Postby Technomancer » Sat Jul 05, 2003 5:12 am
Probably not (wrt to the rockets). The Chinese certainly used them for their own celebrations, as do many other countries. Up here, for example fireworks are always part of Canada Day and Victoria day celebrations. It's more likely that the spectacle of watching fireworks simply appeals to us, and a national celebration is a good excuse to put on a show.
Oh, and happy fourth.
The scientific method," Thomas Henry Huxley once wrote, "is nothing but the normal working of the human mind." That is to say, when the mind is working; that is to say further, when it is engaged in corrrecting its mistakes. Taking this point of view, we may conclude that science is not physics, biology, or chemistry—is not even a "subject"—but a moral imperative drawn from a larger narrative whose purpose is to give perspective, balance, and humility to learning.
Neil Postman
(The End of Education)
Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge
Isaac Aasimov