Author: Huenemann

If you saw a long line and a short line, and a whole crowd of people called the short line longer, what would you say? See the results, and other humiliating ones, here.

The philosophy community at USU is shocked and saddened to learn of the sudden death of Peggy Sherlock, Richard’s wife. Peggy was vibrant and big-hearted, with a quick wit, ready laugh, and warm soul. Our heartfelt condolences go to to the Sherlock family.

UPDATE: Peggy’s obituary.

“Why are we as a species so often so desperately poor at achieving our goals? If we are, as the selfish-gene theory would have it, organisms that exist only to serve the interests of our genes, why do we waste so much of our time doing things that are not, in any obvious way, remotely in the interest of our genes? How can one explain, for example, why a busy undergraduate would spend four weeks playing “Halo 3″ rather than studying for his exams?”

Read more here.

Foreign Policy is having a contest to find the top 20. You can see the top 100 and cast your vote here. Remember, it’s top public intellectuals; not top “people with gravitas and compelling ideas.” Seems like a good list. Oliver Sacks should be on it, I think.

Anyone with a fast internet connection should have a bookmark to TED talks. Here is a link. TED is an organization (Technology, Education, and Design) which sponsors conferences at which major idea-people get together and offer short lectures or performances. You can watch anyone from Bill Clinton to Stephen Hawking to Jimmy Wales (Wikipedia) to Jane Goodall to Daniel Dennett, etc. “Ideas worth spreading” is its tagline. Watching a couple over a week, during lunch, or during a 20-minute down-time, really gets you thinking about many new and exciting possibilities.