What, Why & How do we Know ?
Re-usable “Paper”. Blogged earlier link. Didn’t spot this “social life of paper” link from Malcolm Gladwell before though [Stuart’s Henshall’s previous link.] This is an interesting subject if you’re in an industry where the take-up of electronic “devices” seems to be lagging behind possibilities. People are very attached to the paper paradigm, for very good … Continue reading “Re-usable “Paper””
Progress on Priorities A strangely productive week since my previous “Resolution” post – I’m obviously focussed on the right priorities at last. Namely getting my “technical content” better organised for review. Started using free versions of Academia.edu and Orcid.org – posting some of my key (older and/or half-drafted pages and pdf’s – mostly just testing … Continue reading “Attention as a Moral Act”
I gave a presentation to Teesside Skeptics in the Pub on 15 December 22 Diana had asked us a question – on the Facebook Group Page in November 22 – about “whether we identified as scientific sceptics, and what that meant to us?” Back in August 22 Humanists UK had asked us to say if … Continue reading “#GoodFences – Is Scientific Skepticism Enough?”
This is a 2023 Annotation of a 2005 paper prepared originally for the Liverpool Conference on Robert Pirsig and his Metaphysics of Quality (MoQ). The text is unchanged except for correcting a few obvious typos and formatting errors, and to keep me honest the original “It’s Evolutionary Psychology Stupid” remains here complete with old broken … Continue reading “Zero to Pirsig”
Definition as a Coffin? “Hold your definition” is a plea by philosopher Daniel Dennett, often cited here on Psybertron, when dealing patiently with his scientific friends. Any discourse that starts with apparently clear definitions, manipulated solely by logic, is inherently limited by the fit between the history of those definitions and future of reality. At … Continue reading ““Definition as a Coffin” – Cybernetics to Systems Thinking”
Quite a few of my recent posts have been focussed on the idealism <> realism relationship – from the original reality and appearances saga, where we discover truth vs seeming goes back as far as pre-Socratic Parmenides – to Hegel/Bradley vs Russell/Moore in the late 19th C / early 20th C. One reason for it … Continue reading “Taking Idealism for a Spin”
There are some Proof-of-ID trials happening in the upcoming local elections in the UK. Naturally the system is “flawed”. All the usual responses of course, to the infringement if individual freedoms aspects. If freedom is worth anything, it’s worth protecting IMHO. But I say: Cock-ups like Windrush happen because of a public attitude to (things … Continue reading “ID Cards & Voting – Enlighten Me Someone?”
R.E.S.P.E.C.T is the only rule – Good Faith and Honest Intentions. (Once again for the hard of hearing, the ONLY RULE of engagement is good faith and respect for the engagement.) Rule #1 RESPECT – Understand & Question before Disagree & Criticize. Rule #2 RESPECT – No ad hominem attacks on the Individual or their Tribe. Rule … Continue reading “Rules of Rhetorical Engagement”