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Where science meets art. The only necessary and sufficient book store in Melbourne.
Hope our friends enjoy the new look and feel – now optimised for mobile devices for access on the go.
PEOPLE
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Coordinator: Peter Ellerton
Web guy: Jason Etheridge RESOURCE COLLECTIONS
NEW RESOURCES
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- A nice Philosophy of Mind summary
- The power of categorical logic
- What exactly is the scientific method and why do so many people get it wrong?
- Paralympic athletes faster than olympic athletes — what does this tell us about difference?
- Logic: if + then = why? How can we understand the power of logic?
- How do we ensure we are exposed to new ideas? A parody with bite.
- A Life of Meaning (Reason Not Required) – What is the nature of our relationship with reason?
- Can you name this cognitive bias?
- By what measures can we value human life?
- Teaching philosophy improves standardised scores
- Are we in control of our own decisions?
- Neuroscience and education: myths and messages
- Free will is not as free as we think – and that’s ok.
- Where’s the Proof in Pseudoscience?
- Science in the lead?
RANDOM POSTS
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- Humbug! The skeptic's fieldguide to spotting fallacies in thinking
- Peter Singer Full Text Articles (Ethics)
- Bayesian Inference (Homo Bayesianis)
- Censorship cartoon I
- Rebuilding before retreating
- Free Will vs the Programmed Brain
- Some important tools of critical thinking
- Psychology and Psychics - Why some people think they are psychic.
- A Wolf in Sheep's Lab Coat - Pseudoscience in the 21st Century
- John Cleese on the good bits of philosophy
USEFUL RSS FEEDS
Philosopher’s Zone
NYTimes – The Stone
Philosophy Now
RSA Animate
- The Green Corridors Initiative
- Governance governing government
- Why print money when we can print wealth?
- Building a resilient health and care system
- We'll always have Paris?
- Experimentation and equity in global cities
- Technology-enabled deliberative democracy
- Healthier placemaking
- Creating a sovereign wealth fund in Wolverhampton
- Economic recovery and climate action
Scientific American – Mind and Brain
- Kindness Can Have Unexpectedly Positive Consequences
- It's the Bass That Makes Us Boogie
- Subliminal Cues, Precisely Timed, Might Help People Forget Bad Experiences
- Severe COVID May Cause Brain Changes Similar to Aging
- Autism Treatment Shifts Away from 'Fixing' the Condition
- Fatherhood Changes Men's Brain, according to Before-and-After MRI Scans
- Many People with Bipolar Disorder Use Cannabis. It May Sometimes Help
- Why Social Media Makes People Unhappy--And Simple Ways to Fix It
- People Shopping for 'Meaning' Buy Cheaper Goods
- Pregnancy Changes the Brain, Possibly Promoting Bonding with a Baby
TED talks
- 5 hiring tips every company (and job seeker) should know | Nithya Vaduganathan
- Can the metaverse bring us closer to wildlife? | Gautam Shah
- The billion-dollar pollution solution humanity needs right now | Stacy Kauk
- Are video calls the best we can do in the age of the metaverse? | Josephine Eyre
- How great leaders take on uncertainty | Anjali Sud and Stephanie Mehta
- How Indigenous guardians protect the planet and humanity | Valérie Courtois
- How to tap into your awareness -- and why meditation is easier than you think | Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
- Demystifying the wild world of crypto | Laura Shin
- How can we escape soaring energy bills? Stop using fossil fuels | Tessa Khan
- A disability-inclusive future of work | Ryan Gersava
THEMED RESOURCES
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Author Archives: Peter Ellerton
Benefits of Collaborative Philosophical Inquiry in Schools
Stephan Millett & Alan Tapper Centre for Applied Ethics and Philosophy, Curtin University If you need to show why doing collaborative philosophical inquiry, or just philosophy, in schools is important, this is a good place to start. … Continue reading
Posted in Critical Thinking
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1,500 Animal Species Practice Homosexuality
Not natural? Think again… Homosexuality is quite common in the animal kingdom, especially among herding animals. Many animals solve conflicts by practicing same gender sex. via http://www.news-medical.net/news/2006/10/23/20718.aspx?page=1 From the middle of October until next summer the Norwegian Natural History Museum … Continue reading
Posted in Ethics and Moral Philosophy, Media Articles, Cartoons
