What, Why & How do we Know ?
I saw the excellent Dave Snowden speaking at the Annual Mike Jackson lecture at Hull University yesterday evening. Excellent in every way – Dave’s presentation and his conversation with Mike. All except for the absence of audience questions and discussion, that is, which meant I came away frustrated with my ‘bated list of questions and … Continue reading “Dave Snowden and Mike Jackson”
Baggini, Churchland, Flanagan in dialogue around the topic of Julian’s latest book “How to Think Like a Philosopher” – or as he preferred it “How NOT to think like a philosopher” >>> rough notes: All positive about Dennett, McIntyre, Wittgenstein, Descartes, Hume, etc. More than wondering in vacuo – adjacent sciences matter. Glad to hear … Continue reading “How do Baggini, Churchland and Flanagan Think?”
Capturing this neat summary, NOT for the decade long Sex vs Gender blip of 21st C insanity, but for the millennia old fact that men and women do have archetypically different brains & minds as well as biological bodies. “Vive la Difference” as I keep referring to it. Facts are not normative, everything and anything … Continue reading “Sexual Dimorphism”
This Karl Friston interview is long and wandering (almost 4 hours!) and a bit distorted by the somewhat affected (?) naïve “Theory of Everything” – everything including the kitchen sink – agenda of interviewer Curt Jaimungal, but anyway … some very rough mental notes: Deflationary view – hooray. The very point. Using / understanding general … Continue reading “Long Friston Interview”
Mentioned in a recent “systems sciences” post being recommended to read Peter Corning’s “Nature’s Magic”. Well I’ve had it a couple of days now and like what I read. As a result of the original “see inside” skim I’d already discovered that Corning’s idea of nature’s magic is SYNERGY, essentially that the whole is more … Continue reading “Synergy – Nature’s Magic?”
I mentioned John C Doyle as a candidate for a new real-life (living) “hero” in my research quest here in 2019 and again here in 2021. I say “new” hero because my long term hero has been Dan Dennett. Of course since then, both Iain McGilchrist and Mark Solms have taken up a good deal … Continue reading “Scientists Will Hate This”
I have Otto Neurath as the larger-than-life overly positive member of the logically positivist Vienna Circle – a great communicator on its behalf but probably unaware of its limitations. Someone who never understood Wittgenstein’s objections. The “International Encyclopedia of Unified Science” (here Vol 1 Part 1 Entries 1 to 5 of the unfinished project) came … Continue reading “Neurath and Bohr”
I may at last have space to write my Good Fences piece, but first a new reference. “Western” rationality is eating itself. I particularly like the use of the word special in this piece (which I’ve not fully digested yet) when talking about Western civilisation (as I do when talking about humanity). We are a … Continue reading “Better Fences Needed”