Sphex is the colloquial name of a particular kind of digger wasp. Daniel Dennett effectively uses this wasp’s burrowing routine to show how, even basic examinations of animal behavior can lead us right to the doorstep of causal determinism: the belief that everything (ie: particle systems, wasp brains, human courtship rituals, the universe) can be explained as states of affairs, resulting from some previous state(s) of affairs in a purely mechanistic fashion. When a causally deterministic outlook is applied to questions of agency, free will, and consciousness, the implications pile up fast. Some interesting explorations of this issue can be found in popular shows like Devs [FX] and West World [HBO].
Implicit Bias
Shortly after finishing Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt’s wonderful book Biased, I took an implicit bias test – one centered around race and weapons; the focus being whether or not I am biased to associate specific racial groups (whites vs. blacks) with a higher likelihood of carrying weapons. It took about 7 minutes to complete. As it turns out, I (along with 6% of respondents) am slightly biased to associate whiteness with weapons.
Zoom WOD 11
Friday, Nov 20, 2020 9:00am EST - the eleventh installment of the Zoom WOD (workout of the day) with my friend Eli. This one began a half hour early, and included some truly epic chit chat. I also logged a personal running best for running around the block in 2:19 – a full 5 seconds faster than my previous fastest time.
Corona Virus Dispatch from NYC, Day 221
I’ve started reading a book which is rapidly dominating every moment of waking thought. It’s called Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. In a nutshell:
Stop saying yes to 99.99% of things you agree to
Be judicious about what you say yes to, but go all in
Design guardrails that insulate you from pointless/low-value work