What a(n expensive) day! I toured around the most controversial Yasukuni shrine (very beautiful), visited the possibly equally controversial Yushukan museum (ie. "We didn't actually start any of these wars and behaved in a just and civilised manner at all times"... then again, most of our history – or at least most people's perception of it – is quite similar in terms of "We're the good guys. We occasionally screw up, but overall our cause is glorious and good"). A most entertaining afternoon. I also picked up a copy of "I am a cat" by Sōseki Natsume, which I read on the train. I'm just 47 pages in, and it's been very enjoyable thus far. It makes me wonder why I didn't get a book to read on the train when I got here, given how much train-riding I've been doing. Actually, I have been dragging a copy of Stewart Shapiro's "Thinking about Mathematics". It's a very good read as well, but not exactly the ideal book for short bursts of reading on the train (not many philosophy books are... except the Tractatus, perhaps?).
After that, I went to an onsen/o-sentō (not sure how "mineral" the water was) in Kabukichō (in/near Shinjuku), of all places. The baths were nice (until I accidentally stepped into the electric one – again. They're relaxing, but you have to be mentally prepared for the weird sensation, and the even stranger feel in your limbs afterwards). And I had the pleasure (?) of having a hot bath in an o-furo shaped like a swastika. These symbols are very common in Japan, in the counter-clockwise form, to indicate Buddhist temples on maps (and on the temples themselves). However, this bath's shape was in the clockwise form, which an modern-german-history-aficionado friend of mine might be more familiar with. I wish I could have taken a picture, but – the place being full of naked people (as is generally the case in onsen and o-sentō) – that was unfortunately quite impossible.
I also had a 40-minute massage, which varied between interestingly pleasant and surprisingly painful, but in the end it left me feeling very relaxed (success!). Also, I think this place is probably the only place (or one of the few places) in Shinjuku where you can get the sort of massage your mother wouldn't disapprove of (unless she's very liberal minded about these things).
Anyway, got some nice photos and pictures of the Yasukuni-jinja experience, and a few random shots from around Shinjuku. I've been really lazy about posting these on the blog, but seeing as how I have nearly 400 high-res photos and a few hours of film, it's becoming a bit hard to cope. I'll upload the galleries onto my web page eventually, but I fear a lot of these (especially all the photos of my class) are going to remain for private use (and friends and family – those whom care to watch, anyway). If I get a more powerful computer (maaaybe... I have been bleeding money left and right these days, so that plan's on hold) and/or another external hard-drive (a bit short on storage these days – yeah... I probably shouldn't have spent another ¥2500 on pachinko this evening) I might patch all the footage together and upload it (at a lower res) onto the site (seeing how youtube probably won't accept a 3hr video, and it would be a pain in the behind to splice it up).
Showing posts with label Philosophy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Philosophy. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Conferences, Journals and Whatnot
The upcoming BUPS conference I'm organising (thanks to a very helpful committee) won't be our biggest one yet, but it should be fun nonetheless. It was perhaps one of the more stressful ones to run, as it involves more personal preparation than the past ones since I'm writing the part of the skills talks (something I don't really feel qualified for, which is why they'll be more about general methodological concerns, which I hope will be helpful), and because this time of year is historically (i.e. from experience of the past years) a very busy time of year, and therefore not the best time to attract loads of people. It's also a time of year where I have a lot on my plate as well... Therefore I'm really looking forward to the conference itself (and the organisational break afterwards). Nothing quite beats seeing effort pay off (let's hope it does).
It's also an important turning point, as it's the last 'big' conference I'll be organising. All that's left after this is a summer conference, which will be a day conference, and an essay competition to run, followed by the annual conference, the preparation of which will be the job of the next chair (and for which I will offer my help, but only as a 'consultant'). This means that my job as chair after this will principally involve preparing BUPS for the shift in management, and ensure that it will thrive next year (and the years to come – touch wood).
It's crazy how quickly this year (and all of university, as a matter of fact) has gone by, but it's nice to note that the optimism that I held about the now-over-two-years-old project that is the British Undergraduate Philosophy Society hasn't proved to be too naive. We've done some good, solid work this year, thanks to the toil of the committee, and ran an increased number of conferences, expanded membership, built the foundations for next year's committee, and several other things... The realisation that it's almost all over, along with undergraduate life as a whole, is a fairly strange feeling. I suppose all one can do at this point is hope that both the society and my academic life fare well in the coming year(s), and reflect back upon what I've gained from it.
These past seven months have been a bumpy ride, with moments of doubt, a few sleepless nights, and some really good times to balance things out. I don't think I would have expected things to get so complicated so quickly, a few years back. On the other hand, I'd be hard pressed to claim I regretted any of it: the organisational stress applied by the running of this society and its events, in conjunction with the workload of a third year, have been higher than what I've experienced in my life, but there is no doubt that the skills I've acquired along the way (in keeping track of so many factors, so many deadlines, and so much correspondence), and the mere fact that I've survived it all with my sanity and nerves left (mostly) untouched, are all in all quite a reward, and will come in useful during the next few years as I face increasingly higher workloads and pressure from the academic environment.
But more than all that, I now know that I can safely face the next person to tell me that philosophy is all about dawdling about, smoking joints, and asking "Why?", and kick him in the face.
Peace out.
It's also an important turning point, as it's the last 'big' conference I'll be organising. All that's left after this is a summer conference, which will be a day conference, and an essay competition to run, followed by the annual conference, the preparation of which will be the job of the next chair (and for which I will offer my help, but only as a 'consultant'). This means that my job as chair after this will principally involve preparing BUPS for the shift in management, and ensure that it will thrive next year (and the years to come – touch wood).
