Category Archives: Religion and philosophy

Head vs heart

Posted on June 1, 2016 by BigBill

I have always lived inside my head. Or more accurately, I’ve been accused of thinking too much about stuff. I’ve been admonished to use my heart more, by which I assume what was meant was that I should be more … Continue reading →

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Same data, different conclusions

Posted on May 5, 2016 by BigBill

One of my intellectual scotomos is that I’ve always felt that if another person had access to the same information that I do, they would arrive at the same conclusions that I have. That’s patently untrue, yet I cling to … Continue reading →

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Where do the facts lead?

Posted on March 26, 2016 by BigBill

There is a price to pay for critical thinking, if you are an honest person. The scientific method is really just an organized way of consistently applying the rules of critical thinking. Let’s take a closer look at the process … Continue reading →

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“I have no need of that hypothesis”

Posted on March 5, 2016 by BigBill

Pierre-Simon Laplace was another really smart guy, by all accounts. He was a physicist, mathematician and astronomer who lived in France from 1749-1827 during some pretty turbulent times: the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. All occurred during his lifetime. … Continue reading →

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The Enlightenment and the scientific method

Posted on February 20, 2016 by BigBill

A while ago I wrote about how, when DARPA funded research leading to distributive computing and our effort to land a man on the moon drove the search for ever-more-powerful and energy-conserving computing capability, no one could possibly have envisioned … Continue reading →

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History, heliocentrism and hubris

Posted on February 18, 2016 by BigBill

Any kid of 8 in the US who’s paid the least amount of attention in school knows that the sun is the center of our solar system and that the earth revolves around it. This is of course  contrary to … Continue reading →

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Yeah, but…

Posted on December 25, 2015 by BigBill

In my previous post I talked about how it’s important to consider opposing viewpoints when examining what you believe. My position is that while generally true, there are situations where opposing perspectives should not be given equal time. In other … Continue reading →

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Occam’s law and space aliens

Posted on December 17, 2015 by BigBill

I think it’s important to be fair. Not just to people, but also to ideas. Critical thinking (of which I am a huge fan) requires that you carefully examine available information before deciding what’s “right.” (And by the way, that … Continue reading →

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An examined life: The Good Life

Posted on September 19, 2015 by BigBill

The movie Saving Private Ryan opens and closes with a scene set in the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial overlooking Omaha Beach. In front of Captain John Miller’s grave marker (the man played by Tom Hanks in the movie), Ryan … Continue reading →

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An examined life (part 3)

Posted on September 12, 2015 by BigBill

I’ve already noted that the process of examining one’s life is more than figuring out who you are, but of determining the “ideal you.” Once the ideal is established, a critical examination of who you actually are in comparison to who … Continue reading →

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