October 2015
October 2015
What is Cultural Appropriation?
Neil Van Leeuwen
27
Oct 2015
This Halloween we’ll see kids, college students, and other revelers dressed in costumes ranging from scary to hilarious: Chewbaccas, spandex police officers, Harry Potters, Frodos… even Elvis. But at any party, we have a good chance of seeing cultural appropriation. We might see white people glibly dressed in mock Native American headdresses, frat brothers dressing “ghetto”, people who have no real connection to India wearing red dots on their foreheads, would-be Zulus, Geishas (from Texas), and of course a gringo in a sombrero.
Read moreIn Praise of Love - Plato's Symposium meets Bernstein's Serenade
Ken Taylor
24
Oct 2015
Plato's Symposium is by turns hilarious, emotionally resonant, and always philosophically deep. It’s a fun and inspiring read. If you haven’t ever read it, you really should. It certainly inspired Leonard Bernstein., who apparently read it repeatedly. Bravely, Bernstein sets out to reproduce in music something of both the philosophical content and literary structure of the Symposium.
Read moreThe Logic of Regret
John Perry
11
Oct 2015
This week we're thinking about the Logic of Regret. Regret is a feeling of sadness, repentance, or disappointment over something that's happened or been done… especially a loss or missed opportunity. Seems normal enough -- so what’s the puzzle? Well, for starters, it seems irrational to regret the past. You can’t change the past, so why waste time feeling sad about it?
Read moreSocial media, knowledge of others, and self-knoweldge
10
Oct 2015
A recent Radiolab podcast relates an amazing story about Allen Funt, the creator of the television show, Candid Camera. Funt found himself on a plane that was being hijacked. However, as Funt was by then well-known as the creator of the show, one of the passengers on the hijacked plane spotted Funt, started to grin and, pointing at Funt, yelled out, “we’re on Candid Camera!” The rest of the people on the plane began to recognize Funt as well and, despite Funt’s protestations to
Read moreBioethics – Myths and Realities
John Perry
10
Oct 2015
Designer babies are a common specter when people think about genetics and bioethics. Sounds pretty benign if you’re just envisioning parents who choose to have kids with defect-free genetic endowments. But it’s frightening to think of that power and knowledge in the hands of a latter-day Hitler.
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