The Practical Side of Philosophy

...ol. But as to how to get that self-study program going, I recently found a book that covers the history of philosophy in a clear and entertaining format: Oxford professor Anthony Kenny’s A Brief History of Western Philosophy. I also struggled through Charles Taylor’s A Secular Age, a difficult but worthwhile tome that completely changed my view of history. You can listen to a five part interview with Taylor via the Canadian Broadcasting Company’s...

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The Blue Bear

...of that trip, disjointed and frozen in amber. 1) I had a Little Dot comic book (presumably purchased to keep me quiet on the trip) which just fascinated me. 2) I had to sleep on a couch under the gaze of a stuffed moose head, which was absolutely terrifying. Clutching the Little Dot book helped the terrors to some extent. 3) I remember meeting my great-grandparents at what I assume was their front door. I remember that I stood the height of my gr...

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RIP Toby Hemenway

...Mollison’s concepts for those of us with small spaces to tend. In his last book he merged permaculture with the City Repair movement and looked at ways we can improve our communities. We desperately need voices like Hemenway’s in this moment of crisis. He will be missed. Someone I greatly admire, Toby Hemenway needs our help. Hemenway is a permaculturalist and a gifted author of books such as Gaia’s Garden and The Permaculture City. In 2015 he was...

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Saturday Tweets: Squirrels and Other Stuff

...e https://t.co/78VxfA1FNq — Root Simple (@rootsimple) January 13, 2017 New book of seminal essays and ideas from the iconic Whole Earth Catalog https://t.co/EzVRGlLMjl — Root Simple (@rootsimple) January 13, 2017 Researchers design a handheld centrifuge that only costs 20 cents to make https://t.co/j1aPLieniW — Root Simple (@rootsimple) January 13, 2017 DIY String Light Chandelier for $40 https://t.co/jYVj6Aayt2 — Root Simple (@rootsimple) January...

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Escaping the AI Vampire Castle

...AI generated children’s stories. This is just part of a flood of scammy AI books on Amazon. The AI children’s books advertised on my Kindle combine titles that have an English-as-a-second-language vibe, vaguely Manga style cover illustrations and author names such as “Leanor Varelade” that either yield no search results or are close to the names of real people (Leonor Varela is a Chilean actress). In short these books are what you would get if you...

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