The rise and fall and rise of logic. The history of logic should be of interest to anyone with aspirations to thinking that is correct, or at least reasonable.
This story illustrates different approaches to intellectual enquiry and human cognition more generally. Reflecting on the history of logic forces us to reflect on what it means to be a reasonable cognitive agent, to think properly. Log In. Where does swearing get its power – and how should w... In 2012, The Sun newspaper reported that the British MP Andrew Mitchell, then a prominent member of the UK government, had called a group of police officers ‘fucking plebs’.
According to that story, the police thought about arresting him, but decided against it. In the wake of ‘plebgate’ (as this incident has become known), several journalists pointed to a double standard: Mitchell managed to escape arrest, but among the rest of us, arrests for swearing at the police are far from unheard of. These arrests have happened under Section 5 of the Public Order Act. People arrested under Section 5 can be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice, and convictions can result in a fine.
Swearing, it seems, can be a big deal. The Cambridge University Press’s online dictionary defines swearing as ‘rude or offensive language that someone uses, especially when they are angry’. Get Aeon straight to your inbox This unique psychological role gives swearing a unique linguistic role, too. How the internet flips elections and alters our thou... Over the past century, more than a few great writers have expressed concern about humanity’s future.
Meet Walter Pitts, the Homeless Genius Who Revolutionized Artificial Intelligence. The Zero-Armed Bandit. Why We Kill for Symbols. The other day I fixed something—a rarity for me.
The flotation device in the toilet water tank was rubbing against the side, getting stuck halfway up so that the tank didn’t fill completely. I own a hammer and know how to operate it. But I couldn’t fit it into the tank to whack the device back into place. Ditto for owning and using a wrench. It wouldn’t fit either. I was proud of myself. Humans used to be unique in lots of ways. In recent years scientists from leading universities, including UCLA, University College London, and Yale, have made remarkable insights into the neurobiology of symbols. The Inside Story of Surface Book, Microsoft's Next Big Thing.
One night about two years ago, Panos Panay couldn’t sleep.
This happens a lot, waking up in the middle of the night with loud thoughts rattling around in his head. Panay popped off the pillow, reached for his new Surface Pen and his old Surface Mini, and wrote himself an email. (He loves the Mini, a small tablet his team built but never shipped. “It was like a Moleskine,” he says. “It was awesome.”) The Best Ways to Organize All Your Digital Photos. What people in 1900 thought the year 2000 would look like. All The Productivity Tips You Need In 9 Infographics. Ever notice how some people come across as having their act together? They are able to get their work done on time, every time. They have the time and energy for 100 different things. Yet, they always seem non-frazzled, non-overwhelmed, and non-frantic. Do you console yourself with the thought that these are a special breed of people with a special DNA sequence? This Used To Be the Future - Issue 28: 2050. To see additional images from NASA Ames, click the icon on the image at the top of this page.
NASA Ames is filled with the exotic technologies of a future that didn’t quite come to pass. Ancient computers still operate equipment in the machine shop. Frontier of Physics: Interactive Map. “Ever since the dawn of civilization,” Stephen Hawking wrote in his international bestseller A Brief History of Time, “people have not been content to see events as unconnected and inexplicable.
Tyson V. Rininger. Uk.businessinsider. Why I'm Always Late. Calling the Keynesians’ Bluff - AEI. It’s time to enter the inner sanctum of Keynesian theory and see what (little) it’s worth.
As a rule, the latest economic figures are not that important in themselves, but they shed fresh light on long-run trends. It may or may not be true, as Dean Baker suggests, that the 0.1 percent decline in GDP in the fourth quarter of 2012 (according to preliminary Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates) was caused by a decline in government, especially military, spending. Paul Ford: What is Code?
A computer is a clock with benefits.
Calling the Keynesians’ Bluff - AEI. The complete and logical guide to winning at your own life in 19 super difficult steps — Some stuff I wrote one time. How I Kept a 373-Day Productivity Streak Unbroken. A New Thermodynamics Theory of the Origin of Life. The 2014 Inc. 5000 List. 25+ apps that the TED staff swears make their everyday lives easier. At our small, fast-moving nonprofit company, everyone does a couple of jobs — and productivity apps help us manage roles that shift between coding, writing/designing and running a full-scale conference twice a year.
We asked the TED staff what apps they can’t live without.