Thrasymachus's Argument

by eohcnrk on Tuesday, February 02, 2010 comments (7)

I've been taking an intro to philosophy course, so I admittedly I'm a complete knoob when it comes this stuff. However, we've been learning about Socrates's quest for defining what justice is. For Socrates, the truth was out there but it is something that could not be found. With that said, it is better to know that you do not know rather than to be ignorant that you do not know.

In the Republic, Plato tries to define what justice is and how a just society should operate. However, to me, his society and so called justice system sucks.

Thus, we come to Thrasymachus's argument that:
Justice is nothing more than the advantage of the stronger.

Granted Socrates refutes this definition, Thrasymachus still raises an interesting point. There is no such thing as universal justice, and so we cannot define it.

My question to you guys is, is there such thing as a universal justice that we can define? If so, what is it?

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My Dream

by eohcnrk on Wednesday, December 02, 2009 comments (3)

In my dream I had a great idea. Since in my physical chemistry class we were studying thermodynamics, I had dreamt of taking an endothermic reaction that would proceed spontaneously and creating a instant cold pack. So I was hired by some chemical company to find out which reactions were endothermic while proceeding spontaneously.

When I woke up, I immediately started to think of any such reactions, but only to my disappointment, I realized they already have instant cold packs...

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Gone is the parking ticket and enforcement officer

by epfanne on Thursday, September 03, 2009 comments (11)

I'm so tired of getting parking tickets. And those ticket enforcement guys...Let's get rid of them!


Okay, so came up with this idea that not only helps us the sufferers, but also the parking system; it can potentially reduce the cost to operate & maintain significantly.

Remember those restaurant pagers? They kinda dissappeared because restaurants are no longer flooded with people. Anyway, using similar concepts and technology, we can develop parking pagers with appropriate additional features.

- portable and rechargeable (at the meter)
- displays time left on the meter
- beeps when time is running out
- allows additional credit for more time

I don't see engineering as a problem, but is it feasible and profitable?

Alternative idea: i-park (i-pass for parking)

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It's been a while. Here's a short story.

by Martias on Monday, August 10, 2009 comments (0)

A long time ago, when the oceans still teemed with fish and the sky was more blue than it is now, there lived a man on an island.

He was a happy man. In the mornings he watched the sun rise above the glittering waves. During the day he explored the island and picked fruits to eat. Before the onset of evening he would wander back to the shore and cast himself on the soft sands. And then, watching the stars spin above him, he would fall asleep.

In this way many years passed. And though he traversed the forests and the caves and the shallow shoals, never did he find the trace of another human being.

After a time this began to disturb the man. Surely, he thought, surely I must have heard the cries of a baby among the cacophony of the native birds. But search his memory as he might, he could not recall a baby's cry among the sounds of the island. Surely, he thought, surely I must have glimpsed the footprints of a man amoung the light prints of the rabbits. But in truth he cound not remember a single instance in which he had seen such a print.

And casting his mind back even further, to his first memories of the beautiful island, he realized that he could not remember how he himself had come to reside there.

Iif I am alone on this beautiful island through some act of disaster, he thought, should I not at least remember my mother and father? But he could not. If I have no parents, he thought, how then did I come to be?

This question so bewildered the man that he spent the night examining his every memory, as if it could show him the secret of his existence.

At last, the man came to the conclusion that he could not exist.

And who's to say that he is incorrect?

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Most important advancement in engineering in the next 25 years

by Cartier on Tuesday, June 30, 2009 comments (5)

So for this scholarship I'm applying for there is an essay question asking that we discuss what we feel will be the most important advancement in engineering in the next 25 years. The essay will be judged on whether they agree, your insight into the subject, and the understanding of the widespread application of ideas.

So, thus far I have compiled a few ideas as to what I think may happen in the next 25 years:
Near room-temperature superconductors
Memristors
Devices making clean water available worldwide
Fusion Reactors
Genetically modified retroviruses as treatment for all sorts of diseases
Ditto for Bacteria
Something making MRIs cheaper (not sure what it would be)

This would be a good topic to start discussing. If any of the other Eng. Students would like to know about the scholarship just speak up and I'll post the link.

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