Mindmatter

Tony Parker on whether or not he had any doubt that his game winning shot was good: “Ah no, no. No, no, no, no. I thought it was good. That’s why I screamed so hard — I knew that it was good” . It’s striking that he’s so certain given the shot left his hand with less than 33 miliseconds on the shot clock. It’s a tough call. The the point between the moment the ball leaves his hands and the moment the scoreboard lights up is almost undetectable, for outside observes at least. Not so for Parker, who reports never having any doubt. Maybe it’s superstar bravado makes him say it, or maybe he has some innate skill to track his intentional states faster than we can process the relevant visual information. 

Colin McGinn replies to the allegations against him reported in CHE

Wow, having trouble processing this. Famous philosopher forced to resign his post at the University of Miami because of allegations of sexual harassment responds: “I was only making a punny ‘handjob’ joke”. Jim Norton, Louie C.K., Patton Oswalt and others have recently defended comedians who walk the line between jokes and sexual harassment. A dirty joke by Daniel Tosh set off the most recent shitstorm. Though I generally agree with those people, I can’t defend this guy. It’s actually kind amazing to read this guy’s defense…he must play dumb about standards of professionalism. A comedian’s right to make dirty jokes on stage to an audience does not necessarily extend to professors. Just because a joke is funny, doesn’t mean it’s always appropriate to tell. A comedy club is supposed to be a safe space for comedians to say whatever they want, so long as it’s meant to be funny. That’s fine I agree with that. A professor writing private emails to students isn’t the same kind of space. And seriously, how many times do you think this guy, who wrote a book and taught classes on hands, made this fucking joke?

Reports are starting to come in of multiple explosions near the finish line at the Boston Marathon, across from the Boston Public Library on Copley Square. We’re updating below.

by David Velleman is one of the best papers in philosophy that I have read in a long time.