Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2011-11-09]: Russian experts are struggling to save the spacecraft Russian Space Agency sent some days ago to Mars. The vehicle is “stuck” to a low Earth orbit and technical problems do not allow it to boost its thrusters so as to start the journey to the Red Planet [source: BBC News]. This is not the first space mission to Mars which ended up in a disaster. “Something” seems to cast a shadow on the Russian missions to Mars, since all 16 attempts of that country to that planet have failed!!! [source: BBC News] Is it a curse? Or just random facts? A 16 out of 16 “score” does not leave room for “rational” explanations…
Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2011-10-06]: The Nobel of physics went to the one who discovered the “quasicrystals” [source: web news]... These crystals follow non-repeating patterns, like the arabesque creations of Islamic art. But “normal” scientists cannot deal with the “non normal”. Such things were “not supposed” to exist and that is why many “scientists” opposed the idea and ridiculed Shechtman for years. How many other dogmatisms of the “this is the way things are and don’t argue about it” kind escape the Nobel committee’s eyes every day?
Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2011-09-19]: World Health Organization tries to reduce the number of heart attacks by attacking smoking, alcohol, salt and food with fat [source: BBC News]. Oppression can have many faces. And the rationalism of our time dictates that we should not do many things we like to do. Who wants to live without having eaten food with spices and well-cooked fat while drinking a good wine? So be a little bit… “irrational” and live!
