A Certain Point of View - A Certain Point of View

Politics, Ontology, Philosophy

Who Decides What's Real?

Reading Time: 12 minutes

22nd Nov 2020

Who will be the next President of the United States? At noon on January 20th, 2021, reality will change. The vote seems to have favored Joe Biden, but many Trump supporters believe that Biden's victory is the result of a massive conspiracy to commit voter fraud. Who is right?

Epistemology, Philosophy

Consistency as the Criterion of Truth

Reading Time: 8 minutes

8th Sep 2020

How do we know when something is true? What does it mean to know? How do we define true?

Technology, Philosophy

Computer Literacy and Computational Thinking

Reading Time: 7 minutes

8th Aug 2020

The future divide won't be between the haves and the have-nots, but between those who are merely users of computers and those who know how to actually use them.

Star Wars, Script Doctor, Aesthetics, Character

Fixing RotJ, Part 2: Armed Only With This

Reading Time: 11 minutes

25th Jun 2020

In my first post [https://blog.craigabutler.com/fixing-rotj-1/] about script doctoring Return of the Jedi, I talked a lot about the infamous "certain point of view" scene. This is the scene where Luke encounters Obi-Wan's ghost right after Yoda dies. It's a critical turning point in the film that doesn't live up to its potential, and it sets the stage for a disappointing conclusion of Luke's story in the original Star Wars trilogy. In the scene, Luke's just lost his teacher and ally, the last l

Epistemology, Philosophy

Learning From Experience

Reading Time: 17 minutes

17th Jun 2020

How do we learn from experience? As we accumulate data about the world, we can form better and better guesses about how that experience reflects reality. Better yet, we can quantify it, with statistics and probability.

Philosophy, Ontology

Our Encrypted Minds

Reading Time: 21 minutes

9th Jun 2020

If we can't say for certain exactly how our minds are created by our brains, are we justified in treating the subjective as its own ontological reality?

Philosophy, Epistemology

How Do You Know?

Reading Time: 9 minutes

4th Jun 2020

Although most children seem to have no trouble reciting their age when asked, they usually have a lot more trouble answering my follow-up question: "how do you know?"

Philosophy, Ontology

In Defense of the Subjective

Reading Time: 4 minutes

30th May 2020

We can't quantify subjective experiences the same way we measure objective reality, but that doesn't make our lived experiences any less real.

Philosophy, Ontology

The Three Worlds

Reading Time: 8 minutes

30th May 2020

Suppose a dear friend claims they've witnessed a terrifying apparition. They beg you to spend a night with them in the haunted house, to see for yourself. Does the ghost exist? Do you?

Star Wars, Script Doctor, Aesthetics

Fixing RotJ, Part 1: A Certain Point of View

Reading Time: 12 minutes

28th May 2020

I know what you're thinking - you're thinking, "Craig, you spice-addled fool! Nothing's wrong with RotJ! It's amazing!" And of course, you're right - I love it. So what could I possibly have to complain about?

Star Wars, Aesthetics

In Defense of the Ewoks

Reading Time: 5 minutes

22nd May 2020

People love to complain about the Ewoks in Return of the Jedi, but they've never really bothered me. A look into our favorite little furry cannibals.

Star Wars, Aesthetics, Character

The Lies of Obi-Wan Kenobi

Reading Time: 12 minutes

14th May 2020

Fixing the Star Wars prequels is still obsession of mine, and two of the biggest problems with them is a lack of compelling characters and a failure to bring anything new to the story.