This is an attempt at restating part of this old blog post in a simpler way. Scientists are valuable to society. They help extract new knowledge and theories about the world. To the extent that they are right, they improve our affluence, our physical health, and, possibly, our outlook on life. But scientists can also provide [...]
Monomorphic
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Generalised violence
As members of society, we usually dislike violence. Societies generally have laws that restrict or control the legal application of violence, limiting it to a certain segment of the population. Also, because we have a capacity for empathy, we may suffer when we see others suffer, in many kinds of circumstances (but not all). The [...]
Christianity is flawed. Is pop atheism better?
In recent years, it seems people have started discussing their religious beliefs more openly, even in countries where these have traditionally been a sensitive subject. We have seen a flurry of books that are perhaps best described as pop atheism: Richard Dawkins’ “The God Delusion”, and so on. Atheism is now a bestseller phenomenon. Amid [...]
Reviewing the second year of Monomorphic
In May 2010 I reviewed the state of Monomorphic as a blog. Since it’s now been almost 13 months since that time, let’s evaluate what’s happened in the meantime. Where am I, how did I get here, and where do I go next? The rate of publication has decreased. Prior to the last evaluation, 55 [...]
Free will (2): Decision making, cause and effect
When we claim that an act was carried out as a decision made freely, we implicitly seem to say that the acting subject is fully responsible for the action at hand. In other words, if I suggest to you that you should buy blueberry ice cream and not vanilla, and you go ahead and buy [...]
