Philosophy
It's been a very long time since we've pulled this one out of moth balls. The question is simple, "Whom do you feel sorry for?"
I feel sorry for the Chinese security officer who was in charge of overseeing Chen Guangcheng's house arrest. I cannot imagine what it must have felt like to have to call your superior and tell him that the blind man under house arrest whom you were supposed to be watching had escaped. How do you say "Inspector Clouseau" in Mandarin?
I feel sorry for people who thought they were going to be making a killing on the Facebook IPO only to have the price go down. I guess there's a difference between liking a stock and "liking" a stock.
So, whom do you feel sorry for?
- The Nature Of Genius
What does it mean for one to be a genius? Is genius just the upper end of the really smart continuum? Is there a difference between genius and really, really, really, smart? Is it a difference of kind or degree? Is genius a matter of...
- Is Addiction Itself Problematic?
I had lunch yesterday with my editors from Johns Hopkins University Press and one of them who ordered a cup of coffee was making light of her supposed caffeine addiction. It leads to the question whether such an addiction would be a problem. ...
- Grammar Curmudeons
Had a student ask yesterday about grammatical pet peeves. His was "irregardless." My big three are: 1) "Quote" used for "quotation." Quote is a verb. You quote someone. What you write down is not a quote, but a quotation. ...
- Pity Party: Who Do You Feel Sorry For Today?
We haven't had a pity party here in a while, so we're overdue. This week I feel sorry for the makers of roller coasters. Thanks to the stock market, they have joined the first baker who sliced bread, the ship-builders who gave us the Titanic,...
- Meaning And Immortality
Scientific American blogger and academic psychologist Clay Routledge writes that "To Feel Meaningful Is to Feel Immortal". My comment: It's nice to know that empirical research confirms what religion and philosophy have been saying for a couple of...
Philosophy
Pity Party
It's been a very long time since we've pulled this one out of moth balls. The question is simple, "Whom do you feel sorry for?"
I feel sorry for the Chinese security officer who was in charge of overseeing Chen Guangcheng's house arrest. I cannot imagine what it must have felt like to have to call your superior and tell him that the blind man under house arrest whom you were supposed to be watching had escaped. How do you say "Inspector Clouseau" in Mandarin?
I feel sorry for people who thought they were going to be making a killing on the Facebook IPO only to have the price go down. I guess there's a difference between liking a stock and "liking" a stock.
So, whom do you feel sorry for?
- The Nature Of Genius
What does it mean for one to be a genius? Is genius just the upper end of the really smart continuum? Is there a difference between genius and really, really, really, smart? Is it a difference of kind or degree? Is genius a matter of...
- Is Addiction Itself Problematic?
I had lunch yesterday with my editors from Johns Hopkins University Press and one of them who ordered a cup of coffee was making light of her supposed caffeine addiction. It leads to the question whether such an addiction would be a problem. ...
- Grammar Curmudeons
Had a student ask yesterday about grammatical pet peeves. His was "irregardless." My big three are: 1) "Quote" used for "quotation." Quote is a verb. You quote someone. What you write down is not a quote, but a quotation. ...
- Pity Party: Who Do You Feel Sorry For Today?
We haven't had a pity party here in a while, so we're overdue. This week I feel sorry for the makers of roller coasters. Thanks to the stock market, they have joined the first baker who sliced bread, the ship-builders who gave us the Titanic,...
- Meaning And Immortality
Scientific American blogger and academic psychologist Clay Routledge writes that "To Feel Meaningful Is to Feel Immortal". My comment: It's nice to know that empirical research confirms what religion and philosophy have been saying for a couple of...