Friday, December 23, 2011

The straw Vulcan



I liked the question at the end of this. Did this kind of thinking create straw Vulcans on TV and in the movies? Or are straw Vulcans what made people think that this is what rationality really is?

This is the third presentation I've posted (see also here and here) from Skepticon IV, which was held at Missouri State University last month, and they've all been great. In fact, I created a new Skepticon tag for such posts, since I'm clearly going to have to watch more of these presentations.

I'm not sure how many of them I'll post - especially those from previous Skepticons - since they're longer than most of the clips I like to embed here. But I've been really impressed by what I've seen so far, from Rebecca Watson, Greta Christina, and now Julia Galef.

2 comments:

m1nks said...

Long but thought provoking in a 'huh, I never really thought about this but know you are making me, it makes perfect sense' sort of a way.

I remember being rather irritated at some of the things Spock used to do although I was never a passionate Trekie. And my thoughts were always that he just 'didn't understand'. Which was of course true. And for a hyper intelligent being that just isn't believable.

Bill Garthright said...

Yes, m1nks, I know what you mean. Spock irritated me, sometimes, too - more and more as the show went one - but I don't think I really grasped why until I heard this talk about the "straw Vulcan."