What is a Good Thing?

A good thing is something desirable or satisfying: a good meal, a good time, or a good movie. It may also refer to a person or thing that is virtuous, admirable, or praiseworthy: a good man, a good mother, a good friend, or a good teacher. The word good also carries the connotation of being fit or suitable for a purpose: a good knife, a good coat, or a good book. Finally, it can be used as an adjective to indicate approval or satisfaction: “That’s a really good idea”; “I think that’s a very good article.”

Philosophical studies of goodness are extensive and date back to antiquity. In particular, two types of the good have been at the center of many discussions: the prudentially good (e.g., what makes an action ethical or moral) and the morally good (e.g., what constitutes a good life).

Good can also be understood as the object of a person’s deliberations: “whether it is good to do p.” The nature of good is thus a fundamental issue in ethics. Several philosophers have attempted to define what it means for a thing or person to be good, but their attempts have met with mixed results.

One reason for the controversy over a definition of good is that the concept seems to be incoherent. It is impossible to make a uncontroversial statement about what it is for something to be good, because the definition of good will always depend on the perspective from which the claim is made. For example, a person might think that it is a good thing for his friend to return a wallet, but another might consider the matter from the standpoint of whether doing so is in accordance with his principles and values.

The study of goodness was important to Immanuel Kant and other Enlightenment philosophers, who attempted to develop a system of philosophical inquiry based on the concepts of the good, the true, and the beautiful. However, since the emergence of naturalistic epistemology in the mid-19th century, there has been a trend toward reducing the importance of considerations of the good.

The “good article” designation is a mark of quality for Wikipedia articles that are well written, accurate, and informative. Anyone can nominate an article for this status by following the instructions on the Good Articles page. If the article meets our criteria, it will be added to the list. Conversely, if an article is no longer considered to be of good quality, it can be removed from the list by following the instructions on the page. This policy is designed to protect the integrity of the article database and prevent the appearance of biased or incomplete information. The “good article” designation is not a synonym for “quality article.” It is possible that an inferior article could be nominated and approved for the Good Article status by someone with substantial ties to a commercial interest in the topic.

The Basics of Riding a Bicycle

Bicycles are used by millions of people around the world, whether to get to work or school, enjoy recreational riding, compete in bicycle races or just travel from one place to another. They might seem simple, but they’re a fascinating combination of physics, mechanics and human skills.

A bicycle has two wheels and is propelled by foot pedals, while steered with handlebars. It’s easy to learn to ride, but it takes practice and a safe environment to become proficient at it. Once you’ve mastered the basic skill, it’s an excellent form of exercise that can be enjoyed for a lifetime.

There are many types of bicycles, each designed for different purposes. The most popular are road bikes, which are lightweight and designed to go fast over paved surfaces. They may also have suspension, which makes them more comfortable to ride over rough roads. Mountain bikes are designed for off-road riding, and they usually have more durable frames and components than road bikes.

The most common bicycle accessory is a bell or horn, which can help you let others know that you’re coming. Many bikers also prefer front and rear lights, which can increase your visibility to other road users. Some bikes are designed with child carrying seats, while others can be fitted with racks for carrying cargo. Some cyclists like to use cycling computers with GPS, which can track your speed and distance traveled.

Most bicycles have a chain that connects the pedals to the rear wheel, but some have belt drives instead of chains. Belt drives are quieter and more durable than chain drive systems, but they require periodic lubrication to keep them working properly.

Road bikes can be made from aluminum or, for higher performance, carbon fiber. When choosing a road bike, consider your needs and budget. If you want to go very fast over paved surfaces, you should choose a carbon-fiber frame, while someone who wants to ride for fitness and fun can be just as happy with an aluminum frame.

Some cities have extensive infrastructure to promote cycling, such as bike paths and velodromes. These facilities tend to be safer for cyclists than conventional roads, since they separate them from motorized traffic. However, such dedicated pathways often have to share their space with in-line skaters, scooters and pedestrians, which can cause conflicts and even collisions. Bicyclists can also develop overuse injuries if they increase the length and frequency of their rides too quickly. Common symptoms include muscle pain and numbness. If you experience these symptoms, it’s important to speak with your doctor. He or she can suggest strategies for safe, effective recovery.

GOES Satellites Launched With New Upgrades

GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) is a series of geostationary weather satellites that provide continuous imagery and data on atmospheric conditions, solar activity, space weather, ocean and land environments. They’ve been in operation since 1975. NASA builds and launches them, while NOAA maintains them. The National Weather Service (NWS) and other agencies use them to improve weather forecasts, protect lives and property, support search and rescue operations, monitor natural disasters and long-term climate changes, and even help in space exploration.

Earlier this year, NOAA launched the first of the new generation of GOES satellites — GOES-16 and GOES-17. The new GOES satellites have several advantages over the older satellites, including improved imaging capabilities, more mesoscale domains and faster scanning. One of the most significant upgrades is the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI). The ABI has three times more spectral channels, four times more resolution and five times the scanning speed of previous GOES satellites. It can detect small clouds as well as large hurricanes. The other key upgrade is the Extreme Ultraviolet and X-ray Irradiance Sensor (EXIS). This instrument can detect solar flares that could disrupt communications, reduce navigational accuracy on high altitude airplanes and power grids on Earth.

Another exciting feature on the GOES-R satellites is the Lightning Mapper. This sensor can measure total lightning activity in the Americas and adjacent ocean regions. It will benefit airlines and shipping companies by providing more precise weather hazard information. It will also allow for more accurate and timely alerts for lightning hazards to flight crews.

