Beginnings of Brain/Machine Interfaces

The beginning of brain - machine interfaces. Yeah there have been some really primitive attempts before. But this seems much more interesting and appears to be the first invasive interfaces. Like Jake I’m skeptical this approach will work. But it’d be a boon to the handicapped if it does.

The Paranoid Style and Science

The paranoid style in science. Great article at Slate on the recent film Expelled along with all sorts of other conspiracy theories about science. Has a link to Richard Hofstader’s classic article “The Paranoid Style in American Politics”. Then focused on the right wing, although the left wing the past 30 years [...]

Social Nudges

Social nudges. How people tend to mimic others around them. Sometimes a useful tool by governments but also rather scary in some ways.

Peirce and Idealism

Over at Kenny Pearce was the 67th Philosopher’s Carnival. This time it was, for the most part, all about idealism. One problem with the term is that it tends to be a bit muddled and often only makes sense at particular times with a particular opposition. For instance in early 20th century [...]

67th Philosopher’s Carnival

67th Philosopher’s Carnival: the idealist edition. Kind of nice it had a theme.

The Texas FLDS Situation

I’ve not talked about the FLDS situation here since I want to focus on philosophy here. For those interested I’ve made a few posts on the subject at M*. The first was on the double standard between the polygamy and underage marriages of African immigrants and the FLDS. The second was noting [...]

Krister Stendahl Died

Krister Stendahl has died. Don’t know who he is? Check Wikipedia.

About that Picture…

So in case you were wondering about that picture I have at the top of the index page and above all the post pages.

Neuroaesthetics and Post-Structuralism

Neuroaesthetics and post-structuralism. Kind of interesting even if I think it misses the point. For one the brain is just an other text in Derridean terms.

John Wheeler Dead

John Wheeler died today. Cosmic Variance has a nice tribute. Most know him through the standard text on GR.

Intuitions and Thought Experiments

Brandon has a more in-depth post on why he doesn’t like zombie arguments. It seems to me his main point boils down to “[it] gets its plausibility not from anything about the argument itself but from a variety of positions pre-argument that give it an antecedent probability. The best thing to do is [...]

Secret Military Project Patches

Great secret military patches. One of my favorite posts of the week.

Drezner Nails It

Drezner nails my fears about both candidates

Myths about Eternalism

Common myths about tenseless eternalism. I prefer the term ‘block universe’ myself. Nice list though.

Siris and the Zombie Invasion

Siris and the Zombie Invasion. I don’t dislike the arguments as much as Brandon, but I think many philosophical thought experiments are ultimately of dubious utility. (Including Davdison’s swamp man, Frankfurt examples in Free Will debates, and so forth)

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