mastodon 4.7.3Writing on the origins of complexity, selfhood, modern cognition and suffering, philosophy, history of science, literature, film.
Most people aren't Platonists. And yet...
"Capitalism is ruining the world." "I can't do that because of my anxiety."
These things are real, but treating them as *more* real than experience is what I'm calling Latent Platonism.
Our paper on it here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-026-06669-3
@philosophy@a.gup.pe #philosophy @psychology@a.gup.pe #psychology
I gave a talk on what brought me to #philosophy and #history of #science for Philosophy for All in London. You can watch it here: https://www.bryankam.com/p/philosophy-for-all-talk-on-thinking?r=447n8&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false @philosophy@a.gup.pe @histodons@a.gup.pe
I've released a new podcast with Brook Ziporyn on the value paradox, ontological ambiguity, and how grammar shapes metaphysics. We explore how making values explicit causes them to undermine themselves—from the Daodejing's "when all recognize the good as good, there is the bad" through Buddhist emptiness to Spinoza's critique of teleology. Plus: why "samsara is nirvana."
https://www.bryankam.com/p/samsara-is-nirvana-with-brook-ziporyn
#Buddhism #Tiantai #Daoism #Spinoza #Nietzsche #Metaphysics #Philosophy @philosophy@a.gup.pe
I’ve had a lot of pain in my life as a diabetic — 4 injections a day from age 2, seizures throughout childhood.
But on reflection, I’d still say that most of my suffering has come from my thinking — overthinking, and wishing things were other than they are.
My paper with @IsabelaG@social.bloom.casa is out. We diagnose this problem as "latent Platonism," which causes suffering. The cure is oscillation: the skill of switching between thinking and experience. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-026-06669-3 #philosophy @philosophy@a.gup.pe
Eraserhead is even more troubling than I remembered
I became a father in the past week and I am tired https://www.bryankam.com/p/fatherhood-and-philosophy
I wrote on revising an academic article #philosophy https://open.substack.com/pub/bryankam/p/on-revision?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=447n8
I had a discussion with Christopher Daniel, architect and organiser of the Long Now London https://www.bryankam.com/p/the-long-now-in-east-london
Some upcoming events! https://www.bryankam.com/p/events-I'm-hosting