Philosophy Monkey

Video Archive

And for an entirely different take, listen to Grayling and philosopher Patricia Churchland discuss The Machinery of Mind.
.

India's Top Physicists Develop Plan to Get the Hell Out of India

A new Manhattan (or maybe London) Project is coming!

I wonder if they'll outsource their call centers :)
.

The Pluto Files

People, Americans especially, have a love relationship with Pluto that borders on the bizarre. Sure, it was discovered by an American, and we like to be proud of our own, but there's not much (that we know of) that's particularly interesting about this celestial body other than the fact there's a Disney dog with the same name. And yet, when Pluto was demoted to the status of a dwarf planet, the general public, politicians and even children started protesting...

In the following documentary, Neil deGrasse Tyson traces the history leading up to the discovery of this controversial object and explains some of the points of contention that have divided astronomers trying to decide how exactly to define what it means for something to be a planet.

The best part by far, however, is the very moving and admirable story of Clyde Tombaugh, the humble man who fulfilled Percival Lowell's dream of discovering "Planet X" and gave us Pluto.

For my international friends who can't watch Hulu, see if this will work:

Watch the full episode. See more NOVA.

And that stained glass is just excellent...

Check out more documentaries, more space stuff, or more of Neil DeGrasse Tyson.
.

Passover in the Google Age

This week is full of religious celebrations. The Christians are celebrating Easter, the time when Jesus sodomized the Easter Bunny and knocked him up (hence the eggs). Oh, and also something about Jesus, a carpenter, being ironically punished by getting nailed to two pieces of wood...

The Jews, meanwhile, are celebrating Passover, that time when God decided that the indiscriminate killing of thousands of innocent Egyptian babies somehow justified freeing the Israelites so that they could wander aimlessly for forty years and then end up in the one place in the Middle East where there is no oil.

Still, part of the allure of the story has to do with the obstacles that this stubborn people had to overcome. I think you'd agree with me that if the Exodus were to take place during the google/facebook age, it wouldn't seem quite as dramatic and epic...

And don't forget that The Easter Bunny Hates You! :)
.

Sam Richards - A Radical Experiment in Empathy

Empathy, very simply, is the ability to place yourself in another's position and understand things from his point of view. It's a skill that we are naturally equipped with, but not one we often choose to exercise... probably because it's a lot easier and convenient not to. One could make a pretty convincing case that becoming more empathic could truly solve many of the problems that affect the world, from the personal to the political and international.

In the following powerful TEDTalk presentation, sociologist Sam Richards attempts to demonstrate that point by setting up a challenge: can we understand -not approve, but understand- the motivation of an Iraqui insurgent?

I'll just re-quote Dostovevsky:

While nothing is easier than to denounce the evildoer,
nothing is harder than to understand him.

We're All Monkeys

We are monkeys... that's right... you and me and the guy who narrates this entertaining and thought provoking little rant... and Nietzsche was also a monkey... a very smart monkey.

Technically, though, we're apes, as this hilarious rant from The Guardian hammers into our heads. The problem, though, is that, right or wrong, the word ape just doesn't roll off the tongue with the same poetic flair. Just try substituting the word ape for the word monkey in the following expressions to see what I mean: 'monkey see, monkey do', 'monkey business', 'monkey love', 'stop monkeying around', and 'that was more fun than a barrel of monkeys'.

And perhaps we should not disclose the existence of this blog to Mr. Robbins lest he develops an aneurysm :)

David Christian - Big History

I don't know if you paid attention during history class, but if you missed some of the highlights because you were sleeping or daydreaming, you're in luck because David Christian is here to tell the story of the universe, from the Big Bang to the internet in a mere 18 minutes.

As the video description mentions, "this is 'Big History': an enlightening, wide-angle look at complexity, life and humanity, set against our slim share of the cosmic timeline."

Check out more TEDTalks.
.

Saving Ryan's Privates

Over the course of the last week, you may have seen the following video starring Representative Paul Ryan (Chairman of the House Budget Committee) presenting his so-called "path to prosperity" for America.

If you're an ideological Republican (the kind easily mobilized by sound-bites instead of well-reasoned arguments, strong evidence and attention to detail), you may have creamed your pants...

