Wednesday, October 31, 2018

homo economicus from political economy to anthropology to game theory


Political economy is concerned with man solely as a being who desires to possess wealth, and who is capable of judging the comparative efficacy of means for obtaining that end.-- John Stuart Mill. The Investigation of Political Economy.

Bartering:

Bartering is a form of exchange. Exchange is to technology as sex is to evolution. It stimulates novelty.

Bartering begins in the late paleolithic, about 50,000 years ago. It happens by necessity out of the division of labor, already in the neolithic, when individuals begin to specialize in specific crafts and hence depend on others for subsistence goods. Specialization depends on trade, but it becomes hindered by the double coincidence of wants (each participant must want what the other has). To supersede this tension, money (as exchange value) appears.  

Money, as a universal standard of exchange, allows each half of the transaction to be separated.

Game theory:

Homo economicus is a rational maximizer of utility (as consumer and as producer). The idea is to think of social interactions as an open field of outcomes, from which they choose that course of action which will result in the best possible result.

Very quickly Homo economicus learns that they cannot succeed unless they MAXIMIZE THE FIELD WITH INVESTMENTS TOWARD FUTURE PROFIT. This is beautifully presented in old saying:

YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW.

1. Homo economicus realizes that exchange keeps society together, founded on a basic disposition called HUMAN INTEREST. Humans want to have, to prosper, to enjoy, TO BE HAPPY.
2. Thus, my utility is linked to the perceived utility of others in this order: 1. my wife, my children, my friends, my people.

So, homo economicus is compatible with homo reciprocans (which emphasizes human cooperation).
there is no HOMO RECIPROCANS WITHOUT HOMO ECONOMICUS.
 
Value/Exchange:

There is no homo economicus without exchange, & that exchange is called MONEY.

MONEY IS A FORM OF COMMUNICATION. As such it has stood the test of millennia transcending borders and barriers. MONEY is the very foundation of society because this is what makes societies run.

When we cooperate, we are doing work, i.e., producing value and in all our contributions and interactions, we have exchanges of this value.

As societies increases in complexity, value continues to abstract in order to lower the "friction of exchange." VALUE IS INTER SUBJECTIVE and come in many forms, but MONEY is an objective tool that gives us an opportunity to represent/quantify it.


From spices, cattle, sugar, salt, etc, we move to initial abstractions like shells, to better abstractions, like metals, such as bronze, then silver then gold. About 3000–5000 yrs ago, we enter a period of stage 2, abstractions, where TRUST is introduced (homo economicus had incrementally learned and internalized to keep their promises) to help facilitate better transactions and exchange.

Now coins are created with the stamp of approval of the sovereign. This model developed very slowly over millennia: multiple barter, gold, hyper inflationary coinage, until the next major abstraction; i.e, paper or promissory notes. It was developed by the Florentine banking families during the Renaissance (it was easier to carry a note that promised the redemption of an amount of gold, than having to carry the gold around).


Anthropology:

Without trade, innovation just does not happen. Exchange is to technology as sex is to evolution. It stimulates novelty. The remarkable thing about the moderns of west Asia is not so much the diversity of artifacts as the continual innovation. There is more invention between 80,000 and 20,000 years ago than there had been in the previous million. By today’s standards, it was very slow, but by the standards of Homo erectus it was lightning-fast. And the next ten millennia would see still more innovations: fish hooks, all sorts of implements, domesticated wolves, wheat, figs, sheep, money.

Thursday, October 25, 2018

why anomaly detection/suspension?

a graph or a Wiener process in 3D


In epistemology:

* Suspension of judgment is used in civil law to indicate a court's decision to nullify a civil judgment.

* Suspension of judgment is a cornerstone of standard research methodology. Much of the scientific method is designed to encourage the suspension of judgments until observations can be made, tested, and verified through peer review.

* Cartesian Suspension of judgment is used in philosophy in order to gain a solid foundation when building one's system of knowledge.

* Suspension in Positivism: It's the suspensions of "final answers" in scientific research. The idea that all human knowledge keeps approaching a limit without ever reaching it.

Formula for stochastic processes:

Monday, October 22, 2018

chapter 3, ethics lecures

Ethics is the study of moral norms.

Moral norms are based on human actions (or behaviors) of fundamental consequence for human welfare. And here we make a distinction between morality and etiquette. Etiquette is quasi-moral. Ex: An old lady standing in a full bus is given a seat by a young man (or a young woman). In the elevator, a mature man holds the door for the women and children and younger men.

