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Ratiocination

I'm Back


Blogging priorities; contemporary and classical:

1. Finish up a more in-depth piece on Garden State.
2. A long write-up about ISI and their Honors program.
3. A shoutout to my new readers
4. A Commentary on Peter van Inwagen--based on the testimony of those I trust (this piece may require extreme discretion on my part)
5. Links to whatever sufficiently funny material surfaced in by absence.

Grade (+ Inflation)


This article is a striking read, giving a perspective on grading and student complaints about grading from teaching faculty in higher education. Despite having been personally hurt by firm policies like the one Shepard ultimately lands on, they're sound, I think. Wishy-washy faculty are hard to respect, and once a chink in the armor is discovered, it's just a matter of coming up with a more convincing and manipulative story about why one couldn't make class or meet the basic requirements (as stipulated in the syllabus). I suspect I'll never compete well when it comes to concocting or presenting such stories, so minimizing their effect on grading is to my advantage, it would seem.

Related to this is the oft-talked-about "grade inflation." From what I've seen, data isn't conclusive, but still strongly suggests that such inflation is, in fact, a widespread phenomenon. Anecdotally, this is certainly the case. See, for example, the now lackluster grades of G.W. Bush and J. Kerry in a 1960s Yale; back then, I get the sense that it wasn't considered lackluster to be a B student. That's changed; these days, getting B's is generally viewed as only the consequence of a sustained pattern of slacking.

Oh, and blogging will resume in a week. Until then, I'll be at an ISI conference.

The Rights, Privileges, and Duties of Shotgun


The web is replete with shotgun rules and variations. These almost exclusively deal with those conditions governing proper occupation of the passenger’s seat. What I attempt to do here, however, is enumerate just what special rights, privileges, or duties accompany the role. Before proceeding, I need only make explicit the right/privilege distinction I’m relying upon, which is simple. Privileges are revocable at any time (unless otherwise specified) by the driver; rights are not revocable under any conditions (by any agent save the rights-holder).

Shotgun Rights:

1. The winner of shotgun may occupy the passenger seat.
2. The winner of shotgun may lean back in his seat as far as he wishes. If the winner of shotgun leans back too far and thus receives of an assault upon his head, he may request review of the situation by the driver. Though the driver's ruling is final, presumption stands with the winner of shotgun and not the plebian in the back.
3. The winner of shotgun shall get second dibs (after the driver) at any communal purchase, including, but not limited to: food, drink, and smokes.
4. The winner of shotgun may chew any gum left in the driver/passenger area of the vehicle.

Shotgun Privileges:

1. The winner of shotgun may control what, if any music is being played.
2. The winner of shotgun may engage in discretionary vehicular climate control.
3. The winner of shotgun may engage in witty banter with the driver at any time, feeling free to exclude or insult those not in the driver or passenger seats.
4. The winner of shotgun may exercise control over his window status. This control may be overridden only for purposes of climate adjustment by the driver. “But I want to hear the super-sweet Yngwie J. Malmsteen guitar solo!” is not a sufficient reason to override privilege 4.
5. The winner of shotgun may distribute drive-through-acquired fast food as he sees fit. No retaliation without prior driver consent for perceptions of unfair fast food distribution is permissible while the winner of shotgun occupies the passenger seat. Order must be maintained.

Shotgun Duties:

1. The winner of shotgun shall serve as co-pilot, giving impeccable driving directions to the driver.
2. The winner of shotgun is to blame for any and all navigational errors. If the winner of shotgun gives a correct navigational directive that is not followed, he may not say “I told you so.” This sort of disrespectful banter is reserved only for the plebeians in the back. Order must be maintained.
3. The winner of shotgun shall support and obey the driver in all things lawful.
4. If a body is needed to run into the proverbial QuickStop for a pack of fags or to return a video, the winner of shotgun shall happily volunteer for duty.

A Few New Things


One feature of my summer this year is that I've been doing something new every week—going somewhere, seeing something, or participating in some activity that I haven’t before.

Three weeks ago, I purchased and greatly enjoyed some alcohol. Two weeks ago, I did... something... a report of which does not belong on a public blog. A week and half ago, I spent a few hours wandering around Industrial City and the mall there. Next week, I’m headed to Princeton for an ISI conference. That’s counts as being new, I suppose. =)

For my New Thing this last week, I concocted a plot to get free store credit at Borders Books & Music. Here’s the sweet part—it’s legal, and it worked. After an initial investment of thirty-something bucks, I had $82 in store credit to my name--and this was only after four cycles or so. Here’s the drill:

1. Print off a handfull of Borders’ online coupons (they do these every couple of months) for 25% off any item. Update: here's a more recent coupon for 30% off any item.
2. Use one coupon to buy an item of choice (that is, buy an item for 75% of its shelf price).
3. Return item without a receipt for full store credit (100% of shelf price).
4. With your increased stockpile of Borders credit, repeat, this time with a more expensive item.
5. Watch your investment (and the suspicious glances of begrudging floor managers) grow. For each completed cycle, you will increase your buying power at Borders by 1/3.