It's crazy how quickly this year (and all of university, as a matter of fact) has gone by, but it's nice to note that the optimism that I held about the now-over-two-years-old project that is the British Undergraduate Philosophy Society hasn't proved to be too naive. We've done some good, solid work this year, thanks to the toil of the committee, and ran an increased number of conferences, expanded membership, built the foundations for next year's committee, and several other things... The realisation that it's almost all over, along with undergraduate life as a whole, is a fairly strange feeling. I suppose all one can do at this point is hope that both the society and my academic life fare well in the coming year(s), and reflect back upon what I've gained from it.
These past seven months have been a bumpy ride, with moments of doubt, a few sleepless nights, and some really good times to balance things out. I don't think I would have expected things to get so complicated so quickly, a few years back. On the other hand, I'd be hard pressed to claim I regretted any of it: the organisational stress applied by the running of this society and its events, in conjunction with the workload of a third year, have been higher than what I've experienced in my life, but there is no doubt that the skills I've acquired along the way (in keeping track of so many factors, so many deadlines, and so much correspondence), and the mere fact that I've survived it all with my sanity and nerves left (mostly) untouched, are all in all quite a reward, and will come in useful during the next few years as I face increasingly higher workloads and pressure from the academic environment.
But more than all that, I now know that I can safely face the next person to tell me that philosophy is all about dawdling about, smoking joints, and asking "Why?", and kick him in the face.
Peace out.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
You wouldn't expect it...
I more or less recently ran into a charming display of 'absentmindedness' on the part of the type of person you'd least expect to write something so trivially wrong, or at least you'd think that he would ask someone to double-check the work in question before tagging his name on it.
Consider the following article: Writing Descartes: I Am, and I Can Think, Therefore ... by one Professor Paul Grobstein, Harvard grad, Harvard PhD, and impressive academic record in the field of biology. The man is clearly an intelligent fellow, and thus possibly the last person you'd expect to produce the following pearl of wisdom as an argument against Cartesian Skepticism (emphasis mine):
He then goes on to make some potentially interesting comments about scepticism, which unfortunately here stem from this initial assumption that 'Descartes got it wrong' (I don't argue that he didn't, but certainly not on these grounds). And while these comments are not necessarily without merit or value (were they to be made independently of talk about what Professor Grobstein thinks is Descartes' position), his initial critique of Descartes' cogito is horrendously wrong.
Consider the general form of a syllogism:
Premise 1: If P, then Q
Premise 2: P
Conclusion: Q
Now here's basically what Professor Grobstein believes Descartes' cogito to entail (and what he criticises):
Premise 1: If P, then Q
Premise 2: Not P
Conclusion: Not Q
Now, any ol' undergraduate having done a very basic introduction to logic will tell you that the logical statement 'P therefore Q' is false if and only if P is true while Q is false. This is to say that 'P therefore Q' is perfectly true if P is false, but Q is true. Professor Grobstein is thus committing a basic non-sequitur in claiming that 'P therefore Q' entails '(Not P) therefore (Not Q)'. It would be a valid entailment if Descartes had said something mapping to the logical statement 'P if and only if Q', but as Descartes did not in any way say "I think if and only if I am" (or vice-versa... it doesn't really matter), Professor Grobstein doesn't really have a leg to stand on for his argument.
It just goes to show: when shopping around for academic wisdom, caveat emptor.
Of course, this isn't exactly a published paper, just an open letter on his website. Still, it does not excuse the need for a bit of peer-review (I'm sure he could have nabbed a first year computer scientist, or a philosophy student), so as to avoid slightly embarrassing, simple mistakes such as this one.
To conclude, I do not wish to give the impression that I claim non-philosophers (and specifically scientists) should stay away from philosophy. If anything, one should encourage them to practise it. Nonetheless, if you're going to go up against a central, well-known position of philosophy (and by all means, please do!), at least make sure your argument doesn't fall apart because of some trivial misunderstanding of logic.
Consider the following article: Writing Descartes: I Am, and I Can Think, Therefore ... by one Professor Paul Grobstein, Harvard grad, Harvard PhD, and impressive academic record in the field of biology. The man is clearly an intelligent fellow, and thus possibly the last person you'd expect to produce the following pearl of wisdom as an argument against Cartesian Skepticism (emphasis mine):
Your phrase "I think, therefore I am" needs some correcting. I think I understand what you had in mind: the need to find a solid footing for ongoing inquiry. And I very much admire your posture of profound skepticism, with its associated reluctance to take not only "revealed truth" and authority but also logic and sense data as an assured starting point. It does seem to me though that you (or, more likely, others since you) took a good idea too far (as happened with your mind/body distinction, see Descartes' Error). Or, maybe, it wasn't taken far enough.
Here's the thing. Trees are. And they don't "think". So you can't have meant to say that things in general have to think in order to be. That would be contradicted by trees and other things (rocks, desks, etc) that you certainly knew about.
He then goes on to make some potentially interesting comments about scepticism, which unfortunately here stem from this initial assumption that 'Descartes got it wrong' (I don't argue that he didn't, but certainly not on these grounds). And while these comments are not necessarily without merit or value (were they to be made independently of talk about what Professor Grobstein thinks is Descartes' position), his initial critique of Descartes' cogito is horrendously wrong.
