Mormon Metaphysics

Long Title

Clark Goble — 2008-03-04T21:06:48-08:00

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The New Blog is Up

Clark Goble — 2008-01-02T22:14:26-08:00

OK, it's finally up. Admittedly in a somewhat tentative fashion. Tell me what you think. I'm still adding a lot to it. So it'll be changing over the next few weeks as I add functionality. But I figured I ought stop worrying about getting it perfect and just get it to the stage I can start posting a bit.

Kant Attack Ad

Clark Goble — 2007-12-31T21:25:45-08:00

OK, I got this one from Nate Oman more than a month ago but just now had time to read it.

New Blog

Clark Goble — 2007-12-31T21:00:15-08:00

Yes, I haven't forgotten. I'm hopefully finishing up the blog tonight. In the meantime, if you are interested Park City Cable put up a little segment on my company. No, that's not me. That's my business partner Art Pollard. He's the "face" of our company and so he's usually the one who gets interviewed. (I really hate being in front of the camera)

The Problem of Attention

Clark Goble — 2007-09-13T17:42:17-08:00

I'm (very slowly) getting caught up in some of my reading. If I'm lucky I can finish putting together the new blog one of these days. Anyway, one of the more interesting posts I read was from Chris at Mixing Memory. It's from way back in August - almost a month ago. It's about a scientist named Bailey. Cases like these always catch my interest. It seems that there is a perception that only "unthinking conservatives" politicize science and engage in ad homen or worse. Of course that's not the case. Don't get me wrong I've been very critical of conservative excesses over the past decade. But the way some scientists seem to see only a narrow spectrum of problems really worries me. (Yes, I'll admit some of that is that it bothers me for political reasons - but part is that it bothers me for the safety of science) Anyway, read Chris' post. It's well worth reading as are the comments.

More on Mormon Epistemology

Clark Goble — 2007-09-11T20:59:46-08:00

Once again, lots of comments in that discussion on evil. There for a while it verged into the area of epistemology. Now that's been a big topic of discussion for me and I'd written a fair bit on it way back (such as this post on the failure of religious experiences) My approach, for those who can remember back that far, is basically a Peircean one. What one believes isn't ultimately volitional. What one has to do is continue to inquire and that entails never taking things for granted and looking at alternatives. If one does ones duty in this regard and still is unable to doubt then one can be said to know. This applies to scientific knowing or religious knowing. The key is inquiry.

More on Evil

Clark Goble — 2007-09-11T20:33:17-08:00

OK, I apologize for not contributing to that amazingly long thread on evil. Lots of good discussion. It always seemed that when I caught up in reading there were a dozen new posts and I didn't want to write too much. So here are a few thoughts (primarily in reverse chronological order)

What Is Up With the Blog

Clark Goble — 2007-08-24T11:49:41-08:00

Just a note. Most of you noticed that I've only had a handful of posts all summer. Part of this is just me being so tremendously busy that I've not had the time. Part is also that I have a new blog all setup but it's just not quite done. Anyway, posting should resume in September with a slightly new url.

Problems of Evil

Clark Goble — 2007-08-02T15:05:55-08:00

Someone asked at LDS-Phil about the problem of evil. This is my (swiftly written) answer. My apologies for any grammatical errors or typoes. I don't have a lot of time to write at the moment. But some might find this interesting.

Selection For vs. Of

Clark Goble — 2007-07-31T22:44:59-08:00

I occasionally read the discussions of evolution at various sites. It strikes me that one common misunderstanding is the confusion of natural selection. Specifically the distinction between selection for and selection of. This is especially true among critics but also pops up alarmingly often when people discuss evolution and philosophy.

FAIR Conference

Clark Goble — 2007-07-30T08:55:03-08:00

Just a reminder to my Mormon readers. The 2007 FAIR Conference is in just a few days at the Southtowne Conference Center up in SLC. I had thought I would be going but the amount of work I have this week is so ridiculous that it's just not going to happen. (Pity the small business owner) The conference starts this Thursday (August 2). Check out the above link for speaker information.

NYT on Bushman

Clark Goble — 2007-07-28T16:41:37-08:00

Sorry for the lack of posts. I've been pretty busy although I should have a bunch this weekend. One news story that caught my eye was from the NYT today. For some reason it's not coming up correctly on my home computer. So I'll quote excerpts below. It's basically a little story on Richard Bushman and how he's become the main defender and explainer of Mormonism in the press.

Cognitive Dissonance and Confirmation Bias

Clark Goble — 2007-07-20T15:54:11-08:00

I was listening to Talk of the Nation's Science Friday today and they had a good show on cognitive dissonance and bias. Basically the idea of why it's hard to know when your wrong. Most of the research has been around a long time although the show put it together nicely. Roughly the brain doesn't like to be wrong on major things so you don't even know when you are wrong. This manifests itself in various ways. One interesting one is the fact that the harder it is to join a group the more you tend to support the group. The other is that the higher "cost" of a bad decision makes you deny that it was bad. All of these are happening very low level in the brain and it's very easy to miss it.

Davies on Creation and the Universe

Clark Goble — 2007-07-18T15:05:20-08:00

OK, I'm finally recouped on sleep enough that I dare post. It'll probably still be light for the coming days though. It's been an extremely busy last few months. One thing that's been the talk of the blogs is Paul Davies new book, Cosmic Jackpot. He had an extended editorial in New Scientist last month and was interviewed on NPR's Science Friday last month as well. Now let me say in advance that I've not read Davies book, although it sounds intriguing. He's done a fair bit on the borders of theology and physics over the years but, judging from the NPR interview, he has a somewhat novel theory.