william james

David and Tamler are back for the new year and one of our resolutions was to do more episodes on William James. Today we talk about his account of ‘Attention’ from his 1890 volume The Principles of Psychology – another remarkably prescient chapter that still feels more than relevant today. What is attention and how does it function in the mind? What accounts for the different ways that we attend to things? Does attention help to shape or construct our reality? What is attention’s connection to the will? Does James anticipate predictive coding theory?

Plus we discuss the removal of the head of a renowned university for reasons that have nothing to do with the mission of higher learning.

Episode Links

Chancellor of University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Fired [nbc.com]

William James chapter on Attention from Principles of Psychology (1890) [yorku.ca]

David and Tamler return to the work of old favorite William James and argue about the 6th lecture (inspired by the French philosopher Henri Bergson) of his 1909 book “A Pluralistic Universe.” James attacks the philosophical habit of elevating unchanging concepts over the continuous ever-changing flux that characterizes raw experience. Concepts, James argues, carves joints where there are none. But why does James trust pure perception (unmediated by concepts) as a true window into reality? Does he want us to return to the blooming buzzing confusion of our infancy? Is his mystical side superseding his pragmatism?

Plus, a new study on generosity after receiving a $10,000 windfall leads to a discussion of what we can interpret from null results, and lots more.

Dwyer, R. J., Brady, W. J., Anderson, C., & Dunn, E. W. (2023). Are People Generous When the Financial Stakes Are High?. Psychological Science, 09567976231184887.

A Pluralistic Universe by William James (Lecture VI)

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In part 3 of our mini-series on the L&MR, we’re working our way along the line, exploring some of the magnificent works of civil engineering on the railroad.

We'll meet George Stephenson’s resident engineers: Joseph Locke, William Allcard, and John Dixon who had responsibility for these amazing structures.

And I'll also try to give an idea of what building them might have involved, if you were one of the nameless hundreds of navvies on the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, who did the actual physical work. 

History of the Railways is a podcast for anyone interested in railroad history. Come and join Michael Lancashire as he gets distracted, fascinated ... and yes, even sidetracked ... by stories from the railways (or railroads if you're American).

Find show notes and more at https://historyoftherailways.com

Join the conversation on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfTheRailways/

Support the show at http://patreon.com/HistoryoftheRailways

Chapters

• 00:00 Start
• 01:51 Last episode's trivia answer
• 02:23 George Stephenson’s men on the line - Joseph Locke, William Allcard, John Dixon
• 03:40 Edge Hill Tunnel
• 05:13 How the navvies on the Liverpool & Manchester Railway built the tunnel
• 07:49 First recorded death of a railway navvy
• 10:13 Olive Mount Cutting
• 11:42 Twin Sisters locomotive
• 13:40 Broadgreen or Roby Embankment
• 15:44 Sankey Viaduct
• 16:50 Sankey Viaduct's foundations
• 19:00 The Excavation at Kenyon
• 20:02 Chat Moss
• 22:50 John Dixon's account of sinking
• 23:33 Robert Stannard suggests a solution
• 26:00 The track
• 28:36 This episode's trivia question

Happy New Year, a week or so late, everyone! Last week’s episode was recorded prior to New Year’s so I wasn’t able to officially greet you in the New Year!

If you are a LLL regular, you know how passionate I am about this being a place to share our stories…the little ones and the bigger one’s because when we do there are proven scientific benefits, which I will go into more on another episode very soon.

Most of us grew up with stories. Bedtime stories, stories from parents and maybe grandparents. Stories shape our view of life and what’s possible. Sometimes that’s a good thing, and sometimes not; depending on the stories we’re told. Especially the ones we tell ourselves.

Please join me as I share how my thoughts over the holiday’s made me suffer, how we can become more aware of what we tell ourselves, and what we can do about it.

Lecture by Prof. Ruth Harris, All Soul's College, University of Oxford, UK, given on October 19, 2022, at the Ramakrishna Vedanta Society, Boston, MA. She is the author of “Guru to the World: The Life and Legacy of Vivekananda.”

 Le pragmatisme est une méthode de résolution des débats philosophiques qui nous invite à évaluer une idée en fonction de ses conséquences dans la pratique. Pour le pragmatisme, il ne faut pas se demander si une idée est vraie, mais si elle est un bon guide dans l'expérience. Tout cela vous semble étrange ? On en parle dans ce podcast.

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William James (1842-1910) was a Christian intellectual who smashed the Darwinian galaxy brains with facts and logic. He showed that Science ultimately rests on Faith and genuine Christian faith is more rational than atheist Science worship.

➡️  The Will to Believe by William James
➡️  Contact me or submit questions you want me to answer on the podcast at otherlife.co/contact.