New additions to the Heap…

Discussion welcome.

1. “Within the ring of light lies what is straightforwardly knowable through common sense or mainstream science” but philosophy “lives in the penumbra of darkness” — and even as that light grows, says Eric Schwitzgebel (UC Riverside), just beyond it “there will always be darkness”—and philosophy
2. “The scientific community has generally done a poor job of explaining to the public that science is what is known so far” — H. Holden Thorp, the editor in chief of Science, on why the history and philosophy of science should be part of the science curriculum (via Nathan Nobis)
3. “Ancient Wisdom in the Digital Age” — Tamar Gendler (Yale) discusses an experimental course she taught on philosophy and its forms
4. “If you’re going to be a philosopher, learn about the world, learn about the science… Scientists are just as capable of making philosophical mistakes… as any lay people [and] they need the help of informed philosophers” — an interview with Daniel Dennett (Tufts)
5. “I’m curious about why these kinds of places have such a spellbinding aura, and I think it’s because they are analog outliers” — Evan Selinger (RIT) reflects on his obsession with a small-town family-run hotel that serves simple and delicious food
6. “The story that a sports fan engages with is a collaboratively written story; [it is] a social enterprise focused around knitting individual games into narrative arcs, stories, legends, and characterizations” — Peter Kung and Shawn Klein (ASU) on imagination and sports fandom
7. “Claude 3 Opus produces arguments that don’t statistically differ in their persuasiveness compared to arguments written by humans” — the methods and results of a study on AI persuasiveness

Mini-Heap posts usually appear when 7 or so new items accumulate in the Heap of Links, a collection of items from around the web that may be of interest to philosophers.

The Heap of Links consists partly of suggestions from readers; if you find something online that you think would be of interest to the philosophical community, please send it in for consideration for the Heap. Thank you.

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