Showing posts with label sustainability. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sustainability. Show all posts

Saturday, October 03, 2009

Is God bound by rationality?

In my work at HMS and HSPH, I do a fair amount of research into previously-published work. In the course of joining ResearchGATE (the ResearchGATE Scientific Network), I bumped into a discussion on this (above-stated) topic, "Is God bound by rationality?" You can follow the preceding philosophy discussion, to which I appended my own comment:

If there's room for ontological reflection here (e.g. Anselm: God is greater than that which can be conceived, traditionally, "God IS that than which nothing greater can be conceived), mortal rationality (in any species, not merely our own speciesist species is derivative (according to theological conceptions) and, despite periodic (weekly?) times of reflection (to which some give themselves full-time or intermittently), mortal rationality is best (in the spirit of religious liberalism, but quite consistent with the canons of more 'orthodox' schools of Christian thinking) dedicated to making life better here (in the mortal domain) for everyone, beginning with our own individual and shared responsibilities.


Perhaps the question should be reframed as:


Do soul-searching humans have an obligation to bind themselves to rationality of intention and behavior?


Indeed, in that kind of care, healthcare and other costs likely would plummet and the strategic obstacles to realizing the better world for everyone could be expected to diminish significantly.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Harvard University Green Tip of the Month - July 2009
A nice green tip from the Office for Sustainability...
----- Original Message -----
This is the campus-wide Harvard University Green Tip of the Month.
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Harvard University Green Tip of the Month


Eat Less Meat!

Industrial meat production, especially beef, accounts for 18% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions* (from the entire meat production cycle).

Pick up some vegetarian ingredients at a local farmer's market, including three near Harvard:

  1. Science Center market: Tuesdays 12:30-6pm, until October 27th
  2. Allston market: Fridays, 3-7pm
  3. Charles Hotel market: Fridays, 12-6pm & Sundays, 11-3pm
  4. Restaurant Associates weekly farmer's markets at HMS: Wednesdays, all day, Courtyard Cafe and Elements Cafe (alternating weeks)
  5. Mission Hill market: Thursdays, 11am-6pm at Brigham's Cricle (*near HSPH)

Or find a market near you: http://www.massfarmersmarkets.org

* United Nations (September 2008) "Livestock production alone contributes to 18 percent of the global warming effect - more than the emissions from every single car, train, and plane on the planet. Though livestock production only contributes 9 percent of carbon dioxide emissions, the sector is responsible for 37 percent of methane and 65 percent of nitrous oxide, both potent greenhouse gases." http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/a0701e/a0701e00.htm


Setting the Record Straight

July Green Tip

It is healthy to be vegetarian.

Studies have shown that vegetarians (who follow a well-balanced, low-fat, high-fiber diet) often have lower incidences of coronary artery disease, hypertension, obesity and some forms of cancer.


Your Actions Add Up!

If every Harvard affiliate replaced one average daily diet containing meat with one vegetarian meal a week, we would

Prevent 14 million pounds of CO2 from entering the atmosphere.

That's like taking 1,280 cars off the road!


Resources