selling wavesA graduate student in mathematics and a philosophy major take on politics and culture with the following aspirational motto: ‘Deregulate your mind.’So much for the End of History- January 31, 2005 Just some cheerful words to chew on while our politicians wear their enamels off congratulating themselves about the Iraqi election: &8220;The collapse of the rival giant the Soviet Union has exaggerated Americas apparent strength because it has so much more economic muscle than any single rival. But for many decades Americas share of the worlds economic output has been in decline. Think of a see-saw. America at one end is now easily outweighed by any substantial grouping at the other, and...http://www.sellingwaves.com/archives/2005/01/30/so_much_for_the_end_of_history/index.html The anthropomorphism of religion- January 28, 2005 I might deduce one final consequence of a skepticism in regards to temporality and causality. If our only experience of the world is of an existent reality, such that something uncreated or destroyed is literally unimaginable, the superfluity of religion becomes very evident. Since it is on the basis of a parallel between finite objects, which are presumed to be necessarily created, and the universe in its totality, which in turn therefore needs its Creator, that modern religions ultimately...http://www.sellingwaves.com/archives/2005/01/28/the_anthropomorphism_of_religion/index.htm... And Prospero broke his soap box- January 26, 2005 I may have bored everyone to death about this topic, but I have my last exam tomorrow, so here is my final thought about what distinguishes science. Most of the descriptions of science that I know of don&8217;t really explain how science progresses without falling into a quaint mythology about approaching some metaphysical truth. Kuhn doesn&8217;t, Popper doesn&8217;t, Pierre Duhem doesn&8217;t, and I myself have neglected to account for it to some extent. I think the key is that science,..http://www.sellingwaves.com/archives/2005/01/26/and_prospero_broke_his_soap_box/index.html Einstein and Gdel, at the Knigsberg caf- January 22, 2005 About a month ago I wrote this entry which was, I think, somewhat misunderstood, at least by the one confirmed reader of it. In it I tried to argue that there are some fundamental problems involved in conceptualizing time which, in my mind, appear intractable, and hence its existence as a concept contradictory, impossible. To which it was replied that of course time has an existence, as a social convention, a mental framework. Of that I have no doubt-it would be impossible for me to refute...http://www.sellingwaves.com/archives/2005/01/22/einstein_and_goedel_at_the_koenigsberg_caf... Philosophical Investigations- January 7, 2005 As promised, quotations from Wittgenstein&8217;s Philosophical Investigations are now available. Again, both German and English versions of each are reproduced, though the task was made considerably easier than in other cases by the fact that the edition I used was a dual-language edition. I (like, I suspect, many others) find Wittgenstein simultaneously fascinating and annoying. On the one hand, he makes interesting and insightful observations on all sorts of phenomena; on the other, he...http://www.sellingwaves.com/archives/2005/01/06/philosophical_investigations/index.html |