Category Archives: Philosophy

Jim Al-Khalili, The Joy of Science

Here’s a short little book that is basic but substantive. Familiar yet essential. Frankly, if I had seen it in a bookstore, I would have glanced through it and likely set it back down. Seeing it online made it difficult … Continue reading

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Recent Features and Headlines, 14 Sept 2022

Ockham’s Razor; Randall Munroe; The best time to be alive; nephew of longtermism; political headlines.

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Son of Longtermism

Some 14 days ago, in this post, I linked and quoted from a NYT guest essay by William MacAskill about valuing the future as much as we value the present. Which struck me as a reasonable position to take, a … Continue reading

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Recent Doonesbury and Utopian Ideologies

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LQCs: News, Propaganda, Ideologies, and a Modern Wise Man

First, two items that follow-up the last item in yesterday’s post. Following, a modern wise one about ideologies.

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LQCs: The Self-Righteousness of “Authentic” Americans

And: Republican victim-hood and their desire to discriminate against people they don’t like. And why the Supreme courts keeps discovering “new” rights.

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Ls&Cs: Human Are Animals; The Yuck Factor

I’ve kept up with posting current links to articles and essays in recent weeks (since I’ve been posting once a day, for two months now) so well that this evening I am mining links I captured back in March and … Continue reading

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Sam Harris, LYING (2013)

Summary and comments about this 2011 essay and 2013 book. With an aside about my belief in Santa Claus.

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Ls&Cs: Visiting Flooded Cities Simply Explained

Water through the body; human inability to account for long-term threats; how sometimes the answers to conspiracy theories are simple.

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Ls&Cs: Two from Free Inquiry

From the October/November 2021 issue, articles about Christian Morality and about how understanding COVID does not depend on a Kuhnian paradigm shift.

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