Who's Right? Who's Wrong?
The papers, some say, have it all.
Some philosophers saw them as a menace.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Monday, April 7, 2008
On Internet . . . Disembodied "Life"
For those of us who believe that any significant part of life can be fulfilled through an Internet-ridden existence and experience, Hubert Dreyfus' book On the Internet (2001) may be a necessary remedy and a good wake-up call.
Yes, he is the philosopher who shook the AI world by publishing his What Computers Can't Do (1972), updating it with What Computers Still Can't Do (1997).
I studied with Dreyfus for about two years, mostly focusing on philosophy of AI and a bit on Heidegger. This was during the seven years I spent studying Logic and Methodology of Science at Berkeley. It was a pleasant surprise to see his On the Internet come out. With about one hundred pages of text, it is a very tight extension of his philosophical analysis to the world of Internet.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
The Porter
This porter still carries the ancient porters' back brace, made to drive goods through the narrow allies of the bazar.
He could be 60 or seventy but he still carries the load for any customer who is willing to pay.
Women are his primary customers although he shies not from the men either.
His profession is an endangered one.
He could be 60 or seventy but he still carries the load for any customer who is willing to pay.
Women are his primary customers although he shies not from the men either.
His profession is an endangered one.
Displaying One's Goods
The art of display is the art of life.
We display our skills, our devotions, our hopes, emotions and fears.
Often, display decides who buys what where and when.
We display our skills, our devotions, our hopes, emotions and fears.
Often, display decides who buys what where and when.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Learning Together
Their ages tell the story.
The younger learns form the older and the older from the oldest.
There's much to learn, even in this narrow shop, selling trays, in the summer, when the schools are out.
A shop, even a small one, can be a microcosm of the whole world.
How many people can sit in a shop this small and learn about the world?
Or should I ask "how many generations"?
The younger learns form the older and the older from the oldest.
There's much to learn, even in this narrow shop, selling trays, in the summer, when the schools are out.
A shop, even a small one, can be a microcosm of the whole world.
How many people can sit in a shop this small and learn about the world?
Or should I ask "how many generations"?
Friday, August 10, 2007
Sometimes Pictures ...
Sometimes, pictures can tell or cover-up whole stories—more than any news report or any press conference can.
In the English-speaking world, John Berger, more than any art critique I know, has shown how pictures and looking can disclose a great deal about events, people and places. (See his Ways of Seeing and class of the same name by Professor Lori Landay at UC Berkeley.)
When I write this entry, i.e. during lunch hour on August 8, 2007, two of the three pictures above are less than 24 hours old.
What do the pictures tell you?
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