Humans Are Neat

Humans Are Neat …

… because of Immanuel Kant.

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) was one of the big brains of the European Enlightenment. He’s not so much known for his original philosophy as he is known for his herculean effort to reconcile empiricism and rationalism. The philosophy born out of this attempted reconciliation also strives “to be universally valid in covering all self-conscious rational beings.” (Shand, 160)

These efforts have had a pretty huge influence on the study of philosophy. The 100 Most Influential Philosophers of All Time describes Kant’s impact as follows:

Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher whose comprehensive and systematic work in the theory of knowledge, ethics, and aesthetics greatly influenced all subsequent philosophy, especially the various schools of Kantianism and Idealism. (188)

In the end, though:

Kant’s dictum was that what can and should be learned is not so much philosophy, as to philosophize. What we need to do is not to absorb schools of thought as subjectively historical, as facts reported to one, but instead to “practice reason’s talent in the adherence to all its universal principles … reserving always the right of reason to examine these principles themselves with regard to their sources and either to confirm or reject them.” (Arrington, 171)

And that’s a philosophy of philosophy I can get behind.

So enjoy the silly song (I have to agree with youtube commentator rcalicea when he or she says “[a]ny song that successfully uses ‘spatiotemporal’ deserves props!”), and think about how neat it is that we are able to reason at all.

References:
Arrington, Robert L. (editor). The World’s Great Philosophers. Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2003.

Duignan, Brian (editor). The 100 Most Influential Philosophers of All Time. New York: Britannica Educational Publishing, 2010.

Shand, John. Philosophy and Philosophers: An Introduction to Western Philosophy. London: UCL Press, 1993.

Humans Are Neat …

… because of bicycles.

I do not own a bicycle (my last one was stolen my second week at graduate school — thanks for the memories Chicago), but I practically grew up riding one. Alas, I now waste fossil fuels transporting myself primarily by car. I think bicycles, and all other self-powered vehicles, are inherently neat, though.

What else gets you where you need to be, safely, quickly, inexpensively, and cleanly? Until we have solar-powered cars or widespread-use hydrogen fuel cells, or come up with another renewable resource for powering vehicles, the bike shall reign supreme. Indeed, even after those vehicles become widespread, if they ever do, the bike will still be a healthier alternative for the individual driver.

This video clip is an “ordinary Wednesday morning in April 2010,” in Utrecht, Netherlands. A few quick facts:

Morning rush hour in the 4th largest city in the Netherlands. Streets look like this when 33% of ALL trips are made by bicycle!

This is one of the busiest junctions in Utrecht a city with a population of 300,000. No less than 22,000 bicycles and 2,500 buses pass here every day.

A part of me wishes my city were a little more like this. Either way, though, the fact that humans invented a machine that allows them to go much faster than normal for much less energy expenditure, yet remains utterly simple in design and costs next to nothing to maintain … ?

That’s pretty neat.

Humans Are Neat …

… because of player pianos.

Self-playing pianos, or player pianos, are pianos that play by themselves through either pneumatic or electromagnetic mechanisms. The first working player piano was produced by John McTammany in 1876, but it wasn’t until after 1890 that they started being made for public use.

This piece, called Circus Galop, was created for the player piano by the French Canadian piano virtuoso Marc-André Hamelin. It takes advantage of the fact that player pianos can play pieces that human pianists could never hope to play. It’s an awful lot of fun to watch it in action.

Humans are neat because when they themselves cannot do something … they can make something to do it for them!

Humans Are Neat …

… because of In the Hall of the Mountain King.

This musical piece, composed by Edvard Grieg, was produced for Act II, Scene 6 of Henrik Ibsen’s play, Peer Gynt. This play, first performed in 1876, tells the story of Peer Gynt, a peasant turned outlaw turned adventurer.

Much of Act II takes place inside of a dream, where Peer meets a woman in green, who turns out to be the daughter of the troll king. Peer is brought before the king of the trolls, inside of his mountain kingdom, where he is given the opportunity to become a troll if he marries the troll king’s daughter.

Although Peer considers the offer, he eventually decides against it. At this point, the troll king informs him that he has made his daughter pregnant, and that he must marry her. “That’s a lie in your throat!” exclaims Peer, who insists that he did not touch the troll king’s daughter.

“Can you deny that she was the object of all your desire?”

“But no more than that. What the deuce does that matter?”

“You human beings are all the same: You are always ready to talk of your souls, but heed nothing really save what is tangible. You think desires are things that don’t matter?”

The troll king is made angry, and orders his the trolls to take Peer. Grieg’s music is, more or less, designed for the ensuing “chase scene.” Although I would love to say that this nineteenth-century play was where I was introduced to this piece of music, I’m afraid I first became familiar with it as a result of a television commercial.

I think it might have been a commercial for Bounty paper towels. What can I say? I’m not half as cultured as I like to pretend I am. In any event, this short composition has become a favorite of mine (and is one of the world’s most recognizable pieces of Classical music).

Edvard Grieg himself is said to have hated the piece. But what does he know? He was just the composer.

Resources:
The play is freely available in a variety of formats at the Internet Archive, here, for those of you interested in reading it over: http://www.archive.org/details/peergyntdramatic00ibseuoft

Humans Are Neat …

… because of their opposable thumbs.

Over the years, anthropologists have made much of the opposable thumb’s role in human evolution, and for good reason. It is an anatomical gripping instrument that most of us use every day.

Nearly all primates share general characteristics, including, “trends in behavior, brain size, single offspring (not litters), extended stages of growth and development (i.e., prolonged ‘life histories’), sociality, anatomy, grasping hands and feet and useful thumbs, nails instead of claws, forward facing eyes, stereoscopic vision, a generalized (i.e., versatile) body plan, generalized teeth, a variable diet, a bony case for the three ear ossicles (‘auditory bulla’), and an enclosed eye socket (‘orbit’),” but humans hold the honor of having the most dexterous thumbs. (Dunsworth, 41 and 176)

In addition to its use in gripping and grasping, and in tool making and manipulation, the thumb has also become a powerful symbol over time. It is an important part of body language, and plays a role (often central) in numerous hand gestures across cultures. Whether it’s the familiar “thumbs up” gesture, the Hawaiian Shaka sign, the ancient “fig sign,” or the Serbian three-finger salute, the thumb is utilized to good effect in communicating messages associated with the gestures.

Humans are neat because, even though they hardly ever think about it, they are blessed with a very useful little digit in the thumb.

References:
Dunsworth, Holly M. Human Origins 101. Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2007.