On the road again...

... first, a (hopefully pleasant) drive up to Sheffield for graduation (woohoo?). Then the usual moderately hellish flight to Tokyo on Wednesday 18th. Indeed, for those of you who are reading this, and didn't know (most likely a group that == {Ø}), I'm going to be teaching in Tokyo for most of the summer again. It's at Eiken again (by the bye, can you spot me on that old picture, at the top of the website? It dates back to 2003... I think I still have the shirt I'm wearing on top of what seems like a cool t-shirt), but unlike the previous times, I'll be a teacher (rather than ye olde assistant teacher), and I'll be teaching junior-high instead of high-school level (more about how that goes in ten days or so). Also, the school hosting the program will be the International School of Sacred Heart, which in Roppongi. A bit of a bummer, since it means it's not a 5 minute walk from the apartment door to the classroom door – as was the case when the host school was St Mary's (currently being renovated) – but on the other hand, after-work drinks will be easily accessible (and that's what really matters, after all).

Anyway, like in 2005, I'll be posting regular updates on this site about my musings concerning teaching, Japanese society, and whatnot (probably just page after page of me whining about how bloody hot and humid it'll be), hopefully alongside a few photos. I hope it will be an entertaining read, should you choose to tag along.

FYI, I'll be reachable by email (as always), my usual UK mobile phone number (text before calling, as I'll most likely be teaching, sleeping, or busy), as well as AIM and MSN during the evenings. If, by chance, you're visiting the Big Mikan at all this summer, get in touch and we can hang out. I'll be there until the 23rd of August.

Snake on a... computer?

I'm afraid the following blog update is quite a sad one. Not 'sad' in the tragic sense, but rather 'sad' in the social sense, as an indication of eccentric and abnormally boring (to the lay public, at least) practises.

I have found the love of my (computer) life, and it's called Python. Every so often, you run into something that just clicks, in terms of the balance between usability and power. It's something I've experienced when learning to use bash (esp. the joys of SSH), or LaTeX (I wrote my last two papers and rewrote my CV with it), or when I finally go the knack for coding decent C; but when I say 'click', I think more of my discovery of object oriented scripting languages like Perl (which I had time to learn to basics of, but never to use) and Ruby (having shortly toyed with the syntax, but never used or learned in-depth). And it seems that until now, between Perl and Ruby, I had missed an important middle ground: Python. Actually, that's a lie... when I was 14 or so, I got my hands on a copy of O'Reilly's "Learning Python, Second Edition" (an edition with a cute little picture of a mouse on the cover, the macabre significance of which only strikes me now), but somehow did not get a chance (or the motivation) to peruse it fully.

However all is different now. Egged on by a recent conversation where I was weakly trying to defend the merit of learning C as a first language, I decided to give the legendary Python a try, and stumbled across this fantastic little guide (free, viewable online) by Mark Pilgrim, "Dive into Python" (which I heartily recommend to anyone with a minimal experience of some other programming language; it's exceptionally well designed, and concise). And Python did not disappoint me: it has the sort of 'message passing' syntax I liked in Ruby, the near-english aspect of which being similar to what I appreciated in Perl, and it has a fairly simple set of powerful built-in functions while remaining extremely extendable. In short, it's quite a pleasure to program with it, and I've been practising translating some of my C programs into it. The amount of code is significantly more minimal, and the data-sorting and string-filtering abilities save me many-a-headache.

Ironically arriving at a time where I have less need for a good programming language, it's quite a dream come true. I'm sure I'll find some use for it. In the meantime, if you're looking for a quick and easy to learn language, check Python out.

Take that, Gauss!

I wrote the last few lines of physics equations of my life (presuming I don't go back into some scientific field after postgrad in philosophy), less than two hours ago. Weird...

A damn good last few lines, too! It was probably the best exam I've written in the past few years (or almost), which definitely makes up for the rubbish problem solving exam we had yesterday (then again, since everyone seems to have done rather poorly, hopefully they're moderate it up a bit). Now to finish my dissertation on quasi-realism, and revise a bit of logic, and I'm done with the undergrad life!

The ol' clock is ticking

Woah. There's a week of lectures left or rather, roughly two days of lectures left. Then it's over, finis, etc. The whole undergraduate life...

