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
- Asexuality Research Has Reached New Heights. What Are We Learning?
- Political Ads Can Target Your Personality. Here's What Could Go Wrong
- Why Writing by Hand Is Better for Memory and Learning
- People with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome May Have an "Exhausted" Immune System
- How to Close the 'Orgasm Gap' for Heterosexual Couples
- Virtual Bar Scenes Are a New Tool to Study Why People Commit Crimes in the Heat of the Moment
- Anger Can Help You Meet Your Goals
- How Sleep Engineering Could Help Heal the Brain
- Dominatrices Are Showing People How to Have Rough Sex Safely
- Farmers in Crisis, Long Overlooked, Are Finally Getting Mental Health Support
- TED talks
- War journalism should be rooted in empathy — not violence | Bel Trew
- The problem with food and climate — and how to fix it | Jonathan Foley
- How buildings can improve life — inside and out | Doris Sung
- The satellite helping slow climate change — right now | Millie Chu Baird
- What's possible when the arts belong to everybody | Lear deBessonet with Brian Stokes Mitchell
- “Cant de la Sibil·la” / "Quien Más Me Ama" | Maria Arnal
- Bravery, brilliance and RuPaul Charles | On the Spot | RuPaul Charles
- How to claim your leadership power | Michael Timms
- Why young people are worse off than their parents — and what to do about it | Scott Galloway
- Quantum computers aren't what you think — they're cooler | Hartmut Neven
Category Archives: Media Articles, Cartoons
How Anecdotal Evidence Can Undermine Scientific Results
Why subjective anecdotes often trump objective data By Michael Shermer | July 25, 2008 | 27 http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-anecdotal-evidence-can-undermine-scientific-results The recent medical controversy over whether vaccinations cause autism reveals a habit of human cognition—thinking anecdotally comes naturally, whereas thinking scientifically does not.
Happiness, Philosophy and Science
By GARY GUTTING NYTimes ‘The Stone’ http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/author/gary-gutting/ Extract below (useful bit) The new research has both raised hopes and provoked skepticism. Psychologists such as Sonja Lyubomirsky have developed a new genre of self-help books, purporting to replace the intuitions … Continue reading
Universal intelligence: One test to rule them all
It’s time to abandon the idea that we are the gold standard of intelligence. Take a test using a more fundamental scale of smarts http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21128296.100-universal-intelligence-one-test-to-rule-them-all.html?full=true&print=true Download Universal intelligence (pdf)
The Meaningfulness of Lives
By TODD MAY NYTimes ‘The Stone’ http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/11/the-meaningfulness-of-lives/ Who among us has not asked whether his or her life is a meaningful one? Who has not wondered — on a sleepless night, during a long stretch of dull or taxing work, or … Continue reading
Peace of Mind: Near-Death Experiences Now Found to Have Scientific Explanations
Seeing your life pass before you and the light at the end of the tunnel, can be explained by new research on abnormal functioning of dopamine and oxygen flow By Charles Q. Choi Scientific American http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=peace-of-mind-near-death Near-death experiences are often thought of … Continue reading
Homeopathic leak threatens catastrophe
What is the role of humour here…? http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2011/09/09/homeopathic-leak-threatens-catastrophe/ An accidental release of highly dilute homeopathic waste from a research institute in Swindon has led to calls for the centre to be shut down. Plant operators have admitted responsibility for massive … Continue reading
Conditional Happiness
If you can read the fine print….. Discuss.
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Japanese Linguist Helps Revive an Aboriginal Language
What does it mean for the world to lose a language? http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2011/s3310650.htm TONY EASTLEY: It’s taken 40 years but from almost the ashes of extinction, an Aboriginal language has been saved and is again being spoken on Palm Island in … Continue reading
A Utilitarian Decision – Sacrifice Lives to Save Lives
Would the lives of the people on board have been worth it…? Discuss. AN F-16 pilot scrambled on 9/11 to prevent another attack on the US capital says she was prepared to ram her plane into a hijacked aircraft, as … Continue reading
20 Awesomely Untranslatable Words from Around the World
There are at least 250,000 words in the English language. English – or any language – could never hold enough expression to convey the entirety of the human experience
Post modernism explained?
Obviously simplistic, but ripe for comment!
What’s logic got to do with it? – Some of the greatest flashes of scientific inspiration were sparked by utterly illogical thinking.
POPULAR belief has it that science is the preserve of logical Mr Spocks. A great scientific discovery must surely spring from a series of logical steps, each taken coolly and calmly, in the rational order. But take some time to … Continue reading
Philosophy in Senior Schools
(From my appearance on ABC Radio National’s ‘Philosopher’s Zone) http://www.abc.net.au/rn/philosopherszone/stories/2007/1911312.htm Philosophy is about asking childlike questions – how do we know the world exists? How do we know it hasn’t just started existing? Why can’t we go back in time? … Continue reading
Some important tools of critical thinking
(from my Ockham’s Razor appearance on the ABC’s Radio National) http://www.abc.net.au/rn/ockhamsrazor/stories/2010/2975629.htm Robyn Williams: And now, the bad news. No, don’t run off – this is interesting – even Quite Interesting, as Stephen Fry might say. Here I’ll quote directly from a … Continue reading
Logic in conversation
Why knowing deductive logic is not always an advantage.. Another Dilbert classic.
Meat without slaughter: ‘6 months’ to bio-sausages – science-in-society – 31 August 2011 – New Scientist
Meat without slaughter: ‘6 months’ to bio-sausages – science-in-society – 31 August 2011 – New Scientist.
Danger in toxic discourse
Q: DO we take our democracy for granted? TWO weeks ago I noticed a billboard advertisement not far from where I live.
Anarchy is a law unto itself
Q: IS there a political obligation to obey the law? EVENTS in England this past week bring to mind that old starting point of political philosophy: the state of nature. This is the hypothetical condition of humanity before the establishment … Continue reading
Religion is not a state obligation
Q: SHOULD the federal government be funding school chaplains in state schools? Ask the Philosopher Column by Tim Soutphommasane in The Australian August 20, 2011 religion-is-not-a-state-obligation (pdf) (Uploaded by Katherine Cheng.)
