Philosophy Mondays
So far on Continuations I have had two big series: Tech Tuesdays and Uncertainty Wednesdays (since I have migrated to Paragraph these have become somewhat buried but I will fix that). Both series ran over several years and I greatly enjoyed writing them. More recently I have been in a writing rut. To get me out of it I will attempt to write regularly again and this time the topic will be philosophy. My plan is to post on Mondays. Let’s see how it goes. These posts will be less an exposition of past or contemporary philosophers and much more my own musings. In other words: YMMV.
What do I even mean by philosophy? To me philosophy is a set of ideas that helps people live by motivating their efforts and informing their decisions. These ideas should meet some criteria:
Accessibility: the ideas need to be understandable by everyday people. Philosophy that is cloaked in impenetrable language is, as far as I am concerned, useless. If I present ideas here in a way that people can’t follow, please call me out on it and I will try to do better.
Consistency: the ideas shouldn’t be in obvious contradiction with each other. That doesn’t mean that there can’t be tensions. Life after all is full of trade-offs. But “an eye for an eye” versus “turn the other cheek” feels like a pretty big inconsistency. I have written before about why consistency is an important aspect of personal philosophy.
Validity: there should be some evidence that the ideas are sound. For one there should be some reason to expect that the ideas can help individuals and communities. Also the ideas should be informed by our scientific understanding of the world.
What are my goals with this new series beyond getting myself to write more? First, I love thinking about philosophical questions and as always forcing myself to write will dramatically improve the quality of my thinking. It is way too easy to wing arguments in conversation. Second, LLMs are exciting new writing and thought partners. Philosophical ideas will be a fertile ground for exploration. Third, as I have pointed out in my book The World After Capital, there is an urgent need for a philosophy that supports living in a post-industrial age. I call the next age the Knowledge Age and I make a strong plug for a renewed humanism as the proper philosophy. In this series I am planning to develop these ideas further.
Here are some topics I am planning to cover (please add suggestions in the comments)
the role of language
the power and limitations of knowledge
the source and nature of values
the possibility of free will
the relationship between consciousness and identity
the nature of meaning and purpose in a high automation world
the role of uncertainty and probability in ethical decision-making
the intersection between technology and human nature
I am sure that people who have studied more philosophy than I may find some of my approaches to be rather pedestrian. I am super happy for feedback. After all, one of the best ways to learn is to be wrong on the Internet.
Illustration by Claude Sonnet 3.5 based on a conversation about this series.
Some topics I think would be interesting: - Veridicality (the nature of truth) - The philosophy of power - The nature of rationality, and its converse, perhaps "unrationality" - Spirituality (which could be viewed as an extension of philosophy) - The philosophy of energy, as it is the fundamental substance which powers all life, as well as natural selection - Computational irreducibility
Wow, that is quite a list of topics! I was going to pitch you on our new social election campaigning platform/app - the "level playing field" Silicon Valley forgot to build (circa 2010) when the Internet gave us the infrastructure to make the business model finally work - but now I'm wondering about your thoughts on whether self-sacrifice is virtuous, or do we have the right (morally) to pursue our own happiness? Happy New Year! jg
Welcome to the *30th edition of Paragraph Picks*, highlighting a few hand-selected pieces from the past couple of weeks.
@naomiii grapples with the disillusionment of working in tech, questioning the inevitability of AI-driven futures and profit-driven motives while advocating for more human-centric, meaningful, and creative spaces online. "We are obsessed with purposes that are dead ends. We see money as an end and lose our sense of everything that is worth living for." https://paragraph.xyz/@cryptonao/idealism
@bethanymarz describes how communities are being reimagined through hyperlocal initiatives, bespoke coworking spaces, co-living communities, and pop-up cities, signaling the emergence of a “neighborverse” where human connection is being redefined. "While it’s all still very grassroots, I do hope that this collection of community-builder initiatives is an indication that we are tipping toward a larger pattern of what it means to rethink neighborhoods, communities, and hyper-local connection." https://hardmodefirst.xyz/the-new-neighborverse
@albertwenger explores the nature of knowledge, arguing for a middle-ground approach that acknowledges both the certainty of scientific knowledge and the inherent limitations of historical and philosophical inquiry, advocating for a balanced, evolving understanding of reality. "If we apparently can’t know some things, maybe we can’t really know anything at all." https://continuations.com/philosophy-mondays-knowledge