We Speak For Earth
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kenobi-wan-obi CWL -
mohandasgandhi Mohandas Gandhi -
realcleverscience Real Clever Science -
socialuprooting Social Uprooting -
abstractnerd Abstract Nerd -
perscientiamlibertas A Matter of the Most Pleasant Fraternal Confidence
Can animals suffer? Debunking the philosophers who say no, from Descartes to William Lane Craig
Rene Descartes argued that animals could neither think nor feel due to their lack of a pineal gland, an idea not taken seriously now. But a modified version of this argument has recently been revived this time using the pre frontal cortex to argue that animals cant suffer. This film aims to debunk this claim and we talk to some of the leading scientists in the world to refute this claim.
All of the scientists who were featured in the movie were sent a preview copy and asked to let us know if they feel we had misquoted them or made any scientific errors. No instances were identified by them.
Many thanks to those that helped in the making of this movie.
Dr Anita Alvarez, Imperial College/UCL
Prof Stuart Firestein, Columbia University
Prof Joaquinn Fuster, UCLA
Prof Bruce Hood, Bristol University
Dr Lori Marino, Emory Univeriy
James Moskito, Great White Shark Adventures
Dr Diana Reiss, City University NYAll of the wildlife footage was filmed by us and the music is by Symphony of Science and is used with permission.
(via scinerds)
The demands for a return to American Dream-style individual prosperity have been very prominent in the emerging “Occupy Our Homes” movement. This latest iteration of Occupy, dedicated to assisting those being evicted and foreclosed from their homes in forcibly keeping what is theirs, has been taking homes this winter in lieu of public places. This has been a welcome development, yielding an escalation in tactics, a path to direct populist communication, and a direct confrontation with the infallible institution of private property. But troubling signs of capitalist ideology have emerged in the rhetoric behind their actions. They desire nothing less than a return to the economic “normalcy” that the 1% has normatively determined: the American Dream for everyone. Everyone deserves to have an affordable home. Let’s all go back to the 90s, when things were going so well for us economically.
The rhetoric of capitalism is ever present, to the extent that, even when we can clearly identify our discontent with the system, we largely mistake individuals as the culprits, instead of the ever-present ideology that enabled them to act and enabled you to participate. The target should not be the group of individuals that is preventing you from acting out your capitalist-reinforced vision of “normal” life — the American dream, as it were — but instead that dream itself, based on false premises and a distorted idea of the fully-realized existence. Don’t bother with whatever oppressor is it today (is it Goldman Sachs? Perhaps Chase? If we don’t have a named shiny office tower to march on, how will we actualize our discontent?). Bother with the institution of oppression itself — that is, capitalism — and its rhetoric and ideology that is imposed on you, even through your own social movements.
(via knowledgeappliedispower)
Positivism
The only authentic knowledge is that which is based on sense, experience and positive verification. Scientific method is the best process for uncovering the processes by which both physical and human events occur.