A spokesman for NOAA says the agency is still evaluating the best way to get this data to the aviation industry, and the agency is seeking comments from companies that might be interested in receiving the lightning data. The agency is also considering whether to provide this data on an online portal that would be accessible to commercial users, according to the spokesman.

Shipping a satellite is no easy task. GOES-T, for example, is the size of a bus and weighs more than 6,000 pounds. Its team at Lockheed Martin in Littleton, Colorado, carefully packed it inside a container that protected its instruments and acted as a miniature clean room during transit to Buckley Space Force Base near Aurora. From there, it hitched a ride on a C-5 Galaxy cargo plane to Kennedy Space Center.

The new GOES-T satellite will be renamed GOES-18 once it reaches its geostationary orbit and is put into operational service. When it is ready, it will be positioned to cover the West Coast of the United States, Alaska, Hawaii and parts of Mexico, Central America and South America. Currently, GOES-13 serves this role.

GOES-18 is also scheduled to be used as backup for GOES-16. It will be the first third-generation GOES to go into backup mode, although it will have plenty of fuel on board for an extended stay in that role if necessary. The STAR website hosts examples of ongoing experimental products developed by the GOES-R Science and Operations Teams at NOAA’s Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC). The STAR website provides access to real data and images for scientists, researchers, educators, students and anyone else who wants to experiment with this amazing resource.

The Dangers of Being Nice

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Nice means being polite, showing regard for others, and being pleasant and good-natured. It also means being willing to help or be supportive in a helpful way. Being nice is often seen as a virtue, a way to make friends and build up people in your life. Niceness can have positive effects on your mental and physical health. It’s no wonder that parents and teachers encourage children to be nice to their siblings, classmates, and strangers on the street.

While being nice has many benefits, it can be dangerous if it isn’t grounded in a deeper level of kindness and benevolence. Nice people can become sycophantic, always giving in to the demands of those around them. They feel like they have a half-empty cup that they’re constantly trying to fill up, so they won’t say no to anyone in order to do this.

In this way, nice can become a mask that hides an unhealthy desire for power and control over others. It can create a culture of faux civility that is nothing more than a façade of politeness covering a deeper fear of rejection and humiliation. When you’re a nice person, it can be easy to get sucked into this culture of civility and conformity where everything is nice, but no one is truly happy.

Being nice means showing respect to everyone, including people you don’t know very well. It’s a way to show the world that you’re a decent human being. Being nice can be good for your mood, as it can help you stay optimistic and have a more positive outlook on life. It can also make other people feel good about you, as they’re likely to respond positively to your actions.

A person who is a nice person will go out of their way to be kind and helpful. They may be the first person to offer assistance to someone who is struggling, or they may go out of their way to make sure everyone is comfortable at a party. They’ll even help the homeless person who is begging on the street for spare change.

The problem is that being a nice person can become an end in itself. If your only goal is to please everyone else, then you will never stand up for yourself or say no to something that goes against your values. For example, if your friends are urging you to have a cigarette, but you’re not a smoker, you will probably join them just so you can fit in with the group. A good person will speak up and let the group know that this behavior is unacceptable.

The key to being a good and healthy person is knowing your values and sticking to them. If you’re not sure what your values are, check out this video from The School of Life. It explains 10 characteristics that define a good and healthy person. Are you a nice person? What do you think of these traits?

The Good – What Is It?

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The good is a general term that can be used to describe anything that is morally correct or desirable. The good is often used as a standard by which people judge whether something is right or wrong, and the word is closely associated with ethics and morality.

Philosophers have studied the good in various ways since antiquity. Some have tried to analyze what makes a thing good, while others have focused on which things are in fact good. Interest in the first question became especially prominent after the publication of G. E. Moore’s Principia Ethica in 1903, and with it moral philosophy took a turn toward conceptual analysis.

Moore claimed that a definition of good would be “indefinable.” It seems that for any proposed analysis of what makes something good, one can always ask, “But is it good?” In this way, philosophical analyses of goodness tend to fall short.

Nevertheless, it is interesting to note that some philosophers have successfully analyzed what makes certain things good. For example, Franz Brentano developed an explanation of good that seemed to bridge the gap between Moore’s indefinableness and the naturalistic fallacy. This theory, which is now somewhat out of favor, maintains that something is good if it satisfies some kind of natural need.

In everyday use, good is used to mean satisfactory or desirable in quality, amount, or degree: The car was a good buy for the money. The test results were good. The steak was a good cut and flavorful.

The adjective good also means healthy, fit, or well: She is in very good health. It is sometimes used adverbially to suggest that someone feels cheerful or optimistic: He felt good about the outcome of the meeting. It is also used to indicate that a person has reason to feel happy or proud: She was feeling good about her work.

People can use the adverb well to suggest that something is suitable for a particular purpose or condition: He did well on his exam. She was seeing well with her new glasses. In the Bible, the word is used to indicate blessing and prosperity: “The Lord blessed the works of his hands” (Psalms 133:4).

The adverb good is not as common as the adverb well, but it still appears occasionally in formal speech and edited writing: It looked good on paper. In the past, some writers advised that good should be reserved to describe virtue and that well should be used instead when describing health or feelings: He was in a bad mood but felt good about his work. However, these recommendations are no longer considered authoritative. Today, nearly everyone agrees that both good and well can be used as adjectives after forms of do: He did well on the exam; She was feeling good. For more information, see the entry for do. The good is a concept that is important in many areas, including philosophy, psychology, and religion. Understanding the nature of the good is essential in determining how we should live our lives and what it takes to be a good person.