I’ve been meaning to do one of these Open Yale Courses online for a while. I’d love to watch Robert Shiller’s course in financial markets (I think Shiller is great but I’m undecided how much I can really tolerate hearing about financial markets…) You can also view Paul Bloom’s introduction to psychology. I haven’t looked at many [...]
{ 0 comments }
I found this book by Eric A. Havelock at a used bookstore last week. It’s turning out to be more interesting than I expected. Specifically, there are some fascinating comparisons to the changes in our own media and cultural landscape. Preface to Plato (1963) focuses on the great philosopher’s attack on poetry — trying to [...]
{ 3 comments }
I tend to go through new mottos every few months. Background on some of the old ones are here, here, here and here. “Learning is personal, knowledge is social, truth is an adventure” came to me while staring at a blank description field in the settings of thinkingalive.com, a new WordPress-powered site I set up for [...]
{ 2 comments }
A few years ago I spent a while trying to grasp “what it’s all about.” What I came up with — more or less — is that the purpose of life is to tell a good story. Whether or not that’s true, it’s the most effective way to manage and resolve a lot of problems. Some [...]
{ 5 comments }
Part of an ongoing series on belief. David Brooks generated a lot of discussion with his column in May on “The Neural Buddhists“: Scientists have more respect for elevated spiritual states. Andrew Newberg of the University of Pennsylvania has shown that transcendent experiences can actually be identified and measured in the brain (people experience a [...]
{ 1 comment }
A follow-up to Identifying with Non-Belief. If skepticism is the act of being skeptical, I’m ok with it, but if we go to a lot of trouble to define and systematize “Skepticism,” then we run the risk of falling into the same absolutist traps in which we don’t recognize the truest shape of reality because it’s [...]
{ 6 comments }
I was glad to see Kevin writing on the strike at York U. I don’t usually take much of an interest in the annual strike there, but after reading Fulford’s remarks I had a few thoughts… Even gladder I was that Kevin and I are in broad agreement: ”education is essential… those on strike at York should have never had the [...]
{ 1 comment }
I’m guessing this must seem pretty weird to a lot of people: I just love making up mottos, lists of “core values,” etc. I’ve done it since I was a kid. I can’t friggin help it. I used to do logos a lot too but as I got older I’ve tended to grow more at home in [...]
{ 6 comments }