In Ethics we make moral judgments, for example: "slavery is wrong". These judgments come from moral norms and facts. So, 

moral judgments ~ moral norms + "moral facts"

Cultural relativism: The doctrine that what makes an action right is that it's approved by that culture. Counterarguments: 1- Logical contradiction (see above), impossibility for moral disagreements and 2- Cultures are not that different at a deeper level. One can point to differences between "deep" values (moral values, i.e., human behavior of fundamental consequence for human welfare) and "superficial" values (domestic habits, etiquette, fashion, etc) other cultural values to the effect that most cultures seem to share the same deep moral values.

 5. Logical Structure of Moral Arguments: mj ~ mn + "facts" (this is not a formula, just an approximation). What is a "fact"? A belief held by factual evidence (i.e., child abuse is wrong because of the facts we know about psychology, human rights, child development, etc,).

 6. Are there universal moral principles? YES. We could point to at least two: 1- Principle of mercy (Unnecessary suffering is wrong) 2- Principle of justice (Treat equals equally).


1. Difference between Consequentialist theories and Formalist theories.

Consequentialism is the theory that judges the rightness or wrongness of an action in terms of its consequences. Formalism is the theory that judges the rightness or wrongness of an action in terms of the action's form (i.e., "killing is wrong": the formalist believes that moral actions are objective).

 2. Intrinsic value (value for its own sake; personhood is an essential value: a-reason, b-autonomy, c-sentience, d-freedom) and instrumental values (value for the sake of something else).

3. Hedonism: What makes an action right is that it maximizes pleasure and minimizes pain. 

Click here for my lecture on hedonism. 

3. Ethical egoism: What makes an action right is that it promotes one's best interest. This is equivalent to a calculus of prudence. C/A (a) Moral agents are mot mere instruments for one's interest. (b) Egoism is not a socially or politically cogent theory (i.e., you would not vote for an egoist in office if you could vote for an utilitarian).

Click here for my notes on Ethical Egoism.

Psychological Egoism: We are all egoists. 

No matter how we try to present rebuttals to egoism, the truth is that we are always deep down motivated by what we perceive to be in our own self-interest. 

Psychological egoism is attributed to Thomas Hobbes (1651) and Jeremy Bentham (1781). Psychological egoism can be seen as a background assumption of several other disciplines, such as psychology and economics. Recently, some biologists have suggested that the thesis can be supported or rejected directly based on evolutionary theory or work in sociobiology.

Example: Suppose, that Pam saves Jim from a burning office building. What ultimately motivated her to do this?  The altruist claims that Pam's risking her life in the process, shows she did it for Jim's sake. But the psychological egoist holds that Pam’s apparently altruistic act is ultimately motivated by the goal to benefit herself, whether she is aware of this or not. Pam might have wanted to gain a good feeling from being a hero, or to avoid the backlash that would follow had she not helped Jim

 4. Act Utilitarianism (or Traditional utilitarianism): What makes an action right is that it maximizes happiness everyone considered (remember this is only a particular milieu: family, class, Miami, Florida, the USA). C/A (a) McCloskey’s informant (problems with rights) (b) Brandt’s Heir (problems with duties), (c) Goodwin's Fire Rescue (problems with duties), (e) Ross Unhappy promise (problems with duties) (6) Ewing's Utilitarian torture (problems with justice).

Click here for my notes on utilitarianism

Moral Traditionalism: an act is right if it's supported by my traditions.
 
 
Kant's Formalism. Formalism is the theory that AIR because of the action's form.

1. Kant’s Categorical Imperative: What makes an action right is that everyone can act on it (which yields universalizability), and you'd have everyone acting on it (which yields reversibility: Golden Rule).

2. Duties: obligations one has by virtue of one's embeddedness in society. Perfect duty: A duty that must always be performed no matter what. And imperfect duties.

Here are my notes on Kantian ethics.

3. Kant's Second Formulation: TREAT PEOPLE AS ENDS, NEVER MERELY AS MEANS TO AN END. Problems with the second formulation? C/A The problem with Kantian theory is the problem of exceptions to the rule. Should I keep a promise even if it puts someone's life in danger? Then, some times we have to treat people as means to ends.

Here are my notes on Kant's second formulation.

Aristotle's virtue morality, the study of character.

4. Click here for Aristotle's virtue morality,

new review sessions for exam #2!

Thomas Jauregui and Sebastian Garcia from (MWF 11am class) are offering a review session this Wednesday (the 24th) at 12 noon and Thursday (the 25th) at 1:30 @ the Wolfson Library. More details to follow. All classes are invited!

UPDATE: Shannon Larson and Brian Gracia (from T,R 11:15am) are joining forces tomorrow Wednesday (the 24th), at 12pm, at the Wolfson Library.  

Sunday, October 21, 2018

it's time for the philosophy paper's first draft!


