Geometry, and Physics, and Metaphysics, Oh My!

"Since the early nineteenth century, Descartes has routinely been called the father of modern philosophy. His attempt at a fresh start for human knowledge, relying on his own reason and casting aside received wisdom, came to typify the Enlightenment project. While his “Discourse” and “Meditations,” with their focus on the nature of certainty, the existence of God, and the relation between mind and body, continue to be read by philosophy students, the bulk of his writings, which were on scientific subjects, has been forgotten. In his own day, his physics, cosmology, geometry, and physiology were given at least as much attention."

Anthony Gottlieb of The New Yorker, looks at two new biographies on Decartes here.

Brain Scans and Politics

"We did not see any increased activation of the parts of the brain normally engaged during reasoning," Westen is quoted as saying in an Emory University press release. "What we saw instead was a network of emotion circuits lighting up ... Essentially, it appears as if partisans twirl the cognitive kaleidoscope until they get the conclusions they want, and then they get massively reinforced for it, with the elimination of negative emotional states and activation of positive ones," Westen said.

An article about confirmation bias in politically interested people in _Scientific American_.

"If boys are doing worse, whose fault is it? To many of the current critics, it’s women’s fault, either as feminists, as mothers, or as both."

"Perhaps the real 'male bashers' are those who promise to rescue boys from the clutches of feminists. Are males not also 'hardwired' toward compassion, nurturing, and love? If not, would we allow males to be parents? It is never a biological question of whether we are 'hardwired' for some behavior; it is, rather, a political question of which 'hardwiring' we choose to respect and which we choose to challenge."
Michael Kimmel, a Professor of Sociology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, writes on "A War Against Boys?" in the Fall issue of Dissent Magazine.

VOTE

It's that time of year again (or if you are in California, where we are voting more often than it rains here, it is another Tuesday, so it must be time to vote). I have been too busy with work to post any good resources or commentary, but I will at least say this: VOTE. You may be suffering from voter-fatigue, or you may be feeling powerless, or you may just be lazy, but you still need to go vote. For the people who don’t care much: we at least need to let them know we are watching so they don't do anything too crazy, and the easiest way to do that is by voting. For the people who are a little more hopeful or engaged: there are a bunch of important issues on the table this time & we might actually be able to make a difference if we get out there. It can't be government "by the people" unless "the people" act. We may each only be 1 in 300,000,000 now, but our actions add up (and with low voter turnout, each of us will count for a lot more than 1 in 300,000,000 anyway).

See you at the polls.