Philosophy, world. --- .This section is about the world in general. --- 1/24/2006
Philosophy, world. --- (1) The WORLD is everything that is the case, said Ludwig Wittgenstein. (2) Think GLOBALLY, act locally, says the bumper sticker. (3) Its not about you, nor your family, nor your country. Its about the world, globe, earth. --- 6/15/2005
Philosophy, world. --- Ways how to change the world. (1) Discover a new scientific truth. (2) Invent a new technological invention. (3) Develop a new attitude (idea and emotion), which is the realm of philosophy and the arts. (4) Change society by (A) Changing people's attitudes. Persuaders, popularizers, shrinks, teachers. (B) Create new laws. Politicians, judges, lawyers. --- 7/16/2000
Philosophy, world. --- What is going on in the world today? Global trends. PART ONE. Politics. (1) Hopefully there is a global movement toward democracy as more people move out of poverty, get educated, and get access to the Internet. Promote social justice. (2) Money is a form of power, and because multinational corporations have too much money they have too much power. Multinational corporations have too much influence in politics. Power to the people, not the corporations. PART TWO. Social. There is increased communication and transportation of people around the globe. Hopefully this is having a positive effect. More people are speaking the same language, which is good. Some languages are going extinct, which is bad. One problem is that multinational corporations create a cultural hegemony through advertising that leads to the destruction of indigenous cultures, which is bad. Religious fundamentalism leads to war mongering religious fanatics. PART THREE. Technology. (1) There is an increasing spread of technology, especially the Internet. Information is moving around the world more quickly, thanks to Internet and cell phones. (2) More people from formerly third world countries are getting online. (3) More information. The Internet. (4) More communication. (5) More transportation. PART FOUR. Environment. (1) There is an human population explosion that is having a negative effect on the environment. Humans are destroying the earth. PART FIVE. Economics. (1) There is more consumption or spending by more people around the world, now that there is a growing worldwide middle class. There are more products being sold worldwide. There are more products being manufactured worldwide. There are more factories being built around the world. Increased global consumption depletes natural resources and creates pollution. (2) Mobile labor force. People, i.e. labor, moving around the world. Global labor force. (3) Global financial network. More countries developing stock markets and other financial systems. These new systems are linked to each other to enable easier global trade. (4) Money moving around the world. (5) Corporations are going multinational. PART SIX. Future trends. Trends that can already be seen in action. (1) World population is growing, and will probably eventually leveling off around 12 billion people. (2) The Third World is developing. Third World is catching up to the first world. The playing field is becoming more level. Unfortunately, priveledged elements in the First World are trying to hang to money and power. Priveledged elements in the First World are trying to prevent the Third World from developing. (3) Increased use of Internet. (4) Increased pollution. Global warming. Less resources available. Less oil available. Less fresh water available. --- 1/4/2007
Philosophy, world. --- World. (1) More than money, stuff and jobs, people need love, justice and psychological health. We also need communication, education and psychologically healthy role models. (2) The psychological well being of the world's citizens is more important than the GDP. We can get by with less stuff. We can not get by with less sanity. (3) How would it be possible to sell love (not sex)? Someone to talk to? How would it be possible to sell psychological health? Because someone can love you and still have an crazy, unhealthy psychology. (4) Just because somethings are difficult to measure (ex. psychological health), and somethings are easy to measure (ex. GDP), does not mean that the former are not real or not important and the latter are real and important. --- 8/26/1999
Philosophy, world. --- World. (1) My current areas of interest are the environment, underdeveloped nations, and justice. I would like to see a global federation, united by a common language and a better communication system (the Web). A stronger United Nations. (2) At first I thought there are two types of problems. Economic problems like poverty, which leads to disease and illiteracy. Political problems are when governments fail to make laws for human rights or the environment, or when they are involved in war or civil war, or when they cannot protect their citizens from crime and corruption. Human rights abuses like no democracy, no freedom of speech, press, or religion. Perhaps all these problems are complexly inter-related. (3) In the almanac one can find important statistics which one can use to build a sortable database of the 200 countries and their performance on the above issues, in order to spot which countries are doing best and worst on the above issues. (4) Statistics to measure and what issues they shed light on. (A) Population. Population number per country. Birth rates and death rates. (B) Health. Leading causes of death worldwide. Rates of mental illness (psychosis) and suicide. Life expectancy per country. (C) Economic poverty. GNP per capita. Personal disposable income. (D) Education. Literacy rates. Percentage of population finishing grade school, high school, college, and graduate school. (5) Data in 1997. (A) 133 million births per year worldwide, 54 million deaths. (B) Human sexual intercourse occurs 100 million times per day. (C) AIDS. 40 million cases by year 2000. 90% in developing countries. 90% of those cases through heterosexual intercourse. --- 06/30/1997
