Quote of the Day

Johann Gottlieb Fichte previously gained mentioned on this blog for advocating that, as a prerequisite for their getting civil rights, Jewish "heads should be cut off in one night and replaced with others not containing a single Jewish idea." This quote, while equally revealing, is somewhat less revolting:

"What sort of philosophy one chooses depends, therefore, on what sort of [person] one is; for a philosophical system is not a dead piece of furniture that we accept or reject as we wish; it is rather a thing animated by the soul of the person who holds it."

Johann Gottlieb Fichte, The Science of Knowledge (Wissenschaftslehre) 16 (Heath and Lachs, trans., Appleton-Century Crofts 1970) (1797).

To some extent, our philosophies act as constraints on what sorts of behaviors we're willing to engage in, but to a much larger extent what behaviors we feel are important or valuable or worthwhile constrain the philosophies we are willing to accept. When last I made this point (with respect to our judicial interpretative philosophies), I illustrated it by a conversation in Firefly between River Tam and the bounty hunter Jubal Early:

River: You hurt people.

Early: Only when the job requires it.

River: Wrong. You're a bad liar. [...] You like to hurt folk.

Early: It's part of the job.

River: It's why you took the job.

Sometimes the fruits of our philosophical positions are just "part of the job." More often though, I suspect, they're why we adapted the philosophy in the first place.

Everybody Loses

NASA decided not to name its new space station module "Colbert", even though it was the top vote getter. But it also rejected "Serenity", despite a furious campaign by Firefly supporters which launched it into second place. "Serenity", unlike "Colbert", actually fits with NASA's theme.

The organization decided to choose "Tranquility" in the end, which they said placed in the "top 10" in its poll. That's true, in the sense that Tranquility placed eighth with 4,500 votes, whereas Serenity clocked in at 190,000 and Colbert received 230,500. Lame.

Colbert vs. Serenity

NASA opened a poll to name a module of the international space station, and it looks like "Colbert" won due to a write-in campaign launched by the Comedy Central host. It received over 230,000 votes. The article mentions that "Serenity" placed second with over 190,000 votes, but it fails to note the concerted campaign by "Firefly/Serenity" fans which helped it reach that lofty position.

Frankly, if Colbert can only get 40,000 more votes than a mid-tier movie and one-hitter-quitter TV series, I'm not sure he deserves the "victory". Serenity now!

UPDATE: In case any new visitors are confused, I should note that I love both Firefly and Serenity. Taking down Colbert may be impossible -- but that makes us mighty.

It Just Hit Me

Firefly is gangsta rap for White people.

It was comments to this post that sparked the revelation. I mean, think about it. The show glorifies sex, violence, thievery, and anti-social activity. The characters are basically a gang -- a gang with standards, but a gang -- one that plies its trade through a mixture of smuggling and robbery, backed up with copious amounts of gun play. Festering hatred for the state is not just encouraged, but the engine driving the show. I mean, do you have any idea how many cops they kill? But -- lest it be mistaken for a libertarian manifesto -- the illicit activities are directed in equal parts towards private actors.

I speak as a White person who adores the show. And I don't even think the characters are necessarily bad people either (but then again, neither are all rappers). We should just be clear on the niche that it fills.

Excuses Excuses

WASH: Well, I'm not sure now is the best time to bring a tiny little helpless person into our lives.

ZOE: That excuse is getting a little worn, honey.

WASH: It's not an excuse, dear. It's objective assessment. I can't help it if it stays relevant.

I think of this quote whenever I come across social scientists (not always conservatives) who are exasperated by critiques of their work that center around the continued presence of racism. From their perspective, it's easy to see why it'd get a little old. It's really hard to control for racism when the hypothesis is that it's an ingrained, structural part of our everyday existence. Sheer professional sanity makes one want to buy into the conservative mythos that racism can externalized to "times past", if only so that one can put together a viable control group.

From our perspective, of course, "racism" isn't an excuse, it's an objective assessment. And it's not our fault that the criticism remains relevant over time.

(This post is sparked by nothing but the desire to put a Firefly quote up on my blog).

I'd Watch

xkcd goes Firefly.