Logic and philosophy Couple new philosophy entries in SEP 10 Sep 2007 The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is an online, but highly regarded, source of review articles on philosophical topics, edited by Ed Zalta. Three new articles have popped up lately that have attracted my attention: Continue Reading
Ecology and Biodiversity Theories of speciation 1 Sep 200718 Sep 2017 Continuing on from my last post, let’s consider the modes of speciation that are called into account for the existence of species. Continue Reading
History In defence of Keanu, and the 5th best scientist 28 Aug 2007 So they’re remaking The Day the Earth Stood Still? So what? I have more respect for Keanu Reeves after seeing the recent film A Scanner Darkly, and anyway he’s much better an actor than Will Ferrell, who did such a good job in Stranger than Fiction to my surprise. But… Continue Reading
Administrative I aten’t dead 21 Aug 200718 Sep 2017 … I’m teaching. First years. Cognitive science. It turns out that a lot of what I thought was common knowledge isn’t common at all. And what I count as a simple introduction leaves a lot of folk behind. Now I know I’m not that ordinary in many senses – the… Continue Reading
History Apes don’t read philosophy 8 Aug 2007 I’m home sick, so I’m shirking duties and came across one of my favourite film scenes of all time: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKCZ8-ZAT88] Continue Reading
Logic and philosophy A blog worth reading 8 Aug 2007 Kate Devitt, a PhD student at Rutgers, as a rather wonderful blog, Mnemosynosis, on matters relating to memory. She’s got at present a very interesting post on bacterial cognition worth reading. Continue Reading
Evolution The inimitable Mr Spencer 7 Aug 200718 Sep 2017 I have a soft spot for Herbert Spencer [see also here]. Supposedly the founder of social Darwinism and the precursor to American libertarianism and justifier of the robber barons of the Gilded Age, he has been the whipping boy of progressives and anti-evolutionists alike. Ever since Richard Hofstadter fingered him… Continue Reading
Administrative Home again 3 Aug 2007 So I’m home from Ish, and the front part of my brain is giddy and tired while the rest has just shut down. I don’t travel well, I’m afraid. One thing that I came back fired up over are the unfinished projects I have running. So I intend to finish… Continue Reading
Logic and philosophy Explanation 13 Jul 200718 Sep 2017 But state space models in physical sciences tend to provide not a single coordinate, but a surface over which the system or phenomenon under explanations can range – so long as the observed trajectory of the system is on or near the surface described by the model, there is so far an explanation of the facts. A full explanation would, I think, involve showing in a suitably rich state space that only the actual states are possible, in the order they are observed (which turns out to be a single coordinate in a state space of the dynamical model after all). Continue Reading
Evolution A review of Hitchens 9 Jul 2007 I probably agree with Christopher Hitchens on many substantive points. But I won’t be reading his book. Instead, we can thank this reviewer for their critical, ascerbic, and I suspect in the end accurate review of God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. Continue Reading