Monthly Archives: September 2008

Reflections on teaching

This is the first semester in awhile that I find myself not in the front of a classroom, responsible for 17 or more minds. Instead, I’m a student in another’s classroom, mucking my way through French with the rest. I’ve … Continue reading

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Corn!

Last night Sydney and I “put up” the corn.  All 121 ears of it!  That means we can look forward to 30 wonderful mashed-potatoes-and-corn meals in the next year.  Yum.  What you may not know is that Sydney grows super-sweet … Continue reading

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Sydney’s home

I’m guessing he’ll post more later, but by his reports the conference went well, his comments were well received, and he got to talk to interesting people.  His plane got in fairly late last night, so we went to early … Continue reading

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If the world were mine to orchestrate

I would have Mondays be an easier day than they tend to be.  Although our schedules change each semester, one thing that never seems to change is that Monday is a long, full, hit-the-ground-running kind of day.  Sydney should get … Continue reading

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Sad

The New York Times reports an increase in lottery ticket sales as of late, due in part to the economic downturn.  Some states are seeing record years. I can’t help but think that those who shrug it off as “discretionary … Continue reading

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All college campuses are home

Since Sydney ventured an anecdote, I thought I might as well.  I’ve noticed that I tend to bop through life without noticing which college campus I’m on.  If I pass a jogger here who is wearing a Yale sweatshirt, it … Continue reading

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an anecdote

I’m currently in Ontario for a conference on Francisco Suarez (http://publish.uwo.ca/~bhill28/suarez/). I thought this would mean that I would get to have other things on my mind than dismal discussions about politics, but I’ve already had to suffer through three … Continue reading

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the other party

Suppose you’re studying the nutritional content of, say, parsnips. You test a hundred samples of parsnips and all the samples have relatively high amounts of calcium. So you conclude that parsnips are a good source of calcium. Concluding this makes … Continue reading

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Why you were rational in choosing your party

Two preliminary points to keep in mind: Rational belief and true belief can come apart. In fact, sometimes it is irrational to believe what is true. For example, if ten people lie to you and say that they saw Peter … Continue reading

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Running, running, running

I was switched to a different section of French this week, so our schedule is shaken up once again.  This bothers Sydney not one iota, but I nearly cried with frustration when the internet repair guy asked when we’d be … Continue reading

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