Tag Archives: rationalism
Towards KD45
On the subject of belief, I’m instinctively drawn to logical systems that demand consistency, closure, and introspection. And the KD45 system among them exerts a special pull. It consists of the following axioms: Thus, KD45 pictures a believer who never … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Life notes
Tagged AGM theory, Bayesian belief system, belief systems, determinism, KD45 logic, modal logics, negative introspection, paraconsistent theory, positive introspection, probabalistic reality, rationalism, S4 logic
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Scientists’ conduct affects science
Nature News has published an excellent feature by Edwin Cartlidge on the “wall of scepticism” that arose in response to the latest superconductivity claim from Ranga Dias et al., purportedly in a compound called nitrogen-doped lutetium hydride. It seems the … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Science
Tagged Douglas Natelson, Majorana zero modes, Microsoft Research, Mikhail Eremets, Nature journal, objectivity, Paul Feyerabend, Ranga Dias, rationalism, Russell Hemley, self-correcting
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The devil’s lassi
‘The Devil’s Milkshake’, Tarence Ray in The Baffler, February 23, 2023: You’ve seen it before. An industrial disaster poisons a town’s food or water supply. Residents get angry. Public officials try to dispel that anger through a public act of … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Science
Tagged Ayurveda, Devil's Milkshake, East Palestine, modern medicine, rationalism, solar eclipse, superstition
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There’s a scientistic eclipse
There is a solar eclipse today and news websites are as usual participating in amplifying nonsense. It’s prima facie not nonsense in and of itself but because it’s not qualified as astrological material. That is, it’s an example of news … Continue reading
Posted in Science
Tagged Indigenous peoples, knowledge system, rationalism, Renny Thomas, right wing, scientism, solar eclipse, Zee News
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‘Science people’
Two of the most annoying kinds of ‘science people’ I’ve come across on social media of late: Those who perform rationalism – These people seem to know a small subset of things well and the rest on faith, and claim … Continue reading
Posted in Science
Tagged engineers, pseudoscience, rationalism, scientism, social media, survival bias
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Slate Star Codex: No time for malice
This post benefited from valuable input and feedback from Thomas Manuel. To the uninitiated: Scott Alexander Siskind is a noted member of the international community of rationalists and wrote the once-celebrated blog Slate Star Codex. I use the past tense because … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Culture
Tagged Cade Metz, doxxing, Elizabeth Spiers, fascism-curious, New York Times, rationalism, rationalists, Scott Aaronson, Scott Alexander, Scott Alexander Siskind, Slate Star Codex, view from nowhere, will wilkinson
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The real story of ‘The Old Guard’
Spoiler alert: Don’t read this post if you intend to watch The Old Guard but haven’t done so yet. The Old Guard, an action film starring Charlize Theron among others, released on Netflix on July 10. In a scene in … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Science
Tagged apoliticism, Charlize Theron, compassion fatigue, Enrico Fermi, history of science, human experimentation, medical experimentation, medical imperialism, medical research, Netflix, Paul Feyerabend, profiteering, rationalism, The Old Guard, violence
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The rationalists’ eclipse
The annular solar eclipse over South India on December 26 provided sufficient cause for casual and/or inchoate rationalism to make a rare public appearance – rarer than the average person who had decided to stay indoors for the duration of … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Science
Tagged Against Method, annular solar eclipse, BR Ambedkar, Caliban and the Witch, capitalism, myth, Paul Feyerabend, Periyar, pseudoscience, rationalism, science communication, scientism, solar eclipse, superstitions, superstitious beliefs, Sylvia Federici
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The alleged politicisation of science
“Don’t politicise X” has become the defence of choice for a class of scientists and public intellectuals in India whose class and caste privilege utterly blinds them to various inequities in the practice of science – as privilege is wont … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, Science
Tagged caste-based discrimination, Chandrayaan 2, gender-based discrimination, ISRO, misogyny, nationalism, Paul Feyerabend, politicisation, politics, privilege, pseudoscience, rationalism, realpolitik, religion, scientism, Tim Hunt
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Some notes on empiricism, etc.
The Wire published a story about the ‘atoms of Acharya Kanad‘ (background here; tl;dr: Folks at a university in Gujarat claimed an ancient Indian sage had put forth the theory of atoms centuries before John Dalton showed up). The story in … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Acharya Kanad, aesthetics, Alfred Shapere, dichotomy, empiricism, epistemology, formal science, Frank Wilczek, Hilary Putnam, history, knowledge, naturalness, nature science, Philosophy of Science, rationalism, sense experience, Social Sciences, string theory, time crystals
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