth, eating a 10 cm worm, killing a cat with bare hands, moving to a Kansas farm for the rest of their life and few more. The results were surprising as more money were asked for moving to Kansas - around 200k, and eating a worm - around 100k, than pulling a front tooth - around 4.5k. But this make some thinking that for every painful experience we can allocate a definite amount of money. And one step too far was Phillip Morris study in Czech Republic about the benefits of smoking. Yes, you really read this right, the benefits of smoking for the Czech government. They said that the main disadvantage it is in the increased cost in care, but than, many other benefits must be underlined, as healthcare savings from early dead of the smokers, pension savings and also less money for housing care. It is good to smoke, you die early and the state will save because of that. What a sad application of the old principle of Jeremy Bentham's Utilitarianism. Of course they realized when the media start to write about that was a mistake and they said they are sorry. A far cry of Ford Pinto case.

And that it's all for today, i hope you will enjoy the lecture and ask yourself, why and when we need ethics?

See you soon,
G.



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