As we look around us at an ever-increasing number of apparently intractable conflicts, what is the scope for the discovery of shared values to offer us a way forward?
Author: Colin Turfus
Colin Turfus is a quantitative risk manager with 16 years experience in investment banking. He has a PhD in applied mathematics from Cambridge University and has published research in fluid dynamics, astronomy and quantitative finance.
Maaate! Your virtue-signalling is tiresome.
Much breath has been expended criticising Sadiq Khan’s recent “Say maaaate to a mate” campaign. Opinions tend to be divided between those who criticise the campaign over its likely ineffectiveness and those who criticise it as inappropriate use of public funds. But are there not more fundamental issues at stake here which deserve greater scrutiny?
Disparage the Farage!
It was some weeks since Ziggy had been out for a drink with his friend Zara (aka Zarathustra, the postmodern-day prophet of renown) and he had been looking forward to indulging in some stimulating discussion about their favourite topic, namely the foibles and failings of celebrities (particularly of the political variety) who had been in… Continue reading Disparage the Farage!
Is Name Bias Discrimination Real?
In a recent essay Are We Biased in Our Attitude to Bias?, I sought to argue that the idea of bias is a subjective one and that an attempt to infer it is likely in itself to be subject to bias. Nonetheless, it continues to be regularly argued that evidence exists of bias in our… Continue reading Is Name Bias Discrimination Real?
Is It True that “There Is No Such Thing as Society”?
Dame Margaret Thatcher famously once asserted that there is no such thing as society. It has never been entirely clear what she meant by that claim. But what was made clear was that ‘society’ at the time was of the opinion that she was wrong; and that it was very angry with her for suggesting… Continue reading Is It True that “There Is No Such Thing as Society”?
Are We Biased in Our Attitude to Bias?
We hear a lot these days about “bias” in human judgements and the problems this creates for the realisation of a fair and just society. But how often do we stop to think what we mean by the word? And is our failure to do so not in itself a form of bias where we… Continue reading Are We Biased in Our Attitude to Bias?
Alice’s Honeymoon Comes to a Premature End
We pick up our story of Alice and her princely husband-to be (formerly known as the Red Knight of the Looking Glass Kingdom) on the day of their nuptials, which we left them at the end of Part 1 looking forward to and making plans for. As expected by her (now) mother-in-law the Red Queen,… Continue reading Alice’s Honeymoon Comes to a Premature End
Alice at the Palace
It had been a long journey and it seemed to Alice so long since she had first stepped through the Looking Glass into the new world that lay beyond. But here she was finally at the eighth square. She threw herself down to rest on a lawn as soft as moss, with little flower-beds dotted… Continue reading Alice at the Palace
Should We Celebrate “Diversity”?
Should we celebrate diversity? To ask the question in the current political climate in the Anglosphere is to answer it: to respond with anything less than an enthusiastic “Of course we should!” is to risk upsetting all the lovely people in the picture above and worse, to invite the wrath of the Cancel Culture squads… Continue reading Should We Celebrate “Diversity”?
Counting the Cost of Social Justice
It is a key feature of the Culture Wars that they tend to be winner-takes-all affairs. This is arguably because both sides tend to adopt rights-based approaches, then to assert mutually incompatible sets of rights. But is there not a more fruitful way of conducting moral discourse whereby the protagonists of both sides engage with each other in a less confrontational manner?