Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

I’d say this is about the best that can be expected from combining the rap music video style and economic texts. Pretty fly for some white guys. Books mentioned in this video: F. A. Hayek – The Fatal Conceit J.M. Keynes – The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money H/T commenter simentt via e-mail…

I came across a most interesting discourse on reality. Technical reality to be exact. Our precise aim is to show that there is no such thing as a robot; that a robot is no more a machine than a statue is a living being; that is merely a product of the imagination, of man’s fictive…

Company CEOs that lobby for CO2 taxes or other measures for CO2 abatement are going to be required to tell shareholders about the possible effects of such legislation on their companies. Washington, DC – Corporate CEOs who have been actively lobbying for cap-and-trade climate legislation may soon find themselves in an embarrassing position thanks to…

While publicly excoriating the Supreme Court at a State of the Union Address constitutes a new low by itself, in this case, the low is made lower by the fact that the president — a former constitutional law professor — didn’t even get his legal analysis right. Even leftie Times analyst Linda Greenhouse noted that…

It looks like Adam is endorsed by a Cold War Hero. Breaking news: Lech Walesa, Nobel Laureate and former President of Poland, has endorsed Republican candidate Adam Andrzejewski (and G F ski) for Illinois Governor. From The American Spectator: It’s not every day that a Nobel Prize winner becomes involved in a U.S. election, but…

Argentine president Christina Fernandez said something that I doubt our PETA-plagued president could have gotten away with saying: BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina’s president thinks eating pig meat is really sexy. Many people in this beef-loving nation reacted with surprise Thursday after Cristina Fernandez promoted pork in a speech during which she not only…

Osama has a new trick in his bag. Global Warming. No. Really. A new message said to be from al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden has blamed global warming on the US and other big industrial nations. I wonder why he had nothing to say about China? Their CO2 production exceeds that of the US and…

Funny that I’d been talking about deeper subtexts and bullshit narratives earlier today, because I want to discuss a “moral” issue that’s been annoying me lately. “Moral” is in quotes because it has to be; I can’t figure out morality at all anymore. No really. Not just my morality, but anyone’s. (Everyone’s? Or is that…

I don’t want to dwell on the SOTU address (which I avoided live-blogging for that very reason), but what surprises me is that anyone would be puzzled by the president’s stubborn refusal to move himself (or urge his party to move) towards the center. I think he’s concerned with one thing only — winning reelection…

And that brings up an interesting bit of information. Gaming improves thinking. Ongoing research conducted by the Office of Naval Research suggests “that video games can help adults process information much faster and improve their fundamental abilities to reason and solve problems in novel contexts.” This as posted at the United States Department of of…

Geoffrey Lean is Britain’s longest-serving environmental correspondent, having pioneered reporting on the subject almost 40 years ago. (according to the mast head at Telegraph.UK) Well he has got a hold of two new super scientific reports that say that for sure glaciers are melting and it is all man’s fault. But I don’t want to…

Yes. The president just said that. Again. In the SOTU address. For once I agree with the president’s words. (See my previous post.) MORE: At 09:49 p.m., he just said “Not now” again. It’s a mantra. Not now more than ever! MY OVERALL REACTION: While I get tired of his repetitive style of rhetoric, all…

Space Ports reports the opening of an IEC Fusion Research facility to develop fusion for spacecraft propulsion. AVRC has been awarded a contract by Wise County’s Industrial Development Authority to manage a $7 million energy research center now under construction in the Lonesome Pine Business and Technology Park [PDF] in Wise, VA focused on the…

When I visited Amsterdam a few years ago, I took an obligatory self-tour through the notorious “red light district” that has had so many people have been up in arms for so many years. It didn’t alarm me at all to see women wearing lingerie dancing in windows, although I soon learned that these were…

I was reading a review of a recent US Grant biography, U. S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth, that had this interesting description of Grant During his presidency, to be sure, the Democratic press condemned Grant as at once feeble, conniving, and imperious–attacks similar to those that the Democrats had made on Lincoln. Or George…

Here is part of a press release on OLPC’s work in Haiti We are doing what we can for the 60 schools that we have been working with in Haiti – primarily planning for the spring after the first phase of rebuilding is underway. We will be sending a group of OLPCorps volunteers to Haiti…

Am I a political blogger? Honestly, I don’t mean to be, as I have hated politics for years. The more tired I get of it, the more I hate it. It doesn’t help much to read about stuff like this: WASHINGTON–President Barack Obama intends to use Wednesday’s State of the Union address to put a…

I have just sent this out to a group of physicists and scientists to see if it has any merit. Here is the cover letter I sent: George Miley of U Illinois, Champaign is involved. I am passing this on after a cursory review. It was published yesterday. Please give it 5 minutes before you…

Frank J. Fleming has an interesting (if somewhat controversial) idea for solving the problems in the Mideast: simply convert the Muslims to Christianity. After all, Christianity is a more peaceful religion, and as Frank points out, when was the last time anyone saw a Christian suicide bomber? …I think if we could convert many in…

When Glenn Reynolds linked Allahpundit’s post about Mike Huckabee doing better against Barack Obama than any Republican candidate, I was shocked. But here’s what the quoted poll said: Mike Huckabee has a 45-44 advantage over Obama, aided largely by a 44-38 lead with independents. There continues to be no evidence of any negative fallout for…