Sex may be the most pleasurable natural animal activity, at least among mammals and possibly among all animals, though eating when hungry, drinking when thirsty, warming when cold, cooling when hot, and scratching an itch aren't out of the running. Yet sex is a source of much human misery. Mating is one of the most important determinants of satisfaction in life. Parents give mating of their children much thought, worry and hope, often tacitly. We just don't have a formula for optimizing sex and mating. How can wisdom prevail in an arena where desire and impulse are so strong? Both love and the lack of it make people crazy.
How much delay is optimal? Most religious traditions teach abstinence until marriage, but that teaching has been ignored by many throughout history and has largely lost traction with the sexual revolution. This trend makes more sense as our culture encourages delayed marriage, incident to the perceived need for both spouses to be employed outside the home.
The youth culture today is a minefield of temptations and opportunities. Perhaps the biggest increase of danger is in the availability of pleasure drugs, but the danger of irresponsible sexual activity is much greater than it was in the 50s. Back then, unwanted pregnancy was the biggest worry and the likely STDs were curable; today there are several deadly STDs. Some happiness-diminishing and incurable STDs are now epidemic, afflicting more than half of young adults. Consider the inner conflict of an ethical person with an incurable STD. Thus, there is a practical downside to hooking up and friends with benefits. The upside might be the containment of depressing loneliness, fantasies, obsessions, compulsions and anxiety, and the development of comfort with the other gender, technique and sociability. Can the upside be maximized and the downside be minimized?
In today's environment, can a young person be guided toward a happy mating outcome without cynical motives? Would advice about goodwill, good intentions, long-term hopes about life be valuable along with that about protection? The internet once promised to help in identifying compatible mates, but abuse of that system presents some dangers. Examples of beneficial life choices might help.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Socioeconomic Pyramid
> He who dies with the most toys wins. Conspicuous consumption is a means to display status, especially for the respect of strangers. These usually unarticulated and unconscious features of human nature drive many to heights of accomplishment. For every person near the top of the socioeconomic pyramid, there must be masses at the lower levels.
> Aspects of this socioeconomic structure disturb liberal Democrats and please conservative Republicans. Liberals, like Jesus, lament the extremes from bottom to top and wish to mollify the impact on those at the bottom. Conservatives, like Marie Antoinette, see those extremes as the natural order and recognize that the height of an apex depends on the number of hungry, exploitable workers and customers beneath. There is a tension between ethical and practical considerations.
> The quest for status can be pernicious, especially among children, given the superficiality of their thinking and the cruelty meted to the excluded. There may be little relief from the status quest into adulthood, though the effects may be more subtle and practical. Given the wide spectrum of conditions in various dimensions of the pyramid, generalizations are difficult, but it appears that the distress of status is largely due to comparisons with perceived norms and internalized expectations, ie it is more psychological than practical. With basic physical needs met, one can be grateful with ones circumstances or resentful that others have more.
> Is it possible, through public policy and cultural encouragement, to broaden the distribution of satisfaction from top to bottom of the pyramid, without upsetting the motivations for productive activity throughout? How much misery and anxiety are necessary at and near the bottom? Are there entitlements that should be extended to all citizens? Would universal health care be one? Can self-destructive choices be be headed off more effectively? Should every citizen, rich and poor, be required to give a year or more of national service after high school to accomplish nationally important goals?
> Aspects of this socioeconomic structure disturb liberal Democrats and please conservative Republicans. Liberals, like Jesus, lament the extremes from bottom to top and wish to mollify the impact on those at the bottom. Conservatives, like Marie Antoinette, see those extremes as the natural order and recognize that the height of an apex depends on the number of hungry, exploitable workers and customers beneath. There is a tension between ethical and practical considerations.
> The quest for status can be pernicious, especially among children, given the superficiality of their thinking and the cruelty meted to the excluded. There may be little relief from the status quest into adulthood, though the effects may be more subtle and practical. Given the wide spectrum of conditions in various dimensions of the pyramid, generalizations are difficult, but it appears that the distress of status is largely due to comparisons with perceived norms and internalized expectations, ie it is more psychological than practical. With basic physical needs met, one can be grateful with ones circumstances or resentful that others have more.
> Is it possible, through public policy and cultural encouragement, to broaden the distribution of satisfaction from top to bottom of the pyramid, without upsetting the motivations for productive activity throughout? How much misery and anxiety are necessary at and near the bottom? Are there entitlements that should be extended to all citizens? Would universal health care be one? Can self-destructive choices be be headed off more effectively? Should every citizen, rich and poor, be required to give a year or more of national service after high school to accomplish nationally important goals?
