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Great moments in obscure rock ‘n’ roll: Nicky Hopkins, “The Ilejistry Pig,” 1966
Before he became the best-known rock pianist studio musician of the late 1960s and 1970s, he recorded this boogie-woogie number on a solo album:
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1 out of 5 (or 6) working people in the United States has lost their job in roughy the last month…
…and that is a fact that will have serious social and political consequences, and not necessarily good ones. It's hopeful that a solid majority of Americans, according to a new Pew poll, believe Trump botched the response to the new virus (he obviously botched the response, but in America, one can only expect about two-thirds…
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Mentally ill raving reactionary happens to be right about coronavirus…
…and so is featured in the NYT, thus effectively legitimizing someone who belongs in a cell.
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A useful and realistic overview of what lies ahead for America regarding the pandemic
Here, and it makes clear the costs of the criminal incompetence of the Trump Administration in failing to provide national leadership on these issues.
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“ICU Psychosis” and doubts about patient autonomy
A completely fascinating (and, at points, horrifying) account by philosopher Cheryl Misak (Toronto) of her experience being on a ventilator, and the questions it raises about the ability of patients in such conditions to participate in care decisions.
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“What’s the deal with birds?”
Predatory journal publishes hoax ornithology article. And it's not hard to tell it's a hoax: Abstract Many people wonder: what’s the deal with birds? This is a common query. Birds are pretty weird. I mean, they have feathers. WTF? Most other animals don’t have feathers. To investigate this issue, I looked at some birds. I…
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22 million unemployed in the U.S. in the last month…
…which probably means that total U.S. unemployment is around 20%. If that level of unemployment lasts or increases, we are heading towards trouble in this benighted country.
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Allegory for capitalism?
German zoo may have to feed some animals to others. (I owe the post title to a friend on FB.)
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Blast from the past: when philosophers had to issue a statement in defense of academic freedom to discuss issues related to sex and gender
Only last summer but it seems like another era. I wonder how many of the absurd miscreants are still at it? UPDATE: A senior philosopher elsewhere writes: "I'm not plugged into social media, but I've also wondered whether this crisis has inspired philosophy's woke brigade to endeavors more serious than narcissistic moral preening. I rather…
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“Precarity capitalism”
Helpful review of what sounds like a worthwhile book.
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Greece faring well with COVID-19…
…thanks to proactive political leadership.
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Why Berkeley’s mandatory diversity statements are unlawful
My CHE essay is no longer behind the paywall.
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Most readers now know someone with COVID-19
With about 500 responses since yesterday evening to the poll, 59% of readers now know someone with COVID-19, up from 32% three weeks ago. 30% know 1 or 2 people with COVID, 21% know 3-5 folks, while 5% know 6-10, and 2% report knowing 11-20 people with the illness.
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Two philosophers win ACLS Fellowships in 2019-20 competition
They are: Marcus Adams (SUNY-Albany) and Jennifer Hawkins (Duke).
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A nice note from a philosopher in New York City, with two interesting twists
A NYC philosopher writes: Just a quick note to thank you for the helpful information on your blog. Even my upstairs neighbor, an immunologist in the thick of things, often finds your links helpful. It’s interesting to reflect on all the ways your blog has helped over the decades, going far beyond its original purpose.…
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How many people do you know with COVID-19?
Back on March 22 I ran a poll of readers to find out how many knew someone with COVID-19. Most did not. I imagine things have changed for most readers, as they have for me: then I knew a handful of colleagues in other cities who had COVID-19; since then, folks in Chicago I know…
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2020 Lebowitz Prize awarded to philosophers Agnes Callard (Chicago) and L.A. Paul (Yale)
The APA announcement is here. Congratulations to them both!
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Frances Egan (Rutgers) wins 2020 Jean Nicod Prize in philosophy of mind
MOVING TO FRONT FROM YESTERDAY–UPDATED You can see a list of past winners here, including Jerry Fodor, Fred Dretske, Stephen Stich, Gilbert Harman, Ruth Millikan, Ned Block, and Tyler Burge, among many others. UPDATE: Here's Richard Marshall's old interview with Professor Egan.
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“Journal entries”
Philosophers and cognitive scientists discuss their recent articles, hosted by Wesley Buckwalter (Manchester). (Thanks to Jim Nichols for the poiniter.)
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Increase in cardiac arrests really due to COVID-19?
Just to add to the litany of misery and uncertainty: New York is reporting a significant increase in emergency calls related to cardiac issues, and we know that the coronavirus is also resulting in heart damage (either due to the virus itself or the body's reaction to the virus) (see also). (Thanks to Dr. David…
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Three philosophers win Guggenheim Fellowships in 2019-20 competition
They are: Sarah Buss (Michigan), Robert Gooding-Williams (Columbia), and Susanna Schellenberg (Rutgers).
