What, Why & How do we Know ?
[Posting a draft from 2017] As a rule of thumb, any headline phrased like that kinda question was almost certainly created by an editor as click-bait and invariably demands the obvious answer “No”. So despite being Tweeted by @AnitaLeirfall – generally a reliable source đ – I didn’t actually read it beyond a skim of the … Continue reading “Is Matter Conscious? No it isn’t, but …”
A review of: “How The World Thinks – A Global History of Philosophy” by Julian Baggini All my reviews are done in the context of my own philosophical journey and often, like this one, a review done very early on in the reading, so that my own prejudices are laid bare for later analysis and … Continue reading “Zen and the Art of Philosophy”
Interesting to see today’s news on standardisation of units of measure, that time, distance and mass are now to be unified through the Caesium clock with application of the speed of light (c) and Planck’s constant (h). (Hat tip to Jim Al-Khalili on Twitter). Fascinating article in itself, however yet more evidence that the accepted standard … Continue reading “Carlo Rovelli – A Fresh Spin on Fundamental Physics”
When it comes to Anthony Gottlieb’s “Dream of Enlightenment“, my anticipation would be an understatement. When in 2004 I read and loved his earlier “Dream of Reason” (Greeks to Renaissance) and noted a second volume was in the pipeline, I was on pre-order lists with the publisher, and retail outlets, I even followed-up with enquiries about forecast … Continue reading “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants – Dreaming of Enlightenment”
Interesting post from Morgan Giddings, with a Facebook response from Sabine Hossenfelder: Morgan I have mostly maintained a façade of being that “rational, materialist scientist” most of the time … … it was always unsettling to think that consciousness is just some byproduct of what is a random universe made up of a bunch of bouncy-balls. … Continue reading “Is there life beyond materialist science? @metamorgan says F*ck it.”
I promised a fuller review of Nick Spencer’s “Atheism – The Origin of the Species” when I’d completed it. It’s a rather long review with plenty of spoilers and quotes here, since I’m gutting it for content I find useful, but a recommended read for anyone from Mrs Angry Atheist to Mr Tolerant Apologist and all … Continue reading “Nothing New Under the Sun When it Comes to Atheism?”
My investigations here started 15 years ago into information, particularly as knowledge in a decision-making context, but it’s been some years since I decided governance was the umbrella term for that agenda – the basis for enacting best decisions – for any groups of people or constituencies of any size. Furthermore, wherever the information does not simply represent … Continue reading “Governance with Love, from New York to Boston. @platobooktour”
Finished Rebecca Goldstein’s “Betraying Spinoza” the other day, and found it an excellent piece of work. Having been very busy for a couple of days, I’ve not really had a chance to compose a detailed review. For now … Radical objectivism. Ultimately the self-other dualism is dissolved by expanding the scope of self. I am … Continue reading “Cosmic Man”
Fun (pleasure or jouissance), was part of Zizek’s agenda noted below. I finished his “Living in the End Times” a week or so ago; a good provocative read in many places, but I was just left with an inconclusive anti-climactic “so what ?”, and no further specific review subjects to publish, so I moved straight … Continue reading “What’s So Funny ?”