Latest Books Videos Submitted by mauz15 at VideoSift.com

"Just How Stupid Are We?" Historian Rick Shenkman Interview

mauz15 (http://books.videosift.com/member/mauz15) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:49:54 -0700

(17 votes - 4 comments - 474 views)
Shenkman is the author of the new book “Just How Stupid Are We? Facing the Truth About the American Voter”.

In this conversation, Shenkman discusses our need to focus on the electorate’s general lack of informed understanding of civics and what is important in our political process.

Shenkman is also the founder and editor of George Mason University’s History News Network, as well as an associate professor of History there.

(Recorded in early summer 2008)

John Searle on Free Will, Knowledge, and Conciousness

mauz15 (http://books.videosift.com/member/mauz15) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 22:25:38 -0700

(16 votes - 8 comments - 612 views)
John Rogers Searle is an American philosopher and Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley. Widely noted for his contributions to the philosophy of language, philosophy of mind and social philosophy.

John Searle visits Google's Mountain View, CA headquarters to discuss his book " Freedom and Neurobiology: Reflections on Free Will, Language, and Political Power." This event took place on October 30, 2007 as part of the Authors@Google series

Searle is very well known for his so-called "Chinese room" argument, which purports to prove strong AI is impossible.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_room

Bertrand Russell BBC 1959 Interview

mauz15 (http://books.videosift.com/member/mauz15) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:45:47 -0700

(15 votes - 2 comments - 411 views)
British philosopher, logician, essayist, and social critic, best known for his work in mathematical logic and analytic philosophy. His most influential contributions include his defense of logicism (the view that mathematics is in some important sense reducible to logic), and his theories of definite descriptions and logical atomism. Along with G.E. Moore, Russell is generally recognized as one of the founders of analytic philosophy. Along with Kurt Gödel, he is also regularly credited with being one of the two most important logicians of the twentieth century.

Over the course of his long career, Russell made significant contributions, not just to logic and philosophy, but to a broad range of other subjects including education, history, political theory and religious studies. In addition, many of his writings on a wide variety of topics in both the sciences and the humanities have influenced generations of general readers. After a life marked by controversy (including dismissals from both Trinity College, Cambridge, and City College, New York), Russell was awarded the Order of Merit in 1949 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950. Also noted for his many spirited anti-war and anti-nuclear protests, Russell remained a prominent public figure until his death at the age of 97.

Plato's Allegory of the Cave: Beautiful Adaptation in Clay

mauz15 (http://books.videosift.com/member/mauz15) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:31:02 -0700

(21 votes - 1 comment - 572 views)
Winner of the USA film fest.
The clay artist was Jon Grigsby, and almost all of the 4,000 or so photos that make up the animation were lit by candlelight.

"...Plato is saying that humans are all prisoners and that the tangible world is our cave. The things which we perceive as real are actually just shadows on a wall. Just as the escaped prisoner ascends into the light of the sun, we amass knowledge and ascend into the light of true reality: where ideas in our minds can help us understand the form of 'The Good'"

-Source: Wikipedia

On "Bullshit" & "On Truth" Author Harry Frankfurt Interview

mauz15 (http://books.videosift.com/member/mauz15) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 21:21:33 -0800

(11 votes - 4 comments - 508 views)
Harry Frankfurt is a professor emeritus in philosophy from Princeton University, and the author of the best-selling books "On Bullshit" and "On Truth"