Wintershall Nativity (19/12/11)

Squelch. Squelch. Squelch.

As we embarked upon a muddy trench with umbrellas in hand, we anticipated the Christmas spirit brought about by the annual nativity play. The sky was a translucent burn't blue. Typical as the rain continued to pour down.

The breeze was chilling as we passed beacons of fire orientated on both sides of the path. Their essence filled the smoky air comforted by their warmth. My shoes were an inconvenience as they moulded into the clay-like mud that blanketed the pathway.

The service began at the top of the hill with Mary riding a donkey that was guided by Joseph. The crowd, like a swarm, were led east by a star to a near-by barn. I was more concerned about falling into the sticky mud that was now riddled with shoe impressions.

When the service finished we were guided along a walkway scattered with hay and were given the opportunity to interact with the cast. This was the highlight of Mum's evening as she got the opportunity to shake the hand of the man who played Jesus in the previous production.

The service was performed by a troupe of Christian volunteers and was mildly compelling. I'd seen them earlier this year in The Passion Of Christ (a reenactment of the Easter story) and even then, by their presence alone you could tell they had the passion.

How will you be celebrating Christmas this year?

Happy Blogiversary!

That's right. On this day in 2010, I set up my blog.

Mainly with the intention of making a good impression at university, as this time last year I was halfway through drafting my personal statement. 

How times have changed. I am now at a university I love. I am studying a course that I love and I am living with housemates that I, well, love.

We've spent most of the day decorating the house with paper chains as we're all cheapskates when it comes to Christmas.

(insert reference to bonding here)

At 4:32pm it's already getting dark outside and it's turned bitterly cold. I'm cuddled up in bed with freshly washed sheets feeling rather nostalgic. I want to savour these moments as they don't come by often.

I hope you've enjoyed reading and there's plenty more to come.

I mustn't forget to credit my rather awesome housemate Devan for the rather punnerific title (casual neologism). #TheOneWhatsAttemptingBlogging

The Electronic Mode Code - Can You Crack It?

This is the question on GCHQ's state-of-the-art transmitters as the intelligence agency use social networking sites to recruit a new generation of super sleuths.

According to The Daily Telegraph (1/12/11), GCHQ has introduced an internet-based code-breaking game "tracking down" people with the skills for successful hacking in an attempt to combat the high levels of cyber crime present in the current computer age.

This unconventional method differs greatly from their previous attempt, in which they would invite particularly bright students, notably students from Oxford and Cambridge, for a "cup of tea and a chat".

McChesney (1998) defines Political Economy (PE) as "the nature of the relationship of media and communications systems to the broader structure of society" - shaping the way we see the world.

From a PE viewpoint, GCHQ is exercising a certain degree of power over society. Arguably, they are using this exercise to categorize people into levels of intelligence and ultimately, how spy-worthy they are.

This kind of power signifies the decline in the necessity of education by seeking people who are "self taught" in the art of computer hacking. It is made clear that this new media is "socially shaping" the way we view the world as it is made more accessible to the public. 

This is something we would associate with a Capitalist Economic System.

I have skills.

All information and quotes sourced from The Daily Telegraph (1/12/11). 
For more information, visit: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/.

Additional Sources:

- Lister, M 

 "New Media: An Introduction" (2009)

HCJ Seminar Paper (29/11/11)

David Hume. (1711-1776)

“I feel I should be a loser in point of pleasure; and this is the origin of my philosophy.” (page 601)

The basis to Hume’s philosophy is derived from fellow philosopher Sextus Empiricus who believed that our understanding of the world is based on “sense data”. All ideas are equal and therefore thinking is “worthless”.

This is otherwise known as Empiricism. Empiricism is associated with other great figures such as Hobbes and Locke, who are firm believers in gaining knowledge from perception. 

Treatise of Human Nature. (1734-1737)

Divided into three books under the title “Enquiry into Human Understanding”, Hume attempts to describe the distinction between ‘impressions’ and ‘ideas’. 