Of course, painting a picture with broad strokes looks nice... until you start to look at it up close and realize that this plan is everything Republicans hated about Obamacare, plus $750 billion to fuck the poor. Maybe that's why they like it now? :)

Ryan's Private Savings - Republican Deficit Plan

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

But Jon Stewart has a simpler and more efficient plan to help ease our debt :)

Ryan's Private Savings - Path to Prosperity

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

I give up with these people...
.

Sam Harris vs. William Lane Craig - Where Do Objective Moral Values Come From?

Whatever its perceived weaknesses (and the critics have been relentless on some technical points), Sam Harris' recent book, The Moral Landscape, has recently reinvigorated the discussion concerning the objectivity of moral values and obligations. To religious people, the answer seems obvious: if moral values are to count as objectively binding, they must be grounded in God's commands. After all, morality comes from God, doesn't it?

Philosophers since the time of Socrates have rejected this approach (known as divine command theory) on the grounds that, in the absence of any independent set of reasons, God's commands would turn out to be completely arbitrary, and hence objective perhaps -whatever that means- but certainly not moral.

The difficulty most philosophers have had upon such a realization, however, has been with figuring out what might be able to count as a positive objective standard for moral values. Sam Harris thinks that moral values can be grounded in science. William Lane Craig thinks moral values can only come from God. A fascinating and perplexing debate ensues in which Craig accuses Harris of defining morality into a tautology, while Harris accuses Craig of doing exactly the same thing. And they're both right. Go confirmation bias!

Now, while the discussion below provides lots of great food for thought worth pondering, it seems to me that by defining morality in their own particular ways (a move that's ultimately inescapable), both philosophers were probably preaching to their respective choirs, and that the chances either of them might have gained new supporters who didn't already agree with their take on the issue are probably nil.

I'd say the debate was very interesting, and even though I tend to lean more in Harris' direction, I'm not sure either speaker won the day on the basis of the relevant arguments alone...

Both managed to undermine each other's position rather well, but neither managed to overcome such blows once they were dealt, and both were more than happy to go off on tangents irrelevant to the main point of discussion while still managing to provide thought-provoking arguments.

I'd declare the debate a draw, with both participants seriously injured by the other. Perhaps it was an act of martyrdom undertaken for our sake :)

I'll be posting more interesting talks on this topic soon, but in the meantime, here is philosopher Peter Singer with some thoughts on the subject.
.

Tim Minchin - Storm (animated movie)

You may have heard this awesome beat poem before, but now it's accompanied by some awesome animation, and since I already posted it before, I'll just repeat the previous introduction.

This is one of those really tough life dilemmas: totally hot chick you wouldn't mind doing at the drop of a hat, but whose sexy and curvaceous physical appeal is gradually overshadowed by the cringing sound of the repetitive, irrational, question-begging and empty clichés she spews one after another... What to do, what to do?

Tim Minchin found himself in just such a situation and, bless his soul, decided to take the high road... or maybe that's because his wife was in the same room :)

And for more, learn about the Enemies of Reason.

Jon Stewart Nails Mike Huckabee

As you may recall from previous occasions, whenever Jon Stewart and Mike Huckabee have had a debate, their conversation has always been civil. I appreciate that, and while I disagree with Huckabee on most points, I respect a candidate who's able to engage in a respectful dialogue about differences of opinion.

Then again, I've always had the impression that Huckabee tailors his rhetoric with a perfectly good understanding of who the audience listening to him is. Yes, sly politician...

So, while he makes reasonable points to a liberal audience while talking to a progressive, he may go bat shit crazy while talking to what he would consider his more 'real' audience (like advocating the idea that the religious view of fundamentalist history distortionist David Barton be taught in public schools), but it's only a matter of time before someone like Jon Stewart calls him on his prestidigitation, and the result is some awesome ass kicking... in a civil manner, of course :)

Exclusive - Mike Huckabee Extended Interview Pt. 1

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Here's part 2:

Exclusive - Mike Huckabee Extended Interview Pt. 2

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

And part 3:

Exclusive - Mike Huckabee Extended Interview Pt. 3

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c