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Mistakes were made
* Understatement of the decade!!! The American people made a huge mistake by electing a president who lacked curiosity about the world and who stayed inebriated during his formative years.
* 1) Greedy Americans sought nirvana in abolition of the estate tax, not realizing that only the richest 2% pay any estate tax. Did they wish to establish and perpetuate an aristocracy or plutocracy? Next came a reduction of the highest tax rate, another gift to the rich, then the abolition of tax on dividends to enrich the rich. The excuse was to avoid double taxation of dividends. More desirable would be to let corporations deduct dividends from reported earnings.
* Since the Republican congress went on a spending spree, including an unjust war, these tax policies just added to the national debt, which will have to be serviced by future generations, the interest on which will go to our rich and to foreign countries.
* The argument that the government did not need the revenues was short sighted, as the country was deeply in debt, with rising social-security payouts on the horizon. The argument that tax breaks for the rich would stimulate the economy was trickle down theory, the most inefficient conceivable economic policy.
* The very rich were not in fact asking for those gifts. Most of them understood that a balanced budget is more important than their additional wealth. Many of them understood that a healthy middle class is more important than a richer wealthy class. Fair minded people don't mind paying taxes needed by their government, provided all others of similar circumstances are paying their share. * Thus, the tax breaks didn't even contribute to the happiness of their beneficiaries.
* 2) My fellow Christian Americans, our Christian Congress and our Christian President were too easily caught up in hate and revenge against the wrong target. It has been a long time since more evil than the Iraq war was projected on the world. How many ministers led discussions of Just War Theory during the run-up?
* 3) Ignoring warnings about al-Qaida's intentions, withholding funds for international family planning, failing to promote energy conservation (transportation standards & building codes), maligning same-sex couples, all mistakes.
* Why would anyone regret the departure of Republicans from Washington?
* 1) Greedy Americans sought nirvana in abolition of the estate tax, not realizing that only the richest 2% pay any estate tax. Did they wish to establish and perpetuate an aristocracy or plutocracy? Next came a reduction of the highest tax rate, another gift to the rich, then the abolition of tax on dividends to enrich the rich. The excuse was to avoid double taxation of dividends. More desirable would be to let corporations deduct dividends from reported earnings.
* Since the Republican congress went on a spending spree, including an unjust war, these tax policies just added to the national debt, which will have to be serviced by future generations, the interest on which will go to our rich and to foreign countries.
* The argument that the government did not need the revenues was short sighted, as the country was deeply in debt, with rising social-security payouts on the horizon. The argument that tax breaks for the rich would stimulate the economy was trickle down theory, the most inefficient conceivable economic policy.
* The very rich were not in fact asking for those gifts. Most of them understood that a balanced budget is more important than their additional wealth. Many of them understood that a healthy middle class is more important than a richer wealthy class. Fair minded people don't mind paying taxes needed by their government, provided all others of similar circumstances are paying their share. * Thus, the tax breaks didn't even contribute to the happiness of their beneficiaries.
* 2) My fellow Christian Americans, our Christian Congress and our Christian President were too easily caught up in hate and revenge against the wrong target. It has been a long time since more evil than the Iraq war was projected on the world. How many ministers led discussions of Just War Theory during the run-up?
* 3) Ignoring warnings about al-Qaida's intentions, withholding funds for international family planning, failing to promote energy conservation (transportation standards & building codes), maligning same-sex couples, all mistakes.
* Why would anyone regret the departure of Republicans from Washington?
Monday, March 19, 2007
Brittle Economy
The US economy is out of balance, hence the US way of life is unsustainable. We are too addicted to low consumer prices, high stock prices and convenience. Can a free society act rationally? We need to experiment with new ways to get things done.
1) We consume too much that we don't produce, so we spend much more on imports that we receive in revenues from exports. Our debts to foreign countries are huge and growing faster. Addiction to oil contributes much to this trade imbalance. Driving fuel-inefficient cars and living far from work are self destructive. Our building codes don't insist on high-R thermal envelopes and low surface/volume ratios. We have failed to support non-carbon (renewable, local) energy production. We have allowed too much of our manufacturing capacity to leave. These choices were political, not inevitable. As a result we are deep in debt to the more productive nations, most of which are not our friends.
2) US taxes are not sufficient to pay for federal programs. Our government spends much more than it takes in, with the result that national debt is huge and growing faster. Interest on that debt has become a very large component of the federal budget, which robs from programs and increases the debt even faster - the miracle of compound interest in reverse. Left as is, debt service will eventually consume the entire budget, ie it will be the only item in the budget. Debt service contributes to the negative trade balance. Cutting tax for economic stimulation is inefficient, temporary, undesirable. Satisfied, Grover Norquist & GW Bush?
