Philosophy

Cognitive biases

February 25, 2014
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An earlier post featured three TED lectures by the behavioural economist Dan Ariely, each of which revealed some of the predictable ways in which the human mind falls short of the ideal of perfect rationality. Ariely is just one of a large and growing number of researchers interested in human irrationality. These researchers come from the fields of cognitive and social psychology, behavioural economics, behavioural ethics, and experimental philosophy. And just as the research in this area is increasing, so too are the findings concerning the full extent of human irrationality. The following extensive list from Wikipedia summarizes some of…

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The future of the human species

February 25, 2014
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Today’s headlines from the political left and right form a striking diptych that surely tells us something about the future of the human species. From Truthout comes this article, The March of Anthropogenic Climate Disruption, providing the sombre and sober truth about the state of the environment on planet Earth. While most of us do our best to ignore them, the signs of catastrophic climate change are all around us. This article does a good job of detailing several of the most recent signs and driving home the point that we are probably long past the point of no return…

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Zombie education

June 27, 2013
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William Astore is a retired lieutenant colonel of the US Air Force who now writes for TomDispatch and other publications. In his latest piece for Truthout he explains the concept of “zombie education.”    True education, Astore writes, is transformative and soul-enriching. “It opens alternative paths to living that don’t begin and end at the workplace. It measures personal fulfillment in ways that aren’t restricted to take-home pay… It’s about becoming a savvier citizen whose appreciation of, and dedication to, democracy is keener and more heartfelt.” Zombie education, on the other hand, is narrowly focused on individual profit or vocational training.   “Students are…

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The Doomsday Clock and the best sex toy ever invented

January 21, 2013
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The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is a non-technical magazine dedicated to informing scientists about the real world implications of scientific research and educating non-scientists about the dangers that human civilization currently faces. It began in 1945 in response to the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two events which vividly demonstrate the catastrophic potential of scientific research and the need for policies to direct that research away from disastrous ends. In 1947, the Bulletin launched its  Doomsday Clock, a metaphorical clock that represents the best guess among concerned scientists as to how close humanity is to annihilation. While…

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Will the Internet bring an end to religion?

January 17, 2013
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Not any time soon, but organized religion is on the decline in many places around the world,  and in this interesting article Valerie Tarico argues that the Internet is one of the principal causes of this phenomenon.  Here are the six kinds of web content that she thinks are leading the faithful astray:  1. Radically cool science articles and videos;  2. Curated collections of ridiculous beliefs. 3. The kinky, exploitative, and violent side of religion 4. Supportive communities for people coming out of religion. 5. Lifestyles of the fine and faithless. 6. Interspiritual okayness. Could it be that the internet…

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Google translate and the Tower of Babel

January 16, 2013
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How well is meaning preserved when moving from one language to another in Google translate? The folks at cdza provide a rather convincing demonstration of the limitations of Google translate. To be fair to Google, even the best possible translation could not succeed in preserving exact meaning when filtering a pop song through 64 languages. Still, it’s hilarious to see how quickly the translations become ridiculous.

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Sam Harris and the ethical argument for guns

January 11, 2013
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In a recent and lengthy blog post entitled “The Riddle of Guns” author Sam Harris takes issues with the “fanatacists and zealots” on both sides of the gun debate in America.  He claims to be searching for some rational middle ground between the two extremes of, on the one hand, the “liberals”who respond to the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School with calls for much stronger gun control and, on the other, the right-wing NRA types who respond to the tragic mass shooting with calls for more guns in the form of armed guards at elementary schools and other public…

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The Science of Morality (CBC radio interviews)

October 30, 2012
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One of the jewels in the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is the radio series Ideas, which does a good job of providing Canadians with in-depth journalism on issues of scientific or cultural significance. Here are links to a two-part series on the new science of morality (Part 1; Part 2).  The series provides a nice introduction to the field and investigates what light science is shedding on our moral beliefs and behavior. The series features interviews with Frans de Waal, Paul Bloom, Jon Haidt, Joshua Greene, and Sam Harris.

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Evidence of the existence of God?

October 14, 2012
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Eben Alexander recently wrote this article in Newsweek magazine describing the amazing experiences he had while in a coma, experiences which he claims prove that consciousness survives the brain, that there is life after death, that heaven is real, and that there is a divine and all-loving God.  He writes, for instance, the following: In the fall of 2008, however, after seven days in a coma during which the human part of my brain, the neocortex, was inactivated, I experienced something so profound that it gave me a scientific reason to believe in consciousness after death… There is no scientific…

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How wired is your life? (by Santiago Zabala)

October 8, 2012
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AlJazeera recently featured an excellent article by Santiago Zabala, ICREA Research Professor of Philosophy at the University of Barcelona in its opinion section. In his article Zabala emphasizes that in our digital world, in which the internet and social networks have become as common as “the air we breathe,” critical thinking is more important than ever. Some quotes from the full article: It is interesting to notice how often this question is answered simply by noting the amount of time we spend online (following the US presidential campaign or admiring MOMA‘s online collection) rather than by qualifying our ability to interpret the…

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Freedom of thought and open-source software (lecture by Eben Moglen)

July 28, 2012
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Eben Moglen, professor of law and legal history at Columbia University, as well as founder, Director-Counsel and Chairman of Software Freedom Law Center and long-term supporter of organizations like the Free Software Foundation, is a lecturer and free software/open-source advocate. Though the following lecture and interview only covers so much, they do serve as a good introduction to his extensive body of work. Why Freedom of Thought Requires Free Media and Why Free Media Require Free Technology This lecture was held during the Re:publica 2012 conference in Berlin. It describes in detail why the current societal model, in which proprietary…

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Alternatives to capitalism?

