Category: philosophy
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The Ambition Defect
Scott Adams—the author famous for his Dilbert comic—has an interesting take on ambition: I think ambition is a genetic defect. You can’t have ambition unless you think there is something wrong with the way you are. Ambition is a state of feeling perpetually flawed.
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Top 10 Philosophy Papers of the Year
Every year The Philosopher’s Annual attempts to pick the ten best philosophy articles of the year. This year’s results are now out and I’ll soon be delving into the archives to peruse the previous 26 volumes. via Mind Hacks
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Gödel, Escher, Bach
On a large number of ‘best of’ or ‘books that changed my life’ lists I always spot Gödel, Escher, Bach (GEB), the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Douglas Hofstadter. When my copy arrived at my door recently I was taken aback by this tome and realised that it was going to be a dense read that…
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The Seed Salon
I’ve just discovered Seed Magazine’s Seed Salon and am enthralled. Each ‘episode’ is a short, ten-minute conversation between a scientist and an artist or humanist. It’s like a conversational TED Talk. via Kottke
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Ayn Rand in Playboy (Interview)
Playboy‘s 1964 Ayn Rand interview in full; a deep and prophetic discussion. PLAYBOY: Has no religion, in your estimation, ever offered anything of constructive value to human life? RAND: Qua religion, no — in the sense of blind belief, belief unsupported by, or contrary to, the facts of reality and the conclusions of reason. Faith,…
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The Best of Neurophilosophy
The Best of Neurophilosophy is a roundup of the best posts from the blog of the same name. Posts highlighted include those on brainwashing, prefrontal lobotomies, trepanation,and the psychology of Alfred Hitchcock.
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Non-Voting Political Philosophers and Stealing Ethicists
When I read that political philosophers vote less often than other philosophers (and political scientists) I was reminded of the book Can a Robot be Human?. This book touches on the logic behind voting, and comes to the conclusion that – for an individual – it is pointless because no election has ever been decided…
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My Ideal Parenting Model
When Mom and Dad Share It All is a New York Times cover story on gender and parenting. A great story with greater insights, this paragraph sums up how I hope my future would be: They would create their own model, one in which they were parenting partners. Equals and peers. They would work equal…
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5 Years On the Road – A Hitchhiking Story
Ludovic Hubler is a Frenchman who, in 2003, set off around the world with one goal – to travel all of it by hitchhiking. This is it ! The circle has finally been closed. 5 years, passed day by day since leaving the Alps, and now here I am back at my point of departure,…