tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021972615680221295.comments2023-05-25T13:17:24.082+00:00Language, Life and LogicMark Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03506844097173520312noreply@blogger.comBlogger197125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021972615680221295.post-2434001892714811132022-11-15T08:54:40.015+00:002022-11-15T08:54:40.015+00:00Grateful for sharing this postGrateful for sharing this postHigh Point Porch Enclosureshttps://www.patio-professionals.com/us/north-carolina-sunrooms/high-point-porch-enclosures.shtmlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021972615680221295.post-91582415952035963792022-09-13T03:15:29.757+00:002022-09-13T03:15:29.757+00:00Good point. The word can be (and has been, histori...Good point. The word can be (and has been, historically) understood in different ways. You can see it (as I am here) as something specific (a particular "ism", say) and avoidable; or you can see it as something unavoidable. In the latter case it is simply the individual's social and political perspective, whatever that happens to be. (Will probably not fit standard categories or labels.)Mark Englishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03506844097173520312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021972615680221295.post-74624706463499074102022-09-13T01:49:50.019+00:002022-09-13T01:49:50.019+00:00I'm not up to date with the various ways "...I'm not up to date with the various ways "ideology" is defined academically, but the definition that has most stuck with me is Erich Fromm's: "socially patterned rationalizations." If we take each of those three words very literally, we then have a fairly precise phenomenon in mind, and one which is only partially in accord with colloquial usage. Whether this is at all useful, whether it reflects anyone's actual usage, those are separate questions about which the fact of it sticking in my head says nothing. Attempts to explain the "patterned" part of the triad in scientifically rigorous fashion do seem especially doomed to failure, for all the reasons you give here. But one interesting implication, at least, is that by this definition, if you are the least bit politically engaged or even curious, it's pretty hard to not have an ideology.Stefan Kachttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03103517356905739209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021972615680221295.post-19648558702721784832022-05-07T09:56:28.058+00:002022-05-07T09:56:28.058+00:00Great post thankyouuGreat post thankyouuSimon Chttps://www.simonconley.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021972615680221295.post-63234153665373204432020-11-26T15:54:32.196+00:002020-11-26T15:54:32.196+00:00Thank you for such a well written article. It’s fu...Thank you for such a well written article. It’s full of insightful information and entertaining descriptions. Your point of view is the best among many. <a href="https://www.samrogroup.com/the-pleasure-and-challenge-of-understanding-chinese/" rel="nofollow">learn chinese in 5 minutes</a>Nawal Ahmedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02383340080429538259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021972615680221295.post-53493016672194513142020-04-17T12:57:09.216+00:002020-04-17T12:57:09.216+00:00You may be right about this particular initiative....You may be right about this particular initiative. We'll see. It looks interesting to me.<br /><br />Could it not be that our idealizations are leading us astray? The natural world seems chunky at the smallest scales. Doesn't this fact suggest that continuous mathematics is not the ideal tool for modeling reality?<br /><br />Some of the physicists the journalist spoke to seemed open to Gisin's ideas. E.g. Ahmed Almheiri (Institute for Advanced Study).Mark Englishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03506844097173520312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021972615680221295.post-79172085896036008192020-04-16T20:06:08.870+00:002020-04-16T20:06:08.870+00:00I am not expecting this idea to go anywhere.