I note that this operation is entirely legal, although a manager will eventually intervene. This intervention consists first of a suspicious question or two, then an ID check, and finally a return refusal. It helps to play a couple of different locations (buy at one, return at another) over a week—and certainly not all in one evening. Learning the shift routine for cashiers is helpful—time your visits so you return merchandise to one cashier and buy back a more expensive item with a coupon from another. It’s more important, however, to avoid the gaze of the floor manager (since they approve all receipt-less returns)—so time a visit to transfer across floor manager shifts.

These sort of pseudo-scams have always fascinated me—not because of their profit-making potential (which is, frankly, not high), but because of the skills required to effectively carry them out, namely, knowledge through research and victory through social engineering. These are useful skills I want and have been working on.

Return fraud, is, incidentally, well worth researching. Every retailer should bone up on the latest techniques used by abusive customers—and the appropriate and cost-effective response strategies. The key in devising such strategies is to not alienate customers by treating them all like criminals. Unfortunately, an increasingly popular service, the Return Exchange can be prone to do just that.

A Few Christian Parables


I found this slightly irreverent post over at Jim's hilarious; I simply must quote it in its entirety here:

Standing on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus preached to thousands of onlookers, who were waiting for his next miracle. Seeing what they had come for, Jesus decided to dispense wisdom instead, in the form of memorable stories called parables.

"To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is a ball of snow rolling down a mountainside, starting small, but growing to gigantic proportions as it gathers more and more snow to its bosom."

Several hands went up. "Teacher, what is snow?"

"It cold, white, and flaky," Jesus said.

"And every snowflake is unique, which must also be significant," Peter added.

Jesus glowered at him and returned to parabolizing. "The kingdom of God is like a man who went to the ATM machine and couldn't remember his PIN number--"

"Lord," said the disciple, "'ATM machine' and 'PIN number' are both redundant, because 'ATM' stands for--"

"The kingdom of God is like a cheese grater," Jesus continued, ignoring the interruption. "Though it grates cheese, yea, it is good for shredding potatoes as well."

Jesus moved through the crowd, grabbing a sandwich from an unsuspecting bystander. "A certain accountant was visiting his mother-in-law in Capernaum. When he arrived at the gate, three small, yapping dogs attacked him, biting his ankles and sending him scurrying away. The accountant called the woman from the safety of a neighbor's house, but she did not answer the phone because the television was turned up too loud. So it is in the kingdom of God."

"Lord, that doesn't make any sense," said Peter.

"It isn't supposed to," Jesus replied.

Jobs' Commencement Address


Steve Jobs spoke at the Stanford University commencement ceremony this year (June 12). It was a good speech, well worth the read (despite the occasionally trite feelgoodism). Additionally, for those interested in the personality of Jobs, his address is an interesting find.

UPDATE (6/20): I'm reminded of the first ad in Apple's classic Think Different campaign (circa 1997). The following text was voiced over by Richard Dreyfuss:

Here's to the crazy ones.

The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them.

Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy.

How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that's never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels? We make tools for these kinds of people. While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Batman Begins


Batman Begins is simply amazing.

You know that wide-eyed, full-hearted, larger-than-life feeling a great piece of art can leave you with, when the spirit is overflowing with feeling? You know that silly grin you wear coming out of an action flick (“man, that was sweet when he chopped off that other guys’…”). I had both when leaving the 10pm showing of Batman Begins last night. This says much about the film, its makers, and perhaps myself.

This movie left me glowing like a pregnant woman.

The high points were many and varied.

1. Storytelling and character development were strong. In this department, Batman Begins gives Spider-Man a run for its money; all in all, I’d give the edge to Nolan’s Batman. The developments of a central theme and its implications were tightly integrated with the plot and story arc (as opposed to a screenplay that tries to convey a “big idea” with mere hot air from opining characters).

2. Batman was scary. If the director can’t take a character seriously, the audience can’t either (see Batman Forever, et. al.) But this one did, and it paid off. Batman isn’t a boy scout (Superman) or a troubled teenager with acne problems (Spider-Man). He’s the Dark Knight—and Nolan/Goyer seem well aware of this in their screenplay. I think I counted a total of three or four campy self-conscious lines (a few appear in the trailers). Aside from these moments of akrosia, I’d say that Nolan “gets” who Batman is all about, and he follows through in his presentation of the character. He's got depth and dimension.

