Ponderings of science, philosophy, history, society, and many other topics
Ronnie de Souza has an interesting article at Aeon on why he thinks the concept of morality isn't helpful. His overall thesis is that the idea that there are things that are right or wrong without qualification, in and of itself, adds nothing useful to the conversation. We can find reasons why or why not … Continue reading Some words might simply no longer be productive for precise conversations
My anime binge has expanded somewhat into a manga binge. A while back, I posted about the movie Alita: Battle Angel. I enjoyed it a great deal and was intrigued by the world that was presented, of a bifurcated society, with an elite living in the floating city of Zalem, and a hardscrabble lower class … Continue reading Battle Angel Alita
If you've ever perused the anime section of your streaming services, you'll recognize this one. Even more than Fullmetal Alchemist, it's one of the most popular series in the world. It's billed as dark fantasy, and they're not kidding about the dark part, but I found it to more often have a science fictional attitude. … Continue reading Attack on Titan
When I mentioned to friends that I was on an anime binge, the most common question was, "Have you watched Fullmetal Alchemist yet?" This series is on everyone's list of anime series to watch, so it was only a matter of time. There are actually two series. The earlier one is called just Fullmetal Alchemist. … Continue reading Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood
Yes, more anime. (For those concerned: no, I'm not turning this into an anime blog. Real life has been stressful lately, which hasn't left much mental energy for intellectual exploration. Rather than go completely dark, you're getting commentary on where my spare time is being spent. But I am slowly making my way through a … Continue reading Aldnoah.zero
The anime binge continues. The latest has been portions of the Gundam franchise. I was a little reluctant to even approach this collection, first because it's vast and it's not at all clear where the best place to start might be, and second because it looks like one of those superhero / toy adaptation series. … Continue reading Mobile Suit Gundam
I've posted a lot over the years on interpretations of quantum mechanics. My writing has tended to focus on comparing the big three: Copenhagen, pilot-wave, and many-worlds. But there are a lot of others. One that has been gaining converts among physicists and others is Carlo Rovelli's relational quantum mechanics (RQM) interpretation. This is an … Continue reading Carlo Rovelli’s Helgoland
My anime binge continues. I just recently finished the second season of Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These. The second part of the title means "The New Thesis". This series is a remake of an older anime series which itself was an adaptation of a series of novels and short stories by Yoshiki … Continue reading Legend of the Galactic Heroes: The New Thesis
I've been on something of an anime binge lately. When I was a kid, I enjoyed anime, but as an adult, for some reason, it ceased being appealing. I'm not sure why, but I developed an aversion to it. I made a few attempts over the years to power past the aversion, but with limited … Continue reading Catching up on anime
I've only recently discovered Ricardo Lopes and his interviews of all kinds of interesting people. Here is one from a couple of years ago of Keith Frankish, the most prominent contemporary champion of illusionism, the idea that phenomenal consciousness is an illusion, that it doesn't exist, and much of this is him giving the standard … Continue reading The necessity of weak emergence
