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December Livestream (Patreon)

Published:
2021-12-28 11:29:57
Imported:
2026-06

Content

Hey everyone,

December livestream tomorrow!

Click the link above for timing.

Sorry as always about short notice. Last free time of the year!

Files

December DTG Livestream - Crowdcast

Register now for Chris's event on Crowdcast, scheduled to go live on Wednesday December 29, 2021 at 9:00 am JST.

Comments

Tom Allison

Hey, to the point about picking up a foreign language - Japanese, I think it was - (I'm a former PhD candidate in Neuroscience from the U.S. living in Germany and learning German for many years, at this point). Something we studied about the brain's language processing areas -- Wernicke's and Broca's areas of the cortex -- has proved VERY useful in language acquisition (though it doesn't make it easier, necessarily, which is unfortunate): basically you process language comprehension and language production in these two separate areas. The implication for language acquisition is that you have to train both and it is all too easy to do that independently/separately. There are many examples of people who can watch media or read in a foreign language with 100% comprehension, but are utterly lost when it comes to expressing themselves. So while there are LOADS of opportunities to listen or read a language online -- the part that is hard to find and invaluable is the "evaluated production". That doesn't have to mean formally evaluated -- although that may be the most efficient -- but basically you need to produce communication and be able to judge whether you were successful in communicating what you wanted and -- at best -- how well you communicated it (did you sound like an educated language producer or a barely getting by tourist?). I point this out just because I have seen the pattern myself and in many others, again and again - getting pretty good at comprehension while flagging hugely at production. What is it Matt says about the real value of research and making friends? By far the best way to motivate language acquisition and make it the most successful is a combination of drilling the rules, and finding socially-motivating contexts to practice your language comprehension AND production.

Tom Allison

Wow -- not to neg any of the early discussion, but a bunch of the best is at the last! Nice reflection on some of the main points about Sam Harris and then the whole (sort of) anti-philosophy rant at the end. I'm a somewhat distant Sam observer and I think his love of finding the bits of things that folks tend to like to squint away from and stubbornly bringing them front and center is a big part of his shtick. I think he sniffs out and is very suspicious of the sorts of things most of us go along with to get along, so to speak. His pointing out that free will is a nonsensical idea is part and parcel with his hesitance to wholly condemn someone with potentially upsetting political ideas. Maybe I will be able to articulate this point better if I decide to pay more attention to him/his musings. As to philosophy vs science -- interestingly, I did two bachelors - one in chemistry and one in philosophy. The only thing I have to say based on that is that I don't think it's *only* adolescence vs maturity ;). In fact, I think it is more about subjectivity vs objectivity -- certainly one might well say there is more concern for the former in adolescence -- but if one really looks at it, subjectivity is in many, many ways prior to and more fundamental than objectivity. Many of us accommodate ourselves to some semblance of "answers" to the riddles of subjectivity and move on to focus on the more practical objective matters that fall out from the frame we establish for ourselves -- but that is not to say that the issues raised in adolescence have any easy or definitive answers -- practically speaking, we just have to approximately pick sides and move on. Others (the philosophers amongst us) hang with the confusion and try to make some meaningful progress on the conundrums one is faced with -- which are both legion and filled with the promise of great value as they undergird where everybody else is choosing to focus their objective lenses and ultimately the accuracy with respect to how we imagine our overall circumstance and the value of what we do with our limited time on this marble.

Tom Allison

One more thing on the philosophy vs science discussion: Tomasello, Tomasello, Tomasello. He (and his growing number of academic progeny) has come the closest to my mind of finding an objective/scientific frame for subjectivity that does some real work without distorting it beyond recognition. Interestingly, he weaves in and converses with more philosophers in his writing than most scientists are able to do. Can't recommend the frame he lays out for thinking about ourselves more highly. I really suspect he is onto something that will bridge our angsty last few centuries of science vs subjective realms of experience once it is all worked out.

Grammaticus Gore

Listening to all the terrible takes on philosophy at the end was worse than listening to Joe Rogan. 🤦

Tasty3141

Selfish request incoming: How about having it so us proletariat on the lower Patreon tiers can still watch the replays? Could still have it so watching live or participating is reserved for the billionaire class?

Professor Matt

Disturbingly even handed and fair treatment of philosophy there Tom. I want to hold on to my prejudices!