You already constructed four paragraphs. ALL YOU NEED TO DO NOW IS TO ADD 3 MORE + A CONCLUSION.  
___________________

Here is a paper sample. These two thesis and counter paragraphs are the most important. Please, follow this sample. See how her draft has a short clear thesis divided into three points,  yours is only two points: first point, explanation, second point, explanation, 

Next, comes the counter paragraph. Do the same thing. The paragraph starts with "prohibitionists disagree," so the reader clearly understand "who is talking." Same strategy. 1st point, explanation. second point, explanation and so on... 


see the body of both paragraphs above, she discusses and includes sources (with in-text citations).

Don't forget to include your bibliography (we're following MLA protocol).

Here you have 3 different conclusion samples, taken from recent philosophy papers. 

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

epistemology's main characters


belief: a mental state of acceptance. 

suspension of belief: You neither accept nor reject a belief (the skeptic's position)

justification: the reasons for believing (not all reasons for believing are necessarily reasonable; we'll talk about that).

explanation: Explaining means describing what IS. 

truth: truth is a fact. a fact IS (you don't need to prove it). 

Examples: "1+1=2," a mathematical fact; "H20 is water," a chemical fact; "slavery is wrong," a moral fact, 

What do we do if we don't have the facts? We look for alternative definitions. 

pragmatic definition of truth: Truth is what best does the job at hand. meaning if it works, it's likely true. 

coherence definition of truth: Truth is what coheres with the rest of our knowledge.

Why is H304 a good class? 

Justification: H304's room is inviting, the professor is animated, and the class is well-behaved.

Explanation: H304 is a good glass because the room has six windows providing good lighting, and the furniture is comfortable and spaciously ordered.   


Thursday, October 11, 2018

lessons in emergence (section 2.5)

wolves changing rivers...

this is a cute one! (stupid things become smart together)

sorry, we don't do much, entropy does it for us, (learn this lesson for politics)

how stars are born,

emergentism in the philosophy of mind (obliged reading)

read p. 150 of chapter 2, to get an idea of emergence. then, you can understand the statement: the mind is an emergent property of the brain.

List of student assistants (SAs) for all Phi 2010 classes: THANKS!

MWF 10am
Christelle Cyprian
Nikita Mikhaylov
Pabel Torres

MWF 11am
Sebastian Garcia
Thomas Jauregui
Kristen Venuto

TR 9:50am
Alexanda Kremer
Shirley Kedo
Fernando Bravo
Nneka Ekwensi

TR 11:l5am

Shannon Larson
Andres Gracia

T 5:40 pm
Ilan Bitoun

how to conquer your math phobia!


We're going to conquer MATH ^PHOBIA^. 

Remember matphobia is a behavior. You do it, it's in your mind.  Why? You're afraid. 

What to do? You have to develop a counter disposition that ends up winning. A new math disposition. And it requires that you re-wire your math-rejecting brain into a math-proficient brain.

First: Get yourself a decent tutor. Do you have to pay? It's worth it
 
HOW TO DEVELOP A MATH-PROFICIENT BRAIN

1. Work always from the easy to the difficult. Never jump to a new topic without understanding the previous one.  Math understanding is cumulative
2. If you don't get it, take a break. Start all over. Don't ever throw the towel.
3. Do math little by little. DON'T RUSH. 
4. Practice makes perfect. Move from easy to medium to difficult. Work, work, work. 
5. Develop a relationship with your math teacher. Go to her office. Show her that you want to grow your skills. Ask her questions (teachers love a committed student). 

Identify your math weaknesses: Fractions? algebra? analytic geometry? trigonometry? Revise your knowledge. Take it from the beginning. Word problems? Take it from the easy to the difficult. Don't quit.


Wednesday, October 10, 2018

college achievement in math and science for latinos & blacks


Dear class, thanks for an interesting class discussion. Remember, the points we discussed pertain a specific position known as Hard Determinism. What's at stake here is free will. Hard Determinism declares that what people do is caused by previous entrenched dispositions (i.e., cultural, social, psychological, etc).

click here for the study of the graph (above),
Academic preparation and racial disparities in K-12 education clearly play a role in who graduates from college. Also the report argues "lack of resources at open-access colleges is one of the main causes of high dropout rates…among less advantaged students, including less advantaged Latino students" (according to the link above).
click here for more information,
Of the total population of students who passed Algebra I in Grade 8 (2015-1016), 64% were white, 17% were Latino, 9% were black (according to the link above).
declining numbers of blacks in math and science,
Black people are 12% US population and 11% of all students beyond high school. In 2009, they received just 7% percent of all STEM bachelor's degrees, 4% percent of master's degrees, and 2% percent of PhDs, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. From community college through PhD level, the percentage of STEM degrees received by blacks in 2009 was 7.5 percent, down from 8.1 percent in 200 (according to the link above).

what is a synapse? (the most basic brain state)

click here for more information.

homework, chapter 5

1. what is the problem of free will,
2. define hard determinism.
3. what is compatibilism? explain traditional compatibilism.
4. what is libertarianism?
5. what is sartre's "profound freedom"?

