Category: A Rationale
Posted by: Admin
Philosophy may be too broad a term for the specific interest I have in the Philosophy of explanation and knowledge, ways of reasoning, means for thinking about content and process, as well as making sense of rights, duties and obligations. Since business and life involves reasoning and knowledge, learning about these phenomena is indispensable for me....
The following is from a lecture, given in 2003, by the late Michael Crichton, Professor at the California Institute of Technology. His interest was the intersection of science, technology, public policy and everyday life. (thanks to David Haarmeyer and WSJ)
Cast your minds back to 1960. John F. Kennedy is president, commercial jet airplanes are just appearing, the biggest university mainframes have 12K of memory. And in Green Bank, West Virginia at the new National Radio Astronomy Observatory, a young astrophysicist named Frank Drake runs a two-week project called Ozma, to search for extraterrestrial signals. A signal is received, to great excitement. It turns out to be false, but the excitement remains. In 1960, Drake organizes the first SETI conference, and came up with the now-famous Drake equation:
N=N*fp ne fl fi fc fL
Where N is the number of stars in the Milky Way galaxy; fp is the fraction with planets; ne is the number of planets per star capable of supporting life; fl is the fraction of planets where life evolves; fi is the fraction where intelligent life evolves; and fc is the fraction that communicates; and fL is the fraction of the planet's life during which the communicating civilizations live.
Cast your minds back to 1960. John F. Kennedy is president, commercial jet airplanes are just appearing, the biggest university mainframes have 12K of memory. And in Green Bank, West Virginia at the new National Radio Astronomy Observatory, a young astrophysicist named Frank Drake runs a two-week project called Ozma, to search for extraterrestrial signals. A signal is received, to great excitement. It turns out to be false, but the excitement remains. In 1960, Drake organizes the first SETI conference, and came up with the now-famous Drake equation:
N=N*fp ne fl fi fc fL
Where N is the number of stars in the Milky Way galaxy; fp is the fraction with planets; ne is the number of planets per star capable of supporting life; fl is the fraction of planets where life evolves; fi is the fraction where intelligent life evolves; and fc is the fraction that communicates; and fL is the fraction of the planet's life during which the communicating civilizations live.
28/10: Practically stupid.....
George Mason's Don Boudreaux is, I often think, at his best when just a little annoyed... the following treatment of theory versus practice is Prof Boudreaux at his best:
"Yesterday I participated in a seminar sponsored by the University of South Carolina Law Review on today's financial crisis.
It was a high-quality affair; I learned much.
One participant, however, caused me to wince. This participant was a U.S. Representative from North Carolina, the Hon. Brad Miller. He began his remarks by pointing out that he was the only non-academic speaking at the seminar. Upon hearing this remark, I guessed correctly what he'd say next. It went something like this:
Unlike academics, I don't see things with theories. I see things with my eyes. And I trust my eyes.
"Yesterday I participated in a seminar sponsored by the University of South Carolina Law Review on today's financial crisis.
It was a high-quality affair; I learned much.
One participant, however, caused me to wince. This participant was a U.S. Representative from North Carolina, the Hon. Brad Miller. He began his remarks by pointing out that he was the only non-academic speaking at the seminar. Upon hearing this remark, I guessed correctly what he'd say next. It went something like this:
Unlike academics, I don't see things with theories. I see things with my eyes. And I trust my eyes.
Why Conservatives Avoid the Lovely Ivory Tower on the Left Bank
March 14, 2008; Page A17 Wall Street Journal
When university professors see they're stuck in a system that does not necessarily reward hard work, many come to scorn the system that does -- capitalism. And because university professors know that to advance they must invent a new theory -- or reinvent an old one -- many choose to wage war on capitalism and to argue passionately for income redistribution. In academe, leftist notions sell, and Marxism revisited has become a highly profitable enterprise in universities nationwide.
Graduate students and untenured faculty catch on quickly. They must admire, or seem to admire, the ruling orthodoxy -- liberalism -- or risk being tagged "reactionary," which could wreck their prospects for employment or tenure. Grantors, taxpayers and tuition-paying parents then become unwitting patrons of scholars who sneer at the very ones who guarantee income, tenure, benefits, and the prospect of a lifelong pension. Only in academe can a young professional rise to stardom by exploiting the very system he or she claims to detest.
Nan Miller
Professor Emerita
Meredith College
Raleigh, N.C.
March 14, 2008; Page A17 Wall Street Journal
When university professors see they're stuck in a system that does not necessarily reward hard work, many come to scorn the system that does -- capitalism. And because university professors know that to advance they must invent a new theory -- or reinvent an old one -- many choose to wage war on capitalism and to argue passionately for income redistribution. In academe, leftist notions sell, and Marxism revisited has become a highly profitable enterprise in universities nationwide.