Consider the general form of a syllogism:
Premise 1: If P, then Q
Premise 2: P
Conclusion: Q
Now here's basically what Professor Grobstein believes Descartes' cogito to entail (and what he criticises):
Premise 1: If P, then Q
Premise 2: Not P
Conclusion: Not Q
Now, any ol' undergraduate having done a very basic introduction to logic will tell you that the logical statement 'P therefore Q' is false if and only if P is true while Q is false. This is to say that 'P therefore Q' is perfectly true if P is false, but Q is true. Professor Grobstein is thus committing a basic non-sequitur in claiming that 'P therefore Q' entails '(Not P) therefore (Not Q)'. It would be a valid entailment if Descartes had said something mapping to the logical statement 'P if and only if Q', but as Descartes did not in any way say "I think if and only if I am" (or vice-versa... it doesn't really matter), Professor Grobstein doesn't really have a leg to stand on for his argument.
It just goes to show: when shopping around for academic wisdom, caveat emptor.
Of course, this isn't exactly a published paper, just an open letter on his website. Still, it does not excuse the need for a bit of peer-review (I'm sure he could have nabbed a first year computer scientist, or a philosophy student), so as to avoid slightly embarrassing, simple mistakes such as this one.
To conclude, I do not wish to give the impression that I claim non-philosophers (and specifically scientists) should stay away from philosophy. If anything, one should encourage them to practise it. Nonetheless, if you're going to go up against a central, well-known position of philosophy (and by all means, please do!), at least make sure your argument doesn't fall apart because of some trivial misunderstanding of logic.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
My Bonnie lies over the ocean
I got my offer from St Andrews today, to study for a M.Litt in philosophy. Had some champagne to celebrate the fact that I'm moving to the middle of nowhere, where it'll surely be even rainier and colder than it is here...
... but somehow I'm very happy about it.
... but somehow I'm very happy about it.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
The Heisenberg Insanity Principle
I sometimes wake up in the morning, and wonder whether or not I've lost my mind. This may sound bizarre, but it's ironically reasonable a stance. Can I really certify my own sanity? Surely I'd need to be certifiably sane to do so, and thus am relying on the conclusion as a premise for the determination of that very conclusion. So what if it was the case that I had lost my mind? Would I hypothetically just be maintaining the illusion of sanity to the outside world an to myself? Well, this naturally raises the question: doesn't the same circularity apply to this case? It's very catch-22-type, as you'd assume you'd need to be sane to know sanity from insanity, and thus evaluating my own sanity (or insanity) would require sanity on my part in the first place! But I think this counter-argument is also circular, as my evaluation of my insanity is made by the me who purports to be sane, because I am in fact insane and cannot sanely understand my own claim of being sane (which is, of course, just a masquerade for insanity). Something to think about...
Amusingly enough, if you haven't been driven insane after reading this, you must be insane!
Amusingly enough, if you haven't been driven insane after reading this, you must be insane!
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Greek Chorus
I was walking home from my Wittgenstein Reading Group, a few hours ago, enjoying Vivaldi's "Der Herbst" as I headed back up Conduit Road (that's one hell of a climb), and I began noticing how well music works as a soundtrack in conditions of low visibility. It seems to dramatise everything, and give a particular edge to people emerging from the darkness, and heading back into it in silence. That got me thinking about how wonderful it was to have the small flat device the size of a business card (aka my iPod nano) that could allow me to carry my favourite music around with me. Actually, it is the very storage of music which is marvelous here - the very idea that any person with the equipment could hear Vivaldi's Four Seasons in the comfort of his living room, alone. We can afford to hear things again and again, and to let it play in the background, almost outside of our consciousness, knowing that should we want to hear it again, it will be there.
How different it must have been just 150 years ago, before the phonograph, when the only way to hear a particular piece was to go to a concert, or if you were rich, to have someone come play it at your house. How different must musical intentionality have been, knowing that that particular hearing of a certain tune could well be, for purely logistical/material reasons, your last. Auditors must have focused intently on the music, savouring each moment (for cases where the song was worth it), trying to remember and record the experience. Never would they have imagined that the masses a near century-and-a-half later would view music in a completely different way...
This raises the question: is music the area where social practices and norms define intentionality? Why would the other methods of human interaction be any different. Language and communication, the notion of self, the self in the world, and what things are and aren't... why would these be conserved and unchanged? We generally assume that people of the past are essentially just like us, with a different basic body of knowledge, and weird clothes. But what's to say that the mental difference isn't drastically different the further you go back...
Side note: I wish I could get credit for idle musings like this, and not have to do this goddamn physics project. Oh well, back to work...
How different it must have been just 150 years ago, before the phonograph, when the only way to hear a particular piece was to go to a concert, or if you were rich, to have someone come play it at your house. How different must musical intentionality have been, knowing that that particular hearing of a certain tune could well be, for purely logistical/material reasons, your last. Auditors must have focused intently on the music, savouring each moment (for cases where the song was worth it), trying to remember and record the experience. Never would they have imagined that the masses a near century-and-a-half later would view music in a completely different way...
This raises the question: is music the area where social practices and norms define intentionality? Why would the other methods of human interaction be any different. Language and communication, the notion of self, the self in the world, and what things are and aren't... why would these be conserved and unchanged? We generally assume that people of the past are essentially just like us, with a different basic body of knowledge, and weird clothes. But what's to say that the mental difference isn't drastically different the further you go back...
Side note: I wish I could get credit for idle musings like this, and not have to do this goddamn physics project. Oh well, back to work...
