Tag: philosophy

Remove the artifice from intelligence: the real threat of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the presumption that we know what intelligence is and how it operates.

November 29, 2025

Remove the artifice from intelligence: the real threat of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the presumption that we know what intelligence is and how it operates. The definition of Artificial Intelligence in Wikipedia seems a good-enough start: Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field … More Remove the artifice from intelligence: the real threat of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the presumption that we know what intelligence is and how it operates.

Where is my favourite place? It is a ‘place’ we construct by inviting (perhaps even willing) the senses to respond as if they were elsewhere – in some other space and time than the present, rather than somewhere in the present function of the neural mechanisms of the brain. Hence my favourite place has no agency except that I can form within it – beware relying on it as if it had such power!

November 26, 2025

Where is my favourite place?  It is a place we construct by inviting (perhaps even willing) the senses to respond as if they were elsewhere – in some other space and time than the present, rather than somewhere in the present function of the neural mechanisms of the brain.  Hence my favour place has no … More Where is my favourite place? It is a ‘place’ we construct by inviting (perhaps even willing) the senses to respond as if they were elsewhere – in some other space and time than the present, rather than somewhere in the present function of the neural mechanisms of the brain. Hence my favourite place has no agency except that I can form within it – beware relying on it as if it had such power!

Malevich’s ‘Taking in the Rye’, looks like the dissection of a rainbow! Aim to be lazy!

October 10, 2025

I suppose the key word here – the one that should set warning bells ringing is ‘unproductive’, for as a word it has long differentiated from what seem to be a synonym, non-productive. Yet since the words are often confused the term ‘counter-productive’ has been invented to show that their scale of the unproduction from … More Malevich’s ‘Taking in the Rye’, looks like the dissection of a rainbow! Aim to be lazy!

The role of expert and intellectual in the politics of social change and trust in the concept of a leadership that achieves the sense of stability conducive to effective change.

October 9, 2025

The role of expert and intellectual in the politics of social change and trust in the concept of a leadership that achieves the sense of stability conducive to effective change. As I opined about Elon Musk yesterday, I  wondered whether I was oversimplifying the phenomenon he represented  – a man keen to assert his origins … More The role of expert and intellectual in the politics of social change and trust in the concept of a leadership that achieves the sense of stability conducive to effective change.

Having is less than Being and Being is less than Doing!

September 27, 2025

I have always felt the words of the New Testament contained the truths by which we could and perhaps ought to live – and continue to respect them whilst being in a state of absolute non-belief in the existence of a god, or gods. Recently as I thought about this question I again came across … More Having is less than Being and Being is less than Doing!

The limits of telelogical thinking with or without the concept of personal agency.

August 21, 2025

How do you plan your goals? Let’s unpack the question today, for it is culture-defining. Behind it lie three assumptions about modern humanity: The study of goal-orientated thinking arise in the history of philosophy arise from rather mixed sources in defining the paradigm that we call teleology. Originally the issues it covered stemmed from core … More The limits of telelogical thinking with or without the concept of personal agency.

Let’s say my favourite ‘historical character’ is a mixture of Pedro Almodóvar and Jacques Lacan, who are both ambivalent about mirrors. This blog reflects on stories in Pedro Almodóvar (2025) ‘The Last Dream’

June 19, 2025

Let’s say my favourite ‘historical character’ is a mixture Pedro Almodóvar and Jacques Lacan, who are both ambivalent about mirrors. This blog reflects on stories in Pedro Almodóvar (2025) The Last Dream (translated by Frank Wynne) Harvill Secker London (Penguin, Random House). This blog has to be a bit circumspect about the concept of the … More Let’s say my favourite ‘historical character’ is a mixture of Pedro Almodóvar and Jacques Lacan, who are both ambivalent about mirrors. This blog reflects on stories in Pedro Almodóvar (2025) ‘The Last Dream’

Communication between the diverse: the benefits of modelling conflictual consensus.

May 7, 2025

What do you do to be involved in the community? In an article by the American Public Power  Association [APPA], called ‘Dissecting the True Meaning of Community’, some things are said about unpacking the meaning of the word  ‘community’ from its origins as a word. I have no knowledge of the real politics of APPA, though … More Communication between the diverse: the benefits of modelling conflictual consensus.

‘When Paul and Peter wake up in the same bed, and recognize that they have been asleep, each one of them mentally reaches back and makes connection with but one of the two streams of thought which were broken by the sleeping hours’. My first thought is: “that explanatory parables open up a can of worms”.

April 10, 2025

‘When Paul and Peter wake up in the same bed, and recognize that they have been asleep, each one of them mentally reaches back and makes connection with but one of the two streams of thought which were broken by the sleeping hours’. [1] My first thought is: “that explanatory parables open up a can of worms”. … More ‘When Paul and Peter wake up in the same bed, and recognize that they have been asleep, each one of them mentally reaches back and makes connection with but one of the two streams of thought which were broken by the sleeping hours’. My first thought is: “that explanatory parables open up a can of worms”.

The constituents of ‘flow’ experience suggest that loss of self and time consciousness balances facing new challenges with willingness to learn, allowing neither to rest in stasis.

March 7, 2025

Prompt questions like this assume the virtue of loss of self, and even of coordinates of such concepts in constructs like time and space. The chief architect of the development of that virtue- into a concept he claimed his research participants themselves used called ‘FLOW’ – is Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi in bis book, pictured below: I … More The constituents of ‘flow’ experience suggest that loss of self and time consciousness balances facing new challenges with willingness to learn, allowing neither to rest in stasis.

The danger of loaded words in questions.

March 3, 2025

Superstition is very often a word that is pre-loaded with value judgments. In mainstream modern usage, with justification in the use of it by the ancients and in the history of Christianity. Rarly and continuing internal disputes in Christian tradition is larded with name-calling (in which being ‘superstitious’ is a claim made against sects being … More The danger of loaded words in questions.