3. The villains were well balanced. The weaker Batman comics and movies tend to be villain-focused—as if Bruce Wayne and the Dark Knight weren’t interesting enough in themselves to deserve close attention. Not so in Batman Begins. The villains are well developed with a context and motive, but they do not hog the screen time. Their role is, in fact, mostly a supporting one, used to reveal Batman’s character; this is a refreshing move.

4. Gadgets. These have always been a fun part of the Batman enterprise, and they’re handled masterfully in Batman Begins. The origin of a couple of important Battoys are lovingly depicted; in all of this, a solid balance between naked realism and cartoonish “that just broke every law of physics I know!” is struck.

5. Beautiful urban set design. I’m partial to Tim Burton’s macabre visual imagination, and loved the general art direction decisions he oversaw in his Batman movies—but Batman Begins blows all of these away. Suffice to say, it also beats the crap out of Schumacher’s Batman films in this department. The viewer is given a feel for the general geography of Gotham as a whole (not just a few random buildings here or there). Wayne tower is plopped in the middle of the city, with a Wayne Enterprises monorail prominently servicing most of the metropolis. This urban geography is used well to make a few symbolic gestures, pull the plot along, and setup the action-oriented finale.

6. The love-interest angle was well-played. Batman doesn’t need a woman—and he doesn’t spend all of his time looking for one in this movie either. His interest is natural, but not overplayed.

7. Finally, the cast was consistently strong; no member was in over their heads.

The sweet thing is that there are more high points I could be reciting, but I need to get back to work. =)

The complaints I have are few and both relate to the editing:

1. The prologue was too fast-paced. I would have favored a slightly more relaxed and contemplative tone in this section. Fewer snappy cuts and frenetic story-telling devices would do wonders for the first act.

2. Action sequences were mixed. Following Bulletproof Monk and its ilk, Nolan and his editing crew chose to adopt the music-video style of fight-scene editing, where cuts are so quick that the viewer is left unsure of who is winning, and even, what (or whose) body parts are being dealt blows.

All in all, I’m just thrilled that such solid film-making skills were put to use for the Batman franchise. This is one of the best comic book movies to date (if not The Best), in my opinion. It assuredly deserves a second theater viewing and a permanent home on my DVD shelf.

A Copasetic Quotation


This quotation (brought to my attention by the one and only dB) was too copasetic to pass up:

Someone once asked me whether I thought that the church where I worked might be worldly. “What do you mean by ‘worldly’?” I asked him.

“Well, you use drama, and people are used to that in the world. And you play contemporary music just like they’re used to hearing. So how will they know you’re any different? Everybody knows that as Christians we’re supposed to be different from people in the the world by being more loving and more gentle, and everybody knows that we’re not. So don’t we have to do something to show we’re different?”

In other words, if we can’t be holy, shouldn’t we be at least be weird? [emphasis added]

The Smiths


I enjoyed Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The reasons for this were for the most part shallow and not worth reflecting on. Not the least of them, however, was a line by Vince Vaugh's character, who lives with his mom. In defence of this living situation, he insists, “she’s the only woman I trust!”

A Few of My Favorite Things


The top 3 only; composed on a lunch-break whim.

Songs (right here, right now):

1. The Blood of Cu Chulainn
2. High Hopes
3. Red Rubber Ball

Professional Philosophy Journals:

1. Analysis
2. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research
3. Philosophical Studies

Places:

1. Flour Reading Room, Biola University Library (great spot for a daily catnap)
2. Barnes and Noble
3. The couch on my porch (great spot for daily drink and conversation)

Blogs:

1. Something secret, she said
2. Jeremy Pierce
3. Brian Weatherson

Biola Staff:

1. Rhonda Sudduth (Mail Services)
2. Wes Willmer (University Advancement)
3. Adam Morris (Stewardship & Resource Development)

Star Trek Movies:

1. IV (you know, with the whales)
2. III (Spock lives on!)
3. II (Spock is dead.)

Big Ideas:

1. Gödel's theorem and related paradoxes
2. Stewardship theology (a la R. Scott Rodin & Co.)
3. Entitlement Theory of Justice (a la Nozick, pace Rawls)

BUBBS posters:

1. John Fusek (for stirring up trouble)
2. Phil Frank (for speaking his mind)
3. Cameron Stallones (for agreeing with me)

2005 Movies:

1. Episode III (for the last 20 minutes)
2. Mr. & Mrs. Smith (for the last scene)
3. Kung Fu Hustle (for its profound insight into human nature)

On Truth and Truthmakers I/?


Analysis recently made available online a forthcoming article, Peter Milne's Not every truth has a truthmaker. Milne advances a Gödelian argument against truthmaker theory. I began a critical response to Milne this evening; the following proof of his argument is the first step (my argument against Milne shall be to offer reason to reject P2--not as a false statement, but as a meaningless one).