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Conspiracy, Independent Scholarship and the Truth as a Commodity
Great stuff again from The Stone (NYTimes) Who Wrote Shakespeare? While it is perfectly obvious to everyone that Ben Jonson wrote all of Shakespeare’s plays, it is less known that Ben Jonson’s plays were written by a teen-age girl in … Continue reading
Posted in Critical Thinking, Media Articles, Cartoons
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The Backfire Effect
When people believe more strongly in something AFTER they have been given information that refutes it…. Good explanation here http://youarenotsosmart.com/2011/06/10/the-backfire-effect/ And paper by Brendan Nyhan here (pdf). Abstract below. An extensive literature addresses citizen ignorance, but very little research focuses … Continue reading
Posted in Booklets, Handouts and Worksheets, Critical Thinking, Media Articles, Cartoons
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Logic, Knowledge Systems and World Views
The way of logic – 02 December 1995 – New Scientist FOR almost two centuries, anthropologists have been studying how non-European cultures understand the world around them. Now philosophers of science are getting in on the act. Armed with intellectual … Continue reading
Posted in Media Articles, Cartoons, Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of Science
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Bayesian Inference (Homo Bayesianis)
Bayesian Inference (and a good explanation of Bayes’ Theorem) ~best to ignore this one if you’re not already in the loop~ via http://www.brera.mi.astro.it/~andreon/inference/Inference.html
Cognitive Dissonance Explained
By Dilbert, of course… Wikipedia cognitive dissonance.
Suing for Being Born
ISRAELI children with birth defects are increasingly suing the medical authorities for ever allowing them to be born. The rise in such “wrongful life” lawsuits, which the medical profession estimates at 600 since the first case in 1987, has prompted … Continue reading
Philosophy Ideas
Interesting site, interestingly organised. Screen shot below. http://philosophyideas.com/
Posted in Web links
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The Changing Climate of Skepticism
Via Embiggen Books In this excellent talk given by Peter Ellerton (winner of the 2008 Australian Skeptics prize for Critical Thinking) on the Climate Change debate, the viewer is encouraged to examine the way in which the debate is being … Continue reading
Animal Actors – Animal Rights, Human Perceptions
Chimpanzees Should Not Be Used in TV or Movies (via Scientific American) Does the use of chimps in movies distort the conservation message? By Jason G. Goldman | October 12, 2011 | 3 Lots of people mistake bonobos for chimpanzees, despite the fact that they’re really … Continue reading
Pick your Cognitive Bias
Another brilliant Dilbert
Imagining the Tenth Dimension
Excellent intellectual exercise
A Wonderful Piece of Pseudoscience in Advertising
Well worth reading the whole lot. The language is absolute nonsense. “By strengthening the body’s own natural energy and innate intelligence, the QLink allows it to recognise and differentiate between which external energies are healthy, and which are not. The … Continue reading
Reasons for Reason
Via MICHAEL P. LYNCH NYTimes The Stone Rick Perry’s recent vocal dismissals of evolution, and his confident assertion that “God is how we got here” reflect an obvious divide in our culture. In one sense, that divide is just over the … Continue reading
Atheism as a ‘Null Hypothesis’
An interesting take on the subject by QualiaSoup…
Why do humans reason? Arguments for an argumentative theory
Great paper on Reasoning Why Do Humans Reason? (pdf) Abstract and authors below… Abstract: Reasoning is generally seen as a means to improve knowledge and make better decisions. However, much evidence shows that reasoning often leads to epistemic distortions and poor … Continue reading
Tips on Writing a Philosophy Paper/Essay
A nice overview from Douglas W. Portmore Tips on writing a philosophy paper (pdf) The full text is below…
How Science Works in Action
Faster-than-light neutrinos show science in action Making a very good point about when to believe evidence. via Scientific American Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past 24 hours, you’ve probably heard about the neutrinos that … Continue reading
Ability to Think Scientifically Declines as Kids Grow Up
Young children think like researchers but lose the feel for the scientific method as they age via Scientific American If your brownies came out too crispy on top but undercooked in the center, it would make sense … Continue reading