Observations on the world and its inhabitants
The meeting was initiated by a brief, precise text from Tarek to both Walker and Elara, devoid of social warmth but heavy with implication. He often used the language of his personal journal for these invitations. The WhatsApp message read: “New data point concerning affection. Requires immediate systems analysis before the metaphor stabilises into sentiment. ...
The “Scout Mindset” is a compelling idea in modern self-improvement. Julia Galef (2021) [2] coined the term. It presents a powerful metaphor for how we process information. It contrasts the curious truth-seeker with the defensive soldier. The idea is simple, but its implications are profound. It touches everything from our relationships to scientific discovery. At ...
Alan Turing’s 1950 proposal was not an attempt to define intelligence in abstract terms. Instead, it offered a pragmatic approach to recognising intelligence through conversational indistinguishability. The central question posed was whether a machine that could converse indistinguishably from a human should be considered intelligent. This reframing allowed Turing to sidestep metaphysical debates and focus ...
Decision-making is something I’ve explored before. I go deeper this time. Everybody believes that they are making the best decisions for themselves. But how good are those decisions, actually? No psychologist is coming to tell you what’s what in the confines of your own cranium. We humans make countless decisions every day, from the trivial ...
Arguments often appear convincing when they drift away from the main point while still sounding relevant. This can give the impression that an issue has been addressed when it has not. One of the most common ways this occurs is through the fallacy of irrelevant thesis. This mistake involves offering a conclusion that may be ...
Situations where authority trumps logic continue to weigh on my mind. As a doctor, I often find myself in situations where I need to break down complex concepts into simple, digestible pieces of information for patients and staff. Despite my best efforts to avoid medical jargon and make these explanations as clear as possible, I ...
Some will be going ‘That has to be the stupidest question yet on your blog!‘ – as if I would give a flying flamingo. The question came up in passing, on a forum somewhere when someone referred to water being wet as a way to say ‘naturally so and so is the case’ on some ...
In September 1990, Marilyn vos Savant, known for her “Ask Marilyn” column in Parade magazine and her record-high IQ, received an intriguing question from reader Craig F. Whitaker about the now-famous Monty Hall problem. The problem The question was something like: Suppose you’re on a game show, and you’re given the choice of three doors: ...
The fallacy of misplaced concreteness, also known as reification, is a logical fallacy where an abstract concept is treated as if it were a concrete, tangible object. This error involves attributing a physical reality or concrete qualities to something that is abstract. Alfred North Whitehead introduced the term to critique the way certain abstract scientific ...
The question “If a tree fell in a forest but no one saw or heard it fall, did it fall?” is a philosophical thought experiment that explores the nature of reality and our perception of it. I approach this problem from the angle of logic and reasoning: Based on these logical arguments, some would argue ...
Captain Walker
Captain Walker
