[While working on an ebook containing a large number of my weblog posting, I decided this article, The Christian in the Universe of Einstein: 6. Adopting the Techniques of Negative Theology to Physics and Metaphysics, first published under that ugly title on 2007/03/09, provides a good summary of some of the fundamental, metaphysical aspects of … [Read more…]
Families with tendencies towards autistic traits tend to cluster in regions with opportunities for the exercise of ‘systemizing’ skills: see the article Diagnosed Autism Is More Common in an IT-Rich Region, Study Finds for a discussion of this interesting yet less than surprising discovery. Specifically: The researchers predicted that autism spectrum conditions (ASC) would be … [Read more…]
Are conspiracies self-organizing, at least in part? In general: yes. There is no centrally-controlled conspiracy run by Satanic servants or omnipotent bureaucrats. There are networks of those who inherited wealth and power and those networks are sometimes refreshed by new blood of the ambitious and talented. There are also tightly organized operations with a specific … [Read more…]
I’ve just finished reading Norman F. Cantor’s Medieval History: The Life and Death of a Civilization and the ending pages on the decay of the High Middle Ages brought a few ideas into focus. He spoke of the destruction of the Thomistic “cathedral” of thought by the Franciscan radicals, perhaps outright heretics, led by Duns … [Read more…]
As matters currently stand in theories about physical reality and in philosophical analyses of those theories, there are no signs of homogeneity in the nature of spacetime at various scales of time and space though some assume and others hope. In general, created being at the quantum level (think of ‘subatomic’ levels of energy changes … [Read more…]
[Because of its importance to ideas which have been simmering in my mind for years, I’m publishing a minor update of one of my first weblog entries: Symmetry-breaking, From Physics and Mathematics to Metaphysics first published on 2006/12/05. I’ll soon be publishing a new entry which builds on some aspects of the ideas in this … [Read more…]
I shudder a bit at the results of the study discussed in Breaking Rules Makes You Seem Powerful. We learn: What happens when people interact with a rule breaker? Van Kleef and colleagues had people come to the lab, and interact with a rule follower and a rule breaker. The rule follower was polite and … [Read more…]
[In this essay, I’m suggesting a speculative framework and not any cures for these serious disorders of the human mind and soul. At the same time, this framework — if appropriate — would guide researchers and clinicians in developing palliatives or cures. Mostly, I’m pursuing my goal of understanding the human mind as the immaterial … [Read more…]
This article, Poorer Reading Skills Following Changed Computer Habits of Children, discusses a study in which the reading abilities of children have deteriorated since 1970 in two countries in which children use computers more often in school and outside of school. That is, reading ability “has fallen rapidly since 1991 in both the US and … [Read more…]
In this article, Steady Relationships Reduce Amphetamine’s Rewarding Effects, Animal Study Suggests, we learn: Long-term relationships make the commonly abused drug amphetamine less appealing, according to a new animal study in the June 1 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. The findings suggest that social bonds formed during adulthood lead to changes in the brain … [Read more…]