Rene Haycartes had the utter temerity to say that he knew he existed because he thought about stuff:

To which Hayvid Hume was like, "Oh yeah? Don't bet on it, lol":

And everyone argued about it forever after (I take Hume's side, personally).

Read More

It's been a crazy week of travelling for me. Last weekend I was camping in a field in Wales at a wedding party, which was great fun, even though it rained all night and my tent leaked. I then went out to Seattle for a week of particle physics stuff, also fun, getting home late last night after an exhausting overnight flight via Chicago. Problem with flying long-haul at this time of year—the only affordable options involve long and awkward stopovers.

Read More

The Cutier Mark Crusaders are on spiritual or philosophical quest to discover the self. Some philosophers like Descartes, refer to the self as an individual entity expressed by the conduct and discourse of said individual. In the case of Descartes he came up with "Cogito ergo sum," or I think therefore I am. Lao Tzu philosophized that, "Knowing others is wisdom. Knowing the self is enlightenment. Mastering others requires force. Mastering the self requires strength." Plato argued that

Read More

I spent this week on a residential course on Popular Science Writing, which has left me bubbling with enthusiasm for putting together my own book proposal. I cycled into town this morning to visit the science section of my local bookstore and get some reference material. While there, I also decided to stop off at my college just to see if I had any mail—only to find the entire street had been closed off and was swarming with security trying to hold back a dense crowd, holding their phones high

Read More