I'm currently reading a book called The Black Swan, by Nassin Nicholas Taleb. I'm reading it for a few reasons. Taleb has some very interesting things to say about induction; it can be a dangerously misleading form of reasoning in certain domains. This is fascinating, because one of the popular epistemological theories today, Bayesianism, is is entirely dependent upon the notion of induction. Another reason that this is interesting is that all science (aside from mathematics, if it is a science at all) rests upon the assumption that inductive reasoning is sound.
The reason why I'm reading this book now, in the middle of the semester, is because I have an epistemology term paper to write. I would have read it in any case, since this is a subject that has fascinated me for years. Any of my close friends will tell you that I have a pet lunacy/theory about what I like to call "Introspective Systems." In a nutshell, that it is impossible to predict their behavior. I have been unsuccessful in making this concrete, and that's why I'm now attending RPI. The systems that exist in what Taleb calls "Extremistan" are all instances of what I would call "Introspective Systems." Interestingly, Taleb claims that induction is dangerous in "Extremistan."
So, if you are interested, keep a feed reader tuned here. As I dig into my term paper, I will be posting some of my work--a sort of open serialized rough draft.
NOTE: The induction that I refer to above is not mathematical induction. Mathematical induction (both strong and weak) is a deductively sound method of reasoning. It does entail its results.
The reason why I'm reading this book now, in the middle of the semester, is because I have an epistemology term paper to write. I would have read it in any case, since this is a subject that has fascinated me for years. Any of my close friends will tell you that I have a pet lunacy/theory about what I like to call "Introspective Systems." In a nutshell, that it is impossible to predict their behavior. I have been unsuccessful in making this concrete, and that's why I'm now attending RPI. The systems that exist in what Taleb calls "Extremistan" are all instances of what I would call "Introspective Systems." Interestingly, Taleb claims that induction is dangerous in "Extremistan."
So, if you are interested, keep a feed reader tuned here. As I dig into my term paper, I will be posting some of my work--a sort of open serialized rough draft.
NOTE: The induction that I refer to above is not mathematical induction. Mathematical induction (both strong and weak) is a deductively sound method of reasoning. It does entail its results.
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