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Christmas (philosophical) jam in St Catz!
If you read this blog, are into philosophy and have some free time on the weekend of friday 15th to sunday 17th december, and of course live (or can travel to) the UK, I strongly recommend that you come down to the British Undergraduate Philosophy Society's 2006 Winter Conference, which will be held at the gorgeous St Catharine's College, Cambridge, and the the keynote speaker will be Cambridge's own Professor Simon Blackburn.
The amazing part is that this conference will cost the delegate approximately the same price the BUPC registration costs, despite the fact that most Oxbridge colleges were asking for at least the double. This is thanks to the generosity of St Catz (and the fantastic cooperation of its Junior Bursar, Stuart McLellan). So hopefully we'll manage to find enough delegates and authors across the UK to make this conference worth the place it's being held in (although I have little doubt it will be).
Anywhooo, if you're interested, check out the Call for papers. Don't hesitate to pass it along to your friends/colleagues/faculty. Hopefully, you'll consider registering for the event, and perhaps even submit a paper yourself. In any case, get in touch if you have any questions. Hope to see some of you there!
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Back on the internets!
Man oh man, it's good to be back on the 'net at home. Lemme just get this out of the way then: if you're in the UK, don't go with BT. Broadband being set up should not involve 10+ phone calls and a two-week delay...
Anyway, moving on. So much has been done in the past few weeks, so I'll stick to the really recent stuff. It's term time again! After the summer I've had (especially the last two/three weeks), it's a welcome change. Of course, it means I have added constraints on my timetable and have to get up early (occasionally), but I can live with that. My new courses are quite groovy as well, and a rather heteroclite bunch that range from the really easy, such as programming (managed to finish the first 5/6 weeks of lab work the day before the first lab, which frees up my thursday afternoons for a while), to the really hard, such as nuclear physics (which is expectable, I suppose), to the really interesting, such as philosophy of maths (Bob Hale has a hypnotic voice, too). Plus, if I play my cards right (and am prepared to write a dissertation of Xmas), I can get away with having only two 10-credit exams this semester, which would be quite a treat. In other (academic) news, I've just been assigned my physics project today, which will be to design a 10 lecture course for 3rd years on a general physics topic. Whoop-dee-doo... At least it's theoretical (in that it will involve no labs... will it?).
In terms of extracurricular work, I'll probably have enough to keep busy as well. Asvictim chair of the British Undergraduate Philosophy Society (Facebook link), I'll be spending the next few weeks trying to set a date and venue for our next conference, and get the ball rolling... As well as checking in on some other projects (all currently in the expert hands of people who know what they're doing).
I've also founded a local Wittgenstein Reading Group (Facebook link), to read through the Philosophical Investigations (which we could have done as a module, but the professor teaching it retired), based on recommendations by my pal Robbie (props).
Finally, I can imagine the usual SSC stuff will take a bit of my time. Aaaah it's nice to feel active again.
On the personal front, all is well (I believe). I've actually gotten off m'lazy arse and joined the gym (hell, might even go today). The house is nice, too. I have the smallest room, but it has the biggest storage space (which in the end works out for the best) as well as the most pimpin' skylight (I can't say that with a straight face), and unlike last year, a really great wireless signal (which, knowing me, is a necessity). Now the internet is working reasonably well, let's hope it stays like this.
Righto, enough dilly-dallying about. It's nearly 10:30 am, and that means it's time for sweet sweet espresso (of which I need to order more) + breakfast.
Anyway, moving on. So much has been done in the past few weeks, so I'll stick to the really recent stuff. It's term time again! After the summer I've had (especially the last two/three weeks), it's a welcome change. Of course, it means I have added constraints on my timetable and have to get up early (occasionally), but I can live with that. My new courses are quite groovy as well, and a rather heteroclite bunch that range from the really easy, such as programming (managed to finish the first 5/6 weeks of lab work the day before the first lab, which frees up my thursday afternoons for a while), to the really hard, such as nuclear physics (which is expectable, I suppose), to the really interesting, such as philosophy of maths (Bob Hale has a hypnotic voice, too). Plus, if I play my cards right (and am prepared to write a dissertation of Xmas), I can get away with having only two 10-credit exams this semester, which would be quite a treat. In other (academic) news, I've just been assigned my physics project today, which will be to design a 10 lecture course for 3rd years on a general physics topic. Whoop-dee-doo... At least it's theoretical (in that it will involve no labs... will it?).
In terms of extracurricular work, I'll probably have enough to keep busy as well. As
I've also founded a local Wittgenstein Reading Group (Facebook link), to read through the Philosophical Investigations (which we could have done as a module, but the professor teaching it retired), based on recommendations by my pal Robbie (props).
Finally, I can imagine the usual SSC stuff will take a bit of my time. Aaaah it's nice to feel active again.
On the personal front, all is well (I believe). I've actually gotten off m'lazy arse and joined the gym (hell, might even go today). The house is nice, too. I have the smallest room, but it has the biggest storage space (which in the end works out for the best) as well as the most pimpin' skylight (I can't say that with a straight face), and unlike last year, a really great wireless signal (which, knowing me, is a necessity). Now the internet is working reasonably well, let's hope it stays like this.
Righto, enough dilly-dallying about. It's nearly 10:30 am, and that means it's time for sweet sweet espresso (of which I need to order more) + breakfast.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Be kind to your web-footed friend
Not that there's any particular need to apologize, but sorry for the stint of absence on my part. I've spent the last few days oscillating between the couch and the router (with occasional jogs in Versailles). Nothing too exciting.
