Last week (November 20, 2019), I discussed one aspect of etymological lunacy. Looking for a (or even the) protolanguage is a sound idea, even though specialists’ efforts in this direction have been both successful and disappointing. The existence of Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Semitic can hardly be doubted; yet many crucial details remain unknown. — Read on … Continue reading Etymology and delusion, part 2 | OUPblog
Tag: Life
The Deep History of Civilisation: the blue emerald of the Indus
In the high mountainous knot of the Pamirs in South Central Asia, in the Badakhshan region of north eastern Afghanistan, there is a small cave on the side of the hill. On approaching closer, one might hear the clink-clink of rock striking rock; one might see that the inside of the cave is lit with … Continue reading The Deep History of Civilisation: the blue emerald of the Indus
Our Brains Tell Stories So We Can Live – Issue 75: Story – Nautilus
We are all storytellers; we make sense out of the world by telling stories. And science is a great source of stories. Not so, you… — Read on m.nautil.us/issue/75/story/our-brains-tell-stories-so-we-can-live
Darwin Was a Slacker and You Should Be Too – Issue 46: Balance – Nautilus
When you examine the lives of history’s most creative figures, you are immediately confronted with a paradox: They organize their… — Read on m.nautil.us/issue/46/balance/darwin-was-a-slacker-and-you-should-be-too
Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl (1862) by James Whistler
Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket (1874) by James Whistler
Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian (1888–1900), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (Model: Ethel Whibley)
Portrait of Whistler With a Hat by James Whistler
A Review of “The Academy of Fisticuffs” by Sophus A. Reinert
The Enlightenment’s French and Scottish roots are well-known, but Reinert points to the important role played by a group of Italian thinkers. — Read on http://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/capsule-review/2019-04-16/academy-fisticuffs-political-economy-and-commercial-society
An Actual Sequence View of Freedom – 3:16
van Inwagen thinks we can bypass these issues because the real threat to our free will is not causal determination (our acts having deterministic causes) but simply determination (our acts being necessitated by past events and the natural laws), since this is enough to guarantee that we cannot ever do otherwise. I think this is … Continue reading An Actual Sequence View of Freedom – 3:16
