CoryS Shot a 61 at McClain

And, before he left, he gave the "Idaho Stare (tm)" and said "you better document this day". So, I've posted the score card and blogged about it. Hopefully that will be enough. Cory can kill anybody from 100 feet with a disc golf disc.

New Tess Video

Tess is getting around fairly well for being only 9 months old. In this video she does various feats. The most difficult of these being when she bends over to pick up a toy without falling.

New Disc Golf Movie

Tom Cruise stars in a new disc golf movie called "Valkyrie". I'm having trouble finding plot details. However, it looks like the character Cruise plays is a German disc golfer who wins some huge disc golf tournament held during World War II. His favorite disc is, of course, the Valkyrie. I'm not sure what plastic he threw. I'm guessing he threw the champion plastic since it would be the most durable plastic for use during a war.

Hopefully "Valkyrie" will be as well received as some of these other disc golf movies: "The Destroyer", "The Beast", and "Weekend at Ken Climo's".

http://www.dailyplastic.com/2008/12/valkyrie/

Knowledge is Contextual

We sometimes discuss philosophy at work. I'm ok with that because ideas are important and I like talking about them. However, there are some very fundamental concepts that are either understood only at an implicit level or not at all by some of the participants in these discussions. I'm going to blog about some of these things in hopes that they will be more widely recognized and understood. The first idea that I'm going to cover is the idea that all knowledge is contextual.

It's my view that all knowledge has perceptual data at its base. That is, there is no other means to knowledge than our senses. Or, our senses are our only contact with reality. This being the case, ideas which have no context or ideas being used outside the context which support them are not knowledge. Or, to put it another way, meaningful statements about reality are tied directly to the context that supports them and are not usable outside of that context.

An idea with no context is an idea that can't be traced back to reality or is not supportable by facts of reality when it is traced back. Here are some ideas that have no context:

1. There is a Sears catalog on the surface of the moon.
2. Bowling balls float on water.
3. An elf ate my sandwich last Saturday.
   

Ideas with context are knowledge and are valid but they cannot be used outside of their context. For example, it makes no sense to say that unicorns eat hay because horses eat hay. This statement is not logical. It's not a statement about reality. There is no place in reality that I can go to see unicorns eat hay. It's true that horses eat hay. It's true that unicorns are an imaginary creature that can be described as a horse with a horn. However, it makes no sense to try to prove that unicorns eat hay because horses eat hay. Arguments about what unicorns eat are not arguments about reality. You can't apply your knowledge of what horses eat to unicorns.

The examples above are sort of contrived to illustrate what I'm trying to communicate. Some more realistic consequences of the contextual nature of knowledge follow.

Morality is derived in what I call the "normal context" of everyday human life. Morality is thus only valid in that context. This fact has some not well recognized consequences. Emergency situations are not part of the "normal context" and thus morality doesn't apply. For example, if a person's car breaks down in the middle of a blizzard and the only way he can survive is to break into a hunting cabin and use the supplies he finds there, it's not wrong for him to do that. It would be wrong in the "normal context". Emergency situations must be handled in an ad hoc manner. The principles of morality do not apply.

Hypothetical situations are often floated in discussions and they are often misused. If you are arguing against an idea, you must recognize its context. Hypothetical situations that are outside of an idea's context are irrelevant. For example, suppose you are arguing against the idea that government should not provide universal health care. A hypothetical situation in which technology advances to such an extent that health care can be provided at no cost is not something that is meaningful. We do not live in such a context. The idea that universal health care should not be provided by government was not derived in that context.

Since knowledge is contextual, knowledge can change if the context changes. What was true in the past is not necessarily true now. What is true now will not necessarily be true in the future. If you think knowledge is forever or universal or contextless, you're wrong. What you know can and should change to reflect new knowledge. This is the way knowledge works. You might wish that humans were infallible and all knowing. You might wish you could think about things for a few years and figure everything out for all time. Keep wishing. That's not reality.

Another consequence of the contextual nature of knowledge is that an idea that is valid in one context can be invalid in another. This doesn't mean the idea is false. It's true in its context. For example, Newtonian physics is true when applied to macroscopic objects traveling far below the speed of light. However, it doesn't work in other contexts. It'd be wrong to say that Newtonian physics is invalid because it only works in its context. All knowledge is contextual.

I think everybody who participates in our philosophical discussions at work knows some of or all of the above at an implicit level at least. However, that's not good enough. In order to be right about the things we discuss and to discuss them in a way that's not a waste of time, you need to know all of the above (and more) explicitly. You need to be able state and use a whole host of fundamental ideas from philosophy in order to even have a chance of being right about anything as abstract as morality, politics, or knowledge.

If any of the above is new to you, I suggest there are more important things you need to think about than whether or not the government should provide universal health care or the problem of universals or the ideas of Immanuel Kant.

196.5

I had a new low this morning, 196.5 pounds. I'm so skinny now that I have to wear two belts to keep my pants in place.

10 Pars at McClain

I only shot a 69, but I had 10 pars. That's the most pars I've had in a single round out there. I also parred 15 for the second time ever.