The couch serves the purpose of providing a reading and writing space for my BUPC-related correspondence. Had one hell of a day processing all the submissions (an activity rendered much less painful by my helpful assistant for this task), reviewers, and getting it all to work (hopefully). One of my pet-peeves when I used to live back here (or anywhere, but the french administration and its love of red tape seems to best express this feature) was being impeded in my enjoyment of everyday life by base incompetence. Well, it is now I am on the other side of the fence, in being surrounded by people who not only do their job(s) well, but are keen to do so, that I realize that the opposite also holds to be quite true: it's very soothing to see things go smoothly.
So all's good in that hood. The router thing, however, is another matter. We've gone through quite a few netgears, and I've become well acquainted with the (thriving and friendly) netgear-gone-wrong support community, but to no avail. Fact of the matter is, our phone lines are archaic, and our router is fitted with a crappy over-sensitive Texas Instruments (who make damn good programmable calcs, go Ti89+!) chipset which reboots the damn thing every twenty minutes or so. We ordered one of those nifty Linksys WRT54Gs (that you can tinker with the firmware of) to replace it. Hopefully that'll be less stressful to deal with. Fixing the damn thing just sucks my energy away, meaning I haven't been so good with my reading as of late.
In other news, I had to go to the doctor a few days ago, on my mother's orders, because I've had a tickly cough since June. He put me on 8 different meds (mostly anti-allergic stuff) and wants me to have a blood test... ugh. Hate the damn things. The meds taste like crap too (and I'm not a huge fan of putting all that crap in my body).
But no worries, I can get faulty routers and vampiric needles out of my head for a few days, 'cause I'm a-headin' down south(-west) to our summer home in Cozes, to catch some rays on the beach with my buddies Swann and Eduardo, and his mother Helene (also a good friend). So life's good in the end... I just flippin' hate this 19th-century grade house.
Ooh, and one more thing: I got published again, but this time it's a paper, not a book review (Free e-copy of this edition here. *PDF warning*). Yay.
The couch serves the purpose of providing a reading and writing space for my BUPC-related correspondence. Had one hell of a day processing all the submissions (an activity rendered much less painful by my helpful assistant for this task), reviewers, and getting it all to work (hopefully). One of my pet-peeves when I used to live back here (or anywhere, but the french administration and its love of red tape seems to best express this feature) was being impeded in my enjoyment of everyday life by base incompetence. Well, it is now I am on the other side of the fence, in being surrounded by people who not only do their job(s) well, but are keen to do so, that I realize that the opposite also holds to be quite true: it's very soothing to see things go smoothly.
So all's good in that hood. The router thing, however, is another matter. We've gone through quite a few netgears, and I've become well acquainted with the (thriving and friendly) netgear-gone-wrong support community, but to no avail. Fact of the matter is, our phone lines are archaic, and our router is fitted with a crappy over-sensitive Texas Instruments (who make damn good programmable calcs, go Ti89+!) chipset which reboots the damn thing every twenty minutes or so. We ordered one of those nifty Linksys WRT54Gs (that you can tinker with the firmware of) to replace it. Hopefully that'll be less stressful to deal with. Fixing the damn thing just sucks my energy away, meaning I haven't been so good with my reading as of late.
In other news, I had to go to the doctor a few days ago, on my mother's orders, because I've had a tickly cough since June. He put me on 8 different meds (mostly anti-allergic stuff) and wants me to have a blood test... ugh. Hate the damn things. The meds taste like crap too (and I'm not a huge fan of putting all that crap in my body).
But no worries, I can get faulty routers and vampiric needles out of my head for a few days, 'cause I'm a-headin' down south(-west) to our summer home in Cozes, to catch some rays on the beach with my buddies Swann and Eduardo, and his mother Helene (also a good friend). So life's good in the end... I just flippin' hate this 19th-century grade house.
Ooh, and one more thing: I got published again, but this time it's a paper, not a book review (Free e-copy of this edition here. *PDF warning*). Yay.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Paris vaut bien une messe...
I thought Easton, Pittsburgh and DC were bad enough, but it's actually just as hot here in Paris. You'd think that thick stone walls and leafy shade would prevent that, but in fact... not really.
My parents and sister are down in the south of France, or were, as they are now on the atlantic coast for my grandmothers' errrr... 72nd birthday? Anywhooo, I would have sort of liked to go down to our summer house in Cozes as well, but I didn't want to spend three hours in the train for just a weekend. Plus, my friend Liam from Sheffield is in town, so I might hang out with him a bit (as my friend Eduardo is at his girlfriend's all weekend), but so far no luck: he's not answering his cell phone, and I'm rather bad at answering my landline. It's sort of sad when a man becomes more reliably reachable by IM or email than by phone.
But back to the heat. It really takes the energy straight out of you. I have loads I want to do, including getting a hair cut, but the prospect of sitting 45 minutes in a non-air conditioned commuter train to go to Paris and get a haircut in a decent place is a bit daunting. It's a bit funny that, being rather fond of having my hair long and slightly ruffled (blatant understatement), I'm still so picky when it comes to haircuts. The reason, I guess, is that when your hair is long there's a rather large gray area when it comes to how it looks. I mean, either you don't look good at all with long hair, or you look okay-ish to good. Whereas for short hair a bad haircut is instantly noticeable. Less artistic license, har har. Nonetheless, I'll try to brave the heat and go into town one of these days, if anything, to have lunch/dinner with my grandmother (when she comes back up) or with Jim & Millie (my godfather and his spouse). Or maybe with my grandfather. We'll see.