Philosophy, world. --- World. Current and future situation. What is happening in the world. (1) Economic/business. Global multi-nationals, global trade, global finance. 80's mergers followed by an early 90's recession. Computerization. Downsizing. Small companies on the rise (decentralization). (2) Technology. Computers and media. Automation of business. (3) Science. Astronomy: hubble, and computer linked dishes. Physics: death of physics, no $ for high energy physics, fusion. Chemistry: new materials, superconductors. Biology: environment, genetic engineering. (4) Religion. Rise of religious fundamentalism. Causes and problems. (5) Sociology. Minority rights (60's), decline of family (divorce), instant worldwide communication of anything for everyone. (6) Psychology. Smart drugs, alternative medicine. (7) Medicine. Nutrition, smoking, cancer, aids. --- 02/07/1994
Philosophy, world. --- World. Globalization. Understand what is going on in the entire world. Understand global forces and pressures. Understand global problems and solutions. PART TWO. Global politics. The United Nations. (1) Arguments for the UN. (A) Examples of successful UN intervention. (2) Arguments against the UN. (A) Claims that the UN is biased toward the rich. First world countries. Corporations. (B) Claims that the UN is biased toward the poor. Third world countries. (C) Claims that the UN is powerless and ineffective. No significant cooperation. (D) Claims that the UN is all powerful and dominating. PART TWO. Global economy. (1) The movement of work to other countries. Losing jobs to other countries. Wages being driven down by foreign competition. (2) The movement of foreign workers to a country. Immigration issues. B1 visa workers. (3) Imports of foreign products. Dumping. (4) Foreign investment. Foreigners buying US real estate, corporations, etc. (5) International corporations - beholden to no country. PART THREE. Global culture. (1) Communication allowing spread of ideas. (2) The Internet allowing spread of ideas. Cultural diversity. Examples: world music. PART FOUR. Globalization can trend toward justice or injustice. (1) Trends toward justice. Human rights. Empowerment of the disempowered. (2) Trend toward injustice. (A) Dictatorial trends. Imperialism. Corporatism. (B) Majority abusing rights of minorities. (C) Exploitation and oppression of weak. --- 7/23/2004
Philosophy, world. --- World. Goals for the world. (1) Longer human lives. (2) Better physical and mental health. (3) Bigger, better brains. Growing brains is where it is at. (4) Quicker learning. --- 12/30/1995
Philosophy, world. --- World. My new outline. A global problems approach. (1) Environment. Biggest polluters. Worst forms of pollution. Best solutions. (2) Disease. (3) Hunger. (4) Political injustice. No freedom, rights, equality, or justice. (5) Education. Free self education at library or on Internet is possible, the key is how to encourage it. But a degree is needed to get a job. Home schooling with final exams in public places to get a degree. (6) Crime. (7) Poverty. Being poor is not so bad if you are healthy (physically and psychologically), and have a place to live, and are not hungry, and have health insurance, and have free time (not working more than 40 hr week). If you have no money at all that is bad. --- 1/30/1998
Philosophy, world. --- World. One mongrel world, one mongrel language, one mongrel government, one mongrel race, one mongrel culture. One culture will allow political and economic cooperation best. All present and past regional cultures should be documented and recorded for study. Then all areas should be modernized and homogenized. It must be the best culture (political, economic, social, complete, ethical, knowledgeable). --- 09/06/1993
Philosophy, world. --- World. One world. The future: (1) Homogenization of races, and cultures. (2) One language. (3) Increase in world government. Reduction of national power. --- 04/30/1993
Philosophy, world. --- World. One world. Unified world theory. (1) Increasing international business, trade, and finance. (2) Increasing international government and law (United Nations). (3) Increasing international communication, due to computers. (4) Less differences among people caused by having different languages, religion, race/ethnicity, and nationalism, due to the declining importance of those factors. (5) Mass media leads to cultural homogenization and mass worldwide communication. --- 02/20/1994
Philosophy, world. --- World. One world. When we are all homogenized to the truth, blended to one race, equal in rights, and all is peaceful and unchanging, then things will be boring and time will become less important. --- 10/10/1994
