Philosophy
Many parents tend to grow increasingly frustrated when their children suddenly become question shotguns, going from one question to another, faster than the parents can dish out answers. Comedian Louis C K can at least turn these episodes into hilarious material for his stand-up. Things, of course, tend to turn particularly frustrating when the shotgun turns into a fully automatic machine gun full of 'why.' I wonder if the frustration is not really about the children but about the parents' sudden recognition of the limits of their own understanding...
In any case, if you happen to find yourself surrounded by a bunch of pre-schoolers outflanking you with their innocent inquiries, maybe you can take advantage of their curiosity and teach them a little bit not only about the things we know (or even about the things we do not yet know), but about how we might be able to start thinking about these questions, and how the very fact of our ignorance can become the platform to future discovery, as the following animation from the TED people shows
- Poker And The Self
A Stranger asks, "Simple questions this time. Since we've played online poker together before, I felt a desire to ask -What was it like when you were dealt a Royal Flush, and the follow up, how well did you play it? What size was the pot? ...
- Group E-mail Vs. Spam
Is there a difference between sending an e-mail to a group of people and spam? Is the difference based on the number of people contacted? If so, where is the dividing line between contacting a bunch of folks and sending spam? Or is it...
- Is The Time Of Intellectual Revolutions Past?
A question came up in a seminar I'm team-teaching with a buddy in sociology. Is it possible to have another "Copernican revolution," that is, an idea so revolutionary that it changes the general worldview? Thomas Kuhn argues that we think...
- Ownership And Access
The notion of intellectual property has never been made fully consistent. It is an attempt to marry an Enlightenment era notion about possession of things and land to a changed notion of "the fruits of one's labor." I remember as an undergraduate...
- Midterm
MIDTERM EXAMINATION FOR INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY ONLINE COURSE Professor David Christopher Lane Directions: Place all of your answers on your personal website. Then send a link to your midterm to your teacher at [email protected]. Best...
Philosophy
Questions No One Knows the Answers to
In any case, if you happen to find yourself surrounded by a bunch of pre-schoolers outflanking you with their innocent inquiries, maybe you can take advantage of their curiosity and teach them a little bit not only about the things we know (or even about the things we do not yet know), but about how we might be able to start thinking about these questions, and how the very fact of our ignorance can become the platform to future discovery, as the following animation from the TED people shows
- Poker And The Self
A Stranger asks, "Simple questions this time. Since we've played online poker together before, I felt a desire to ask -What was it like when you were dealt a Royal Flush, and the follow up, how well did you play it? What size was the pot? ...
- Group E-mail Vs. Spam
Is there a difference between sending an e-mail to a group of people and spam? Is the difference based on the number of people contacted? If so, where is the dividing line between contacting a bunch of folks and sending spam? Or is it...
- Is The Time Of Intellectual Revolutions Past?
A question came up in a seminar I'm team-teaching with a buddy in sociology. Is it possible to have another "Copernican revolution," that is, an idea so revolutionary that it changes the general worldview? Thomas Kuhn argues that we think...
- Ownership And Access
The notion of intellectual property has never been made fully consistent. It is an attempt to marry an Enlightenment era notion about possession of things and land to a changed notion of "the fruits of one's labor." I remember as an undergraduate...
- Midterm
MIDTERM EXAMINATION FOR INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY ONLINE COURSE Professor David Christopher Lane Directions: Place all of your answers on your personal website. Then send a link to your midterm to your teacher at [email protected]. Best...