Creatively Advancing into Novelty
“When we contrast the process self of Whitehead and Confucius to the substantial self, either Greco-Roman or Indian, we immediately see the psychological and philosophical advantages of the former. When Epictetus, for example, reflects about the nature of the self he discovers the true self, one that never sleeps and is never compromised by the…
“Everything we know about the adolescent brain, in particular, would suggest that the school day ought to start much later in the morning, if not after lunch. That’s a simple example of the way that schools can actually work against the optimal development of the brain. There’s also the fact that for a very long…
Episode 2 of Increased Capacity is here! Dan and I are back talking about all things that have to do with beauty, truth and goodness. In this episode we talk about cilantro, quantum theory, and web comics (among other things…). Enjoy! This week’s picks: Jesse’s Beauty pick Jesse’s Truth pick Jesse’s Goodness pick Dan’s…
“Embodied mind theory and process theology lend themselves to an appreciation of metaphorical thinking, which takes concepts from one domain and links them with another, forming what Whitehead calls blended contrasts. The metaphors then become means by which subjects can be understood that could not be understood in more literal thinking. […] But process theology…
So I’m doing a new podcsast and the first episode is now out! The show is a talk-show format and, full disclosure: I’ve never done a talk show before. I wasn’t as prepared as I should have been, plus I was nervous because we were broadcasting live, so It’s a little shaky in places,…
“Let’s take a look at this post-truth meme, this word of the year which the Oxford Dictionary defines as: ‘Relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.’ Now, I would argue that the mode of communication and influence that they’re…
“…the elements or constituents of organisms are related to each other in two basic ways—through external (physical) relations and internal (nonphysical) relations. The external relations are studied in physics, and involve the four forces of electromagnetism, strong and weak nuclear, and gravity. These forces bind physical components together. But the parts of our bodies (cells,…
“[Daniel Dennett] regards the zombie problem as a typically philosophical waste of time. The problem presupposes that consciousness is like a light switch: either an animal has a self or it doesn’t. But Dennett thinks these things are like evolution, essentially gradualist, without hard borders. The obvious answer to the question of whether animals have…
“In order for anything to exist it has to exist in relationship to something else. This is an important part of the core character of American Pragmatism. We live in a world of relationships. As I said before, things do not exist except in relationship with other things. In fact, things do not exist at…
“I contend that the notion of mere knowledge is a high abstraction, and that conscious discrimination itself is a variable factor only present in the more elaborate examples of occasions of experience. The basis of experience is emotional.” —A.N. Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas Lately I have thinking about the phrases “I feel” and “I think.”…