Category Archives: Philosophy

Finally! The truth about truth: Folk foundations of scientific reductionism

On The Media I’m not a psychologist, but I think that at some deep level, if the situation you’re living is a lie, and the situation these boys were living was one, and, moreover, at least the father was complicit … Continue reading

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Posted in Analogies, Framing, Linguistics, Negotiation, Philosophy, Science, Social Science, Technology and life | Leave a comment

More meaningful than what? Populations and truth in social science

WHNews: Pay Gap – No Pay Day As of 30th October, if you’re a woman and you go out to work, you’re working for nothing until the 31st December. The Fawcett Society and the union Unison have declared today ‘Women’s … Continue reading

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Utility of prejudice: Reducing freedom to cognition and vice versa

Quote Details: William Hazlitt: Without the aid of… – The Quotations Page Without the aid of prejudice and custom I should not be able to find my way across the room. William Hazlitt English essayist (1778 – 1830) It’s always disconcerting … Continue reading

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Posted in Cognition, Framing, Philosophy | Leave a comment

Cognition, information, knowledge and the limits of serial computing

BBC – Radio 4 – Today Programme Listen Again 11 Sept 2007 08:50 It’s the 50th anniversary of the British Computer Society. But what can we expect over the next half century? Will our levels of dependence on the internet … Continue reading

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Paradox of the evolutionary metaphor in language death

When Languages Die: Science and Sentiment : In his book When Languages Die: The Extinction of the World’s Languages and the Erosion of Human Knowledge K. David Harrison illustrates the individual face of language loss, as well as its global … Continue reading

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Posted in Feminism, Linguistics, Philosophy, Reviews, Social Science | Leave a comment

Conservatism as part fo language competence

Language Log: Keeping “wrong grammar” off the air A program will be assigned a “PG” rating if it shows “people speaking with wrong grammar (except for humorous effects).” The article doesn’t say who gets to be the “grammar cop” — … Continue reading

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Wittgenstein and folk theories of language and intelligence

Quote Details: Ludwig Wittgenstein: Philosophy is a battle… – The Quotations Page Philosophy is a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language. Ludwig Wittgenstein Austrian philosopher (1889 – 1951) Two interesting things about this quote. First, … Continue reading

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Generative analogies as negotiation devices

Amazon.com: Liberal Fascism: The Totalitarian Temptation from Hegel to Whole Foods: Books: Jonah Goldberg Goldberg draws striking parallels between historic fascism and contemporary liberal doctrines. He argues that “political correctnessâ€? on campuses and calls for campaign finance reform echo the … Continue reading

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Hitchens vs Hitchens | the Daily Mail

Hitchens vs Hitchens | the Daily Mail If we are weak and poor, we can all summon up self-interested decency, behaving in a kind way, in public, towards those from whom we hope for decency in return. But as soon … Continue reading

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Posted in God, Philosophy, Reviews, Society and politics | Leave a comment

Algorithms and everything

digg – The Digg Comment Algorithm Everything in this world can be shown as a flowchart algorithm. This, of course, applies to the complex and not well researched field of “Digg comments“. Here’s my humble attempt to define an algorithm … Continue reading

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