June 28, 2012
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In this brief article first published in the Guardian, Richard Wolff, professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts and New School University, discusses the amazing success of the Mondragon Corporation of Spain and its potential as a model of social organization in a post-capitalistic economy. Key differences between businesses working within the MC framework and typical corporations are (1) the democratic nature of the decision-making process within the organization and (2) the limits on income inequality between workers. Imagine all businesses in a country working within the MC framework and you have a realistic and intriguing alternative to capitalism. Here…

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Singer on religious freedom

June 28, 2012
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Peter Singer has penned an excellent article for Project Syndicate entitled “The Use and Abuse of Religious Freedom.” The background for the article is a recent proposal of the Party for the Animals, the only animal-rights party to be represented in a national parliament. The party has proposed a law requiring that all animals in the Netherlands be stunned before slaughter. In response to this proposal Islamic and Jewish leaders have united and spoken out in defense of their religious freedom, because their religious doctrines prohibit eating meat from animals that are not conscious when killed. But would the proposed law,…

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Sam Harris on racial profiling

June 19, 2012
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Sam Harris is no stranger to controversy, but with his recent defense of racial profiling it seems that he has really stuck his foot on it and alienated a good deal of his former fan-base. Harris suggests that people who are (or look like they are) Muslim should receive a higher level of security screening at airport check-in counters than non-Muslims. Needless to say, this suggestion offends many secular liberals, who may approve of Harris’s spirited attack on religion in general, but not his more specific attack on Islam.  To his credit, though, he was willing to engage in debate…

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Dean Ornish and enlightened ethical egoism

May 28, 2012
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Ethical egoism is the philosophical theory that people should always act in their own self-interest, that when faced with choices between what’s good for oneself and what’s good for others, one should always place one’s own interests first. One of the chief exponents of this view was Ayn Rand, who influenced a generation of powerful people, including Milton Friedman, Alan Greenspan, Ronald Reagan, and Margaret Thatcher, each of whom helped to push forward the neoliberalist agenda that has dominated social and political life since the 1980s. At the heart of neoliberalist philosophy is the idea that greed is good, not just…

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Can You Understand the Republican Brain? (Mark Karlin interviews Chris Mooney)

April 18, 2012
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Scientific American lauds author Chris Mooney “as one if the few journalists in the country who specialize in the now dangerous intersection of science and politics.” Having interviewed Mooney about his first book, the highly praised, “The Republican War on Science,” Truthout/BuzzFlash interviews Mooney about his latest release, “The Republican Brain: The Science of Why They Deny Science – and Reality.” Truthout and BuzzFlash readers can directly obtain “The Republican Brain” and support uncompromised journalism by clicking here. Mark Karlin: Progressives often say of Fox that they create facts to bolster their opinions. Is this true of the Republican mind set in general? Chris Mooney: This…

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Death with courage and dignity

March 16, 2012
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Peter Goodwin was a physician and a right-to-die activist who took his own life last week (March 11, 2012). This article from Time magazine contains a video of the last interview he conducted before his death. He was remarkably rational–even though emotional–right up to the end, and this video is well worth watching, especially for those who are opposed to euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide, or the patient’s right to die.   

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The Purpose of Purpose (Lecture by Richard Dawkins)

March 13, 2012
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In “The Purpose of Purpose” lecture Richard Dawkins tells an anecdote of Peter Atkins being asked by a member of the Royal Family, “But what about the ‘why question?'” and Atkins replying, “That is a silly question”. Dawkins notes that asking why for inanimate objects like air or rocks is almost always considered inappropriate. But asking why for living organisms was often done in the past. He mentions a number of amusing examples, such as claims that domestic animals provide a means to keep their meat fresh until we have need to eat them, lice were a strong incentive to personal cleanliness,…

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The Fireplace Delusion

February 19, 2012
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In a recent post on his blog, Sam Harris presents an interesting example of the refusal to adjust one’s beliefs in the face of solid scientific evidence. He calls it “The Fireplace Delusion.”  Unlike the other cases of intransigence that he has made a career of criticizing, this one has nothing to do with religion. It’s about the refusal to believe (despite clear scientific evidence) that burning wood in campfires or fireplaces is a serious health hazard. The issue is not that the fires might spread (though that too is always a concern) but that the smoke from the fires contains…

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