MQPhil hosts the 68th edition of Philosophers’ Carnival (here). This carnival called for posts about “open source” philosophy. Only one post is about “open source.” And although I had virtually no idea what “open source” philosophy was, a post by Brad Frederiksen helped me along in trying to figure it out (here).
Other posts are noteworthy, so check it out if you have a chance.
Today’s Washington Post has a story on how social networking websites have adversely affected some D.C. area teachers (here). According to the story, several teachers with social networking sites (like Facebook or MySpace) have been suspended, threatened with their job, or fired because their sites are crude, racy, or defamatory.
Ought employers be careful of firing employees with social-networking sites? Continue reading
The BBC Science and Nature page has published a test of recognizing genuine and fake smiles. Any interested readers may check it out here. HT: Cognitive Daily. The experiment is Paul Ekman’s, of the University of California at Berkeley. Semi-spoiler below the fold. Continue reading
**Updated: 25 April 2008 @ 22:30** An article appearing on the left column of the frontpage of today’s New York Times (here) reports that runway incursions seem to present the greatest danger to aviation safety. The last commercial airline crash in the U.S. was the result of runway incursion. The crash occurred when a Canadair regional jet taxied to the wrong runway in Lexington, KY and attempted to take-off. The runway was too short (3,500 feet) for the fully-loaded jet to gain enough thrust for take-off (story here). An N.T.S.B. official, mentioned in today’s article, believes the greatest vulnerability of danger to aviators is runway collisions.
If sophisticated electronic systems are available and if these systems could prevent catastrophic events, should the airlines be required to install them in their aircrafts? Continue reading
Some great posts in bloggerland that I’d like to point out for your enjoyment:
First, in local color (and not related to philosophy), Curmudgeon & company continue to take on “the man” in their latest post on the “Ice Tower,” or what the contributors of the blog like to call “the Fortress of Mayoral Ego.” Sometimes the posts can be short on arguments and high on mudslinging, but they’re always enlightening about the concerns of Weber County’s most vocal citizens (here).
Now, to the more interesting stuff, philosophy:
Brandon, of Siris, (and others as he points out in his post) has an interesting post (here) on the analytic/continental philosophical divide, and he gives some reasons for thinking the divide is ill-conceived.
Tanasije, of A Brood Comb, has two interesting posts that attempt to resolves the mind-body problem here and here.
Clark, of Mormon Metaphysics, has a fascinating post on the FLDS Church free will, age, and Mary (here). The post has garnered much attention from the blogosphere and comments seem to have flooded in.
Clayton, of Think Tonk, has a brief post about “ordinary” knowledge (here), and it appears that he will soon post on “ordinary permissibility.
Matt, of Opinatrety, returns from the blogging dead (welcome back Matt) with this little contribution on the past tense of “cheerlead” (here).
In Socrates Wake has a nice post by Nathan about the problem of offering too much extra credit to students (here).
If I’ve missed some good posts, add’em to the comments. I’m always looking for some good reading!
Cognitive Daily has a post on research associated with the question here. A recent study by Vohs and Schooler (“The Value of Believing in Free Will” Encouraging Belief in Determinism Increases Cheating,” Psychological Science 19(1) 2008, 49-54) has revealed that students are more likely to cheat when they read determinism statements.
A couple of comments. First, I’d like to see the other 14 “determinism statements” the study used (and compare them against the “free will” and “neutral” statements). The one statement the post cites, “a belief in free will contradicts the known fact that the universe is governed by lawful principles of science,” seems to goad subjects into denying science. I imagine that people are reluctant to do that. The experimental design seems otherwise sound.
Second, mightn’t the study prove that the cheating subjects (“cheaters”) believe in free will? Each of the statements the cheaters read were about determinism. The cheaters took more money than those who had read “free will” or “neutral” statements and self scored the exam, and they received more money than those who had read determinism statements and the experimenter scored the exam. The cheaters could either cheat or not cheat. By not cheating, the cheater could have felt constrained by the outside pressure that they should not cheat. After all, society prescribes such a standard and that’s the standard they know they ought to follow. They’ve just read determinism statements, and these statements may seem to the cheaters to be inconsistent with the belief in the ability to choose. So, the subject cheats thereby undermining the external constraint.
Commercial aviation companies have been scrutinized by FAA and DOT recently since it has come to light that many airlines have not maintained their fleets properly. Most of the American Airlines’s fleet was grounded at the end of March because the airline had not inspected its MD-80s for faulty wiring, in accordance with an FAA’s “airworthiness directives” (story here). 38 of Southwest Airlines’s 523 planes were voluntarily grounded last month because Southwest admitted they had not inspected their 737s for fuselage cracks (here). Southwest was fined a record $10.2 million a week earlier because the airline continued to operate 46 older 737s it had failed to inspect for cracks in the planes’ fuselages (here).
A while ago I read a warning about the effects of ice crystals on jet turbo fan engines at high altitudes associated convective SIGMET conditions. About 100 events showed that such conditions led to power loss events in Boeing jet aircraft. Then, I read Boeing‘s commentary on the problem. They published their commentary in Aero, the manufacturer’s quarterly magazine. What follows is an overview of the problem and a commentary about Boeing‘s suggestions for how pilots can avoid these engine power loss events.
Mr. McFeely, the “Speedy delivery” guy, of Mister Rogers neighborhood would not have approved of how this letter arrived from Oxford, England.
I’ve done nothing to doctor this photograph. The package arrived as you see it (but there was an elastic band around it holding the contents of the package in what remained of the manila envelope).
Today’s Standard Examiner (here) has an unusual report on a so-called “deal” Mayor Matthew Godfrey is trying to make for a new Ice Tower. The story seems to be an indirect malicious attack on Godfrey because it implies that he is openly extorting funds for his plan to build an Ice Tower in the new Junction development. Continue reading
Curmudgeon (or Rudizink; it’s not clear from the post) of The Weber County Forum blog has opined that the new FrontRunner train (here) will soon reveal the “transformative” power commuter rail service may provide for the ailing “Stockade” district of Salt Lake and for the newly established “Junction” square in Ogden. To suggest that FrontRunner is going to solve the economic woes of downtown Ogden or Salt Lake is a matter of extremely bad judgment. Similarly, an adequate amount of statistical data will not be available for several years to determine whether the FrontRunner has assisted in Salt Lake or Ogden’s economic revitalization. Continue reading