Other than that, I have loads to do here. The first step towards actually doing some of that load is bit difficult though, and involves resisting the temptation to play DoD all afternoon. My friend Eduardo brough his (quite powerful) PC up to Paris with him, and it now resides in my room. After two years of having a Mac (G*d bless it) which not only helps me work efficiently, but also prevents me from feeding my gaming addiction, I now realize that playing a few rounds is probably equivalent to sticking a needle back into your arm after two years off smack (previous statement not from personal experience).
I had to get off m'arse on thursday to revise/edit a paper I wrote on qualia and epiphenomenalism, which I have been informed would be published in the next edition of the British Journal of Undergraduate Philosophy (finally... got something published other than a philosophical book review). Aside from that, I've got loads of papers (quite a few courtesy of Yorick Wilks) to read and/or re-read, as well as some books on Linguistics, and K&R's White Book on C, all of which I hope to get through before the summers' over. Over a month left. I think it'll be fine.
That's about all there is to say for now. Time for a cold bath, a book, and a beer. Even with work to do and humid heatwaves, life is pretty damn good.
Peace.
My parents and sister are down in the south of France, or were, as they are now on the atlantic coast for my grandmothers' errrr... 72nd birthday? Anywhooo, I would have sort of liked to go down to our summer house in Cozes as well, but I didn't want to spend three hours in the train for just a weekend. Plus, my friend Liam from Sheffield is in town, so I might hang out with him a bit (as my friend Eduardo is at his girlfriend's all weekend), but so far no luck: he's not answering his cell phone, and I'm rather bad at answering my landline. It's sort of sad when a man becomes more reliably reachable by IM or email than by phone.
But back to the heat. It really takes the energy straight out of you. I have loads I want to do, including getting a hair cut, but the prospect of sitting 45 minutes in a non-air conditioned commuter train to go to Paris and get a haircut in a decent place is a bit daunting. It's a bit funny that, being rather fond of having my hair long and slightly ruffled (blatant understatement), I'm still so picky when it comes to haircuts. The reason, I guess, is that when your hair is long there's a rather large gray area when it comes to how it looks. I mean, either you don't look good at all with long hair, or you look okay-ish to good. Whereas for short hair a bad haircut is instantly noticeable. Less artistic license, har har. Nonetheless, I'll try to brave the heat and go into town one of these days, if anything, to have lunch/dinner with my grandmother (when she comes back up) or with Jim & Millie (my godfather and his spouse). Or maybe with my grandfather. We'll see.
Other than that, I have loads to do here. The first step towards actually doing some of that load is bit difficult though, and involves resisting the temptation to play DoD all afternoon. My friend Eduardo brough his (quite powerful) PC up to Paris with him, and it now resides in my room. After two years of having a Mac (G*d bless it) which not only helps me work efficiently, but also prevents me from feeding my gaming addiction, I now realize that playing a few rounds is probably equivalent to sticking a needle back into your arm after two years off smack (previous statement not from personal experience).
I had to get off m'arse on thursday to revise/edit a paper I wrote on qualia and epiphenomenalism, which I have been informed would be published in the next edition of the British Journal of Undergraduate Philosophy (finally... got something published other than a philosophical book review). Aside from that, I've got loads of papers (quite a few courtesy of Yorick Wilks) to read and/or re-read, as well as some books on Linguistics, and K&R's White Book on C, all of which I hope to get through before the summers' over. Over a month left. I think it'll be fine.
That's about all there is to say for now. Time for a cold bath, a book, and a beer. Even with work to do and humid heatwaves, life is pretty damn good.
Peace.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Beautiful day + Stuck Inside = Daily Deal during exam week
I'm quite certain the weather's taunting me. I woke up at 6am, because of the sunlight. When I was awoken again (by my alarm) it was beautiful outside, nice and warm with a sky that you'd see on a daily basis in Provence. Not a cloud in the sky. I wouldn't have been half surprised to see birds merrily flutter together and form the words "Ha ha you have an exam"...
The exam went okay-ish, but definitely could have gone a lot better (I know I say that a lot, but here it's really true... I think). Ironically I did quite well on the part I thought was really hard (atomic spectra) and found the part which I usually aced on past exam papers near impossible. Weird.
Oh well, wait and see. Now I have to start revising for the Solid State Physics exam, start researching my papers for Mind, and write my papers for Reference and truth. Ugh... not gonna be a fun week.
PS: I added a link to this blog's RSS feed, so if you're into that whole "keeping track" thing, you can just add this link to your feed aggregator and enjoy my whining as it comes (ie fairly frequently).
The exam went okay-ish, but definitely could have gone a lot better (I know I say that a lot, but here it's really true... I think). Ironically I did quite well on the part I thought was really hard (atomic spectra) and found the part which I usually aced on past exam papers near impossible. Weird.
Oh well, wait and see. Now I have to start revising for the Solid State Physics exam, start researching my papers for Mind, and write my papers for Reference and truth. Ugh... not gonna be a fun week.
PS: I added a link to this blog's RSS feed, so if you're into that whole "keeping track" thing, you can just add this link to your feed aggregator and enjoy my whining as it comes (ie fairly frequently).
