I See No Reason, is No Reason.

Had to capture this one. @nntaleb Thought you may like the principle of Chesterton’s Fence: https://t.co/WdBiv7F5Rp — Rory Sutherland (@rorysutherland) September 5, 2016 Been drafting a piece on Robert Frost’s quote for some time now: “Good Fences Make Good Neighbours.“ However I have, in fact, used Robert Frost’s quote in so many contexts recently that … Continue reading “I See No Reason, is No Reason.”

Physics Moves in Mysterious Ways – Carlo Rovelli’s “Seven Brief Lessons”

I’ve been largely offline for a week visiting Florence, and in fact did very little reading whilst I was away. Florence was too fascinating. So, Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s “Black Swan” and “Antifragile“ and Simon Blackburn’s “Truth” and “Hume“ remain incomplete and un-reviewed despite enjoying the gist I’d already gleaned from all four. Their styles could … Continue reading “Physics Moves in Mysterious Ways – Carlo Rovelli’s “Seven Brief Lessons””

More on the Myths of Science

Further to the rant by Jerry Coyne about James Blachovicz piece which I reacted to here, there’s more. Forbes’ Ethan Siegel responded and so did Bill Storage at The Multidisciplinarian. Hat tip @chrisoldfield in all cases. Where to start? It’s still all about turf wars over broad and narrow definitions – and I’ve said what I needed … Continue reading “More on the Myths of Science”

Israel & the Middle-East Problem

I’ve cited (for example only) C J Werleman and Anne-Marie Waters as activist-commentators who undoubtedly “get it” and are undoubdtedly committed to making change for the better for all of us, however flawed their individual approaches. Helping to escape the mess we’re sliding into. And I say that even though both engage in the kind of … Continue reading “Israel & the Middle-East Problem”

Collaborative Outreach

One aspect of Psybertron’s activity, beyond thinking, writing and linking to the publishing of others, is efforts to create and participate in some genuinely collaborative ventures – where there is “natural confluence” in the overlap of ideas and agendas. [This aspect is always evolving / under development.] In all cases the approach is good neighbours – … Continue reading “Collaborative Outreach”

Pinker vs Wieseltier III #Scientism

It’s almost a couple of weeks since Pinker responded with round III of his debate with Wieseltier over whether the humanities have a genuine claim of “scientism” against certain factions of the science community, or not. [I’ve commented twice on this debate, and mentioned it in several other posts too. Most recently the post on … Continue reading “Pinker vs Wieseltier III #Scientism”

#Scientism in Heaven and Earth @tiffanyjenkins

I’ve adopted the term “scientism” for the subject – the problem topic – of my agenda here in maybe the last 5 years or so? Previously I’ve called it scientific fundamentalism, or maybe obsessive objective reductionism, Maxwell’s scientific neurosis, things of that ilk, since I started this blog 13 years ago. Before that I never … Continue reading “#Scientism in Heaven and Earth @tiffanyjenkins”

Life and Death

Being surrounded on three sides by a church graveyard and on the fourth by agricultural land is the setting for daily life here at our new home & office location. All life is here. In 5 or 6 weeks so far we’ve seen at least 3 burials, so we’ve been doing some calculations. The three … Continue reading “Life and Death”