Sunday, October 7, 2018

chapter 6 summary (monday 5:40pm class)

a brief history of epistemology, 
epistemology's main characters, 
homework for chapter 6,  (based on my notes)

what is the mind? finally!

Functionalism: MS ↔ FS When two things perform the same function, they are said to have the same “causal role.” Functionalism claims that THE MIND IS WHAT THE BRAIN DOES.

If a robot and a human can perform the same task (same causal role), they are said to be in the same state of mind. Something else about functionalism is that mental states can cause other mental states, i.e., if you see your boyfriend cheating (input), the following mental states may occur (outputs): 1- shock, 2- jealousy, 3- bitterness, (even vengeance).

Counterexamples to Functionalism 

Putnam's inverted spectrum case:  Imagine an individual is born with an inverted color spectrum. What is red she sees green and vice-versa. Then she learns how to tell the difference. She grows up and gets her driver's license. If you asked her: “What color is the top light of the traffic light? She would say RED (she sees it GREEN). Her visual experience (the qualitative content - the feel IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE REST OF US). This proves that not every time we are in a functional state (STOPPING AT A RED LIGHT) we are in the same MENTAL STATE. 

Lewis' mad man experiment: A person feels a headache but instead of going "ouch" (the function of pain) he studies calculus. Here he's in the same mental state normal people are, but in a different functional state. This proves one can be in a mental state and not in the same functional state.


TURING TEST FOR INTELLIGENCE: Imitation game. There is a man (A) and a woman (B) and an interrogator (C) who may be of either sex. → The object of the game is for the interrogator to determine which of the two is the man and which is the woman. → It is A’s object in the game to try to cause C to make the wrong identification. The object for the game of B is to help the interrogator.
For Turing there’s nothing more to being intelligent than being able to use language as we do. WHICH MEANS… If a computer is able to do this, then it is smart.


WHAT DO WE LEARN? MENTAL STATES ARE NOT REDUCIBLE TO BEHAVIORAL STATES, TO BRAIN STATES, TO FUNCTIONAL STATES. MENTAL STATES ARE IRREDUCIBLE. WE CALL PROPERTY OF MENTAL STATES A PRIMITIVE PROPERTY.
 

INTENTIONALITY IS A PRIMITIVE PROPERTY, it's the “ABOUTNESS” of a thought. Without intentionality our life would be completely mechanical. 

A SYNONYM FOR INTENTIONALITY IS QUALIA, i.e., the unique private subjectifve "feel" of our mental states. 

here's my analysis of the mind as SYSTEMIC PROPERTY OF THE BRAIN. 

this is a sketch of a systemic model for the mind (going up emergence, going down supervinience)

emergent property → is a property which is caused by things that lack that property & interact in certain ways. IN SISTEMS THE WHOLE IS BIGGER THAN THE PARTS. The emergent property arises when all parts are put together. ● The mind is emergent upon and caused by brain activity. EX: Love at first sight. ● Life is an emergent property. ● HURRICANES (wind-rain-destruction) ← ALL of these variables MUST happen in order for the emergent property to arise.

click here for examples of emergent properties,

Downward causation → Downward causation is used to explain the effect of the environment on biological evolution. It suggests the causal relationship between the HIGHER levels of a system to LOWER levels of that system. For example: mental events causes physical events. There is a two-way interaction between consciousness and the brain: Consciousness determines the succession of nerve impulses, and nerve impulses determine the content of consciousness.

click here for a better understanding of the brain-systemic-model for the mind,

Tuesday, October 2, 2018

chapter 1 summary (monday 5:40pm class)

click here, homework chapter 1 
click here, fallacies,
click here, deductive and inductive arguments
click here, necessary and sufficient conditions,
click here, the presocratics,
click here, branches of philosophy,
click here, (office hours)

homework, chapter 1 (monday 5:40pm class)

click here for more information,

homework, chapter 1 (monday 5:40pm class)

1. what is the philosophical method?
2. what does Socrates mean by "examined" life?
3. a) what's a premise? b) what's a conclusion? c) what's an argument?
4. when is an argument deductive?
5. what's an inductive argument?
6. when is a deductive argument valid?
7. when is an inductive argument strong?
8. revise the points on pages 30-32
9. what's a fallacy? 

Here is the latest as per our Philosophy Club

Malena Arriola, president,
Rachel Apply, vice president, 
Ariel Trawick, treasurer, 
Anna Righini, secretary,  
Sophie Leutenegger, event planner,