Category Archives: Books

The Black Swan Has White Stripes

Posted on February 27, 2011 by Mike

It is one thing to say we must be careful of claims about the future. It’s quite another to say that nothing can ever be known with certitude, for this last statement is a truth claim also, but one which conveniently exempts itself. Skepticism always has this problem when it crosses the line from a suggestion of caution to a theory of knowledge. There is also the personal inconsistency that runs throughout this work the way singing runs through an opera. Continue reading →

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Mark Twain versus Samuel Clemens

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Mike

I have long had an ambivalence towards Twain. I wouldn’t cross the street to avoid him, but I wouldn’t leave him with unattended access to the dining room silver either. Having developed a reputation as a critic and cynic, Clemens began to believe his own press. He does not hesitate to put forward a very emaciated view of his fellow man, but which somehow never applies to the people he loves, or to any other real people for that matter. Continue reading →

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The joy of a physical book

Posted on September 5, 2010 by Mike

I like to write in books and hence am a late adopter of the electronic book.  Old habits die hard but I like to be able to write a lot of notes in the margins of books.  The electronic equivalent … Continue reading →

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