Category Archives: uncategorized

Wow! A high school essay by a law professor (with a book published by UChicPress). The reason “rule of law” works is of course because the harm done in a crime is vastly more than the reward to the criminal and so … Continue reading →

The immortal cancer cells that were harvested without permission from Henrietta Lacks in 1951 continue to provide valuable lessons – not just for biology and the practice of medicine, but also in medical ethics and even at a more general … Continue reading →

In his latest ‘The Stone’ column at NYTimes.com, Mary and the Zombies: Can Science Explain Consciousness?, Gary Gutting admits that non-Philosophers might conceivably have something useful to say (even though he has to add the usual BS  “Of course, professional philosophers … Continue reading →

It’s an interesting coincidence that just a few days after my posting on the discussion at ‘Butterflies and Wheels‘, the topic of Philosophy’s relevance was taken up by Paul Horwich in ‘the Stone’  at NYTimes.com (though fortunately with less dismissive rudeness … Continue reading →

From what I can gather,  the experiment referred to in this discussion may have just involved transmitting the excitation pattern of motor neurons associated with pressing the (say) left button rather than transmitting any “conceptual” association of that button with the … Continue reading →

I wish the name of Gordon Brown didn’t always take the lead in these promotions but I don’t know of any more effective way of promoting the cause of women’s education around the world – and I do think that cause … Continue reading →

My previous post refers to some aspects of Godel’s famous theorems about incompleteness in mathematics. But since the context which brought them to mind was a posting on an atheist blog it’s ironic that Godel believed he had a proof … Continue reading →

In the discussions following Landon’s Guest Post @» Butterflies and Wheels (on the value in philosophical training) there is an exchange between Landon and Harald Hanche-Olsen on the question of whether Logic is a branch of Philosophy or Mathematics. I … Continue reading →

Ophelia Benson’s post on Patricia Churchland’s 2011 book ‘braintrust’ points out that, in contrast to the efforts of Sam Harris and Michael Shermer, Churchland makes a much more modest claim for what she is doing. Indeed Churchland’s claim “is not … Continue reading →

I do NOT want my cable fees used to pay for biased propaganda that undermines the caring culture that I have chosen to live in (and which, with bad luck, I may one day have to depend on). Those who … Continue reading →

I heard about this Complexity Explorer course via Stephen Downes and have decided to enrol. Our experience always involves a lot of complexity which we typically manage by isolating just a few quantities of interest which are related by compactly … Continue reading →

Alain de Botton Proposes a Kinder, Gentler Philosophy of Success. And at the Atlantic Alexis Madrigal responds to Jack Dorsey on the role of luck (in addition to hard work and genius) in the making of a great success story. … Continue reading →

According to G. Michael Maddock and Raphael Louis Vitón, “Conscious Capitalism” Will Be The Framework For Your Next Decade Of Innovation, but I’m more inclined to Mr Garth’s skeptical position on this, This idea of “doing well by doing good” … Continue reading →

ThinkProgress reports that Lomborg Urges Climate Inaction With Misleading Stats In Murdoch's Wall Street Journal. This is the same guy who first threw up a wall of phoney statistical arguments against the reality of Anthropogenic Global Warming and then when … Continue reading →

William M. Briggs claims that Women In Combat Results In A Suboptimal Military but his argument belies his supposed expertise in statistics. I am taller and stronger than the average woman, but only around the 80th percentile. So 20% of … Continue reading →

Ted Kaptchuk of Harvard Medical School studies placebos | Harvard Magazine Jan-Feb 2013. One of the most intriguing points was that even a placebo identified as such to the patient can have a beneficial effect. So perhaps whatever benefit people … Continue reading →

Using the click2play option, a page needing JAVA (or any other plugin) requests permission to run it (which I can ignore if I don’t both trust the source and need the service). This is the only sensible option anyhow when … Continue reading →

…because I have freely decided to do it! Those who claim to have evidence that “you probably don’t have free will” or who assert that complex chaotic systems’ unpredictability “is what gives you free will” are both either unprincipled or … Continue reading →

One has to wonder why anyone would rework a song like R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion” from Minor to Major Scale, though I suppose at least it serves someone’s political purpose. But to do the same with the Doors ‘Riders of … Continue reading →

Spanish Runner, Ivan Fernandez Anaya, gave up the opportunity to take advantage of a misunderstanding by his opponent and then was sincerely frank about why he did so. This doesn’t change my opinion as to the silliness of high-stakes athletic … Continue reading →