I don't design myself. I evolve from countless interactions, of which the conscious mind is but the emerged part, that neither designs nor builds itself nor the rest of me. At best, it might steer me towards improvement - but the direction it steers won't be improvement if it is blind of who I am, where I am, what are the obstacles, what are my ( Read more... )

Si "la foi" c'est admettre à la fois qu'on ne sait pas grand'chose, et parmi ce pas grand'chose, la justification d'encore moins du reste de ce grand'chose - alors oui, il y a des tas croyances que j'ai que je ne saurais pas justifier, y compris des croyances indispensables à ma survie. Cette "foi" est non seulement utile mais nécessaire.

"Que la ( Read more... )

Dear Trân, dear Jason,

I readily admit I have long fantasized about delivering a homily at a wedding ( Read more... )

The other day, I had a dream, which I now realize was a premonition, in which I was blogging about the rationality of irrationality. Here are good reasons to be irrational:

1. Information is not free ( Read more... )

Having argued the relevance of political reasoning, I'd like to illustrate how this reasoning may be conducted.

While my friend Nasreddin Hodjachastises me for daring to take sides ( Read more... )

When someone rises to unilaterally denounce the involvement of one government in some conflict, or more generally the policy of any person or institution on any contested issue, that someone is precisely not staying out of the conflict, but taking sides.

As I've argued previously, mu should be the a priori answerby most honest people to most such ( Read more... )

Au cours d'un débat, je me suis vu opposé comme souvent l'argument bâteau du pragmatisme contre l'idéologieAh, le pragmatisme ( Read more... )

( Introduction to Unqualified Reservations... )

First Law of Sincerity: I am right.

Second Law of Sincerity: My opinions may have changed, but not the fact that I am right.

First Law of Dissent: I am right, therefore those who disagree with me are wrong.

Second Law of Dissent: Those who disagree with me are wrong, therefore they are evil, stupid and/or crazy.

These are universal laws ( Read more... )