How should we live? And why does it matter?
This book is just amazing. In its two massive volumes, Derek Parfit lays out a very detailed and very carefully argued ethical framework. It’s like a prodigiously sustained deep dive into his classic book Reasons and Persons with lots of examples and explanations. It’s also a conversation: one chapter consists of responses to parts of the book from other philosophers, which Parfit then responds to in turn.
Like a lot of great SF, this starts with just one single premise. What if we suddenly discovered an unlimited number of pristine Earths, and we could all travel between them at the flick of a switch? One day, a … Continue reading
“Some of my moments of deepest self-satisfaction have been brought on by the perfection of my parallel parking.”
— Rebecca Goldstein, The Mind-Body Problem
Meg is the Italian Björk. And if you think that’s glib, try this: Meg would be the result if Björk joined Fever Ray and they went clubbing in Naples. Glib, yes, but maybe on the right track. Of course there … Continue reading
“Scared is scared of all the things you like”: A Six-Year-Old’s Advice on Life and Overcoming Fear, Turned into a Heartwarming Movie www.brainpickings.org/2015/08/20/bianca-giaever-th… via @brainpicker #fb
I loved this book of short stories even though most of them don’t end especially happily. The stories are written in a variety of voices, but almost all concern young women navigating problematic relationships. (Some of the women are older; … Continue reading
Standard education systems are broken: Turning Learning Right Side Up points towards a way of fixing them. It argues that the current system of education was designed for purposes that no longer make sense. (Ken Robinson’s TED talk Do schools kill … Continue reading
The regeneration projects of the past decade … appear to solve only the first-world problems of the monocultural illuminati who created them. www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/27/arch… #townplanning #fb
“we took ordinary children and made them into liars, simply by telling them they were smart.”
Fixed vs. Growth: The Two Basic Mindsets That Shape Our Lives www.brainpickings.org/2014/01/29/carol-dweck-minds… via @brainpicker
“Freddie” Hayek is, of course, famous for the epic rap battles between him and his arch-nemesis, the maverick economist and Bloomsbury groupie John Maynard Keynes. Keynes may have been more charismatic, but Hayek had the edge in writing. The Road … Continue reading
