Krugman dovetails with David Deutsch

You know who Paul Krugman is -- but who's this David Deutsch guy? Well, he's one of the most intelligent physicists working right now to create a quantum computer. Deutsch is way up there in the stratosphere, but he's such an intellectually engaging guy that he takes the time to tell us about his mental adventures. I could go on and on about how much I enjoy Deutsch's writing, but I'd like to make a point.

Today on his blog, Krugman talked about the difference between the liberal and conservative mindset. Why is their approach to reality so different? Here's an excerpt:

One possible answer would be that liberals and conservatives are very different kinds of people — that liberalism goes along with a skeptical, doubting — even self-doubting — frame of mind; “a liberal is someone who won’t take his own side in an argument.”

Since I'm reading "The Beginning of Infinity" by Deutsch, I couldn't help but notice the concordance between this notion and one of Deutsch's primary premises in the book. Deutsch believes that the launching point for infinity -- the point beyond which humanity soars in soon-to-be-discovered ways -- is the willingness to call out untruths wherever and whenever we see them.

A society without error-correction will always go nowhere. Look toward faith for a great example of a tradition that is hidebound and calcifying. If you can't question the tenets of your religion, and update them in light of new discoveries, then your faith is worth nothing. It is unconnected to the coming "infinity".

Even our computers operate with the understanding that there will be errors. Error correction is built into the software that we use every day. And in countries where the populace can vote down an insane idea, there is also a form of error correction. Contrast this with the ruling ethos of Saudi Arabia, for instance. There, you can't question anything. This is a society that will fail. Staying the same is no guarantee of future viability -- quite the contrary. The world is always changing.

So I was happy to see Krugman hone in on this crucial difference between Democrats and Republicans. We (Democrats) see errors and want to correct them. They (Republicans) don't. The future belongs to those who are willing to question everything.

(And hey, wasn't that a popular hippie phrase back in the day? Question everything. Question authority. Yup, I remember seeing those phrases and they are indeed a form of error correction. Hippies got a lot of things right.)

Krugman almost scary-good lately

Paul Krugman is one of the most powerful, rational voices in America. I'm sure he won't mind me excerpting the following from his latest blog post:

[T]oday’s Republican party is an alliance between the plutocrats and the preachers, plus some opportunists along for the ride — full stop. The whole party is about low taxes at the top (and low benefits for the rest), plus conservative social values and putting religion in the schools; it has no other reason for being. Someday there may emerge another party with the same name standing for a quite different agenda; after all, the Republicans were once defined by opposition to slavery, and the Democrats by rural voters (hence the donkey) and Tammany Hall. But that will take a long time, and it won’t really be the same party.

Finally, it’s true that there are some Republican intellectuals and pundits who seem to be truly open-minded about both economic and social issues. But I worded that carefully: they “seem to be” open-minded; indeed, they’re professional seemers. When it matters, they can always be counted on — after making a big show of stroking their chins and agonizing — to follow the party line, and reject anything that doesn’t go along with the preacher-plutocrat agenda. If they don’t deliver when it counts, they are excommunicated; see Frum, David.

Anyone who imagines that there is any real soul-searching going on is deluding himself or herself.

Knocked it out of the park. Amazing.

They got it wrong

Racial prejudice in America is more widespread now than when President Barack Obama became the country's first black president in a historic 2008 vote, a new survey has shown.

So says an article in the Guardian. But this isn't true. America is exactly as prejudiced as it always was. What has changed is that people are now stupid enough to openly and proudly state that they're racists. You can blame Fox News, the Republicans and plaque in the brain for this. But nothing has changed.

This is such a dumb move

Cardinal Timothy Dolan says he's now giving the closing prayer at both the Democratic and Republican conventions.

Great. So now Timmy will be able to chide the democrats, live on teevee. He'll tell them they're not being hateful enough to gays and women, etc. This is just what the dems need. What fool approved this? I swear the democratic party is its own worst enemy.

GOP throws the election

Only a day after Todd Akin made his insane comments about rape, the GOP has approved "a federal ban on abortion with no exception for rape and incest survivors".

What else is there to say? The GOP just lost the election. To think of all the money that was spent on this doomed Romney campaign! And for what? A platform that guarantees they will lose the election? This turn of events is shocking in so many ways. They truly don't see women as autonomous human beings -- and are happy to admit it!

The GOP will never come back from this.

Predators eat own future

So the Republicans successfully filibustered the DREAM Act today. Congratulations and shout-outs to all the Republican pigs. Go, pigs!

The image I have when I hear the word "Republican" is this: I see a circle of predatory birds standing around the last burrow of a species (say a worm) on which they live exclusively. Their beady little eyes are focused on the tiny hole in the ground from which the worms' babies emerge. And as the last couple of dying worms release their last progeny and a baby emerges from the hole, one of the birds pounces on it and eats it. This is repeated until no more worms emerge and the species is forever extinct. Now there's nothing for the birds to live on, but they only care that that their bellies are full.

Immigrants are our future. Allowing them to become educated enhances that future. Predicating citizenship upon enrollment in college is one of the best ideas to emerge in ages. And bolstering our military by offering citizenship for armed service is also a wonderful idea.

Killed, DOA, by a bunch of hungry, short-sighted Republican birds. 

UPDATE:
And on the very same day, Don't Ask, Don't Tell has finally been repealed. This is great and I posted my "hoorays" over at Joe.My.God. (Now let's see how they handle the roll-out of the new policy; this worries me.)

But wouldn't it have been great if DADT was repealed and the DREAM Act had passed? It might have felt like there was some hope for our country. Still, we take what we can get. Congratulations to Dan Choi, the brave man who championed the repeal of DADT while in uniform. He has every right to feel proud today.