He claims that impressions come first and are said to be derived from experience. The section “Of Abstract Ideas” was an agreement with Berkley’s doctrine that “all general ideas are nothing… annexed to a certain term, which gives them a more extensive significance.” It was Hume’s belief that abstract ideas are in themselves individual, however in time, they may become overgeneralized through representation.

“By ideas I mean the faint images of these in thinking and reasoning… every simple idea has a simple impression, which resembles it; and every simple impression a correspondent idea.”(Page 601)

The “Self”.

Hume believed in mankind as a collection of different perceptions that are in perpetual flux and movement. That there can be no ‘impression’ of the self and therefore no ‘idea’ of it. His theory of the “self” banished the concrete from Psychology with his description of a bundle of perceptions that cannot enter into any part of our knowledge. 

He explains “… when I enter most intimately into what I call myself, I always stumble on some particular perception… of heat or cold, light or shade, love or hatred, pain or pleasure. I can never catch myself at any time without a perception, and never can observe anything but the perception.” (page 602)

Joseph Addison (1672-1719), one of the first Journalists during the Restoration (the time of Hobbes, Locke and Johnson), had a very objective writing style, what with his characters often being “pleasure seeking”.

From Hume’s perspective, Addison's account of fact and fiction based on social events would be considered a perception, whereby his characters are stimulated by pleasure and pain. In his narrative “The Adventures of a Shilling” (1710) for example, Addison writes “…the busy men of the age, who only valued themselves for being in motion, and passing through a series of trifling and insignificant actions.”

Rejection of Descartes.

Hume's opposition of Cartesian philosophy was based on the idea that cause and effect is necessary. Hume, on the other hand, believed that we can only know cause and effect from experience, not from “reasoning” and “reflection.” For example, the statement “what begins must have a cause” is not certain as its connection is not logical.

“… necessity is something that exists in the mind, not in objects.”  (page 605)

His "Seven Categories of Thought" deals with the difference between certain knowledge (experience) and probable knowledge (causal relations). For example, geometry is not as certain as algebra and arithmetic as “all our ideas are copied from our impressions.” Therefore, there can be no such thing as an impression of a causal relation. 

Hume’s Doctrine.

From an objective viewpoint, Hume says that A and B are conjoined (A and B causes the impression of A to cause the idea of B). Subjectively, however, Causation is definable in terms of sequence, due to what Hume calls the “habit of association” (if I see an apple and expect to experience a certain kind of taste).

Causation.

Hume defined Causation as taking "us beyond the impressions of our senses, and informs us of unperceived existences.” (page 608) 

This definition is derivative from the Causal Law in Physics, whereby we cannot possibly perceive cause and effect from the observed course of nature. Therefore, Descartes' theory can only be explained through habit and association. In Hume's view, "there is nothing in cause except invariable succession" (page 609) of which there is no rational justification.  

The character development of Mr. Neville from French film “The Draughtsman’s Contract“ (1982) can be described as “strictly materialistic.” As an artist, he attempts to “never distort or dissemble” any of his paintings of a wealthy landowner’s estate. The deceptive human statue however is symbolic, as his role is to cause minor changes within these paintings, as if to represent “the way the world sees it.” 

Here, the film enters into Hume’s theory of Scepticism, whereby “the supposition that the future resembles the past, is not founded on arguments of any kind, but is derived entirely from habit.” (page 609)

Knowledge.

It was Hume’s firm belief that science equals truth, similar to the theory of Francis Bacon around 150 years before (1561-1626). Belief is never rational since we can know nothing and what we do know is derived from experience. 

Conclusion.

Described as a "symbolic quarrel" between Hume and Rousseau (1712-1778) towards the end of the Renaissance, it was argued that there can be no belief based on reason and therefore, pure empiricism couldn't possibly be a sufficient basis of scientific knowledge. 

This lead to Hume's rejection of Bacon's inductive method.

“Induction is an independent logical principle, incapable of being inferred either from experience or from other logical principles, and that without this principle science is impossible.” (page 612)

Sources:

·         Russell, Bertrand

“The History of Western Philosophy” (1996)