bbrown

I'd say that it's definitely a package deal. What are they trying to gain? The prestige of a coherent philosophy while undercutting it with their bastardizations. That's the best case, I think. At worst, they're actively trying to subvert it.

Volition is self-evident and axiomatic. The concept of proof presupposes free will since it presumes that people can be persuaded otherwise. If people were determined to believe a certain thing, why would proof be necessary or possible? If they're asking you to prove that free will exists, they're proving it themselves by expecting proof. This whole question is akin to people who doubt whether there's actually a reality out there. How are you going to bridge the gap between you and these nuts? Hopefully, you don't expect to. If they don't grok your using choice while denying choice argument, then you would be right in just pointing that out and ending the discussion. There's no bridge possible until they realize that; they're beyond the pale, so to speak.

Also, Adam Mossoff recently posted an essay from a law review entitled "Is Copyright Property?" here.

Exactly. Philosophical detection is always a great way to get a post.

One thing that I do to help me get through content doldrums is to have several essay ideas at the ready, keep a bookmarks folder called "Stuff to Post" that I can dig into whenever I need to, and I read widely looking for other people's content that I can riff off of.

I have three on my site: bblog, Found on the Web, and PregoBlog. I also am one of the collaborators at Phoenix Bloggers—seemingly the only one.

Interesting thread. I wrote a longish essay about the Great Depression that took exactly the opposite tact: "Inherent in the System" I argued that the Great Depression's frontmost cause was the Federal Reserve. I address the dramatic expansion of bank credit in the period 1922 to 1928 that occurred primarily because of relaxation of credit at the Fed (there's more to it then that, look for the phrase "1922-1928 credit expansion" about halfway through my essay). In fact, the Federal Reserve's meddling with the economy leads me to suggest that the gyrations are inherent in the system. That we don't have many nowadays shows how we've grown accustomed to Fed machinations and have incorporated them into our economic calculations.

I just participated in an extensive discussion (126 comments) on this very subject over at Signal v. Noise if anyone wants to read more.

Knowing the #AynRand crew a little better, I'd say that it's important to understand the context that surrounds that question. The quiz from which it is drawn is the equivalent of a purity test. It's owners believe that you can't be wrong if you are "honestly, genuinely certain" because wrongness is a surefire indicator that you're not "honestly, genuinely certain." It's a handy tautology that underlies the channel owner's belief in his own infallibility. This, at least, was his understanding back when I last had a run-in with him back in 1998. Knowing his personality, I am confident that he still believes exactly that. If the original post was honestly curious about the strict interpretation of the question (rather than the odd context behind it), then I think theDude is correct if he recognizes that certainty is contextual (which he seems to).

AIM: asubbrown Yahoo: eudaimonist

I couldn't even register because it said that my email address was invalid. Apparently, they haven't gotten wind of the .info or .biz TLDs yet. So I thought I'd helpfully let them know about the oversight. Except that leaving any sort of feedback at all is a member function. Yes, there's absolutely no way to make them aware of the problem. Hopefully, they come here sometime.

Great site. I think I remember checking it out before it bloomed. Wish I had registered: I could have had a *really* low member number. I'm a web developer in Phoenix, Arizona. I got a bachelor's in history from Arizona State University in 1999 and entered their graduate program in Western History the following semester. I have been progressing slowly but surely in that endeavor, though I haven't gone for two semesters now since I'm having two children in a matter of a month. I had initially wanted to become a professor of history, but I've since re-aligned my goals so that a professorship is an incidental goal. There's just too much money and opportunity in Web pursuits. I still love history, of course, so I still want to get my PhD and teach at night. That way I can do what I love while still earning the money to keep my family fed (not that I don't love Web development, but I'm more of a writer than a coder). I run the Bill Brown Information Center and several blogs on that site: bblog, Found on the Web, and PregoBlog. I'm gradually converting my fairly static Web site over to being a dynamic, data-driven one so that I can update any particle of content from any terminal in the world. That's me in a nutshell, though I've got a bio page with more details if you're interested.

Another great way to get traffic is to go to other people's blogs and leave comments. Of course, you can't just whore for traffic ("Visit my site!!") so you'll need to leave something substantive. What's great is that the more substantive your comment, the more likely people reading the comment will click through to your blog. If your blog's content doesn't fulfill that expectation, though, those who clicked through won't bookmark you or subscribe to your feed. The first task, then, is having great content and updating it regularly. That's the best advice I can give you. It really is a case of "If you build it, they will come." Except that it's going to take awhile to build up the audience.

My favorite film composer is without a doubt Ennio Morricone, of spaghetti western fame. It's harsh and at times atonal, but when it's good it's great. I've only met one other person who's heard of him and enjoys his music. As for more general music, I like a wide variety of genres: trance, swing, alternative, pop, jazz, ragtime, Dixieland, and "Weird Al" Yankovic (who is sort of sui generis). It really depends on the activity I'm undertaking and the mood I'm in. When I'm coding, I want hard, driving, lyric-free trance music. When I'm relaxing, give me some Dave Brubeck or Scott Joplin. If I'm cheery, I'll take some John Mayer or Amy Grant (the non-religious songs of course).