A year ago, I started Patterson in Pursuit. Ten countries later, I want to share some thoughts about what I've learned. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe
Regardless of where people fall on the social hierarchy, they like and reinforce the system. They seek camaraderie with other people in social classes - even if they're in the bottom class. This is a difficult part of human psychology for me to deal with. For those of us who don't like this system, it can be difficult to opt-out. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe...
Does infinity really come in multiple sizes? According to mathematical orthodoxy, some infinities are bigger than others - but that's awfully hard to wrap your mind around. So, I've asked Dr. Toby Meadows from the University of Queensland to help me out. He specializes in the philosophy of mathematics and set theory. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe...
Why is the history of ideas dominated by male thinkers? Is it because women are discouraged from intellectual life - or is it because women tend to choose other careers? If we go even deeper: why do women (and men) make the choices they do? Is it because they are influenced by overwhelming societal pressures - or are they acting freely? These are the questions I've asked Dr. Michelle Boulous-Walker, who teaches at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. Get full access to Steve Patt...
Can we say true and false things about Harry Potter? If so, does that mean he exists? If not, then how can we talk about a non-existing thing? I've gotten different answers to these questions in my interviews so far. Here are some of my thoughts on the topic. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe
If we choose to argue, have we presupposed an ethical framework? Is "self-ownership" a concept that cannot coherently be doubted? To help me answer these questions, I'm joined by Stephan Kinsella, who is one of the most prominent supporters of "argumentation ethics." He claims that ownership is inescapable . Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe...
Don't take my word for it, but the experts might not be so expert... Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe
Does consciousness "emerge" from physical phenomena? What does "emerge" even mean? If we grant that consciousness emerges, and that it has a distinct ontological status, doesn't that imply dualism? To help me answer these questions, I spoke with Dr. Braddon-Mitchell at the University of Sydney. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe...
I grew up in a Christian Evangelical household. This is my experience with religious fundamentalism. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe
Are the foundations of mathematics rock-solid? Are we allowed to doubt them? How central is the concept of "infinity" to modern mathematics - and has the logic of infinity been fully worked out? To help me answer these questions, I've traveled to Sydney, Australia to interview an unorthodox mathematician on the topic. Dr. Norman Wildberger is also skeptical of the modern foundations of mathematics - even though he's a teaching professor at the University of New South Wales - and he has a popular...
There are no infinite things - no infinite sets, magnitudes, densities, shapes, distances, or anything else. Every thing is exactly the way it is. It has boundaries and is therefore finite. If this is true, then we have a great amount of work ahead of us, re-founding modern mathematics on a more solid logical ground. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe...
Breakdown of the interview I had with Dr. Patrick Girard about paraconsistent logic. Nothing is both true and false at the same time. Any logical theory that suggests otherwise is catastrophically flawed. There are no true logical contradictions, and if we get this wrong, we eliminate any chance of internal incoherence in our theories. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe...
How to replace one theory with another. You must accomplish three things: 1) Explain where the dominant theory is wrong. 2) Explain why your theory solves the problem in #1, while preserving its explanatory power. 3) Explain why the incorrect theory still had predictive power. Do those three, and you've made a compelling case for a paradigm shift. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe...
Are all boundaries artificial? Is "the self" a real thing, or is it just an illusion? Does anything have essence ? These are the questions I'm breaking down from my interview with Dr. Janet Gyatso from Harvard. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe
This is the most personal article I've written. It's about love - but it's not meant to make you feel fuzzy. I believe love is the highest state of human existence, but getting to a loving state of mind is incredibly hard, and it comes coupled with a great deal of pain. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe
Resting at the heart of modern mathematics is the concept of infinite sets . It's a notoriously difficult concept, and in my own evaluation, it strikes me as logically contradictory. So, I accept an invitation to talk with an ex-mathematician who specializes in set theory - perhaps he can set me straight and help me understand the basic ways of thinking about these "completed infinities." Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe...
I can't help but notice the West's reaction to the Charlie Hebdo massacre. It's so abstract. If I were to be cynical, I'd say that people's reactions are fake. They don't really care about the tragedy; they care about social signaling to their peers. Original article here: http://steve-patterson.com/charlie-hebdo-excuse-take-selfies/ Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe...