Under truthmaker theory, I take the proper analysis of a locution like, “p has a truthmaker” to be “there is some truth p, there is some truthmaker q, and Tpq,” where T is a two-place predicate signifying the relation a truth stands in to its truthmaker. This just is the difference between there being a truthmaker and some p having that truthmaker. Understanding this, I shall abbreviate claims of the form, “there is some truth p, there is some truthmaker q, and Tpq” as merely “Tp.”

Letting M denote the sentence, "This sentence has no truthmaker," Milne's argument can be proved as follows:

P1: M ≡ Tm (ass, truthmaker theory)
P2: Tm (ass)
P3: M ≡ ~Tm (ass, meaning of M)
C1: Tm ⊃ M (Bioconditional elimination, P1)
C2: M ⊃ ~Tm (Bioconditional elimination, P3)
C3: Tm ⊃ ~Tm (Hypothetical MP, C1, C2)
C4: ~Tm (MP, P2, C3)
C5: ~Tm & Tm (&I, P2, C4)
C6: ~Tm (RAA, P2, C5)
C7: M (MP, P2, C1)
C8: M & ~Tm (&I, C6, C7)

Sometime this week, I plan on finishing the paper off. I'll sit on it for a while and seek feedback; by the time Analysis publishes Milne's piece, I just might have a response worth submitting for review.

That Was Fun


First earthquake I've felt in a while (it hit Whittier where I am about thirty seconds ago)... =)

Truth (with a capital T)


I’ve often heard Christians, especially those with some philosophical training assert something like, “Truth is not ultimately only propositional—it is personal.” Jesus’ claim to be “the way the truth and the life” is cited as evidence, and the matter is rarely pursued further. I’m left curious as to what this means, however. Is Jesus’ saying to be taken as a literal identity statement, namely, that Jesus is identical to truth?

Maybe I can make my sense of befuddlement more clear (and perhaps even share it with my reader) by stating what I take truth to be: a property had by propositions—more specifically, a correspondence relation between a proposition and a state of affairs. The proposition “x is F” is true in the actual world if and only if the state of affairs of x’s being F obtains in the actual world. The relation between the proposition asserting the truth of x being F and x’s actually being F just is truth. I’m no expert on theories of truth, but I’m inclined to take this relation as primitive and resistant to further analysis. Thus, the statement "snow is white" is true just in case snow actually is white. The relation between the statement and the world (ie, things in the world corresponding to the proposition) is what makes the statement true. Is Jesus, then, a relation that obtains between propositions and states of affairs? This seems to only commit a categorical fallacy.

What is, it, then, to say that “Truth is personal?” The most plausible candidate I can think of would be, “the most important truths are all about persons—me, yourself, God, and the relationships we have.” Is this a fair interpretation of the oft-recited claim?

On Friday Afternoons


Friday afternoons are by far my favorite time segment of the working week. Biola offers most full-time staff a half-day on Fridays during the summer and winter breaks. Those who don’t qualify for the half-day perk often take the time off anyway, making up for it earlier in the week with evening work. I stay here for the hours; and the place is mine alone. It’s really quite nice; I have more than one office at my disposal to use as a workspace (though I rarely do this), and I get to play music as loud as necessary (no headphones required). More importantly, despite the lack of supervision I find these hours to be my most productive. For me, the conjunction of being alone and with a happy goal to work towards (the weekend and the relaxation it usually promises) is a great way to motivate myself to get things done.

When my boss comes back to the office on Monday morning, there will be a boat-load (even a butt-load, dare I say?) of paper waiting for him. This is, of course, the chief sign of productivity in higher education administration. I hope he’s happy with it. =)

Three, two, one...


... resume blogging. =)

1. The NCFCA National tournament just gets bigger every year. I'd be there for the whole thing, but it's a hundred miles away in an era of $2.50 gasoline and, more importantly, takes place during the work week.
2. Some people (trained professional philosophers?) evidently don't buy the law of non-contradiction. This is baffling to me.
3. Full time work has its own set of joys and pains. I'll tire of it in a few months, but for now, I couldn't ask for more than a simply steady 8-5 schedule and evenings to copasetically chill (and even calmly cogitate) at Barnes & Noble with the occasional $19 coffee drink ("gotta love the 'bucks").
4. Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy is still a delight, but the last volume is weaker than I remembered.
5. The Ayn Rand Institute is at it again, passing out the bucks to enterprising students who write well and buy Objectivism.
6. Zach Braff once bought a shirt for his dog which read, "I love bitches." This is what I call quality humor.
7. That Apple is moving the Intel Inside blows my mind. If only Microsoft hadn't bought out VPC from Connectix, this would have been a prime opportunity to grab some major market-shared with a VPC running x86 code (natively!) on top of an x86 Mac OS box. As things stand, however, this seems less than likely.