What, Why & How do we Know ?
Still drafting a longer thesis on my full metaphysics, prompted in this earlier post, but the premises are quite straightforward: IF – we allow that physics (physicalism / materialism) are fundamentally about information and processes (ie computation). THEN – I’m happy to be considered a physicalist, and that all evolved phenomena, including those of subjective … Continue reading “IF, THEN, ELSE – It’s Not Complicated”
I’ve had Mark Burgess “Smart SpaceTime” for a year or more, but was prompted to pick it up and read just last week when I noticed a long Twitter thread by Mark: I have your Smart Spacetime (unread) on the desk beside me. Have I already missed the sequel? — What, Why & How do … Continue reading “Smart SpaceTime – Mark Burgess”
Arthur Eddington has been on my reading list for a decade or two, since he was so often cited as the person who had first gotten to grips with the new physics and its communication to a wider real-world audience, beyond those minds engaged at Copenhagen / Paris and in the Solvay conferences. I happen … Continue reading “Eddington and the Real World”
A Summary of Iain McGilchrist “The Matter With Things” My writings on Iain McGilchrist’s TMWT, and TME (The Master and Emissary) before it, are many, but unfortunately that means that no single post, since my reading of TMWT, gives any introductory overview for a new reader. So here goes: What is the matter with things? … Continue reading “What is the Matter with Things?”
Recent reads of Carlo Rovelli and Sean Carroll have been ultimately disappointing, but don’t get me wrong … Helgoland (2021) – by Carlo Rovelli Staggering Implications – Rovelli Without Whitehead (AJOwens Nov 2021) Mach, Bogdanov, Nagarjuna and Rovelli (May 2021) Classifying an Unread Book (May 2021) and, The Big Picture (2015) – by Sean Carroll … Continue reading “Deutsch over Rovelli and Carroll”
I’ve been racking my brains for a day or two as to how I came to be reading Sean Carroll’s 2016 “The Big Picture – On the Origins of Life, Meaning and the Universe Itself”, indeed how I came to buy it in the Spring of this year? I can’t read every book by every … Continue reading “Poetic Naturalism – Sean Carroll”
Start the Week – Rationality in an Irrational Age – BBC Sounds Another fantastic edition. Well done @amolrajan – it really is possible to have intelligent dialogue on “tricky” subjects.@amiasrinivasan and @sapinker on sex between student and professor anyone? https://t.co/pzjjdUeCnE — What, Why & How do we know? (@psybertron) October 18, 2021 So as defined … Continue reading “Rationality According to Pinker”
I noted ten days ago I had acquired a copy of Chiara Marletto’s first foray into popular “trade” science literature “The Science of Can and Can’t” and noted at the time that I’d already been following her work and that of David Deutsch her mentor and collaborator for more than a decade. I’ve been putting-off … Continue reading “A Kite’s Eye View”