Category Archives: Thinking

Three brief (non-political) items today.

On entertaining new ideas; Reality and quantum mechanics; Nature as the great recycler. Here’s the first post in a new column that sounds interesting. Washington Post, Daniel Pink, 29 Jan 2024: Opinion | American imagination needs an adrenaline shot. Here’s … Continue reading

Posted in Cosmology, Science, Thinking | Comments Off on Three brief (non-political) items today.

Epistemology: What Does Anyone Actually “Know”?

Slate, Ben Mathis-Lilley, 10 Jun 2022: Does Donald Trump Really “Know” Anything?.

Posted in Epistemology, Thinking | Leave a comment

Novella et al: THE SKEPTICS’ GUIDE TO THE UNIVERSE

Novella, Dr. Steven, et al. The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe: How to Know What’s Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake. Grand Central, 2018. *** I read this shortly after publication, nearly three years ago now, and … Continue reading

Posted in Book Notes, Science, Thinking | Leave a comment

Ls&Cs: More About Thinking, or Not

Once again, the general theme is how some people think things through, and how others prefer “stories” or being told what to think. Heroes and villains; conservative media vs. coastal elites; when an enemy is not a speaker of a … Continue reading

Posted in Politics, Thinking | Leave a comment

Ls&Cs and Thoughts: Thinking and Science

Following up from yesterday, some more thoughts and links about the notion of thinking, and how that’s what science is all about, while so many people seem to have no understanding of what thinking, let alone science, actually is.

Posted in Science, Thinking | Leave a comment

Links and Comments: Thinking, or Not

Scientific American: Nine COVID-19 Myths That Just Won’t Go Away. Subtitle: From a human-made virus to vaccine conspiracy theories, we rounded up the most persistent false claims about the pandemic. I’m beginning to think that many, perhaps most, people, do … Continue reading

Posted in Psychology, Thinking | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Thinking, or Not

Arguing with a Flat Earther

Vox: How to argue with flat-earthers, subtitled, “But not necessarily convince them.” People committed to the belief that the Earth is flat (or that the universe was created 6000 years ago) will have answers to all your challenges, all your … Continue reading

Posted in Psychology, Thinking | Comments Off on Arguing with a Flat Earther

Thought Leaders

A couple days ago I was dipping into Peter Singer’s latest book, Ethics in the Real World: 82 Brief Essays on Things That Matter, and saw him mention something about his being a “thought leader” according to some German outfit … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, Links, Philosophy, Thinking | Comments Off on Thought Leaders

Links and Comments: Two from Today’s NYT

First, fascinating essay by Michael P. Lynch (author of just-released The Internet of Us: Knowing More and Understanding Less in the Age of Big Data): Trump, Truth and the Power of Contradiction. How is it Trump can say completely contradictory … Continue reading

Posted in MInd, Thinking | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Two from Today’s NYT

Links and Comments: Truth and Slavery

This article in The New Yorker, After the Fact by Jill Lepore, considers the current US presidential race in light of a new book by Michael Patrick Lynch, The Internet of Us, subtitled “Knowing More and Understanding Less in the … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, Religion, Thinking | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Truth and Slavery