A reader asked: “@SRCHicks: can you point to any examples where the greatest haters are priests, as Nietzsche claims? I find this fascinating but aside from the Inquisition and a litany of sexual assault cases against the weakest members of society (children) I can’t tangibly put this together.” The Nietzsche claim is from Genealogy of […]
On “The truly great haters in world history have always been priests” Read More »
Following up on two posts on the achievements of modern anatomy (“The Knife Man” and “Anatomy and Philosophy”), here is St. Augustine (354-430) disapproving of the practice: “With a cruel zeal for science, some medical men, who are called anatomists, have dissected the bodies of the dead, and sometimes even of sick persons who have
St. Augustine against anatomy and science Read More »
The UAE’s University of Sharjah and the CSR Al Ahli Group are hosting a conference on the theme of “Innovation and Global Competition”. I’ll be participating in a panel headed by Eduardo Marty on Monday, the 22nd of February 2021 from 4pm to 6pm UAE time (UTC +4). My theme is: Leadership for InnovationIf you
“Innovation and Global Competition” conference panel Read More »
From Aaron Mesh’s interview with Gregory McKelvey: “We must put ourselves in the minds of someone who probably rightfully believes the world is ending or, at a minimum, is on the brink of being unrecognizable with incredible amounts of death, pain and climate chaos. If the world is ending, some people are going to act
Educating for violence — Portland example Read More »
I was interviewed for the “Conversations with Marsha” series, part of The Great Connections program. Our theme is The Liberal Arts, What They Are and Why You Need Them. Video is below, and a rough transcription is coming soon.
Real Liberal Education: interviewed by Marsha Enright Read More »
[I’m teaching biomedical ethics this semester and so revisiting some posts on innovation and progress.] Current infant mortality rates are less than half of one percent, and it is awful for parents who lose a child. But in the 1700s, infant mortality rates were over 50%. I came across this in Robert K. Massie’s Catherine
Some appalling infant mortality numbers from history Read More »
We are having two debates at the same time, on both sides of the mind/body split: Person A says: “Let good and bad germs fight it out in our bodies. That’s how individuals and groups develop physical strength.”Also: “Let good and bad ideas fight it out in our minds. That’s how individuals and groups develop
Covid and Social Media: the same debate in two forms Read More »
I guest-hosted The Atlas Society Asks program and interviewed classicist Victor Davis Hanson for 30-minutes on what we moderns can learn from the classics about human nature and war. Some of the questions we covered: Is a lesson of history that freer societies prevail over authoritarian ones? E.g., how the Greeks were able to defeat
Victor Davis Hanson interview: war and foreign policy Read More »
The techno-pessimists are wrong about our jobs and careers and the impact of robotics. The Robots Will Free Us is Episode 47 in my Open College with Dr. Stephen Hicks podcast series. “There’s a perennial divide between the technological optimists and the technological pessimists. We see that playing out right now among those assessing the
The Robots Will Free Us [Open College] Read More »
Progress, Potential, and Possibilities https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2AwJ7_ci3A discussion of Free to Choose Medicine (FTCM) http://www.freetochoosemedicine.com. Highlights: 05:00 Gold standard of randomized control trials versus gold standard of systems thinking 15:00 2019 Science article critical of FTCM and Madden’s reply in Econ Journal Watch https://econjwatch.org/articles/science-on-fda-liberalization-a-response-to-the-status-quo-process-for-medical-treatments 19:00 FDA culture: good people in a dysfunctional process 20:00 Way of looking
Free to Choose Medicine — Madden interviewed on Read More »