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Great moments in obscure rock ‘n’ roll: Jimmy Page & friends, “Burn Up,” 1968
Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Nicky Hopkins (on piano) and other lesser-known friends recorded an album in 1967 (released in 1968 as No Introduction Necessary), from which this bluesy number comes: (Thanks to Ken Brown for correcting the information about the year and origin of this track.)
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In Memoriam: Joel Kupperman (1936-2020)
Professor Kupperman, a longtime member of the philosophy faculty at the University of Connecticut (where he was emeritus), was especially well-known for his contributions to moral philosophy and Asian (especially, but not only, Chinese) philosophy. The UConn memorial notice is here. (Thanks to Don Baxter for the pointer.)
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Fucking moron watch: Louisiana pastor to hold Easter services for 2,000…
…and he's even explicit about his "thinking": “Satan and a virus will not stop us,” Rev. Tony Spell told Reuters. “God will shield us from all harm and sickness. We are not afraid. We are called by God to stand against the Antichrist creeping into America’s borders. We will spread the Gospel"…. “Like any zealot or…
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All about serology-based tests for COVID-19
Here. (Thanks to Dr. David Ozonoff for the pointer.)
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Blood pressure meds and COVID-19, once again
Some high blood pressure medications–the ARBs (e.g., losartan)–may in fact helpin patients with COVID-19. The science is complicated, but here's a crucial bit from this article: Using ARBs to combat the virus is a more promising approach. As Penninger’s team showed, SARS-CoV reduced the abundance of ACE2, causing hypertension and lung failure in mice. If…
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Our fascination with apocalyptic scenarios
Philosopher Stephen De Wizje (Manchester) comments.
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Warmke on Manne
This is pretty apt, regarding Twitter's favorite feminist philosopher.
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New German study of infection and virus transmission (the problem, again, is close contact, not doorknobs!)
This study out of Germany looks to be important in terms of our understanding of how the virus spreads; an excerpt: "So far, no transmission of the virus in supermarkets, restaurants or hairdressers has been proven," explained Bonn virologist Hendrik Streeck on the ZDF Markus Lanz talk show. Instead, the major outbreaks have been the…
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10% of high school seniors (in new survey) who had been planning on college may be changing their plans
Alarming if it materializes.
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COVID-19 responses white papers…
…from the Safra Center at Harvard, with contributions by philosophers, economists, legal scholars, political theorists, and others. (Thanks to Susanna Siegel for the pointer.)
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Should students sitting on admissions offers with financial aid accept before other schools do what Arizona did?
The University of Arizona has always faced a difficult financial situation, with its tuition kept artificially low at the same time a slightly crazy legislature regularly underfunds the public system. Among the publics with top PhD programs, I think Arizona has probably had the most trouble, although things have gotten more difficult in recent years…
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University of Arizona did not revoke funding from PhD students who had accepted offers of admission…
…as another amateurish blog irresponsibly reported. I got the same e-mails about the rumors, but actually bothered to check with the department. I'm awaiting more information, but I thought I should post this given the misinformation being put into circulation. UPDATE: Philosopher Michael McKenna (Arizona) gave me permission to share the e-mail he sent to…
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Reaction formation watch: orthodox Israeli minister who said the coronavirus was “divine punishment” for homosexuality…
…has now tested positive for the virus. At least his secret is now out in the open! UPDATE: It looks like that story was based on a confusion between the minister, who did test positive, and another orthodox rabbi who did make the outrageous comment about the cornavirus.
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New study of nearly 1600 patients requiring intensive care in Northern Italy
Here. From the summary of results: Of the 1591 patients included in the study, the median (IQR) age was 63 (56-70) years and 1304 (82%) were male. Of the 1043 patients with available data, 709 (68%) had at least 1 comorbidity and 509 (49%) had hypertension. Among 1300 patients with available respiratory support data, 1287…
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Everything you say is true, but what is the alternative? I don’t think people are advocating a return to in-class…
The discussion here assumes an institutional context where returning to supervised in-person assessment is at least theoretically feasible, a reasonable…
Cyber security professional here -reliably determining when a computational artifact (file, etc.) was created is *hard*. This is sorta why…
Agreed with the other commentator. It is extremely unlikely that Pangram’s success is due to its cheating by reading metadata.
I see this question as a bit naïve. There is metadata on every document created by a modern word processor…
There’s a simple way to test. Open a pre-2022 essay and copy-and-paste it into a new file.
To be worth using, a detector needs not only (A) not get very many false positives, but also (B) get…