Several discussions, occurrence and articles over the last few months have led me to develop a unifying thought about the concept of linguistic prescription and its manifestation in the social and political realms. In particular, it seems to me that many of the world’s great debates, and the problems that arise from them, are centered […]
A couple weeks ago, film and TV critic Inkoo Kang published a thought-provoking article over at Vulture blaming Fox Mulder for a perceived rise of anti-government, anti-science sentiments in the new millennium. The key, Kang says, is the coolness behind Mulder’s “anti-government paranoia … and skepticism of science.” Furthermore, Kang sees Scully’s knowledge of science as
On Sunday, I went to see Django Unchained with my brother. It’s a great movie, one of Tarantino’s best in my opinion, and there’s a lot I could say about it. However, one particular thing has stuck in my mind the last few days. As I ate dinner with my brother after the the movie,
I just finished Sam Harris’ new book on Free Will. It’s a shortish tome, only about 66 pages plus notes, but it doesn’t suffer for its brevity, and it may even be praised for it’s succinctness and clarity. The basic premise is this: That free will is a sham. Based on recent neurological experiments, we
As the Supreme Court gears up to hear oral arguments about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) – pejoratively referred to by some as “Obamacare” – I’ve been reading up various commentaries and blog posts about the potential constitutionality. For example, NPR has a good, uncharged guide to the questions involved. However, my favorite
