Curt Doolittle

Category: Commentary, Critique, and Response

  • Mathematicians Can Be Stupid, Too

    —“More evidence that mathematicians can be stupid, too”–Claire Lehmann @clairlemon ….”(Renowned Yale Computer Science Prof Leaves Darwinism | The Stream David Gelernter recently published an essay in the Claremont Review of Books explaining why he no longer believes Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.)”…

    Curt Replies: There is a great deal of woo woo in Mathematics – mathematical platonism, mathematical idealism, cantorian multiple infinities, many worlds, proof being positiva rather than negativa, the terms, labels, and symbolism all create nonsense. Mathematics is the most simple of the logics, the logic of positional names. The greeks did everything with geometry. There is a good reason. Measurements (real) vs Language (ideal). And we’re stuck with the consequences of treating math as a language – where nonsense can be said. I write about this subject quite a bit because there are two origins to pervasive sophism in western civilization, regardless of field: mathematical idealism, and scriptural interpretation. Both of which stem from the same error. There is a moronic bit of innumeracy going around ‘intelligent design’ circles right now and he’s bit apparently taken the bait. The answer to their query is: evolutionary progress includes loss of intermediary information: it’s hard to reverse engineer cellular evolution.

  • ( Thx. 😉 )

    ( Thx. 😉 )

    Source date (UTC): 2019-10-03 22:26:40 UTC

    Original post: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1179885507507101698

    Reply addressees: @tomfcreo @clairlemon

    Replying to: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1179884473594216450

    IN REPLY TO:

    @elevatethygaze

    @curtdoolittle @clairlemon Brilliantly succinct deconstruction of Taleb and his schtick!

    Original post: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1179884473594216450

  • What is Enough?

    What is Enough? https://propertarianism.com/2019/10/03/what-is-enough/

    Source date (UTC): 2019-10-03 21:51:49 UTC

    Original post: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1179876736944787456

  • The Universe Is Godless. The Mind of Man Is Not

    The Universe Is Godless. The Mind of Man Is Not https://propertarianism.com/2019/10/03/the-universe-is-godless-the-mind-of-man-is-not/

    Source date (UTC): 2019-10-03 21:50:06 UTC

    Original post: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1179876304788873217

  • The Universe Is Godless – But for Us

    The Universe Is Godless – But for Us https://propertarianism.com/2019/10/03/the-universe-is-godless-but-for-us/

    Source date (UTC): 2019-10-03 21:49:09 UTC

    Original post: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1179876066317520896

  • Defending Molyneux Again

    Defending Molyneux Again https://propertarianism.com/2019/10/03/defending-molyneux-again/

    Source date (UTC): 2019-10-03 21:47:39 UTC

    Original post: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1179875688301641728

  • Defending Molyneux Again

    Context: Molyneux’s claim that he’s most influential philosopher working today. Is Molyneux Influential among philosophers, Intellectuals, Politicians – or among common people? Some of us work in R&D (like Research Academics), and some in Education (like Teaching Academics). Stefan is by far the most popular Teacher reaching the most people – by far.

    By that logic,shouldn’t Mark Dice,Crowder,Shapiro,Peterson be put above Stefan in reach according to ur criteria”—Checkov Pavlov @slimshadyrap98

    There is, empirically, a demarcation between philosopher/philosophizing the demarcation is a) the internal consistency (grammar of constant relations) that the speaker relies upon for his arguments and b) the publication of a work of at least one novel idea in that grammar. There is a demarcation between a philosopher and public intellectual, in the USE of that grammar of constant relations. My specialty is the disambiguation of science (operationalism), natural law, rational philosophy, justificationism, sophism, pseudoscience and supernaturalism. You just engaged in conflationa and sophism in the Abrahamic  model (GSRRM, Pilpul, Critique). And it’s unlikely that the others you mentioned know the difference. Peterson practices science but relies on suggestion using wisdom lit rather than operationalism. It’s Borderline theology. You can claim that Stefan didn’t produce a durable work of philosophy – and that would be true (Zizek either). And that it is difficult to disambiguate from self help (wisdom) rather than decidability (truth). But he practices the grammar of philosophy, and has produced a work.

  • Defending Molyneux Again

    Context: Molyneux’s claim that he’s most influential philosopher working today. Is Molyneux Influential among philosophers, Intellectuals, Politicians – or among common people? Some of us work in R&D (like Research Academics), and some in Education (like Teaching Academics). Stefan is by far the most popular Teacher reaching the most people – by far.

    By that logic,shouldn’t Mark Dice,Crowder,Shapiro,Peterson be put above Stefan in reach according to ur criteria”—Checkov Pavlov @slimshadyrap98

    There is, empirically, a demarcation between philosopher/philosophizing the demarcation is a) the internal consistency (grammar of constant relations) that the speaker relies upon for his arguments and b) the publication of a work of at least one novel idea in that grammar. There is a demarcation between a philosopher and public intellectual, in the USE of that grammar of constant relations. My specialty is the disambiguation of science (operationalism), natural law, rational philosophy, justificationism, sophism, pseudoscience and supernaturalism. You just engaged in conflationa and sophism in the Abrahamic  model (GSRRM, Pilpul, Critique). And it’s unlikely that the others you mentioned know the difference. Peterson practices science but relies on suggestion using wisdom lit rather than operationalism. It’s Borderline theology. You can claim that Stefan didn’t produce a durable work of philosophy – and that would be true (Zizek either). And that it is difficult to disambiguate from self help (wisdom) rather than decidability (truth). But he practices the grammar of philosophy, and has produced a work.

  • Demand for the Pleasing Delusion

    Demand for the Pleasing Delusion https://propertarianism.com/2019/10/03/demand-for-the-pleasing-delusion/

    Source date (UTC): 2019-10-03 21:16:55 UTC

    Original post: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1179867950875938816

  • Demand for the Pleasing Delusion

    by Daniel Gurpide [I ]previously posted that

    –“Plato’s philosophy was for ‘the intellectuals’; the ethics of Plato are tied to his whole system of knowledge, including politics. The doctrines of Epicurus appealed chiefly to the middle classes, the bourgeoisie; the ethics of Epicurus are separated from politics and joined only with physics (and Aristotle). The teachings of Jesus were for the very poor, the lost sheep. The ethics of Jesus are isolated from both physics and politics and fitted into a development scheme of salvation.”—

    [C]urt and I were trying to figure out why Epicurean philosophy was wiped out so easily after the fall of the Roman Empire. There were never strong Epicurean communities. Epicureans prioritized their small groups and chose not to engage in politics (a consequence of the civil wars that used to plague the ancient world). I was recently reading “Liberalism: Ancient & Modern” by Leo Strauss. The central chapter and the longest chapter is his “Notes on Lucretius”. He identifies one of the main tenets of Epicurean teaching–that the world that we love is not eternal, because every world is mortal within the eternal universe of atoms in motion–as “the most terrible truth”. Philosophers can live with this truth with a tranquil mind. But most human beings cannot. And consequently most human beings can find peace of mind only through the “pleasing delusion” of a religious belief that the world of human concern is supported by a loving intelligent designer. I guess that the temptation for the Platonist “intellectuals” to lead the “lost sheep” and at the same time sandwich the middle classes has always been there.