Philosophy

Toby is brilliant. And a problem. Somebody I know calls everybody of a certain type “a Toby”, because that was the name of the first one she encountered. If you come into a company as a consultant and begin asking questions, Toby’s name will come up a lot. Because Toby knows the things that everybody else just takes for granted. Toby can do the things nobody else can do, and understands the things that nobody else can quite grasp, so everybody else leaves them to him....

Why are you reading this? For some reason, in recent weeks I keep bumping into Robert Sapolsky’s ideas. He is certain that you had no choice but to read what you’re reading, because there is no such thing as free will. You may think you chose, but there was nothing doing any choosing. Biologically, you can’t argue either – because of the evidence, not because your actions are predetermined. Whatever you do is caused by neurons firing, which are physical, and work by physical causes, combinations of sensory input, connection between them, environment and history....

Sometimes I annoy people by saying that truth is not important. “Truth” is always either provisional, dependent on formal assumptions, or a matter of faith. It can’t be absolute, and therefore we shouldn’t treat it as an end in itself. As sentient beings, we interact not directly with reality, but with representations and models of reality. More and more, in science, through sophisticated equipment, but at any time through our senses and brain processes....