Last fall I attended a conference at NYU called “Animal Consciousness.” It should have been called “Animal Consciousness?” to reflect the uncertainty pervading the meeting.
Posts published in “Scientific Curmudgeon”
Evolutionary psychology seeks to understand our behavior in light of the fact that we are products of natural selection. In principle, the field can give us deep insights into ourselves.
Science is sexist in two ways. First, women in science (including engineering, math, medicine) face discrimination, harassment and other forms of maltreatment from men.
Years ago I was fishing on an ocean beach and caught a big, beautiful striped bass. My daughter and son, who were 8 and 10, respectively, were nearby.
I recently had an awkward conversation with my doctor. I was getting a routine physical, and he recommended that I get a PSA test for prostate cancer.
Pundits have been fretting lately about robots leaving humans behind, taking our jobs and possibly a lot more, as in The Matrix and Terminator films.
Everybody, and especially everybody at an engineering school like Stevens, should know who Claude Shannon was. Shannon, who lived from 1916 to 2001, was an electrical engineer and mathematician.
In my recent post “Is Self-Knowledge Overrated?,” I cast doubt on what I called the Socratic principle, the notion that self-examination in the broadest sense—contemplating not just your life but life in general, the human condition–leads to happiness and virtue.
An axiom of intellectual traditions east and west is that scrutinizing yourself and humanity in general makes you a better person.
I hope this year’s Nobel Peace Prize adds oomph to efforts to eliminate the threat of nuclear war—and war in general.