Mind and Body on @BBCStartWeek

I’ve claimed “Evolutionary Psychology” as my topic since I started this blog. Dominant schools of thought have evolved with the human mind, something that’s true for any “belief system” including modern “rational” science. I don’t use the term “Evo-Psych” too much since, like so many ideas named and hijacked by one flavour at one period … Continue reading “Mind and Body on @BBCStartWeek”

Fundamental Information & Computation

I’ve often noted that I hold an information monism – its processing & communication – to be underlying both the physical and the mental. In fact as recently as my previous post, I include it in a summary of my position linking information & entropy with systems & cybernetics. My “What, Why and How do … Continue reading “Fundamental Information & Computation”

“TERF War” Culmination?

Reaction to the recent bullying of philosopher Kathleen Stock at Sussex Uni has maybe brought this awful “war” to a head? A “TERF War” as a symptom of wider culture wars, cancel culture and woke identity politics in general. As someone with no direct skin in the games of Feminism and LGBplus rights it has … Continue reading ““TERF War” Culmination?”

BlogRolled Over

As a blogger since blogging was invented, I’ve maintained the idea of a blogroll in the side-bar – linking to other bloggers and sources of news and input I read and recommend. It’s long been redundant since all sources provide feeds not just through RSS but primarily via micro-blog channels – aka social media – … Continue reading “BlogRolled Over”

Cormac O’Raifeartaigh / O’Rafferty

Just capturing a link to the AntiMatter blog pages of Cormac O’Rafferty.  (Like me he blogs about plenty of current affairs and global politics beyond his academic teaching interest in physics. For me these are in fact deeply connected via human memetics and social decision making – in both science and politics.) Capturing the link … Continue reading “Cormac O’Raifeartaigh / O’Rafferty”

Dostoyevsky – The Idiot

I’ve started to read The Idiot several times, got as far as Myshkin arriving in Petersburg once or twice, but never got as far as realising his “Prince” character was the “Idiot” – as the naïve and well-intentioned voice in a complex world of love, money, ambition and personal motivation. Dostoyevsky’s strategy to communicate his … Continue reading “Dostoyevsky – The Idiot”

Rick Ryals

Richard (Rick) Ryals died 01 Dec 2018 from what I presume to have been throat or pharyngeal cancer. I only knew him as an on-line contact. Originally using the on-line user name “Island” or “Island9”. In the few days, inside the week before his death, I was private-chatting with him on Facebook Messenger after he’d … Continue reading “Rick Ryals”

Transferrable Computation Skills

Good to see a piece on the new computing element of the UK school curriculum, where it is more than simply a “coding” skill for immediate employment. Stuart Dredge in the Grauniad quotes Bill Mitchell of the BCS. He says it’s “thinking about thinking”, and you can do with bits of string and card and … Continue reading “Transferrable Computation Skills”