Summer Reading Projects

I've always been ambivalent about summers. On the one hand, I love the freedom, but since I typically feel as if I squander my freedom, I often find myself depressed and down on myself during the summer. I'd like to try to change this pattern and so I'm hereby announcing a number of summer reading … Continue reading Summer Reading Projects →

Ethical Expertise?

So I just discovered that Chuck Klosterman is now 'The Ethicist' for the NYT! I expect readers of this blog are familiar with this regular column in the Times, and maybe familiar with Klosterman, who writes really cool, funny, smart essays on popular culture. But an 'ethicist'? In his last column-- http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/02/magazine/can-i-use-the-same-paper-for-multiple-college-courses.html--Klosterman argues that there is … Continue reading Ethical Expertise? →

Get Rid of Your Car – The Argument from Quality of Life

You should get rid of your car, because your life will be better. Probably the best thing about not having a car is how much more I enjoy my life. I've tried to describe that here. This post will blend a bit into the "health" arguments - I think the dividing line will be between … Continue reading Get Rid of Your Car – The Argument from Quality of Life →

Get Rid of Your Car! The First Argument – Cost

You should get rid of your car! I would like to prove this relatively simple proposition of policy in a series of simply argued posts. Last fall Brooke and I both got rid of our cars. We now live in a densely populated area of Chicago which is adequately served by public transportation. We were … Continue reading Get Rid of Your Car! The First Argument – Cost →

Glenn Gould’s Beethoven First and Second Piano Concertos

Of all the first 30 or so recordings or so - most of which I've listened to in a pretty focused way, on multiple occasions - the five Beethoven piano concerto recordings have been the ones I've returned to most often. I've tried my best to share my thoughts about the first two here. One … Continue reading Glenn Gould’s Beethoven First and Second Piano Concertos →

The Art of Philosophy

This is going to be a pile of digressions on digressions, but I hope it'll make for a good read. So, in a recent post on Newapps, Catarina Dutilh Novaes draws our attention to a painting by Roy Lichtenstein called 'Philosopher in Landscape' (I've posted a large copy, so that you can see the philosopher.) … Continue reading The Art of Philosophy →

How Weird is Quantum Mechanics?

If quantum mechanics hasn't profoundly shocked you, you haven't understood it yet" (Niels Bohr) Last week on the way to a baseball game, Nates, David and I began arguing about science and philosophy. This argument spilled over from brunch to a cab ride (with a surprisingly well informed cab driver, who recognized that we were … Continue reading How Weird is Quantum Mechanics? →

Gould Recordings 16-26 – Bach, Beethoven, Beethoven/Liszt, Schoenberg

You could call these recordings Gould's "later early period" maybe, running from 1962-1967. I'll try to stick to one paragraph per recording. Once again, I was able to find everything on Spotify. If you follow me there you can get all the playlists I made. My favorite recording here is the Bach concerto #3; my … Continue reading Gould Recordings 16-26 – Bach, Beethoven, Beethoven/Liszt, Schoenberg →

Millennials, Multitasking and Learning

Okay, it's grumpy-old-man time. I'm taking a class right now about astrophysics, the big bang, and some outstanding problems in cosmology. It meets on Saturday mornings and is in the University of Chicago's Master of Liberal Arts program, basically a program for people with non-academia jobs, in which they can take classes taught by actual … Continue reading Millennials, Multitasking and Learning →

Gun Sales and Senate Irrationality

"How could the Senate vote down something supported by 90% of the public?" This is a question asked across Facebook this morning, urged on by President Obama's statement to similar effect. How? It's actually easy, and happens more often than we realize, on much more mundane and even less controversial measures. It's because the senate … Continue reading Gun Sales and Senate Irrationality →