What, Why & How do we Know ?
Too soon to write on Perth, except very mild, even chilly yesterday, and everything closed early on Sunday. More later. Catching up on Melbourne … excuse my indulgent diary … Never did mention the bird-life. Even first day in Victoria Garden … Magpie Lark, Magpie and various other Crow species, not to mention various Gull … Continue reading “Melbourne – Perth”
Following a search hit I find a source that links many of mine …. Pirsig and VUB/Heilighen, (Einstein Meets Magritte) with Josephson (explaining the paranormal with open minded science) with Dennett, Searle and Chalmers (PoM / Consciousness) in the Journal of Consciousness Studies. A paper in the 1995 JCS reviewing the 1995 Einstein Meets Magritte … Continue reading “Consciousness and Pirsig”
… is true, even though you cannot prove it ? The Edge 2005 Annual Question. All the usual suspects, mixed bag of answers though. Dennett, says language is a necessary pre-condition for consciousness, and interestingly, his reason concerns the need for “I”, a subject. Like that. Blackmore, says she believes that neither free-will nor herself … Continue reading “What Do You Believe …”
In preparation for following up all the neuroscience pointers to the existence of pre-cognitive “qualia” being processed in the brain (at least I think that’s what’s being pointed at – I may be misunderstanding something) I was updating my link to David Chalmers’ Univeristy of Arizona site, and the expected upcoming consciousness conference, when I … Continue reading “Chalmers and Qualia”
That’s Not What I Meant. Dave Pollard via Anol’s Soul Soup. Someone in this blogosphere published something very similar over a year ago, may even have been Dave. Fits very much with the Cynefin warning about what people “hear” being massively influenced by their existing “schemata”, and of course the two “laws” of Schank and … Continue reading “That’s Not What I Meant”
The Edge Annual Question 2004 Q. What’s your law ?Here’s a selection of my favourite answers; Interesting how many are about meaning and communication, and more specifically about wishing to believe. Schank’s LawBecause people understand by finding in their memories the closest possible match to what they are hearing and use that match as the … Continue reading “The Edge Annual Question 2004”
How did I miss this ? The 2004 Science of Consciousness, Tucson conference at the University of Arizona is this coming week ! That’s what happens when you’re too busy with your day job. Pinker, Dennett and Blackmore as keynote speakers. (No Stapp or Josephson this year, which is a pity, but probably an indication … Continue reading “Tucson 2004 – Science of Consciousness”
His NIBBS – Dr Ian Pitchford runs the Human Nature Review and publishes this Daily Review of news in evolutionary psychology as “NIBBS“. [via Jean-Luc Delatre]. Recent editions include very positive reviews of Pinker’s “The Blank Slate”, Dennett’s “Freedom Evolves” and Jones’ “Y – The Descent of Men”. A positive gold mine of material.
Frank Ramsey – Brother of the Archbishop Lord Michael Ramsey and son of A.S Ramsey (Mathematics, Vice-Master Magdelene, Cambs), died in 1930, aged just 26. [Cambs links broken – temporary here, and here.] Get’s a mention in Wittgenstein’s Poker as the “precociously brilliant mathematician” I notice, but I had not recognised his contribution to changing … Continue reading “Frank Ramsey”
I think that’s the correct title of Dawkins latest offerring. By coincidence, given the previous blog, he was on Start the Week this morning with Andrew Marr on BBC Radio 4. Another member of the panel said he could not believe that there were enough “creationists” left in the world for Dawkins to feel the … Continue reading “Devils Chaplain ?”