Trad...I am not expecting this idea to go anywhere.<br /><br />Traditional mathematics evolved to meet the needs of physics. I doubt that physicists will be satisfied with Intuitionism.<br /><br />"Information is physical."<br /><br />I disagree with that. Information is abstract, a theoretical construct we use in our theoretical accounts of the world. And our theoretical accounts are somewhat idealized, which is why they can assume infinite information. <br />nwrickerthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13245981500899410679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021972615680221295.post-86497433323503767022020-03-12T17:09:04.000+00:002020-03-12T17:09:04.000+00:00The matter you we highlighted above is surely valu...The matter you we highlighted above is surely value able for anyone to workout. the concept of your article is very true and It will result in a positive way. <a href="https://localbusiness-iyoza.jimdofree.com/%E3%83%A6%E3%83%BC%E3%83%A2%E3%82%A2%E3%81%A7%E3%81%BF%E3%81%AB%E3%81%A4%E3%81%8F%E7%A8%BC%E3%81%92%E3%82%8B%E5%AD%A6%E5%95%8F-%E7%84%A1%E6%96%99%E3%81%8A%E3%81%9F%E3%82%81%E3%81%97%E4%B8%AD/" rel="nofollow">稼げる</a><br />Top SEOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15733315240949561182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021972615680221295.post-92009112349882973702019-04-12T10:30:39.148+00:002019-04-12T10:30:39.148+00:00Thanks for the reference. I have heard of the sour...Thanks for the reference. I have heard of the source, but I did not think to check it on scientism. Its author, André Lalande, was one of the very few French philosophers of the time to be sympathetic to positivism.<br /><br />I see what you are saying but definition 2 talks of "moral" as well as intellectual life. It's a bit ambiguous and I personally would not be comfortable with scientism in this sense (though of course human values, including moral values, can be scientifically studied).Mark Englishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03506844097173520312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021972615680221295.post-25697483249965848452019-04-12T08:52:36.743+00:002019-04-12T08:52:36.743+00:00The Societe Francaise de Philosophie's _Vocabu...The Societe Francaise de Philosophie's _Vocabulaire Technique et Critique de la Philosophie_ (1926):<br /><br />"Scientisme - neologism employed (generally in a pejorative sense) to designate 1) the idea that science will be able to know all things as they are, resolve all real problems, and satisfy all the legitimate needs of human intelligence - 2) (less radically) the idea that the spirit and methods of science must be extended to all domains of intellectual and moral life without exception."<br /><br />I think it is fine that scientific materialists (like Bunge, Rosenberg) take up and use the second definition as a positive description of themselves, in the same way atheists call themselves infidels and so on.David Duffyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12142997170025811780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021972615680221295.post-32545804036427125642014-06-20T11:46:50.605+00:002014-06-20T11:46:50.605+00:00Thanks, GC.
So I take it that you're saying t...Thanks, GC.<br /><br />So I take it that you're saying that the relatively small populations mean a paucity of data and inevitably big gaps in the record. Sounds reasonable.Mark Englishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03506844097173520312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021972615680221295.post-31194476837505592372014-06-20T11:02:07.147+00:002014-06-20T11:02:07.147+00:00Looks like these sorts of questions are given grea...Looks like these sorts of questions are given greater prominence in the general culture and education system of China than is the case in most other countries. Not surprising really, given your native land's long and impressive history (and its relative ethnic stability).Mark Englishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03506844097173520312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021972615680221295.post-18393309248887663692014-06-19T17:40:20.912+00:002014-06-19T17:40:20.912+00:00Totally excellent overview. Spot-on.
Some of our ...Totally excellent overview. Spot-on. <br />Some of our species history, we may never know. But we're not out of avenues yet, so the book is still open. We've only been able to map DNA from fossilized tissue for a couple of years. That has led to many of the (puzzling) discoveries covered here. I agree that single-lineage theories are likely incomplete, and multiple related strains of "us" contributed to our present makeup. Somewhere in these articles, I read that many DNA sequences with Neanderthal and/or Denisovan origins appear to code for immune functions, more than brain functions or physical features. The biggest problem in getting the history right is the size of the sample - just a few body parts, and from small populations at that. Migration probably resulted partly from explosive population growth (we were so successful at survival), but that would be growth in, say, thousands, not millions of people spread across the earth. <br /><br />Anyway ... beautifully analyzed. I love it.GTChristiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14390368105725901371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021972615680221295.post-84293900449902625462014-06-19T14:20:58.377+00:002014-06-19T14:20:58.377+00:00Yes, (for what I know) Chinese scholars "fier...Yes, (for what I know) Chinese scholars "fiercely" deny African origin. Not sure how much is based on evidence. I remember when I was student in China in history class we learned "Yuanmou Man", the earliest homo erectus discovered in China (Yunnan province, southwest of China), that was from 1.8 million years ago. So I was wondering about African origin, thought maybe Yuanmou Man disappeared just like Neaderthals.