Ponderings of science, philosophy, history, society, and many other topics
I think the reasons someone reaches a conclusion are at least as important as the conclusion itself. Recently someone I know changed their mind about a topic. Where they had previously disagreed with me on something, they now agree. Which was great, except, I found their reasons for the change problematic. It reminded me that I often have … Continue reading Reasons and conclusions
I often use non-standard language to describe concepts, and I've had a couple of people over the last couple of years call me on it. There seemed to be a sentiment that I was confusing things, or being sneaky in some way, by not sticking to the standard nomenclature. A short post about why I … Continue reading Using alternate terminology
We all have ideas or concepts that exasperate us when they're brought up. Mine have changed over the years. When I was younger, anything that called into question certain ideas, such as the religious faith I was raised in, or the mantra of American patriotism, irritated me to no end. I tended to reject propositions … Continue reading Scrutinize what makes you angry
Julia Galef is the host of the podcast Rationally Speaking (which I've listened to for years and recommend). She's a rationalist concerned with improving the way she and others think. As a result, she often puts out material critiquing typical reasoning mistakes. As Sean Carroll pointed out recently when interviewing her, this tends to put … Continue reading The Scout Mindset
A cool TED cartoon video of Rebecca Goldstein and Steven Pinker discussing reason and its effects on history. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk7gKixqVNU I've said it before, but just because reason is a means to an end, as they note Hume observed, doesn't take away its value. Acknowledging it only gives us a healthy, and reasonable, awareness of its … Continue reading The long reach of reason
Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them. David Hume Reason, logic, is a tool. It is a means to an end. It is never an end unto itself, never the goal. It is the journey, not … Continue reading Reason is a tool of emotion
By examining children's ideas about "prelife," the time before conception, researchers found results which suggest that our bias toward immortality is a part of human intuition that naturally emerges early in life. And the part of us that is eternal, we believe, is not our skills or ability to reason, but rather our hopes, desires … Continue reading Belief in immortality hard-wired? Study examines development of children’s ‘prelife’ reasoning — ScienceDaily
Came across this awesome philosophical comic site with some pretty profound contemplations. I found this particular entry relevant to our recent discussions. Click through to see the whole thing. via A Dialog with a Madman - Existential Comics. h/t Conscious Entities
Today's Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal is too relevant to this blog's conversations for me to pass up calling your attention to it. Click through to see the full size version. via Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal.
SelfAwarePatterns 