Author Archives: brendano

Not so much, thinks Stanley Fish.

From Scott Aaronson: Ten Signs a Claimed Mathematical Breakthrough is Wrong. I’ve often wondered how to decide whether a paper or book is worth my time to read. People who like a certain paper or book can always tell me … Continue reading →

Experimental philosophy: Suppose the chairman of a company has to decide whether to adopt a new program. It would increase profits and help the environment too. “I don’t care at all about helping the environment,” the chairman says. “I just … Continue reading →

Some ex-hedge fund analysts recently started a non-profit devoted to evaluating the effectiveness of hundreds of charities, and apparently have been making waves (NYT). A few interesting reports have been posted on their website, givewell.net — they make recommendations for … Continue reading →

William Saletan, a writer for Slate, recently wrote a loud series of articles on genetic racial differences in IQ in the wake of James Watson’s controversial remarks. It prompted lots of discussion; here is an excellent response from Richard Nisbett, … Continue reading →

Freud Is Widely Taught at Universities, Except in the Psychology Department: PSYCHOANALYSIS and its ideas about the unconscious mind have spread to every nook and cranny of the culture from Salinger to “South Park,” from Fellini to foreign policy. Yet … Continue reading →

A much more slashing commentary from Slate: An op-ed from Sunday’s New York Times, “This Is Your Brain on Politics,” proposes to answer what must be the most vexing question of modern American politics: What’s going on inside the head … Continue reading →

A good anti-pop-cognitive-neuroscience rant on Language Log: In closing, there is a larger issue here, beyond the validity of a specific study of voter psychology. A number of different commercial ventures, from neuromarketing to brain-based lie detection, are banking on … Continue reading →

Before I forget — a while back I read a terrific Foreign Affairs article, The Return of Authoritarian Great Powers. The argument is, just a century or so ago, states based on authoritarian capitalism were very powerful in the world; … Continue reading →

[Like medieval Christian societies,] Islamic societies similarly found ingenious ways to circumvent the usury ban. The primary one was the double sale. In this transaction, the borrower would get, for example, both 100 dinars cash and a small piece of … Continue reading →