Abstract (and Other) Objects I propose to discuss an incredibly difficult question and to suggest an incredible answer to it—an answer that only ineluctable logic could recommend to our modern sensibility. It concerns the threefold distinction between the physical, the mental, and the abstract. Let’s first try to get the abstract in our sights (this […]
Explaining Trump I think I have finally solved the mystery of Trump—the mystery of his popularity. I used to think it was his overt racism: what else could it be? But that was just one manifestation of his underlying appeal. The real reason is that he is a rich asshole, and is perceived as such. He […]
How Not to Talk Garbage There is a new type of speech act in the marketplace—the talking of garbage. Philosophers and others have identified several species of defective speech act: falsehood, lies, nonsense, bullshit, hate speech, etc. Each of these needs careful study, and has received it. But speech garbage is in a class of […]
Brain Design and the Mind-Body Problem If you look at any organ of an animal body, you will find two things: a function for the organ and a design suited to that function. The organ’s design enables it to perform its function. That’s how nature works and it is hard to see how it could […]
Book Reviews I used to write a lot of book reviews—something like 80 of them over a 35-year period. I was known for it. I reviewed in all the best places. You might suppose I must have enjoyed doing it. I did not. It was hard work and not in a particularly good way. You […]
How Well Understood is Motion? Not very. It seems to be generally assumed that we have motion under intellectual control, even if once it was quite a mystery. Physics has tamed it. Consciousness is still untamed, it is agreed, but motion is a bright spot in our understanding of nature. But I think the truth […]
The New York Review of Books and Me When Robert Silvers was the editor of the NYRB I wrote regularly for them. I must have written a dozen pieces for the magazine over a ten-year period. If anything, I felt over-employed by them. I got on well with Bob and looked forward to his many […]
Skateboard Update I have been skateboarding for 45 days, doing it nearly every day for about half an hour (following tennis practice). I now own three boards. I can say that I’ve got the hang of it. The cruising and steering part isn’t that difficult, but the push-off part takes some work. You have to […]
Americans Again Americans are idiots and psychopaths (see American Idiot by Green Day and American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis). It’s obvious and indisputable. The only good American is an anti-American. You know it’s true (the rest of the world certainly does). Trump is just another iteration of the same pathology: he talks rubbish, he […]
Evolution of Reflexes The reflex was one of the best ideas that Evolution ever had (second perhaps to articulated bodies). What could be better than an unlearned rapid response action to a threatening stimulus? It’s like having a lightning-fast gunslinger ready to get the organism out of trouble. You don’t have to wait ten minutes […]