René Girard's Mimetic Theory & Peter Thiel on Innovation
Lately, I've been fascinated by René Girard's Theory of Mimetic Desire. From my anecdotal observation, the names of Greek and German philosophy-titans (e.g. Socrates, Plato, Kant, Hegel) are always first responses to the question, "name a philosopher," and modern thinkers often come second, that is if they're even known. René Girard is one worth studying. Rather than explain Mimetic Desire, I think it's better to show it, as it's a decently relatable idea once you get it. Sta
13 hours ago3 min read
The Philosophical Life
The word philosopher derives from a combination of two Greek words: “philos” (φίλος) and “sophia” (σοφία). When put together, these two words roughly mean “lover of wisdom.” Pythagoras coined this term (also the favorite theorem of algebra students, a2 + b2 = c2), choosing it as a humble alternative to other, more self-important titles. It emphasizes one’s ability to aspire to wisdom yet not be perfectly wise. In contrast to Ancient Greek times, calling oneself a philosopher
6 days ago3 min read
Philosophies in Modern Storytelling: Part I
Storytelling has reached completely new levels in the past century. Through movies and television, stories can be told in such complex ways with intricate nuance. As part of a three part series, this article will examine two philosophies: Epicureanism and Stoicism and the roles they’ve played in shaping modern stories. Epicureanism Epicureanism is famous for distinguishing pleasure as the summum bonum, or highest good. I could think of no better literary example than The Hobb
Jun 244 min read
ChatGPT vs. Grok
As of right now, these AI philosophies seem like nebulous, inapplicable concepts, but this is far from the truth. When talking about Grok, Elon has often said that its ultimate goal is to be “truth-seeking.” I wanted to see whether these overarching philosophies would translate into tangible outcomes and if Grok would operate as an anti-relativist, because “truth-seeking” is fundamentally a non-relativist principle. I think that a few screenshots of my conversations with Chat
Jun 2012 min read
The Relativistic Philosophy of ChatGPT
Over the past century, the intellectual position of relativism has grown steadily as an academic stance and general belief held by society. In summary, it states that no absolute truths exist, only perceptions of things which people can interpret differently. “What then is truth? A movable host of metaphors, metonymies, and anthropomorphisms: in short, a sum of human relations which have been poetically and rhetorically intensified, transferred, and embellished, and which, a
Jun 174 min read
Deontology, Utilitarianism, and Truth-seeking AI
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) The classic question, “what matters more, actions or their consequences?” has persisted to be a highly contested subject within the realms of philosophy and ethics. The essence of the question can be portrayed through a fictional scenario: imagine that as you walk toward a bank, you see another person exiting, carrying a large duffel bag. You think little of it, but as an upstanding citizen, you hold the bank’s door for him as he exits. Later, after
Jun 54 min read
Pleasure and Meaning in the Future
Often, in video games, the most fun part is the beginning–perhaps not the very start when you are weak and vulnerable, but the point slightly later on when you gain enough strength to confront the path of challenge ahead. With these games, by the time the end is reached, your character is stacked with powerful items, able to win any fight, and has explored all of the lands. Once this end is attained, however, the challenge is gone, and, often, so is the fun. Could real life
Mar 264 min read
