Exploring the Purpose of Things

In the UK from 2013 to 2016 there were old Etonians in three important posts: Prime Minister, Mayor of London, and Archibishop of Canterbury...

While surveillance has been a recurring topic on this blog, the technological environment has developed significantly over the past twenty y...

The word data comes from the Latin meaning that which is given . So one might think it is entirely appropriate to use the word for our DNA,...

When my friend A was still going out with women, other friends would sometimes ask if he was gay. An intuitive ability to guess the sexualit...

For dog owners, the intelligence of dogs shows itself (among other things) in their ability to learn tricks. For cat owners, the intelligenc...

An interesting exchange on Twitter between the mainstream media and the owner of Twitter, which came to my attention via @ RMac18 and @ kar...

Andreas Wagner notes the long time that elapsed between the first appearance of grass and its ecological dominance. He argues that delayed s...

There is a narrative about accelerating technological change, which appears to be supported by an increasing volume of patent activity. I ha...

@ daily_barbarian (Geoff Shullenberger) describes René Girard as politically ambivalent. He codes as right-wing in his insistence on the n...

@ kkomaitis and @ j2bryson discuss the anniversary of the New Yorker cartoon On the Internet nobody knows you're a dog . Obviously th...