Category Archives: merit

28. The Case for Favoritism

Posted on July 12, 2003 by thormay

Imag­ine the per­fect mer­i­toc­racy. Now think again. In our per­fect mer­i­toc­racy prizes go to the most able, the most wor­thy, the best … But who is to decide the most able, wor­thy or best ? A fair sys­tem you say, … Con­tinue read­ing →

Posted in competence, law, merit, regulations, rules | Leave a comment

The paradox of scholarship: pissing on every lamp post

Posted on July 2, 2002 by thormay

If I have been able to see fur­ther, it was only because I stood on the shoul­ders of giants [Isaac New­ton, 1642 – 1727] Newton’s com­ment encap­su­lates the ideal of schol­ar­ship, though not its con­stant out­come. Schol­ar­ship is often con­fused with … Con­tinue read­ing →

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19. Unseen Grammar – Suspecting The God Of Cracks Between The Floorboards

Posted on June 21, 2001 by thormay

We put thirty spokes together and call it a wheel; But it is on the space where there is noth­ing that the use­ful­ness of the wheel depends. We turn clay to make a ves­sel; But it is on the space where … Con­tinue read­ing →

Posted in culture, evidence, lifestyle, merit, motivation, philosophy, religion, rules, truth | Leave a comment

14. Why Grasshoppers Don’t Have A Problem

Posted on January 29, 2001 by thormay

If you think of the human men­tal sys­tem in terms com­pa­ra­ble to the oper­at­ing sys­tem of a com­puter, then there is a curi­ous incom­plete­ness about it. Of course the house­keep­ing func­tions, the bits that tell your body to breath and … Con­tinue read­ing →

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1. Finding Truth: The Human Mind as an Error-Checking Mechanism

Posted on April 12, 1998 by thormay

“On a huge hill, Cragged and steep, Truth stands, and he that will Reach her, about must and about must go, And what the hill’s sud­den­ness resists, win so.” [John Donne, 1572–1631] [ Pro­logue: In 1998 in Mel­bourne, Aus­tralia, I had become a … Con­tinue read­ing →

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20. A Collision of Technology and Politics – Star Wars Revisited

Posted on June 10, 1986 by thormay

Thor May Uni­ver­sity of New­castle, NSW @10 June 1986 We kid­ded our­selves for a while that Star Wars had gone away. We pre­tended that flower power was win­ning. But in our heart of hearts, in our 3 a.m. night­mares, we knew … Con­tinue read­ing →

Posted in competence, culture, economics, evidence, merit, Research & Study, truth, war | Leave a comment