Author Archives

I’ve completed all but defence of my thesis for a masters in philosophy. My disciplinary interest is in the acquisition and maintenance of our beliefs. But I also have a background in the study of rhetoric, linguistics, and philosophy of language. Political rhetoric particularly interests me.

• The Fine Art of Thumb Twiddling (poem)

  By pammentations on August 26, 2021 • ( 1 )

  I wrote the following poem at least a decade ago. I’d forgotten until this evening when I unearthed a CD from a dresser drawer and had a look. I help my mother ease into the passenger seat, guiding her by… Read More ›

• Thoughtlets. XLVI. Observing patterns of human behaviour.

  By pammentations on July 16, 2021 • ( 0 )

  Some find Tacitus’ Annals tedious. Some of it is. But his work keeps me riveted. I’m not so interested in history, per se. Rather I’m interested in identifying patterns of human behaviour, events that repeat over millennia, and asking why… Read More ›

• Thoughtlets. XLV. Theodicy revisited.

  By pammentations on July 3, 2021 • ( 0 )

  News media characteristically brings us one story after another about the kinds of things humans to do each other which are broadly characterized as “evil”. And these stories tend to generate accusations of “evil-doers” which are then dispatched with the… Read More ›

• Saturday Morning Pam-Toons. A Speakeasy in the Age of Prohibition. (Repost, 2020/09/14)

  By pammentations on June 29, 2021 • ( 5 )

  Hey Sweetheart. Are you here to have a drink or to speak your mind?

• Saturday Morning Pam-toons. Pursuant to Its Commitment to Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, the University Students’ Union Welcomes the Neo-Knotsies Macrame Revival Club.

  By pammentations on June 26, 2021 • ( 0 )

• Saturday Morning Pam-toons. Psychic Surgery Removes Hatred.

  By pammentations on June 12, 2021 • ( 1 )

• Saturday Morning Pam-toons. The Safest Place for the Heretic is Holding Torquemada’s Robes.

  By pammentations on May 1, 2021 • ( 1 )

• The Lesser Known Logical Fallacies.

  By pammentations on April 30, 2021 • ( 3 )

  If you’ve ever taken a logic and critical thinking course, you’ll have learned about logical fallacies. Logical fallacies are patterns of bad reasoning that occur so often they’re given their own special names. Ad hominem arguments are directed at the… Read More ›

• Thought experiment: the last humans. (Thoughtlets. XL.)

  By pammentations on April 30, 2021 • ( 0 )

  Thought experiment. Imagine some cosmic event renders all humans sterile. After a number of decades pass, humankind literally enters a Golden Age, with an exclusively senior population. Although, ‘senior’ might lose its current meaning when the youngest among us is… Read More ›

• Thoughlets. XLIV.

  By pammentations on April 28, 2021 • ( 2 )

  Do you ever wonder what future generations will look like? Look in a mirror. You are the future generations of those who lived before you. And do you ever wonder what future future generations will think of you and your… Read More ›