About a week from now the state of Oregon will lift mask mandates. I have been leading a series of zoom discussions about the nature of art for the Osher lifelong learning Institute at the University of Oregon. I’m very curious to see whether or not the Institute fitting out their classrooms for hybrid meetings, …
Comments and Subscriptions As I mentioned in the previous post, we have added spaces for comments on posts, as well as a form on the bottom of blog pages where you can sign up to receive notifications of future postings. Comments will be moderated so may not appear immediately. There is a lot of debate …
We’ve added space for Comments on the blog posts, plus a form so you can Subscribe to receive notices when new posts are added. And I’ve added new posts, including an update on my Parkinson’s disease, some references related to David Chalmers’ book, me and my double on a list, and the first of a …
David Chalmers’ book Reality+, which as I mentioned in an earlier post, is a most thorough discussion of the simulation hypothesis, and also one of the best discussions of skeptical doubts about the reality of the external world. In connection with the book, I thought I would mention two items of my own. One is …
January 25: I encountered a review of David Chalmers new book Reality+ about the simulation hypothesis. I immediately purchased a copy and send him a note about some of my earlier work on virtual reality, published in obscure journals, where I move toward similar conclusions about the “reality” of experiences and objects in virtual environments. …
This is the first post of three where I reflect on the history of science. I’m starting with projectile motion, a phenomenon that nagged at Aristotle’s Physics. It was not long after Aristotle’s death that members of his school began to comment on the weakness of his explanation for projectile motion. Projectile motion occurs when …
1.) It is fairly well known that Aristotle’s science could not well explain projectile motion (the flight of arrows, thrown stones, and, later, cannonballs). It is not so well known that the rival Greek atomists could not explain it either. I’ll explore the reasons why both failed, and why the medieval theory of impetus began …
Coming Soon: Two topics in the history of science Read More »
I have an account with academia.edu, an aggregation site for scientists and humanists. I don’t post essays there; I favor ResearchGate and PhilPapers. But academia.edu sends me weekly requests: they have found a list of references to my name and would I please indicate whether these references really are to me. I had been ignoring …