At the North-East U.S. Quidditch Regional Finals last month, the Montpelier (VT) Marauders set off an international controversy by fielding 7 players who, to look at them, all seemed to be male, each one claiming to be of a different ‘gender’. “A little strange,” you might think, “but hardly major sports news, even for quidditch […]
The Pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus is known especially for his statement that Πάντα ῥεῖ, that all things flow. This has been taken to indicate the ever-changing nature of reality, with the consequence that our words, necessarily static and unchanging, cannot adequately correspond to things as they really are. One of Heraclitus’s disciples, Cratylus, made the logical […]
Computerized, voice-activated personal assistants like Siri and Cortana can do a lot to get you information and answer fact-based questions. But until now, there hasn’t been an application that could answer the real, deep questions you are asking yourself all the time, questions that require decisions. Siri and Cortana can answer things like: What time […]
As if Socrates’ trial and execution were not evidence enough, from the streets of New York City comes new proof that philosophy and politics don’t mix. Melissa Rosser, Associate Professor of Philosophy at PUNY, is a specialist in ancient philosophy. Among other areas of interest, she has written several books about the paradoxes of Zeno, […]
While Alan Turing’s famous test was passed for the first time on June 7th, by a computer that convinced one-third of the human judges that it was a thirteen-year-old boy from Ukraine, nobody is taking this seriously as an example of real artificial intelligence.1 At best, the software was a somewhat successful imitation. Less widely […]
Since Nelson Goodman’s publication of Fact, Fiction, & Forecast,1 philosophers have discussed the color known as grue, which seems identical to green before time T, but which seems identical to blue after time T. The problem with identifying grue things, of course, is that no one knew when time T would occur. Well, thanks to […]
When Gentilly resident Marc Ménard returned to his home on Tuesday, he entered his kitchen and was shocked to find someone who seemed to be himself, cooking dinner in his own kitchen. Understandably shocked, Marc ran screaming from his house, He then proceeded to a local bar, where he was even more shocked to see […]
![By Andy Dingley (scanner) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.](https://flying-news.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Six-instrument_telephone_switchboard_Rankin_Kennedy_Electrical_Installations_Vol_V_1903-200x120.jpg)
While using the automated telephone service at the First Northbrook Bank, Herbert Barnes was the witness of the cruel murder of the telephone personality who was listing his latest transactions: It was brutal, truly brutal. One minute, the female voice is listing debits and deposits, then suddenly she breaks off in the middle of an […]
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