One often hears about “communication problems” and “communication skills” in regards to relationships. What is it that makes communication effective or ineffective? First, we have to answer, “effective for what?” All communication has a goal. What that goal is varies by situation. It could be to convey information, to seek out information, to make someone…
Category: Society
I wrote a poem: “A first research experience in mathematics”
A dark fog surrounds me.I see that something is there,but I can’t make it out.I squint and the edges begin to sharpen,but then are lost again to the darkness.My eyes are beginning to adjust now.For a moment I seem to recognize the shape,but then it is gone again.I reach out for it.It’s too far away.As…
The failure of manosphere terminology
The “manosphere” is a loose collection of movements, groups, and ideologies that are connected by certain views on masculinity, femininity, and relationships. It includes the Red Pill, the Black Pill (a more extreme version of the Red Pill), MGTOW (“Men Going Their Own Way”), incel subculture, pick-up artists (PUA), men’s rights activists (MRA), GamerGate, and…
Osteopathy’s public image in the wake of widespread medical misinformation
A few weeks ago (late summer 2023), YouTuber Owen Morgan published a video about Sherri Tenpenny, a former doctor whose testimony before the Ohio legislature about COVID-19 vaccines went viral in 2021. Notably, Tenpenny has claimed that the vaccine was making people magnetic, that this had something to do with 5G wireless communication, and also…
Naïve realism and American folk science
The following post is a critique of a particular class of worldviews and perspectives. What is naïve realism and what do I mean by folk science? Realism is a class of philosophical positions that assert the bona fide existence of certain objects, or that certain objects have certain discernible properties. The definition is vague because…
Owner, chairperson, CEO, president: Who’s really in charge of the company? An expository essay on corporate governance in the US
In a publicly traded company, the shareholders actually own the company. The shareholders collectively appoint members of the board of directors according to an agreed upon process, and the board of directors controls the company for the shareholders. The board then hires C-level executives, including CEO (chief executive officer), to do the actual work of…
An analysis of biological arguments against transgenderism
One of the principal types of arguments against LGBTQ+ rights is the appeal to biology. Specifically, these arguments say that humans are divided into two biological sexes and the sexes are inherently different in ways we can understand scientifically, gender corresponds exactly to biological sex, humans evolved to engage in monogamous heterosexual relationships, and so…
thoughts on mind 