I’m a bit of a meticulous note taker–in part because it helps me retain information that is meaningful to me, and also because it provides an avenue for fleshing out ideas. I like to keep my notes on a wiki-style website for ease-of-access on my computer and mobile devices. While the vast majority of these notes are password-protected, occasionally I polish some notes to make publicly available. To-date, I’ve published notes on my take on some technical subjects (such as a constraint-satisfaction-problem perspective on Bayesian Estimation) as well as random fun things like recipes and pop culture. Publicly available notes can be viewed at the site below:
Something I’ve enjoyed doing for a long time has been reading and writing about philosophical topics. Though most of my thoughts are scattered throughout a bunch of notes waiting to be organized, I have managed to write a few essays on some subjects that I’ve found interesting. Check them out below if you’re interested! Also, please excuse the overly ornate cover pages; they’re merely artifacts of my efforts to automate certain aspects of the document creation process.
I’ve been interested in epistemological questions, and the question of Realism (the notion that logical notions possess a kind of “physical existence”) versus Nominalism (that logical notions do not exist physically) gets down to several fundamental questions in both epistemology and ontology.
As a proponent of the scientific method, it was interesting to delve into Aristotle and his thoughts on empiricism–thoughts which, although somewhat flawed, arguably exist as a precursor to modern scientific thought.
The question of reconciling faith with reason and science is one that is relevant to many, including myself. Aquinas offers some early thoughts on addressing this question. Some of his notions are perhaps outdated, but nevertheless serve as one of many decent starting points for organized thought on the issue.
[PENDING]; I still need to organize my thoughts and notes a bit more on this complex topic (we’ll see if I ever get around to it).
There are many fascinating paradoxes that come out of attempting to reconcile determinism and free will, some of which are philosophical and others sociological.
[PENDING]; I still need to organize my thoughts and notes a bit more on this complex topic (we’ll see if I ever get around to it).
The increasingly popular practice of mindfulness meditation, when viewed through the context of its Buddhist and Eastern philosophical roots, brings up questions about what is normally conceived of as a permanent “Self” that encompasses our individual being. Thinking deeply about those questions has the tendency to inspire increased self-reflection and, perhaps, a more empathetic and understanding view of the world.