Ponderings: October 2007 Archives

We humans, smart as we are, oft confuse complicated with difficult, and simple with easy.  In my experience, it's the other way around plenty of times; the simple can be extremely difficult.  Ask any physicist about the difficulty of dealing with an equation as simple as

E = mc²

Or a person simply trying to do the right thing; Or even just counting out loud to 10,000 without error.

Much of the beauty scientists find in their work is in the elegant, and simple, laws underlying their reality.  But this hasn't been the case in the "soft" sciences.  Ask one of them why? and instead of writing a few figures on the blackboard, they will tell you volumes, and still not have it completely correct.  I don't believe this is only because of the subject matter; I suspect it's mostly the attitude of the practitioners thinking that the truths of their field are frightfully complicated. 

Well, I'm not a practitioner of any soft science, so it could only be my ignorance talking, but some "human" things are very, very simple.  For instance ...

In the case of our current violent conflict with the "islamists", they will win because they are willing to kill, and we aren't willing to die.

It really is that simple.

If you don't believe me, do your own brief survey of the armed conflicts America has been in.  You will find that every time we weren't victorious we were also not willing to die.  Compare three recent examples where Americans were outraged at the deaths of our soldiers: Vietnam, Somalia, Korea; with WWI and WWII.  If you're still not satisfied, pick any military history you like.  As soon as one side says "we've done enough dying, and will do no more", the other side wins.

Isn't that just about the same as surrender?

Quote:

"American supremacy is the greatest threat to the world today." George Soros, MoveOn.org's billionaire benefactor

I have seen this quote attributed to Soros many times in many places, but was unable to verify it on the net.  After checking the web thoroughly, the closest I found was a transcript of CNN Crossfire, Aired May 31, 2004 - 16:30 ET which says " ...Soros explained to 'The Washington Post' this fall ... Soros went on to compare the president of the United States to the Nazis. And then he said something even more offensive. Soros described the United States as -- quote - 'a danger to the world.'"

Fun Facts to know and share:

There is an intersection in Houston: Clinton & Fidelity

Bumper Stickers that caught my eye:

If You Don't Vote, DON'T WHINE

Don't Worry What People Think.  They Don't Do It Very Often