Recent Comments
Category Archives: Philosophy
The Privacy Paradox of Rann Smorodinsky
The following paradox was raised by Rann Smorodinsky: Rann Smorodinsky’s Privacy Paradox Suppose that you have the following one-time scenario. You want to buy a sandwich where the options are a roast beef sandwich or an avocado sandwich. Choosing … Continue reading
The 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man
Today (April 27, 2012) it is precisely 213 years 7 months, and 29 days to the completion of the declaration of the rights of man, which makes it a perfect occasion to celebrate this remarkable human creation. Here is a … Continue reading
A Paradoxical Self-Referential Statement
A small discussion in a meeting about two decades ago. Lior: Some people in the department think that they are wiser than what they really are John: I am really wiser than what I think I am. John’s statement is paradoxical … Continue reading
Itamar Pitowsky: Probability in Physics, Where does it Come From?
I came across a videotaped lecture by Itamar Pitowsky given at PITP some years ago on the question of probability in physics that we discussed in two earlier posts on randomness in nature (I, II). There are links below to … Continue reading
Posted in Obituary, Philosophy, Physics, Probability
Tagged Itamar Pitowsky, Philosophy of science, Physics, Probability
1 Comment
Randomness in Nature II
In a previous post we presented a MO question by Liza about randomness: What is the explanation of the apparent randomness of high-level phenomena in nature? 1. Is it accepted that these phenomena are not really random, meaning that given enough … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Physics, Probability
Tagged foundation of probability, Philosophy, Physics, Randomness
15 Comments
Some Philosophy of Science
The Bayesian approach to the philosophy of science was developed in the first half of the twentieth century. Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn are twentieth-century philosophers of science who later proposed alternative approaches. It will be convenient to start with … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Probability
13 Comments
Noise
What is the correct picture of our world? Are noise and errors part of the essence of matters, and the beautiful perfect patterns we see around us, as well as the notions of information and computation, are just derived concepts … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy
7 Comments
Fundamental Impossibilities
An Understanding of our fundamental limitations is among the most important contributions of science and of mathematics. There are quite a few cases where things that seemed possible and had been pursued for centuries in fact turned out to be … Continue reading
About Mathematics
This post collects some brief philosophical thoughts about mathematics that appeared as part of my paper “Combinatorics with a geometric flavor: some examples,” from the proceedings of the conference “Vision in Mathematics, towards 2000.” I added two small items (the first and … Continue reading
The Prisoner’s Dilemma, Sympathy, and Yaari’s Challenge
Correlation and Cooperation In our spring school devoted to Arrow’s economics, Menahem Yaari gave a talk entitled “correlation and cooperation.” It was about games as a model of people’s behavior, and Yaari made the following points: It is an empirical fact … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Games, Philosophy, Rationality
Tagged Cooperation, Correlation, Prisoner dilemma
2 Comments
