After 12 years, my book “Gaming Cancer” is out. Its basic premise is that by embedding scientific problems into the mechanics of different kinds of games (from real-time strategies to first-person shooters) we increase our chances of finding cures to diseases like cancer.

Thanks to @robinmcpmuller and @trsam97 for such a rewarding experience. #phenomenology #merleauponty #cognitivescience

Muller denies that there are any deep rifts in Merleau-Ponty’s work, arguing that he pursues a singular philosophical project across his early, middle, and late works. She also discusses such notoriously obscure concepts as “chiasm” and “flesh” in a refreshingly clear way.

I talk about how Robin's interpretation really unlocked the text for me, by embracing its ambiguous elements and its resistance to stabilization.

Last week I was on Rahul Sam’s podcast talking about Merleau-Ponty with Robin Muller. I described how I always struggled with Merleau-Ponty, finding it difficult to organize his rich imagistic prose into a systematic theory. 1/4 https://t.co/UjCnL1atuq

A discussion on Merleau-Pontyan philosophy, cognitive science and ambiguity being fundamental to reality. @JeffYoshimi @robinmcpmuller

In the end Kant ignored Hamann’s response, which insulted Hamann. A byproduct of the affair was that it introduced Kant to Rousseau. Beiser’s book is “The Fate of Reason: German Philosophy from Kant to Fichte” (Harvard University Press). #Philosophy #Kant #Education

The longer discussion is fascinating, a capsule summary of the conflict between enlightenment and romanticism, between optimism and pessimism about reason. This whole section of Beiser’s book is a lively and fascinating read, filled with all kinds of juicy details.

Hamann described a plan that he knew Kant would reject, and warned against a wise teacher such as Kant corrupting the "majestic” innocence of children, saying “It is as easy for the learned to preach as it is for them to deceive”. Beiser called this the “Kinderphysic Fiasco.”

In his 30s Kant had the idea of writing a physics book for children with the romantic philosopher Johann Hamann, also known as the “Wizard of North.” Hamann turned him down in a series of passive-aggressive “love letters”. 1/

I stumbled on what I believe is an “Aizawa Attractor”, a chaotic attractor in which states travel from one side to another of an ellipsoid along spiral trajectories. It showcases the visualization capabilities of #Simbrain and also shows how discovery is facilitated by Simbrain.

I’m writing a paper where I describe scientific practice in terms of actions relative to situations. I know things like this have been said before, but I'm not sure I’ve got all the relevant sources. Who else says things like this? What should I be reading and citing?

More cool citizen science--the latest from @Eterna!

The original source on this appears to be here https://t.co/L4LrmG4PR1

Are there other known attractors for other model pairings? Are there theories of what’s going on? https://t.co/Ex6az746VI https://t.co/uML0Ycfngx

When some LLMs are set up to talk to each other, they eventually reach a state of “LLM Bliss” where they repeatedly refer to spiritual states and use spiral emojis, and sometimes become silent. Apparently the basin of attraction for this attractor is quite wide.

The book is Conflict, Arousal, and Curiosity, and it's available here: https://t.co/2bonQNhBGe #psychology #neobehaviorism #cats #play

Berlyne was one of the first psychologists to study all the things we do when we’re not just trying to stay alive. What he called “ludic behavior” includes recreation, entertainment, and idle curiosity. He put a cat messing with a typewriter at the front of one of his books.

These comments are drawn largely from Dermot Moran’s excellent discussion in his introductory text on phenomenology, though I consulted other sources, including this resource on Lambert:

he explicitly acknowledged Mach as a forerunner of phenomenology, and he characterized himself as involved in ‘a certain radicalizing of an already existing phenomenological method’”

It was these usages in Brentano and Mach that Husserl was primarily drawing on. According to Moran, “Husserl was familiar with Mach’s use of the term ‘phenomenology’ even at the beginning of his career, but later on...