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Samuel_C_Florman

Emotional Fulfillment

“The nature of engineering has been misconceived. Analysis, rationality, materialism, and practical creativity do not preclude emotional fulfillment; they are pathways to such fulfillment. They do not ‘reduce’ experience, as is so often claimed; they expand it. Engineering is superficial only to those who view it superficially. At the heart of engineering lies existential joy.”
  • Source: From the book “The Existential Pleasures of Engineering” by {Samuel C. Florman}. Second edition published in 1994 by {St. Martin's Press}, New York, NY. First edition published in 1976. Kindle edition published in 2023. E-book ISBN 978-1466842366. Chapter 8, page 101.

Stephen_Hawking

Star Trek

“Science fiction like Star Trek is not only good fun but it also serves a serious purpose, that of expanding the human imagination.”
  • Source: Stephen Hawking quoted in the book “The Physics of Star Trek” written by Lawrence M. Krauss. Forward, page xi.

Pim_van_Lommel

Materialist Science

“In materialist science, only that is true that you can objectify, what you can measure, what you can duplicate, or what you can falsify. Then it is true. Now what you feel and what you think, your consciousness, you cannot objectify, you cannot duplicate, you cannot measure, and you cannot falsify. Consciousness, the essence of who you are, what you feel, what you think, is beyond our current materialist science. So, they call it an illusion. But it is the essence of who we are. We have to expand science into post-materialist science. We have to change the paradigm to include subjective experiences... Science should include subjective experiences into the scientific method... The materialist aspect of science is still important, but it's not enough... This is a totally different approach when you realize that everything has its subjective aspects.”
  • Source: Words from Pim van Lommel in a video interview. From the YouTube video “Consciousness beyond death, with Dr. Pim van Lommel” on the Essentia Foundation channel. Posted 2023-07-23. Online at https://youtu.be/NVsBFOB7H44. Offset 46:19.

Thomas_Robert_Malthus

Population and Subsistence

“I think I may fairly make two postulata. First, That food is necessary to the existence of man. Secondly, That the passion between the sexes is necessary, and will remain nearly in its present state... Assuming then my postulata as granted, I say, that the power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man. Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio. Subsistence increases only in an arithmetical ratio... This implies a strong and constantly operating check on population from the difficulty of subsistence. This difficulty must fall somewhere; and must necessarily be severely felt by a large portion of mankind... The germs of existence contained in this spot of earth, with ample food, and ample room to expand in, would fill millions of worlds in the course of a few thousand years... Consequently, if the premises are just, the argument is conclusive against the perfectibility of the mass of mankind.”
  • Source: Thomas Robert Malthus. The essay: “An Essay on the Principle of Population as It Affects the Future Improvement of Society, with Remarks on the Speculations of Mr. Goodwin, M. Condorcet and Other Writers”. Originally published: 1798. Edition: First. Publisher: J. Johnson. Location: London, England. Chapter: 1. Retrieved From: <https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/An_Essay_on_the_Principle_of_Population>. Retrieval Date: 2024-04-03.
  • Notes: The dire predictions of Malthus have not yet been fulfilled. This is primarily due to errors in his initial assumptions (which are properly identified), not in errors in his logic. The first assumption (or postulatum) is that food production increases arithmetically (linearly). But historically, food production has increased geometrically (exponentially) due to advances in mechanical technologies and biotechnologies. The second assumption assumes passion and birth rates are directly correlated. However, technological advances in birth control, cultural advances in women's rights, and rising prosperity (which lowers birth rates) have falsified this assumption. Additional questionable assumptions are also made which are not initially specified.