“The freezing in text of dialectical reasoning, with a heavy admixture (however impure or problematic) of poetry, aphorism and myth, became the model for what, in the European tradition, was thought of as ‘philosophy’ for the next few millennia. Why are these historical reflections important today? Because what is at stake is nothing less than our understanding of the scope and nature of philosophical enquiry.”
Category: ideas
Here’s A Problem: A Failure To Fail
“Learning resilience is fundamental to a successful career as a scientist. The experiments we try will fail many times before they work, whether as an undergraduate, a PhD student, or a postdoc gunning for a faculty position… But actually overcoming failure is challenging. Many students who began science degrees with me switched to other majors the first time a project failed. One failure and they were gone.”
Is Martin Luther Responsible For The Concept Of Individual Liberty?
“Luther was not a lover of human freedom: he insisted on absolute obedience to the external authority of secular rulers; and his violent denunciation of the Peasants’ Revolt and his call for its bloody repression demonstrated a fanatical determination to uphold external authority.” And yet, argues historian Frank Furedi, his challenge to the authority of the Roman Catholic hierarchy led directly to the idea that one could challenge authority as such.
It’s Called FOBO – Fear Of A Better Option
People who over-analyze, wanting to make the best possible decision. “They want to find the absolute best option. They become so focused on doing the ‘right’ thing that even after they make a decision, they still ruminate on their earlier options, which leads to frustration and regret with the decision process.”
A Culture Of Offense Has Crept In To Canadian Universities
“An increasingly sensitive and fine-grained vocabulary for registering and opposing forms of sexism, racism, ableism and religious intolerance has undeniably been developing within higher education. Recent events in Canadian universities suggest not only that freedom of speech does not include the freedom to offend, but that those who position themselves as “offence takers” currently hold the balance of power at all levels of campus politics.”
Does Power Corrupt? Not Necessarily – But It Brings Out Your True Self
As Michelle Obama told the 2012 Democratic National Convention, “Being president doesn’t change who you are. It reveals who you are.” Mathew Hutson unpacks that statement.
How To Find Meaning Beyond Your Work
Yes, lots of us have trouble with this, even though we know we shouldn’t. But with robots likely to take more and more jobs, finding fulfillment outside one’s career will only become more important. “Though there are myriad ways to transcend one’s self, two of the most powerful and practical” are … [you’ll have to click through].
Who Invented The Telescope? The Answer Is Complicated (And Fascinating)
“For almost any device, claiming one individual as the inventor is problematic to say the least. Conception, demonstration and implementation can be very different things, and the path connecting them is typically not a line but a long, challenging and tortuous route.”
Now, More Than Ever, Philosophy Needs A Reboot Based On New Information
“As information technologies come to affect all areas of life, they are becoming implicated in our most important problems — their causes, effects, and solutions, the scientific investigations aimed at explaining them, the concepts created to understand them, the means of discussing them, and even, as in the case of Bill Gates, the wealth required to tackle them. Furthermore, information technologies don’t just modify how we act in the world; they also profoundly affect how we understand the world, how we relate to it, how we see ourselves, how we interact with each other, and how our hopes for a better future are shaped. All these are old philosophical issues, of course, but we must now consider them anew, with the concept of information as a central concern.”
Why Elon Musk And Other Big Thinkers Are Worried About The Threat Of Artificial Intelligence
Musk’s alarming views on the dangers of A.I. first went viral after he spoke at M.I.T. in 2014—speculating (pre-Trump) that A.I. was probably humanity’s “biggest existential threat.” He added that he was increasingly inclined to think there should be some national or international regulatory oversight—anathema to Silicon Valley—“to make sure that we don’t do something very foolish.” He went on: “With artificial intelligence, we are summoning the demon. You know all those stories where there’s the guy with the pentagram and the holy water and he’s like, yeah, he’s sure he can control the demon? Doesn’t work out.”