Why is the site titled as it is?

Laughing Apple is a whimsical name given also to our farm on Salt Spring Island. I titled this blog Laughing Apple – at the intersection because I’m interested in the intersection between whimsical ideas and our empirical experience of the world around us. So much of what goes on around us is unexplained – often things simply happen… It’s remarkable the diversity of ideas and interpretations we each have regarding how we understand the world. We often differ in the ideas for how should behave, how we should make community, and how we should work towards making a better future for the next generation. We often understand the world around us very differently. The intersection of ideas in our mind and our interpretation of our shared human experience is how we develop understanding and plans for the future. I am fascinated to explore this intersection point.

I got a BA degree in philosophy many years ago before returning to school for degrees in physics and mathematics. I found the field of philosophy fascinating but, at the time, thought to myself – why are these guys always so interested in arguments and reasoning. Why are they always looking for counterexamples to various ideas rather than comparing the logical conclusions of the ideas and arguments with what happens in the real world. In my last year of study for my degree in philosophy I became more and more convinced that the way philosophy was taught and practiced was a dead end. Fewer and fewer people paid attention to what philosophers write. The way the discipline was practiced lacked the excitement of actually describing the philosophical processes that occurs within each of us in the real world. Why aren’t philosophers focused on adjusting their philosophical ‘models’ to better describe what actually occurs day to day? So, after working as a atmospheric physicist for many years, I am returning to the consideration of philosophical questions and in my approach will attempt to initiate discussion of how scientific methods can be applied to philosophical problems. I hope you find this discussion exciting and will join in with your comments and suggestions. My hope is to initiate a dialog and, with your help, together we will improve on my initial ideas with your comments.