Graduate students and untenured faculty catch on quickly. They must admire, or seem to admire, the ruling orthodoxy -- liberalism -- or risk being tagged "reactionary," which could wreck their prospects for employment or tenure. Grantors, taxpayers and tuition-paying parents then become unwitting patrons of scholars who sneer at the very ones who guarantee income, tenure, benefits, and the prospect of a lifelong pension. Only in academe can a young professional rise to stardom by exploiting the very system he or she claims to detest.
Nan Miller
Professor Emerita
Meredith College
Raleigh, N.C.
Oliver Burkeman
Saturday November 25, 2006
The Guardian
Here's a depressing thought: what if being depressed, at least a little bit, is actually a good thing? And if it is - if being generally pessimistic is a useful personality trait to have - then isn't that a cause for optimism? In which case, is it really a depressing thought after all? Shouldn't it make you happy about being depressed, in fact, and therefore not depressed?
Recently, I have been attempting to resolve this paradox, but my brain just locks up, rendering all further thought or action impossible, like whenever I try to use those self-service checkouts at Sainsbury's.
Saturday November 25, 2006
The Guardian
Here's a depressing thought: what if being depressed, at least a little bit, is actually a good thing? And if it is - if being generally pessimistic is a useful personality trait to have - then isn't that a cause for optimism? In which case, is it really a depressing thought after all? Shouldn't it make you happy about being depressed, in fact, and therefore not depressed?
Recently, I have been attempting to resolve this paradox, but my brain just locks up, rendering all further thought or action impossible, like whenever I try to use those self-service checkouts at Sainsbury's.
27/04: Fear versus Reason
I have recently finished reading CRITIQUE OF CRIMINAL REASON by husband and wife pair "Michael Gregorio".
This novel is set in Konigsberg, Prussia in 1804 immediately prior to the death of Immanuel Kant. It is a relatively simple if unusual crime thriller in which a young magistrate of the time seeks to establish the identity of a killer with horrific habits - which of course, he does.
Here I make no comment on the literary merits of the book or its entertainment value - except to say that I found it instructive and intriguing in a vaguely depressing manner. It is of interest though in describing, perhaps implicitly perhaps not, two quite different ways of approaching the issue and their differing implications for the conduct of criminal investigation and accompanying legal process.
This novel is set in Konigsberg, Prussia in 1804 immediately prior to the death of Immanuel Kant. It is a relatively simple if unusual crime thriller in which a young magistrate of the time seeks to establish the identity of a killer with horrific habits - which of course, he does.
Here I make no comment on the literary merits of the book or its entertainment value - except to say that I found it instructive and intriguing in a vaguely depressing manner. It is of interest though in describing, perhaps implicitly perhaps not, two quite different ways of approaching the issue and their differing implications for the conduct of criminal investigation and accompanying legal process.
23/04: What is intelligence??
Last night I went to hear Emeritus Professor Jim Flynn of the University of Otago speaking to a lay audience about his work on intelligence. I remember him from my student and later tutor days at Otago - moral philosophy was his main area then. Always two steps ahead of everyone and it was rumoured or thought amongst us that he had all the tertiary qualifications with top honours by about age 21 and he was never, never a dull speaker.
About 38 years on and little has changed and he challenged and excited us last night. Thanks to Rosemary and the Toroa Lions Club for organising the event and of course my invitation.
Flynn's thesis - for it is more than a string of hypotheses and it promises or threatens a policy implication or two as well - concerns intelligence and mental ability, specifically changes or apparent changes in that ability.
About 38 years on and little has changed and he challenged and excited us last night. Thanks to Rosemary and the Toroa Lions Club for organising the event and of course my invitation.
Flynn's thesis - for it is more than a string of hypotheses and it promises or threatens a policy implication or two as well - concerns intelligence and mental ability, specifically changes or apparent changes in that ability.
15/03: Logic and Bigotry
This note looks at labels and their internal logic as well as their impact on explanation. I attempt to tabulate characteristics of the left, the right and the classical liberal.....
Logic and Bigotry
Browser back button to return.
Logic and Bigotry
Browser back button to return.
25/02: Narrative Fallacy in Numbers
It is not only words we use to tell stories which help satisfy our craving for a plausible explanation. Our use of data and numbers is a big offender in this area too. Here is a good example of just how easily all this happens....
This, from Forbes, is Nassim Nicholas Taleb's central argument as he states it.
