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Continue reading →Category Archives: Getting philosophical: life, love, the universe
The Rise and Fall
Last month I got William Shirer’s The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich out of the library. I had actually read it many moons ago, when I was a teenager. But “read” is a bit of a euphemism. It … Continue reading →
Dark energy may not exist
I try to follow the general outlines of the current theories of theoretical physics, but it goes without saying that I don’t understand the math, and that I miss a lot of the details. So although I’d never even heard … Continue reading →
Think you could do it better?
Did you ever have to try to reform or redesign a real-world program? When I was in law school, I took a course that focused on the welfare system. We were assigned to read reams of papers detailing all the … Continue reading →
On moral compasses, women, and men
Actress Cate Blanchett wants us to know something about her: When talking about her upcoming Broadway debut with “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert, Blanchett discussed how the play is relevant for audiences today. “It’s all about as you move forward … Continue reading →
Hobbes knew—but a lot of philosophers didn’t
I found the following quote from Thomas Hobbes in a Powerline post discussing the curious fact that so many renowned philosophers over the years have gotten entranced with tyrannical forms of government. It’s worth reading the whole thing, but here’s … Continue reading →
Success and single-minded obsession
Obsession may be a necessary but not sufficient requirement for success in the arts (and perhaps even elsewhere). I know quite a few people who later became famous—some a little famous, some more famous. Having known these people in childhood … Continue reading →
Why look for the bodies?
In the recent thread about the called-off search for Flight MH370, commenter “Lurch” asked this question: I really do not understand this fetish about finding a bunch of dead bodies. A dead body is an artifact. It is not the … Continue reading →
Time and the Black Swan: no question whatsoever…
…about this choice for “Person of the Year” by Time: For those who believe this is all for the better, Trump’s victory represents a long-overdue rebuke to an entrenched and arrogant governing class; for those who see it as for … Continue reading →
Is it greed, envy, or covetousness?
I saw this at Ace’s a long time ago: I admire just about everything Thomas Sowell has ever written, and when first saw this I thought “Bingo, touche!” But then I started thinking about it and realized it’s not as … Continue reading →
Election 2016: fear itself [Part I]
There’s a lot of post-election fear out there on the part of many liberals who voted for Hillary Clinton. Not all of them by any means, as I think I’ve made clear in other posts. But along with some my … Continue reading →
Hello in there
Here’s a very sweet and touching story for you, amidst all the gloom. I’ve noticed, though, that between the time I first read it late last night and now, they’re eliminated one sentence in the story, which is that the … Continue reading →