After the 69 round, we played again and I shot a 70.

President Elect Barack Obama

We here at greglange.com project that Barak Obama will win the presidential election. After carefully poring over election returns and exit polling all night, we are certain in this conclusion.

Thank you all for participating in the election. We should all do it again in four years!

197.0 Pounds

I weighed 197.0 pounds this morning after playing 4 games of full court basketball last night (my team won all four games). I'm so skinny now that I had to cover the drain in the shower with a mesh screen so I wouldn't fall down it.

Three Reasons Texas Tech Cannot Win the College Football National Title

1. Texas Tech versus Oklahoma on November 22nd, 2008 is not being played at Jones Stadium in Lubbock, Texas.
2. The Big 12 Championship game on December 6th, 2008 is not being played at Jones Stadium in Lubbock, Texas.
3. The National Championship Game on January 8th, 2009 is not being played at Jones Stadium in Lubbock, Texas.

That is all.

Disc Golf is in Danger!!!

The fire near Rancho Cucamonga threatens the very future of disc golf worldwide. As everybody knows, Innova Disc Golf makes its headquarters in Rancho Cucamonga. Innova is probably the largest maker of discs. My bag is full of Innova discs.

Why does the fire pose such a danger to disc golf? Not everybody knows this, but Innova keeps its designs for its line of discs at its headquarters in Cucamonga. If those designs are destroyed, disc golf will bet set back many, many years.

I happen to have some low quality reproductions of a few Innova designs. These are representative of what we stand to lose if the fire isn't contained in time:

Halloween Tess

Tess in her Halloween outfit:



She's going to get so much candy that she can't eat!

What Is Joe Biden Talking About?

This all sounds pretty ominous:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/10/biden-to-suppor.html

It sounds like Obama is going to make some momentous but difficult changes of some sort? Maybe in response to the economic crisis? Maybe in response to some external threat? Maybe to what we're doing in the Middle East?

Where can I go to get my loins girded? Maybe the mall?

Polling Question

So, Zogby International runs a poll of the presidential race every day. Here are the results for today:

http://zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1587

I suppose they randomly sample the populace. Imagine if they randomly (by accident) called the same, exact people each day. Wouldn't the people give the same answers each time? Then, the poll results would never change.

So, what is the poll really measuring? The "changes" in the polling probably don't really reflect changes in how people are going to vote. The "changes" reflect changes in who was randomly called. If you ask any group of people two days in a row, you'll most likely get exactly the same (or at least very similar) answers. Right?

198 Lbs

This morning I weighed 198 pounds, a new low. I played five games of full court basketball last night. I played as hard as I could without throwing up.

My stomach is so flat now that I used it as a diamond sorting table last night.

64 at McClain

My lowest round at McClain ever. I parred the Yuccatown hole for the first time. I got a really lucky kick off a tree (a 60 foot bounce to the left to right under the basket).

I could have shot even lower. I had 4 or 5 long putts that hit the basket but didn't go in.

66 at McClain

I shot a 66 at McClain today. That's my second lowest score out there. I've shot a 65 at least twice, but no better.

199.0 Lbs

In my constant battle against gravity, I weighed 199.0 pounds this morning. This is a new low.

This number is probably the result of playing 4 or 5 games of full court 4 on 4 basketball last night. I was awesome. I played what I call my "Michael Finley" game. It's where I don't try to get all the way to the basket. I try to get to a spot on the floor under control and then shoot a jump shot over the top of any defender that's nearby. That type of game worked pretty well last night because there was only one player that could block my shot on the other team. My team won 3 or 4 games and lost 1.

Don't Poke Cyclops in the Eye

I'm nothing if not a trend setter. So, in that spirit, I've come up with something new, fake ad campaigns.

Real ad campaigns are annoying. They are always trying to sell you something. They are always trying to be cute or cutting edge or memorable. Well, it's time we fight back against this menace.

Today, I'm announcing my first fake ad campaign. It's called "Don't Poke Cyclops in the Eye". It's pretty self explanatory. Cyclops only has one eye and he doesn't like people poking it with their fingers. Please spread the word and help a brother out.

If you'd like to contribute to this campaign, there are a lot of things we need. Here is a partial list:

1. Television ads and air time.
2. Radio ads and air time.
3. A cool domain name and website.
4. A logo.
5. A slogan.
6. Posters.
7. Billboards.
8. Campaign related art work/graphic design.
9. We need to spread the word on the Net.
   
10. Money. Right now our budget is $0.
11. Testimonials from real cyclopses.
    

We Aren't the Champions

My basketball team lost in the championship game of the league we play in today. The last time we were in that game, Bobby Anderson hit a big shot with no time on the clock to beat us. This time, a guy named "Leon" scored 35 or 40 points against us. We are all pretty disappointed. Maybe next season.

Ken Climo Says

I've added a new page to my website:

http://greglange.com/KenClimoSays.html

This is one of the most eagerly anticipated html pages in the history of mankind.

Enjoy!