I am linking to a paper of mine (‘Knowledge-Theoretic Properties of Strategic Voting’, co-authored with Eric Pacuit and Rohit Parikh) of possible relevance in the context of the just-decided elections and the importance of election season polling. Here is the abstract. (I am traveling and so unable to write a longer comment at this time).Continue reading “Strategic Voting and Election Season Polls”
Category Archives: Philosophy
A Nation in Identity Crisis?
Just for kicks, I thought it might be interesting, on the day after the 2012 election, to think of the US as a nation undergoing an adolescent identity crisis. I do this in response to some post-election commentary that seems to suggest the demographic shift in the US has engendered one, forcing political parties acrossContinue reading “A Nation in Identity Crisis?”
The Snowtown Murders: John Bunting and his Barrels
Snowtown (aka The Snowtown Murders) is one of the most difficult movies I’ve ever seen. It took me three viewings to finish watching it: I called the first one off because the accumulated horror and dismay had become too much; I restarted it hours later, stopped again after a few minutes, and then finally, onContinue reading “The Snowtown Murders: John Bunting and his Barrels”
Flying Solo, As Author, For a Change
Sometime this week or the next, my fourth book, Brave New Pitch: The Evolution of Modern Cricket (HarperCollins India 2012), will make its way to bookstores and online book-sellers. My fourth book differs in one crucial regard from those that have preceded it: I have not co-authored it with anyone; its jacket lists but oneContinue reading “Flying Solo, As Author, For a Change”
I See Your Pet Lover and Raise You J.R. Ackerley
Natural disasters, especially hurricanes like Hurricane Sandy, always bring forth, besides flooding, stories of dedicated pet lovers, of dogs, cats and mynah birds rescued and cared for in myriad ways by their doting owners, nay, family members. In that spirit, I bring you J. R. Ackerley and Queenie. Today…Ackerley is remembered primarily as a memoiristContinue reading “I See Your Pet Lover and Raise You J.R. Ackerley”
Displacements of, Not Solutions to, Philosophical Problems: A Quick Primer
A close, critical reader is worth his weight in gold. I am reminded of this whenever I share a bit of writing with someone who proceeds to clear up confusions deftly and rapidly, and sometimes, represents my position better than I had managed. In part of a rough piece of writing tucked away somewhere, IContinue reading “Displacements of, Not Solutions to, Philosophical Problems: A Quick Primer”
If Machines Do All The ‘Work’, What Will Humans Do?
At The Atlantic Moshe Vardi wonders about the consequences of machine intelligence. Vardi’s article features the subtitle ‘If machines are capable of doing any work that humans can do, then what will humans do?’ and is occasioned by the following: While the loss of millions of jobs over the past few years has been attributedContinue reading “If Machines Do All The ‘Work’, What Will Humans Do?”
Our Truly Messed-Up Constitution (And Those Dedicated To Keeping It That Way)
Sanford Levinson‘s Our Undemocratic Constitution: Where the Constitution Goes Wrong (And How We The People Can Correct It) is a truly depressing book. As I read it last night and this morning–in preparation for a meeting today with this semester’s Wolfe Institute Faculty Discussion Group–I grew increasingly enraged, perplexed, and then, finally, even more convincedContinue reading “Our Truly Messed-Up Constitution (And Those Dedicated To Keeping It That Way)”
Ronald Reagan and the Casual Invocation of ‘Lynching’
In March 1983, Anne Gorsuch Burford, the chief administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, fired Rita Lavelle on charges of having abused the $1.6 billion Superfund that the US Congress had earmarked for cleaning up chemical spills and hazardous waste dumps. Allegedly, Superfund monies were being steered to Republican officeholders seeking relection. A few weeks later,Continue reading “Ronald Reagan and the Casual Invocation of ‘Lynching’”
Generals and their Strategies: Patton and Napoleon on the Koran
Today, on my new Tumblr (samirchopra.tumblr.com) I posted two quotes on the Koran (or the Quran, take your pick). The first, by George S. Patton: Just finished reading the Koran—a good book and interesting. (George S. Patton Jr., War As I Knew It, Bantam Books, 1981, page 5. War Diary for North Africa landings ‘Operation Torch’,Continue reading “Generals and their Strategies: Patton and Napoleon on the Koran”
Samir Chopra 