Wednesday, September 18 - AM Fluency

We discussed Friday’s exam. Everyone is quite prepared.

The entire class time today was devoted to a philosophical issue: how we humans are biased  toward the future. We began with a thought experiment to demonstrate this bias, a thought experiment that comes from the English philosopher Derek Parfitt. The long and short of it is this: We would rather have experienced intense, long-lasting pain in the past than intense, but short-lasting pain in the future. We would rather have undergone a 10-hour surgery yesterday, with no anesthetics, than a one–hour surgery tomorrow, also with no anesthetics. Why? Because the past is over, the future is yet to come.

Parfitt thinks this is irrational. We should not put more emphasis on the future than the past. 

We read an essay I wrote that summarizes some of Parfitt’s argument. I don’t think my essay convinced many students. They seemed satisfied to be biased toward the future. 

Consistent with the theme of today’s class, we then listened to “Time,” from Pink Floyd’s 1972 album, The Dark Side of the Moon. We discussed the lyrics, focusing on the ability of children to appreciate the present more than adults.