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Late nights and clean iPods
I thought it'd be fun to go out to the library at midnight last night, and see how long I could work, and how productive I'd be. I stayed there a little over two hours, and managed to read through most of what I needed for my first philosophy exam (all the remains is a paper by S. Laurence and I should have enough to write up a draft plan). It felt like a very productive two hours, perhaps because I stumbled across R Keefe's book on Vagueness while looking for another one in the to-be-reshelved bookshelves, and it pretty much had everything I wanted in terms of objections to the theory of vagueness I'm... well, objecting to.
Sleep felt pretty nice after that.
Moving on though... You know how you always seem to leave cash in your pocket, and it comes out looking extremely clean? You know how they (namely your mother) warn you (hypothetically, if you don't own one of these) that iPod nanos are so small they'd probably be easy to use, and you protest by saying "don't worry, I'll make sure I always know where it is"? Connect the two stories, and you'll probably see where this is going. Yesterday, I was listening to my nano to and from the library. It's slim, so it conveniently fits in my shirt pocket, and is almost unnoticeable. This morning, while still groggy from a short night's sleep, I threw my shirt into my washbag, and the contents of the washbag into the washing machine. Result: one very, very clean iPod nano. It doesn't look damaged, but won't turn on. Then again the battery was very low last night, so I reckon there's just need for a little jumpstart with a power cable. Pretty stupid of me, though...
Sleep felt pretty nice after that.
Moving on though... You know how you always seem to leave cash in your pocket, and it comes out looking extremely clean? You know how they (namely your mother) warn you (hypothetically, if you don't own one of these) that iPod nanos are so small they'd probably be easy to use, and you protest by saying "don't worry, I'll make sure I always know where it is"? Connect the two stories, and you'll probably see where this is going. Yesterday, I was listening to my nano to and from the library. It's slim, so it conveniently fits in my shirt pocket, and is almost unnoticeable. This morning, while still groggy from a short night's sleep, I threw my shirt into my washbag, and the contents of the washbag into the washing machine. Result: one very, very clean iPod nano. It doesn't look damaged, but won't turn on. Then again the battery was very low last night, so I reckon there's just need for a little jumpstart with a power cable. Pretty stupid of me, though...
Thursday, May 18, 2006
One little sign error
It's funny how one little sign error can make the difference between a satellite fall into orbit or back onto the earth, between a finely balanced solution and an explosive mess, or in this case, between a brilliant formal answer to a troublesome paradox, and a stupidly evident and useless answer.
The liar paradox is simply "This sentence is false" so that if it is true, it is false and thus not true, and if it is false, then it is not the case that it is false so it is true and not false. Either way, it's a paradox.
I came across this earlier today, and wondered if it was solvable in predicate logic. Using a rather idiosyncratic (but efficient) method which is (I think) used by the PROLOG interpreter, internally, I got the following proof:
Click here to expand formula.
*********************************************************** ***********************************************************
Now as you can imagine, I was fairly excited. If you don't understand the above, I basically proved it logically (or did I...). So thus, very pleased with my discovery, I sent a copy of this proof to my lecturer.
Twenty minutes later, I re-read it, and the reality check came in the mail (after all, a bit silly to assume that such a straightforward proof had been missed by generations and generations of talented logicians). I had in fact gotten the signs wrong -not in the application- but in the derivation of the conclusion, so that in fact the first case being a contradiction actually confirms the logical validity of the statement (since its negation is a contradiction), while the second is inconsistent. Thus rather than solving the problem, I've just made a pretty evident confirmation of its existence. Do note however that the second case raises an interesting point: does this logical state of non-validity support the definiteness of a truth value for the proposition being studied? I doubt it, but it's something to think about, if that tickles your fancy.
Moral of the story: live cocky, breathe confident, but by all means... check your signs.
The liar paradox is simply "This sentence is false" so that if it is true, it is false and thus not true, and if it is false, then it is not the case that it is false so it is true and not false. Either way, it's a paradox.
I came across this earlier today, and wondered if it was solvable in predicate logic. Using a rather idiosyncratic (but efficient) method which is (I think) used by the PROLOG interpreter, internally, I got the following proof:
Click here to expand formula.
Tx: x is true
Fx: x is false
{x} is a class comprising one individual proposition a: This sentence is false.
Logic states P1 ≡ ∀x [ Fx → ~Tx ]
So x entails P2 ≡ ∀x [ Tx → Fx ]
C is the conclusion of the sentence "This sentence is false" in conjunction with the entailed complex propositions P1 and P2. I'm going to cut short and use the resolution method I learnt with Prof Denis Vernant because I'm more comfortable with it, so the following may seem a little idiosyncratic, but hopefully not too unclear.
∀x [ (Fx & (Fx → ~Tx) & (Tx → Fx)) → C ]
x is a one member class, so because of the ∀ quantifier I can substitute x for a (see above).
(Fa & (Fa → ~Ta) & (Ta → Fa)) → C (1)
Let's make the following assumption. The conclusion C is that the truth status of the proposition a is defined. In other words, Ta v Fa.
Now I apply resolution method to this statement. Basically I negate the whole statement, reduce it to conjunctions and disjunctions, and resolve along the following lines: p & (q v ~p) gives us p & q.
So ~{ (Fa & (Fa → ~Ta) & (Ta → Fa)) → (Ta v Fa) }
gives
Fa & (Fa → ~Ta) & (Ta → Fa) & ~(Ta v Fa)
Fa & (~Fa v ~Ta) & (~Ta v Fa) & ~Ta & ~Fa
We cancel the disjunctions out and obtain Fa & ~Ta & ~Fa which is a contradiction, which means with C ≡ (Ta v Fa) we obtain a logically non-valid expression.