Great show this week covering the social justice warrior phenomenon - the origins, causes, and damage that could be created if these people gain political power. We also talk about the liberalisation of New Zealand during the 80's, "trickle-down ideologies", and the impact of relativism in higher ed. My guest is Dr. Jamie Whyte, who has a background in philosophy, studied at Cambridge, and saw first-hand the popularity of irrationalism within the academic system. Get full access to Steve Patters...
What were the indigenous beliefs of the Māori people of New Zealand? How did they view the world? How did they react when met with the first Christian settlers? I'm joined by Dr. Hirini Kaa to help me answer these questions. We talk about the Maori worldview, history, religion, and impact of colonialism on New Zealand's indigenous people. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe...
What is truth? Can we know anything about it? Is truth about propositions, or is it about the world? Can a proposition be true and false at the same time? What about the infamous liar's paradox? My guest this week thinks that logical contradictions are unavoidable - but also that they aren't as big a deal as classical logicians make them out to be. I think contradictions are a very big deal, so naturally, we have a great discussion. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson...
This is Part II of the conversation I had with T.K. Coleman about race relations in the United States. We continue talking about the importance of intention versus action - focusing on people feelings versus focusing on their behavior. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe
A timely interview on the subject of race in America. Ideas matter, and some of them matter urgently. This is one of those topics where respectful, honest, and reasonable conversation is in high demand and short supply. I hope my guest T.K. Coleman will spend a few more episodes diving into the subject with me, because we only scratched the surface here. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe...
The theory of physicalism does not fully explain all the phenomena that I experience. The toolbox of concepts must expand. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe
Omnipotent. Omniscient. Omnibenevolent. These are the descriptions that theists often give when talking about God. But are they the only conceptions of God that are possible? My guest today is Dr. John Bishop, who has written about non-standard conceptions of theism. We talk about his criticisms of the OmniGod, in addition to some fundamental concepts about faith and belief. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe...
Do we live in a post-truth world? What does that term even mean? I'm joined by Dr. Robert Nola, who has been teaching at the University of Auckland for almost half a century. We discuss fundamental questions about truth, talk about what "post-truth" means, and also cover the methodology of "faith" in the philosophy of religion. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe...
What is the cause of somebody's stroke? Is it the laws of physics? The mechanics of biology? Or perhaps it's caused by the choices that they made? Is it all of the above? My guest today is Dr. Mario De Caro, who has an interesting answer to these questions. He is a metaphysical pluralist, who believes in multiple categories of existence and causation, each of which is not reducible to the other. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe...
The bittersweet paradox is another popular irrationalist argument, which claims that two mutually exclusive things can be experienced together - happy and sad, black and white, bitter and sweet. Once again, this type of argument falls short, and precise language clears up any confusion. It conflates the appearance of mutual exclusivity with actual mutual exclusivity. If two things are mutually exclusive, then they cannot be experienced together. If they are experienced together, it's a demonstra...
Merry Christmas and Bah Humbug! This is an analysis of my interview with a Christian theologian from Cambridge. I wasn't a big fan of his argument, which ultimately rested on a dubious distinction between "who" and "what." Also in this episode: my attempt at rationally explaining the connection between Jesus and the Christian God. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe...
Drug prohibition causes more harm than good - that's the argument from libertarians like Dr. Jeff Miron of Harvard. He analyzes the topic from an economic and practical standpoint. In this episode, we also discuss the role of government in providing a social safety net. Can private charity do a better job than public charity? Jeff thinks so, and I agree with him. Get full access to Steve Patterson's Substack at stevepatterson.substack.com/subscribe...
For the last decade, I've been searching for certain foundations, and finally, I've found them. Logic represents the foundation for all knowledge, and it's the subject of my first book on philosophy: Square One: The Foundations of Knowledge . If you are interested in objective truth, certain knowledge, and logic, then pick up a copy. Anybody can read it and understand - it's not written for academics, and it doesn't contain useless jargon. All of my work - present and future - draws from the ide...
