James Shelley

James Shelley

I am an instructor, coder, and strategist, focused on research administration, enterprise workflow automation, and science communication at a Canadian university.

Why are we busy?

I have long been intrigued by the fact that I (like almost everyone else I know) habitually answer the question, ‘How are you doing?’ with almost robotic predictability: ‘Oh, you know, swamped — so busy these days!’ What do I hope that you, the listener,…

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Critical Thinking: A Cheatsheet

Dynamite questions to ask when you are willing to second-guess yourself. What would it take to convince me that I am wrong? (Falsifiability) How could I empirically prove the exact opposite of what I suspect to be true? (Null hypothesis) How could someone else argue…

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The Question, and the Moment that follows

You only care about the truth if you will jettison your present beliefs if you find it. Consider any proposition that you believe is true. Any proposition at all. For example... Apple products are superior to Microsoft products. Human carbon emissions are increasing global temperatures.

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