Recently our Economics Professor, Dr. Giffin was talking about why demand curves are always negative and in so doing explained utilitarian philosophy of "utils." Utils are units of happiness caused by something. For example a coke might give me five utils and wrapping my brother in a blanket and dangling him over a chin-up bar might give me 100 utils. However, he said something very interesting: That truth was subjective because people derive different amounts of utils from different activities. Of course, this statement is not true at all. I was just thinking about it this morning in this light:
Yesterday Mom said it would be OK if I went on to Netflix and streamed shows that I wanted to see. Naturally I took advantage of this generous offer and began streaming a show. The show was "Heroes." While taking a break so that someone else could use the computer (The computer is very highly demanded which is why I'm not using it now.) I ate some snack with Alexie. Alexie asked me why I was watching "Heroes" because according to all her research the show was lame and not worth watching. So is "Heroes" lame or not lame? Subjective truth!? No! It is objectively true that Alexie derives -100 utils from watching this show but it is equally true that I derive +100 utils from watching this show. My enjoyment of a show is not subjective. It won't change even if my sister can't believe it. Pleasure is just as objective as all other truths. The only thing that is subjective is the value that people place on objects, not the truth about the object or the truth about the values.
Showing posts with label Dr. Giffin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dr. Giffin. Show all posts
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Facts vs. Facts
Alright, I finally figured out what Dr. Giffin did that so irked me in his facts explanation: He used the word "facts" as "statements" instead of "truth."
Before his explanation he explained that facts were scientific pieces of data. Therefore, anyone listening very closely would understand what he meant. Unfortunately, I think most students in the class wrote down "facts are relative" or something of that ilk and left it at that. Unfortunately, the common connotation of facts is not "statements." For example:
Person 1: The sun goes around the earth.
Person 2: Is that a fact?
Person 1: Yes, but it isn't true.
As you see, this conversation wouldn't happen in most instances. Everyone understands and accepts that facts are generally truth to the extent that we can use them interchangably. In short, using words in their most literal meaning is often confusing and misleading.
Before his explanation he explained that facts were scientific pieces of data. Therefore, anyone listening very closely would understand what he meant. Unfortunately, I think most students in the class wrote down "facts are relative" or something of that ilk and left it at that. Unfortunately, the common connotation of facts is not "statements." For example:
Person 1: The sun goes around the earth.
Person 2: Is that a fact?
Person 1: Yes, but it isn't true.
As you see, this conversation wouldn't happen in most instances. Everyone understands and accepts that facts are generally truth to the extent that we can use them interchangably. In short, using words in their most literal meaning is often confusing and misleading.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Roman Slavery
Today I learned about the Romans and how they treat their slaves in two different classes, Latin and Economics.
First, Dr. Davies explained to us how humane the Romans were to their slaves. That slaves were often considered part of the family. That Romans often freed their slaves in their wills. The slaves weren't just forced to do hard labor like in America. Slaves filled all economic positions. And that the reason that slaves were called "servus" which is similar to the verb "servare" to save is that the Romans thought that they saved the people they enslaved because otherwise the Romans would have killed them. Thank you for small favors.
Next hour, Dr. Giffin explained to us how in the Roman Empire the slaves were brutally forced to do all the work, that economics hardly existed at all because the empire was too wrapped up in war to think of trade, that slaves weren't given any rights at all and that you could kill them if you felt like it. Slaves filled all economic positions. (Which you'll notice Dr. Davies also said last paragraph, but Dr. Davies made it sound like the Romans were doing them a favor.)
Therefore you can see that everything you learn on campus is highly skeptical and shouldn't be taken on face value. Or as Dr. Giffin himself says, "Just because it is a fact, doesn't mean it is necessarily true."
First, Dr. Davies explained to us how humane the Romans were to their slaves. That slaves were often considered part of the family. That Romans often freed their slaves in their wills. The slaves weren't just forced to do hard labor like in America. Slaves filled all economic positions. And that the reason that slaves were called "servus" which is similar to the verb "servare" to save is that the Romans thought that they saved the people they enslaved because otherwise the Romans would have killed them. Thank you for small favors.
Next hour, Dr. Giffin explained to us how in the Roman Empire the slaves were brutally forced to do all the work, that economics hardly existed at all because the empire was too wrapped up in war to think of trade, that slaves weren't given any rights at all and that you could kill them if you felt like it. Slaves filled all economic positions. (Which you'll notice Dr. Davies also said last paragraph, but Dr. Davies made it sound like the Romans were doing them a favor.)
Therefore you can see that everything you learn on campus is highly skeptical and shouldn't be taken on face value. Or as Dr. Giffin himself says, "Just because it is a fact, doesn't mean it is necessarily true."
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
SUCH fun
Today, I have a lot of things that happened so I might make multiple blog posts. Oh well. Anyway the first thing that happened to me was Signing Up for Classes Hell, which when abbreviated makes the word "SUCH" for no reason.
Anyways, I was awake at 5:30 so that I could get Mom to turn off Covenant Eyes. Covenant Eyes is our filter which does not allow internet activity between 10:00 and 7:00 which is usually fine because that is usually when my parents are asleep. However, I needed that computer at 6:00 to sign up for classes. Anyways, that was turned off and so I waited stealthily for 6:00 to strike. When 6:00 did strike, guess what? The registry page was counted by Mom's pop-up blocker as a pop-up. Had to switch computers. It was SUCH a pain.
Turns out that most of my classes were full by the time I was able to log on. (7:00, I could have totally slept in) I signed up for Timothy Parker's English Class (ENGL 122 007), Dr. Davies' Latin Class (LAT 101 001), and Phillip Giffin's Economics Class (ECON 102 004/005) for anyone who is interested in knowing such random unimportant information. I also need three more credit hours if any of my friends know a class that they will also be in that counts for some Gen Ed requirement that I haven't yet met. Not that any of this is important.
P.S. Phillip Giffin is supposedly a strong Republican with an oddly spelled name and dozens of open spaces in his class. I'd advise anyone who happens to be at UTC next semester to take him. Not that I'm insinuating anything.
Anyways, I was awake at 5:30 so that I could get Mom to turn off Covenant Eyes. Covenant Eyes is our filter which does not allow internet activity between 10:00 and 7:00 which is usually fine because that is usually when my parents are asleep. However, I needed that computer at 6:00 to sign up for classes. Anyways, that was turned off and so I waited stealthily for 6:00 to strike. When 6:00 did strike, guess what? The registry page was counted by Mom's pop-up blocker as a pop-up. Had to switch computers. It was SUCH a pain.
Turns out that most of my classes were full by the time I was able to log on. (7:00, I could have totally slept in) I signed up for Timothy Parker's English Class (ENGL 122 007), Dr. Davies' Latin Class (LAT 101 001), and Phillip Giffin's Economics Class (ECON 102 004/005) for anyone who is interested in knowing such random unimportant information. I also need three more credit hours if any of my friends know a class that they will also be in that counts for some Gen Ed requirement that I haven't yet met. Not that any of this is important.
P.S. Phillip Giffin is supposedly a strong Republican with an oddly spelled name and dozens of open spaces in his class. I'd advise anyone who happens to be at UTC next semester to take him. Not that I'm insinuating anything.
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