What, Why & How do we Know ?
I’ve been intending to dive into this Tim Hunt debacle, but the twitter storm is moving too fast for me to get a word in, so this is just a holding post – no extended argument here (yet). Science needs women? Doh! Which century are we in? Which geological period is Hunt in? All human endeavours … Continue reading “We need each other.”
It’s pretty well known that following his joint discovery of the structure of DNA with Francis Crick (helped by Rosalind Franklin and Ray Gosling amongst others), James Watson made some dubious suggestions about racial differences based on DNA – disgraceful by today’s standards. It’s also quite likely as “men of their time” that Watson (and Galton, referenced) actually … Continue reading “The shunning of James Watson. Better to understand than to deny?”
I Wasn’t There – Earlier this year I attended the IAI’s How the Light Gets In festival and The Rationalist Association’s AGM to mention a couple of events, but I didn’t make plans to attend the WHC2014 organised in Oxford this weekend by the BHA. You see, I’ve had a bit of a mixed relationship with the … Continue reading “Reflections on World Humanist Congress #whc2014 @BHAhumanists @NewHumanist @_CFIUK”
Coincidentally, I was in a school earlier this week, interacting with Year 8’s and their teachers in a mixed city academy. (A “STEM” Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths event on National “Women in Engineering Day” – “awesome” was the feedback from the school incidentally.) I was very impressed with the staff (as well as with … Continue reading “Teaching Values”
[Work in Progress – Draft will be edited without notification.] [Feedback appreciated on the “See / Refs” – where more are needed? Meantime all those indicated will be elaborated and worked into the text. And obviously on the intelligibility of the text so far. Drafting arose out of the “Three Essays” post, particularly “Algorithms for Humans” and … Continue reading “The Information Ontology Metaphysics”
[Work in Progress – Draft will be edited without notification.] [Feedback appreciated on the “See / Refs” – where more are needed? Meantime all those indicated will be elaborated and worked into the text. And obviously on the intelligibility of the text so far. Drafting arose out of the “Three Essays” post, particularly “Algorithms for … Continue reading “Information Ontology of Mind and Body”
Happy New Year everyone, just the one resolution here. Not posted since November and not read much either. Kinda(*) stalled I guess. Work got serious in a shift from planning & requirements gathering to funding & implementation, so I’m distracted by the day-job – in a good way, for all the right reasons – and … Continue reading “Reading (& Writing) Catch-Up Jan 2020”
I said, when reading Aldous Huxley back in 2007, that I was having trouble seeing the wood for the trees – what specific points Huxley was making – even though it was already a given that some kind of perennial philosophy is what we are dealing with in real life. Since before then my approach is … Continue reading “Perennialism”
I’m a great fan of Dan Dennett, and have probably read just about everything he’s ever written. Apart from his “Consciousness Explained” which failed to live up to its title – “hardly!” I commented at the time – I’ve pretty much gone along with Dan on his own evolving understanding of evolutionary consciousness. He’s part of … Continue reading “Dennett – An Eternal Golden Braid”
Few of us would defend Hitler as virtuous, in fact few would see him as anything other than “evil”. Adolf Hitler loved dogs and brushed his teeth, but that doesn’t mean we should hate dogs and stop brushing our teeth. Says Jared Diamond quoting a friend in “Collapse – How Societies Choose to Fail or … Continue reading “Hitler’s Virtues ?”