That's pretty messed up: I'm too young to be accountable! Oh wait... there's always postgrad. But christ, three years sure do fly. I'm struggling to remember what exactly I learned. It's a bit like a patchwork of physics and philosophy, with a vague thread making the two halves internally consistent, and an even vaguer (read: quasi-non-existent) one connecting them. There's a very tangible difference in skill and width of reading when I talk to my single-honours peers, with a few possible exceptions of dual-honours who are simply exceptionally smart hard-workers (you know who you are), so it's becoming quite clear that next year is going to be quite a mission. Fortunately, I have a "fairly" good handle (read: by local standards - I'm not sure that says much) on some of the more technical stuff, so I ought to be able to stay on top of things through specialisation. But gone are the days where I could freely read Nietzsche and Sartre and Machiavelli (well, I probably still would have time to do that, but I plan on doing something a bit more relaxing with my free time)...

Anyway, it's not quite over yet. Three exams and a dissertation deadline in the space of seven days (or a week and half, depending on when you start counting), in under three weeks time. Time to get to work!

Attitude

After tomorrow, 5pm, if ANYONE ever mentions superstrings to me again (especially a non-physicist, but you crazy physicists take note as well) I swear I will beat the living daylight out of them.

*grmbl* Goddamn essay...
Goddamn word count...

Update: I've been in the library since 9 am. I've had a total of 90 minutes of breaks. Meaning I've spent 10 hours in the library. Now after loads of editing, rewriting, and chopping entire sections out of my paper, I now have about 500 words to cram in subsections about string theories and gravity, and some stuff about current research (maybe). Christ... I haven't even mentioned gauge-symmetry. This is such a crap essay...

Hours of reading, pages and pages of notes, and I still don't feel like I even vaguely understand what the hell this theory is about. The only reassuring thing is: neither do most of the people writing these papers, apparently.

I bet this essay topic was the lecturer's little sick joke to play on students.

Brrrrrrr....

I find myself in an interesting situation. I came down to university this morning when the sun was out and the weather warm, wearing only a shirt and my trusty shades (yes, and pants, shoes, etc...), not really thinking ahead. It is now nearing 1.30am, it is dark out, and it is considerably colder than when I walked down this morning. The prospect of a 30 minute uphill walk in the dark, in the cold, is therefore not a very pleasant one. To make things interesting, I'm also torn between being reasonable and going home to get some sleep (and perhaps even make it to my 10am problem solving class tomorrow morning), so I can do some solid work tomorrow and wrap up this goddamn physics essay, on one hand, and the temptation to continue my caffeine fuelled procrastination binge in the Information Commons on the other... (in the hope that I might scrape a few more relevant paragraphs in). Either way, making good progress... should be able to finish this up tomorrow evening, leaving Friday morning for proof-reading and whatnot (bonus... got me a few more items to stick on the ol' bibliography).

In other news, why the hell do they have showers in a library? Showers and comfy sofas... maybe I can sleep here.

EDIT: Solution... take a cab.

You come to expect these things

It's funny how you're often less inclined to notice these little (and sometimes big) changes which make life different/easier/better, in some way or other, when they affect you, but cannot help but notice them when they are to be granted to others than you. In my case, the last few days are a double-whammy...

Beginning with the more recent event: during the departmental teaching committee today, the department announced the creation of third year project modules, which are research-only, starting next year (following the example of similar modules offered at the University of Birmingham). Some of the proposed topics are very interesting, and it's definitely the sort of stuff I would have been into. Then again, I'm not complaining about my current courses, which I'm very pleased with.

Further back, now (read: two or three days): the Information Commons (the new library/study centre for the University of Sheffield) opened recently, and I discovered it yesterday. It had been under construction for quite some time (read: a bit over one year), and as it began growing out of the grown like some postmodern concrete flower, over the past few months, I couldn't help but think it was going to end up being fairly rubbish (and to be frank, if you saw it from the outside now it's finished, you'd probably have the same intuition). However I was quite wrong. The interior simply rocks. It's luminous, spacious, well laid out. There are individual desk lamps and plugs on all the desks (which are quite large), there's a huge silent study room which is actually acoustically divided from the rest of the building (unlike the old library), and there are more digital screens and computers than you could shake a USB stick at. I've been using it for 72 hours, and I can't help but feeling (very slightly more) productive (than usual... which isn't much). So since I have a healthy amount of work to go through before the end of the semester (and indeed before friday... aaargh damn essay on superstrings), I have a feeling I'll like it here. Best of all, it's open 24/7, which is fantastic (what sort of library doesn't cater to the late-owl types who do their best work between midnight and 3am?).

Anywho, it's a bit of a shame to leave all this behind in September. Then again, I can't say I'll shed a tear for the rest of the city, and I presume St Andrews will be quite nice, both aesthetically and academically. So really, I can't complain (but I will anyway, being part french).

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.

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):

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.

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.