I think what Jordan is basically arguing about religion is that it is at least symbolically or psychologically or archetypally true. And that that’s an important, maybe the most important, way something can be true (in an almost Platonic sense, as an abstraction or a aggregate, a bit like math is true in relation toContinue reading “Comments on the talk between Jordan Peterson and Michael Schermer”
Tag Archives: Science
Peterson vs Weinstein
What language best represents human experience? Scientific and materialistic language, the language of quantity? Or is it narrative and personification that beat capture our reality? https://youtu.be/O55mvoZbz4Y The later part of this episode is one of the greatest summaries of the culture War problem and how to conceptualize it I’ve ever heard. It’s solid gold andContinue reading “Peterson vs Weinstein”
Who has sexual advantage?
Men and women both have advantages and disadvantages in their respective approaches. It’s very easy to see the disadvantages of your approach when you’re dealing with the other, when you’re on the other side’s turf, their domains of special competence (whose very existence some people would no doubt deny today) and out of your element.Continue reading “Who has sexual advantage?”
Optimistic modernism
In response to the optimistic modernism of Greg Lukianov and James Lindsay I listened to a great discussion between a couple of my favorite thinkers. But I can’t help but wonder if there are some things that are being assumed or ignored. The current historical and philosophical moment is the direct child of science andContinue reading “Optimistic modernism”
What does saying something evolved accomplish?
I am trying to understand a linguistic and logical problem with the way we talk about certain positive traits we describe as evolutionary products. The problem is, that is some sense we seem to be saying that the cause of the causes are their effects. That in some sense the trajectory of time was inevitablyContinue reading “What does saying something evolved accomplish? “
Dawkins and atheistic optimism
The problem with Richard Dawkins’ speculation that “Perhaps I am a Pollyanna to believe that people would remain good when unobserved and unpoliced by God” is that, if his own theory is correct, people actually are unobserved and unpoliced by God, but nevertheless have achieved the sum total of human suffering and evil across theContinue reading “Dawkins and atheistic optimism”
A note on the “Chinese Virus”
Most major viruses come from China or India. That’s because they’re the largest groups of humans on the planet. If you’re the largest civilization on Earth, it’s kind of like being the biggest city. You might as well call a disease the “urban virus”, or just “the human virus”, since the conditions for the developmentContinue reading “A note on the “Chinese Virus””
Why evolution is hard for average people to swallow
I think the primary objection many people have to the theory of evolution isn’t the process itself or its vast time scales. It’s the attendant philosophy. One of the core tenants of evolutionary theory is that it has no intended goal, no purpose, no design in mind, no ends. It is an undirected process aimedContinue reading “Why evolution is hard for average people to swallow”
Making Nobody Happy 