"Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum (I think that I think, therefore I think that I am.)" - Ambrose Bierce

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Quotes:

'I didn't fall into the toilet bowl. My ass didn't bleed when I rubbed it with toilet paper. Praise the Lord!'

He's not the only one to have changed his name. Later on we'll be talking about another Australian philosopher who has changed his name, though in this case I do know why.

Rough Waldo Emerson (Ralph)

[On nature lovers like Emerson and Thoreau] They didn't look at it in a scientific way. They didn't look at it in a philosophical way. They looked at it in a literary way... They were literary people... The way they talked about nature was at best sentimental and at worst emotional... There's no argument given. That's why it's not a philosophical position.

[On Richard Routley / Sylvan and his wifw] Being a liberated man... They both changed their name to 'Sylvan'. That's how they could both have the same name.

[On non-emotional reasons to push a button to destroy Nature after the Last Man's death] Let's imagine that your thumb is a bit sore. Pressing the button will help.

[On K Gourmet] I went to dinner last night... I've a piece of paper in my pocket. I don't know why I still have it. Is there anything wrong if I tear it up? If I litter, that's something else. *shreds drop to the ground* [Me: No, because it's a bad restaurant] It was a bad restaurant.

[On objections to the Last Man argument] Gee, you are so stubborn. And because I knew you would be stubborn, I have another story to tell you.

[On choosing between getting $10 today versus $15 next week, with the latter decreasing in $0.25 intervals] You guys are too polluted to be my subjects. Economics students are damaged goods... I've done this before with 2nd year economics students... I don't know why... They zig-zag. It should only switch one way. Because of monotonicity... Either people are not paying attention, or they are thinking in a strange way... to save you from embarrassment I didn't ask you to write your name.

[On comparing yourself to others] You go to Cambodia, you're very happy when you come back. Your state variable has changed. How lucky you are... Warm showers.

the loss averse messages (messengers)

[On the test] Email it to me by then. Which in practice means by the time I get to work the following day. [Student: So what time do you get to work?]

Holston (Rolston)

Knowing that something exists doesn't make it exist, unless you take a very hardcore, idealistic view, which I don't want to talk about here.

Just because the baby pulls my hair doesn't mean I can pull the baby's hair. Just because lions and tigers - when they're hungry, they eat you, doesn't mean you can eat them. You have a choice.

[On equality before the law] Bill Gates - in a court of law, he doesn't have anything that I don't. [Me: *sotto voce* A better lawyer]

[On biocentrism] In a jungle, confronted by a hungry lion, do we say: 'I respect your interests. Please eat me'

[On Aldo Leopold] Because of his scientific credentials, he's taken a little bit more seriously than the other environmental heroes.

[On Callicott extending Hume's idea of sympathy to animals] That's an incorrect interpretation of Hume, but that's because I know more about Hume than these guys. But I won't bother to justify that.

Reagan says biocentrists are fair'sis. Moral fair'sis. (fascists)

[Me: There's a sign above saying "Cheapest flowers in NUS". They're selling flowers for $2. So what extra value do you provide?] People don't read signs, unless their name is 'Gabriel'.

It was air'bridged by Readers Digest. (abridged)

[Doing a presentation on Silent Spring] It was published in the United States. It was written in English... The publication date was 27 September 1962. The publisher was Houghton Mifflin.

some conservators (conservationists)

Rachel Carson doesn't say: 'Let's ban DDT'. She leaves it to them to decide. But there's a hint that she knows what they'd do.

en'chan'merns (enchantments)

[Concluding what was supposed to be a 1/2 hour presentation] What this presentation has attempted to do in the last - 5 minutes.

the person who founded that out (found)

[On Bolehland failures] They got this small bank. Commerce Bank. Very successful, to buy Bumiputra bank... The result was terrible.

A lot of banks have these values. We asked the staff, no one could remember... 'We want to be eficient, honest'... Which banks wouldn't want to be these things?

[Me on last minute V-day plans: Why don't you cook for her?] *Shocked* Gabriel!... I heard 'What are your plans for her?' [Me: That too.]

Let's get back to my hero - Gerschenkron.

We all are the genie pigs (guinea)

This time inconsistency is almost like what you get in a relationship. During courtship, you convince your girlfriend you're such and such a person... after marriage it's a different story.

Suppose you have a commitment technology. If you don't do your problem set, your friend will beat you up.

[On Ainslie] He did experiments on pigeons and rats and discovered that their behavior is best described by hyperbolic discounting.

[On solving a complicated function] How many of you have done it?... Dynamic programming and all that - which I have never done.

[On the presentation] The variation in presentation grade is not a lot... All these thing are just to raise your grade so you don't have to worry about failing the course (things)

You might want to engage your audience in some ways. By looking at them - that's a start.