{Hobbes, "Calvin and Hobbes"}
My inability to learn from my past mistakes is astounding. I drank 14 beers last night, smoking the entire time, and woke up feeling gross. I managed to make it in to work only 25 minutes late, and I claimed that my power went out and reset my alarm clock. The sad thing is that I gave serious consideration to drinking tonight. I've got this aching emptiness inside of me, and it compels me to pursue anything that might fill it, even for a moment, with a feverish madness. The vague promises of a better future are not enough to stop me from mortgaging my potential for instant gratification, which keeps me from bridging the gulf between my life as it is now and the life I want have.
The Limits of Empiricism
I read an article about a substance constructed by scientists harder than diamonds. What is the name of the basic component of this material? "Buckyball"! That's right, they gave a substance with amazing properties and potential applications in fields as diverse as engineering to medical science the name of a child's toy. A cheap-sounding toy, at that. It's scientific name is "Buckminsterfullerene," but that's hardly an improvement. It sounds like the name of a show dog. According to the Wikipedia article, it was named for a "noted futurist and inventor." It's great to honor people, but I really don't think they thought this through.
"That's the problem with science. You've got a bunch of empiricists trying to describe things of unimaginable wonder."
{Calvin, "Calvin and Hobbes"}