Can we thus conclude C ≡ ~(Ta v Fa)? We can put this to the test:
The negation of (1) with this new C gives
~{ (Fa & (Fa → ~Ta) & (Ta → Fa)) → ~(Ta v Fa) }
which is
Fa & (Fa → ~Ta) & (Ta → Fa) & (Ta v Fa)
which is
Fa & (~Fa v ~Ta) & (~Ta v Fa) & (Ta v Fa)
Which simplifies to
Fa & ~Ta which is not a contradiction (and is not a conclusion either, just to dispel possible confusion) so that (1) with C ≡ ~(Ta v Fa) is a logically valid statement.
Thus, if I haven't made a mistake, and am not making any unreasonable assumption, the sentence "This sentence is false" is compatible with the conclusion "It is not the case that this sentence is true or false", or basically "It is nor true, nor false".
Now as you can imagine, I was fairly excited. If you don't understand the above, I basically proved it logically (or did I...). So thus, very pleased with my discovery, I sent a copy of this proof to my lecturer.
Twenty minutes later, I re-read it, and the reality check came in the mail (after all, a bit silly to assume that such a straightforward proof had been missed by generations and generations of talented logicians). I had in fact gotten the signs wrong -not in the application- but in the derivation of the conclusion, so that in fact the first case being a contradiction actually confirms the logical validity of the statement (since its negation is a contradiction), while the second is inconsistent. Thus rather than solving the problem, I've just made a pretty evident confirmation of its existence. Do note however that the second case raises an interesting point: does this logical state of non-validity support the definiteness of a truth value for the proposition being studied? I doubt it, but it's something to think about, if that tickles your fancy.
Moral of the story: live cocky, breathe confident, but by all means... check your signs.
Calm before the storm
Currently doing a little research on the topics I have to cover for my philosophy finals. I've spent the better part of the morning tidying up my notes and going through a few papers on our database to scout out some interesting stuff. So far, only a few potential hits.
I always think the research segment of writing a paper is always both the most enjoyable part, and the most frustrating one. It's a pleasant activity because you know you're getting valuable exposure to the (maybe) cutting-edge of the debate on whatever you're working on, and it's intellectually stimulating. On the other hand, it also requires focus, concentration, and having to put up with a load of bullsh*t (sometimes).
Oh well... Last lecture for philosophy of language today, and very last lecture of the term for any module. All I have between me and exams is a seminar on Haack, whose paper I am looking forward to re-reading (having mistakenly done so for last week's seminar). Then it's a long week till exams start.
I really detest this quiet lull between lectures and exams, where the panic of not having done enough work (or thinking you haven't) progressively sinks in, and nights grow longer and days seem too short to fit your reading schedule in. This, said after I've spend so little time sleeping over the past month because of deadline over deadline over deadline. I can't wait till it's all over and I can get onto my summer reading.
I always think the research segment of writing a paper is always both the most enjoyable part, and the most frustrating one. It's a pleasant activity because you know you're getting valuable exposure to the (maybe) cutting-edge of the debate on whatever you're working on, and it's intellectually stimulating. On the other hand, it also requires focus, concentration, and having to put up with a load of bullsh*t (sometimes).
Oh well... Last lecture for philosophy of language today, and very last lecture of the term for any module. All I have between me and exams is a seminar on Haack, whose paper I am looking forward to re-reading (having mistakenly done so for last week's seminar). Then it's a long week till exams start.
I really detest this quiet lull between lectures and exams, where the panic of not having done enough work (or thinking you haven't) progressively sinks in, and nights grow longer and days seem too short to fit your reading schedule in. This, said after I've spend so little time sleeping over the past month because of deadline over deadline over deadline. I can't wait till it's all over and I can get onto my summer reading.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
It's that special time of year again
The place: a typical suburban house in Sheffield.
Time: 10:42 AM.
Weather: Rainy.
Woke up late for the last lecture of term. No biggie, as they just viewed the Milgram experiments and discussed them a bit (and I had had thedispleasure of viewing them).
Spent the morning reading about flippin' Atomic Spectra and electron spin (physicists will catch the freakishly bad pun in this sentence).
Had to run and wait in line at module registration, because of the risk of having my philosophy modules already capped by the time I register (fortunately there was room left, most likely because Philosophy of Mathematics, Language, and Advanced Logic don't attract hoards of students anyway).
Came back home and read about Special Relativity, prepared a class for my french group, then got a call indicating that there wouldn't be a meeting tonight, and then spent the evening reading more physics.
Crap weather, crap obligations; there's no doubt about it, everything seems to indicate it's that wonderful time of year again: Exam time! Yay!
More whining about this in the next few days.
Time: 10:42 AM.
Weather: Rainy.
Woke up late for the last lecture of term. No biggie, as they just viewed the Milgram experiments and discussed them a bit (and I had had the
Spent the morning reading about flippin' Atomic Spectra and electron spin (physicists will catch the freakishly bad pun in this sentence).
Had to run and wait in line at module registration, because of the risk of having my philosophy modules already capped by the time I register (fortunately there was room left, most likely because Philosophy of Mathematics, Language, and Advanced Logic don't attract hoards of students anyway).
Came back home and read about Special Relativity, prepared a class for my french group, then got a call indicating that there wouldn't be a meeting tonight, and then spent the evening reading more physics.
Crap weather, crap obligations; there's no doubt about it, everything seems to indicate it's that wonderful time of year again: Exam time! Yay!
More whining about this in the next few days.
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