3) Our culture and educational system don't sufficiently respect labor, encourage work ethic, teach trades, insist on work, reward hard labor. Fat, lazy & entitled are norms. We import workers at most levels: intellectuals, nurses, hospitality workers, builders, food producers and processors (We still grow inventors and entrepreneurs.) Many drop out of school early but don't have skills, work ethic or self respect to do needed work, and that work is so undercompensated that many who might be in that work force end up choosing crime while we import their replacements. The process is self augmenting. Some say that the massive import of laborers is necessary for several industries and to support our social-security system (which could be balanced by modest tweaking). One might ask whether an industry that needs massive imported labor is in need of more fundamental alteration to make it attractive to native citizens. There is no end of foreigners who would love to immigrate, but our population is already too big by some measures. The US will become like those places where the workers are coming from.
4) We believe that most problems can be solved by a growing economy. But economic activity is already bigger than the earth can support. Competition for energy, limitations of water, displacement of wildlife, pollution of air, water and land are consequences of expanding population and expanding economy. We are close to the maximal sustainable average world prosperity. It is hypocritical to pretend that a happier world will result from development of now small-footprint societies. The march for more economic activity is unsustainable. Time will come when Milton Friedman will be seen as the midwife of doom.
1) We consume too much that we don't produce, so we spend much more on imports that we receive in revenues from exports. Our debts to foreign countries are huge and growing faster. Addiction to oil contributes much to this trade imbalance. Driving fuel-inefficient cars and living far from work are self destructive. Our building codes don't insist on high-R thermal envelopes and low surface/volume ratios. We have failed to support non-carbon (renewable, local) energy production. We have allowed too much of our manufacturing capacity to leave. These choices were political, not inevitable. As a result we are deep in debt to the more productive nations, most of which are not our friends.
2) US taxes are not sufficient to pay for federal programs. Our government spends much more than it takes in, with the result that national debt is huge and growing faster. Interest on that debt has become a very large component of the federal budget, which robs from programs and increases the debt even faster - the miracle of compound interest in reverse. Left as is, debt service will eventually consume the entire budget, ie it will be the only item in the budget. Debt service contributes to the negative trade balance. Cutting tax for economic stimulation is inefficient, temporary, undesirable. Satisfied, Grover Norquist & GW Bush?
3) Our culture and educational system don't sufficiently respect labor, encourage work ethic, teach trades, insist on work, reward hard labor. Fat, lazy & entitled are norms. We import workers at most levels: intellectuals, nurses, hospitality workers, builders, food producers and processors (We still grow inventors and entrepreneurs.) Many drop out of school early but don't have skills, work ethic or self respect to do needed work, and that work is so undercompensated that many who might be in that work force end up choosing crime while we import their replacements. The process is self augmenting. Some say that the massive import of laborers is necessary for several industries and to support our social-security system (which could be balanced by modest tweaking). One might ask whether an industry that needs massive imported labor is in need of more fundamental alteration to make it attractive to native citizens. There is no end of foreigners who would love to immigrate, but our population is already too big by some measures. The US will become like those places where the workers are coming from.
4) We believe that most problems can be solved by a growing economy. But economic activity is already bigger than the earth can support. Competition for energy, limitations of water, displacement of wildlife, pollution of air, water and land are consequences of expanding population and expanding economy. We are close to the maximal sustainable average world prosperity. It is hypocritical to pretend that a happier world will result from development of now small-footprint societies. The march for more economic activity is unsustainable. Time will come when Milton Friedman will be seen as the midwife of doom.
Monday, March 5, 2007
Scalene Triangle
A scalene triangle has three sides of different lengths. Likewise, it has three different heights depending on which side is base. In designing the Freedom Dobro Capo, I needed to calculate the coordinates of a scalene-triangle's apices from its three heights.
The formulae are given below the accompanying figure, where h1 is height when the triangle is oriented with b1 as base (as in the example), h2 is height when b2 is base, and h3 is height when b3 is base. The triangle is positioned with its left-base apex at the origin (where both x and y coordinates are 0) and with its b1 on the x axis. The x coordinate of the right-base apex has the value of b1. The x coordinate of the top apex is x1. The y coordinates of these apices are 0 and h1 respectively. The formulae give b1 and x1 from specified h1, h2 and h3.
They are derived from the formula for area of a triangle and the pythagorean theorem.
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