<br />You are probably right, we would never know. <br />I also fancy about multi civilizations hypothesis (high civilizations before our own).Yun Yihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06311104014692132715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021972615680221295.post-68422146113720473242014-06-19T10:38:05.602+00:002014-06-19T10:38:05.602+00:00I am an amateur on this too, Yun Yi. The only rele...I am an amateur on this too, Yun Yi. The only relevant formal training I have is in linguistics (and not historical linguistics either). I too find the slowly unfolding story fascinating. Inevitably ideological factors come into play in various ways but in the end the best science wins out. The Chinese, as I understand it, tend to favour versions of the multiregional hypothesis.Mark Englishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03506844097173520312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021972615680221295.post-69553713906777892412014-06-19T02:12:39.151+00:002014-06-19T02:12:39.151+00:00I am an total amateur in regarding to history. I t...I am an total amateur in regarding to history. I thought African origin was proved by DNA test. That's just "wild" to me. The fact that we are still in dark seems to be more realistic. <br />What a mystery! And that's the fascinating part. Yun Yihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06311104014692132715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021972615680221295.post-81454067493133481992014-06-04T23:16:41.819+00:002014-06-04T23:16:41.819+00:00This is fascinating. This is fascinating. Yun Yihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06311104014692132715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021972615680221295.post-21932197313443053072014-04-24T02:22:58.958+00:002014-04-24T02:22:58.958+00:00I mentioned such types (in paragraph 10). But you ...I mentioned such types (in paragraph 10). But you claimed in your first comment that 'religious believers' could be indifferentists. This confused me a bit.<br /><br />I agree that the church-goers you describe are 'disengaged from what makes religion religious'.Mark Englishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03506844097173520312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021972615680221295.post-43029114548412122252014-04-24T00:55:29.420+00:002014-04-24T00:55:29.420+00:00I once met some folk who said they went to church ...I once met some folk who said they went to church just for the music. Others love the ritual, others the social connections. I'd call them cases of being disengaged from what makes religion religious.Alanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16898681927233029900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021972615680221295.post-43419534292055584902014-04-23T01:25:32.063+00:002014-04-23T01:25:32.063+00:00Maybe 'engaged' rather than 'militant&...Maybe 'engaged' rather than 'militant'?<br /><br />An engaged (with the issue of religion) agnostic would see things more or less in terms of my proposed spectrum, tending one way or the other.<br /><br />But, as you say, many people don't think like this at all: religion (or supernaturalism) is just not on their radar. You could say this puts them at the extreme (non-religious) end of my proposed spectrum. They may not see it like that but I don't know that this stops us (for whom religion is at least worth talking about) seeing them in this way.<br /><br />You suggest that your militant/indifferentist distinction applies also to atheists and religious believers. Atheists, yes. Not sure that religious believers could ever be entirely disengaged however.Mark Englishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03506844097173520312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021972615680221295.post-46326772834605039992014-04-22T23:52:06.516+00:002014-04-22T23:52:06.516+00:00Some people of my acquaintance are so agnostic the...Some people of my acquaintance are so agnostic they are not even agnostic. The issues of religion and its rejection never even occur to them as subjects for thought or discussion. Others might be called militant agnostics -- that is, they treat the subject as worthy of discussion. I'm in that mob.<br /><br />The militant vs indifferentist distinction seems to apply to religious believers and atheists also.<br /><br />Alanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16898681927233029900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021972615680221295.post-19205669809523095572014-04-20T03:34:45.486+00:002014-04-20T03:34:45.486+00:00IK, I'd like to believe you're right, but ...IK, I'd like to believe you're right, but I just don't get it (unless you are seeing the self as a <em>complete</em> illusion in which case all that matters is what could be assessed from 'outside' by others).<br /><br />Also, I have trouble with the 'piecemeal' memory transfer idea because (as I understand it) memories are not stored in discrete and self-contained sections of the brain and so the thought experiment is less plausible than the total destruction/reconstruction one. (I have some doubts about whether the latter is theoretically possible but I am supposing it is.)<br /><br />Also, I'm unclear whether you are using the word 'reincarnation' in the way, say, a Buddhist might. And, again, different versions of Buddhism have different understandings of what it is that is reincarnated, don't they?Mark Englishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03506844097173520312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021972615680221295.post-14965558891446194592014-04-19T23:18:08.195+00:002014-04-19T23:18:08.195+00:00By extension then, imagine we replace the memories...By extension then, imagine we replace the memories with someone else, one at a time, piecemeal... Would I be reincarnated?<br /><br />I think reincarnation is metaphysically necessary provided conscious beings are always coming into existence. Everybody is 'I' and we all feel as if we exist inside what we call "our" bodies as opposed to being someone else. That is only because we are linking our memories up in a chain.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08574487636035605228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021972615680221295.post-57576418190881637372014-04-19T23:14:53.618+00:002014-04-19T23:14:53.618+00:00If I had all my matter scanned, destroyed, and reb...If I had all my matter scanned, destroyed, and rebuilt (even if it meant days later), I would contend that I would literally (and not metaphorically speaking here) wake up in that new body.<br /><br />None of this contradicts materialism... ...at all. If anything, materialism confirms it.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08574487636035605228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7021972615680221295.post-53200606322516452592014-03-23T06:31:45.653+00:002014-03-23T06:31:45.653+00:00I'm not sure if we are disagreeing at all. Wha...I'm not sure if we are disagreeing at all. What impresses me is how a small child can understand a sentence such as "you can have either A or B but not both" or "if you do A you can't do B". We use these devices all the time, so much so that we hardly even notice their strangeness. Alanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16898681927233029900noreply@blogger.com