John Terrell

When a manuscript is submitted to Berghahn, the authors are asked to make suggestions about possible cover art. This is a real challenge for the book John Hoopes, Stephen Acabado, and I are writing about belief. Maybe this?
Photo by form PxHere

I think this is an improved (and more appealing) version of this "belief quiz" for the book on belief.

My inner Alice had a brainstorm last night, and one of the ideas she came up with was this one. AI = Artificial Belief.

Look what I just plucked from the mails today.

I think I have put together a good lead image for the conclusion to the book on what makes us human. In the book "ignorance" simply means "lack of knowledge."

I have reworked one of the figures for the conclusion of the book I am writing about human nature.
𝗙𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝟰.𝟯. (a) Creative thinking: forming beliefs. (b) Categorical thinking: relying on habitual answers. (c) Relational thinking: looking for consequences.

Actually, yes.

But isn't that good?

I am obviously having fun, but serious fun. I need a chapter opening image for the Conclusion to the book I am writing on what makes us human. This image builds on the previous imagery in the book and maybe (?) has a bit of exotic appeal? Tentative title: SCIENCE AND SUPERSTITION.

I think I have figured out how to show and not just tell in the book I am writing about human nature what I am calling "thought styles." (a) categorical; (b) relational; (c) belief; and (d) habitual. The MAGA crowd is strong on (d).

Although I am not sure I can get away with in the book I am writing, but definitions of what is a "belief" almost always make BELIEF something that is the opposite of something else called TRUTH. This makes truth something that is "out there" rather than something we have to work at "having."

I have come up with what I am calling the "Truth Test." The vast amount of evidence supporting the truth of this test supplied nowadays by Donald J. Truimp is truly overwhelming. "If you trust the source, it sounds possible, and fits your beliefs, then it is true."

Look what just arrived in the mail!

One of the distinctions made in the book I am working on with Stephen Acabado and John Hoopes about belief is that there is a real difference between assumptions and beliefs. Google AI and XI Grok do a shitty job of saying what it is. Shows that AI isn't about intelligence but canned responses.

I think I've got a better title for the book I am working on. Chapter 3 is devoted to 3 case studies.

Nature: revitalization movements, MAGA, and Constitutional Originalism
Nurture: The Continental Convention, religion
Choice: LGBT+, castrati, transvestism, transexualism, drag queens, etc.

Remote cave discovery shows ancient voyagers brought rice across 2,300km of Pacific Ocean Rice is difficult to grow in the Pacific, so how did it end up in a cave? Archaeologists reveal the hidden history of this ancient and well-travelled grain.

Another fine example of what I have long called "Christmas Tree" archaeology in the Pacific. (Hint: Find something? Pin it to the same old story, and your job is done. And rest assured that fame & fortune are coming down the chimney after you have gone to sleep.)

An important book that gives a powerful message about indigenous knowledge and the critical importance of acknowledging our global diversity.

An important book that gives a powerful message about indigenous knowledge and the critical importance of acknowledging our global diversity.

www.berghahnbooks.com/title/Terrel...

I am not sure which one is the better comedy, but both shows are certainly entertaining.

In case you were wondering what the word "objectification" means.

@berghahnbooks.bsky.social

Just published. www.berghahnbooks.com/title/Terrel...

Rereading Herbert Simons 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 (1996) underscores how much of science then assumed the key elements of concern were "systems," "complexity," and "environment." It is also clearer why Skinner's extreme environmentalism was not seen as extreme as it was, etc.

<em>American Anthropologist</em> | AAA Anthropology Journal | Wiley Online Library What do people think about anthropology and other disciplines in the social sciences and liberal arts? How do negative views of anthropology influence the discipline's future? A review of public disc...

Why I am glad to be editing the new Berghahn series EXPLANATIONS IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES. anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

In the book about human nature I want to write for the Berghahn series EXPLANATIONS IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES, when do you think I should confess to the reader that this figure can also be labeled as "doing science"?

Sadly, this is way too true. At least in the Land of Trump.

I think that at last the book has a good title.

For the book on what makes us human I am starting to work on, I am trying to show, not just tell, key ideas. One is that either/or thinking may not get you far enough down the road to see the consequences of what you are doing in the here and now. May this?