Search Results

"Why are slurs so offensive? And why are some more offensive than others?" asks Rutgers professor of philosophy and cognitive science Ernie Lepore.

From the Op-Ed pages of the New York Times to CNN’s The Situation Room, President Jimmy Carter’s recent claim on Big Think that America is in fact ready to elect […]

Can we simplify the universe into a single computer program? That is the question physicist, programmer, businessman, and all-around Renaissance man Stephen Wolfram has dedicated his career to solving. “We […]

"It is little wonder that boxing, more than any other sport, has functioned as a metaphor for life. Aside from the possibilities for self-fulfillment, boxing can also contribute to our moral lives."

Traditional philosophical questions are about the way the world works—and the best way to find out how the world works is to observe it in well-defined experimental situations.

Are biotechnology and sustainable agriculture complimentary or contradictory? The Economist moderates an online debate between experts in the field.

1. The study of great books is usually contrasted with the use of textbooks and other technical books. It is contrasted, in other words, with study of the studies that […]

While philosophers of yore postulated on human nature, today's thinkers approach tough questions with the tools of cognitive science. A philosophy professor on 'experimental philosophy'.

So I’m a POSTMODERN CONSERVATIVE.  I’ll have a lot to say about what that means later.  But one of beginning to explain why conservatism needs to be postmodern–or free of […]

This holiday season, Hybrid Reality is preparing for the next digital decade by cleaning out the attic and donating books to charity—an interesting opportunity to reflect on the future of […]

The 18th century French Neoclassical painter Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres played the violin well enough to hold his own with “Sold His Soul to the Devil” good musicians such as […]

A DIALOGUE BETWEEN JASON SILVA AND TECHNO-ECOLOGIC SCHOLAR RICHARD DOYLE Richard Doyle also goes by mobius, an indicator of just how important interconnections are to him – and how transformative, […]

Psychologist and ex-NBA player John Amaechi's mother was a doctor who had an uncanny ability to calm anxious patients and relatives, which is why Amaechi grew up thinking she was a Jedi.

I went to the hardware store today, looking to buy a notebook before my job interview this afternoon. On the way I stopped by Kinkos to print out a copy […]

Cognitive science forces philosophers to think much more clearly about to what extent emotion and affect play a role in our cognitive economy.

When they ask the very basic conceptual questions about the physical world, mathematicians, physicists and philosophers are addressing many of the same issues.

The leading Darwinian conservative has done me the honor of responding to my previous post, including the excellent comment by Brendan Foht.  According to Larry, the criticism of him for rejecting the idea of […]

So this post–like some others–is meant to be diagnostic.  It’s a postmodern and conservative observation on who sophisticated Americans think they are these days.  As an attempt to be an […]

Ryan Chin, of MIT's Smart Cities group writes that while Mitchell was perhaps the world's leading urban theorist, he was also a great mentor and advocate for students.

Let me open this blog with a realistic statement: It is and will remain the case that the best way to feel good for members of our species is to […]

"The philosophy that became known as ‘Tolstoyism’ was essentially a form of Christian anarchism based on the doctrine of non-resistance."

Philosophy and physics are not often thought of together in academia. While physicists develop calculations and models to describe the world around them, philosophers are more interested in the fuzzier […]

"Economics was founded by moral philosophers, and links between the two disciplines remain strong. So why won’t economists make judgments on the gap between rich and poor?"

Over the weekend I read Amy Chua’s paean to “Chinese parents” in The Wall Street Journal with morbid fascination. What felt morbid was Chua’s “Mommie Dearest” anecdote about battling with […]

Using the tools of philosophic inquiry to ask questions about the world around us can bring clarity of thought of clarity of expression.

"Happiness, like knowledge, and unlike belief and pleasure, is not a state of mind." University of Texas at Austin philosophy professor David Sosa on the requirements for felicity.

Or, could Call of Duty: Black Ops take precedence on syllabi over The Illiad? This question has fresh relevance when considering Charlie Crist’s current dilemma: to pardon, or not, the […]

If you’re only interested in physics as a tool for engineering, you don’t necessarily need to understand the true nature of what you’re studying. But why wouldn’t you want to?

A new book by a practicing physician details the extent to which pharmaceutical companies determine what the public sees as the medical profession in action.

Columbia professor of philosophy Akeel Bilgrami asks why we read literature when it contains information more readily found in non-fiction journals. The answer is in the medium's pathos.