Philosophy, world. --- World. PART ONE. Good points about globalization. (1) Increased communication and transportation increases globalization and increases ties between peoples, which can lead to cooperation and peace. (2) Increased interdependency and cooperation is good. (3) Increased competition due to the development of Third World countries is good for the world overall. (4) Increased sharing of power with the rest of the world is good for the world overall. (5) One language (English) is good. Dying languages is bad. (6) One government (UN) is good. (7) Raising of living standards, health, education and life expectancy is good. PART TWO. Bad points of globalization. (1) Trading the problems of the Third World for the problems of the First World. (2) Global dominance and monopoly by a few huge rich corporations is bad. For example, publishing and news media has been consolidated into a few big rich powerful corporations. Example, McBurger everywhere. (3) A loss in cultural diversity results and that is bad. Cultural homogenization is good only if it improves the situation? --- 12/31/2003
Philosophy, world. --- World. Six billion humans. What percent starving? What percent ill (physical or psychological)? What percent poor? What percent oppressed politically. What percent uneducated? --- 2/16/2000
Philosophy, world. --- World. Statistical data. US stats and World stats. Out of 1000 people, how many are: Retarded. Autistic. Schizophrenic. Major depression or anxiety. Car accident. Cancer. Heart attack. Alzheimers. Lose a limb, hand, foot. Suicide. Murdered. Violent crime victim. Brain damage. Paralyzed. Stroke. (2) What percentage of people have any of above happen to them? And, assuming each person knows other people, what percentage of people know someone else who had any of above happen to them? --- 9/2/2004
Philosophy, world. --- World. What are the problems and solutions worth concentrating on and pushing hard for in the near future? (1) One world government and language, etc. International co-operation. (2) Play down religion, boost philosophy and rational ethics. (3) Environmentalism. Better measures of what is happening ecologically. (4) End of war and terrorism. Start of peaceful protests. (5) Better and quicker knowledge for all. Raise the ceiling, and raise the floor (dregs). (6) Cure crime, poverty, drugs, and psychological problems. (7) Change values from leisure to work (self development), from unthinking to thinking and learning and writing. (8) Preach the solutions. (9) Spread democracy and human rights. (10) Stop religious fanaticism and dictatorships. --- 12/15/1994
Philosophy, world. --- World. What is reality? What is life? One way to answer that question is to find out what is the situation in the world today. Answer a bunch of wide ranging questions such as the following. (1) What percentage of the population is falling ill to injury or disease? What is the average life span? How is their psychological health as well as physical health? (2) What percentage of the population is falling prey to crime, or more importantly, injustice of any type, such as discrimination, abuse, neglect, etc? (3) How much garbage and pollution is made per capita, including corporate and public trash? What percentage is recycled? (4) What percentage of the world can read and write to the point they can start to teach themselves? What percentage has access to the materials needed to further their education, like books, schools, libraries, the mass media? What percentage takes the opportunity to use these materials if they are available? Do they have an ethic that values thinking, learning, and working? (5) What percentage of people are how free? Politically free, economically free, psychologically free. With technological opportunities. Freedom means having many choices and opportunities, having plenty to do for work and play, richness of experience (like the arts), having places to go. (6) What percentage of people hold what attitudes and philosophical views (metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, aesthetics)? What is their value system? Technological level is not as important as knowledge level and ethical development. (7) How well do we raise kids? (8) How peaceful is the world? What are the chances you or someone you love will die in war? How much conflict is there, and of what types. (9) The big question is how hard are we working to improve things? How lazy and apathetic vs. industrious are we? (10) Is there more to life than this? Is there more to life than your situation and the world situation? Can you and the world become more? We sure could. (11) How many and big are the problems (bad things)? How bad are things? Are people reaching their potential? How good could it get? It is tough to say. To those who lived in the middle ages, we live like kings. To those who will live a few thousand years from now, we are backward. (12) How different could things get? Androgyny in attitudes. Virtual lives, brain in a vat at work and play. Genetic engineering, mutant life forms. (13) The question is not so much are people happy. The question is more, are people healthy and are people living engaged in ethical behavior? To live ethically but unhappily is not being free. To live happily but unethically is unjust. --- 03/20/1997
Philosophy, world. --- World. What is the situation? (1) The nation state is crumbling under international government, international law, international trade, and international finance, which are made possible by improved transportation and communication. (2) Religion is played out. (3) Art has been worked out. (4) Philosophy is worked out? --- 12/15/1994