Category: Learning
Do we shine a light into the dark ages…
…or does it illuminate what we know of ourselves? Gabriele and Perry’s ‘Bright Ages’. We might see a time that isn’t “isolated, savage, primitive,” but “messy and human.” Studying medieval Europe can teach us more about ourselves.
What do we talk about when we talk about vaccines?
The 2014 book ‘On Immunity’ by Eula Biss. ‘On Immunity’ reflects on the human immune system and on vaccination. There are broad philosophical implications: balance, safety, interdependence.
3 things I learned from ‘The Disordered Cosmos’
Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein’s 2021 book on physics and identity. Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein shares meta-insights about how science and society can prevent us from asking questions and obtaining insights. Who’s included?
Does Moll Flanders know whether her mother is cheerful?
The Gettier problem in Daniel Defoe’s novel. Moll’s justified true belief (“My mother was a mighty cheerful, good-humoured old woman”) wasn’t knowledge. The novelist put an irony there.
Toward a better epistemology: Why do we care about what we know?
A reaction to the ‘Gettier problem’. Maybe there isn’t just one definition of knowledge. Maybe every type of knowledge is related in a “family resemblance.” Some are propositions. Some aren’t.
The feeling of knowing
Steven Connor’s 2019 book ‘The Madness of Knowledge’. ‘Epistemopathy’ means the feeling of knowing. We have pleasant and unpleasant feelings associated with knowing. That’s part of why knowledge matters to us.
Early 1990s document formatting: Excellent margins, please
Did your school have this procedure for your homework? A digital file wasn’t the ‘real thing.’ The text became real when it was on paper.
I use my real name on the internet
I always have. But even if I didn’t, the U.S. government could find me. Traits I believe are ethical are what authoritarians target. Being ethical is not safe. In times of political upheaval, it never is.
‘Gyre’: A novel about how we’re called into being
‘The deduction came in a rush: I had been alive before’. ‘I could just as easily have held my tongue, or saved my comment for another time. This realization came, as always, too late,’ Abby says in ‘Gyre’.
What Rude Magic Is This (A Poem)
With the background of how I wrote it. I didn’t know what to do with three poems I lost and half-forgot. Now I hear Jacob’s epiphany as a kind of rude magic. The poems come back to me.
95 books I plan to read in 2025
Here’s my New Year’s reading resolution. I scanned the 3,000 titles on my ‘to be read’ list and selected the ones I’ll prioritize in 2025.
New year’s resolution: I’ll pare down my reading list — to just 50 books!
Transforming my ‘to be read’ list into an achievable goal. I’ve put effort into identifying those books, so I’d prefer that my list be useful. The point is to consult the list. If it’s enormous, it isn’t practical.