Alan Colquhoun
@alancolquhoun.bsky.social
Pianist, philosopher, author, ethicist, metaphysician, moralist, aesthete...🇺🇦
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Alan Colquhoun
@alancolquhoun.bsky.social
· Nov 18
Plain enough to cut through the bullshit, but sharp enough to keep it clean...
Last night’s (much anticipated) movie was Del Toro’s Frankenstein (2025)
It’s extraordinary - not merely as cinema but as a rare act of fidelity to the spirit of the novel
The creature, played with immense physical intelligence, commands fear and compassion: tall, powerful, yet radiantly innocent
It’s extraordinary - not merely as cinema but as a rare act of fidelity to the spirit of the novel
The creature, played with immense physical intelligence, commands fear and compassion: tall, powerful, yet radiantly innocent
November 9, 2025 at 7:32 AM
Last night’s (much anticipated) movie was Del Toro’s Frankenstein (2025)
It’s extraordinary - not merely as cinema but as a rare act of fidelity to the spirit of the novel
The creature, played with immense physical intelligence, commands fear and compassion: tall, powerful, yet radiantly innocent
It’s extraordinary - not merely as cinema but as a rare act of fidelity to the spirit of the novel
The creature, played with immense physical intelligence, commands fear and compassion: tall, powerful, yet radiantly innocent
I love how older trees preserve stretched versions of carvings made by people in bygone days...
November 8, 2025 at 4:09 PM
I love how older trees preserve stretched versions of carvings made by people in bygone days...
Decided to take a stroll through Craiglockhart woods (for a change)
November 8, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Decided to take a stroll through Craiglockhart woods (for a change)
'Deceiver', fruiting under the birch in our front garden...
November 8, 2025 at 3:54 PM
'Deceiver', fruiting under the birch in our front garden...
Last night's movie was Paris, je t’aime (2006)
I first saw this when it came out nearly twenty years ago, but it carries a very different meaning for me now...
I first saw this when it came out nearly twenty years ago, but it carries a very different meaning for me now...
November 8, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Last night's movie was Paris, je t’aime (2006)
I first saw this when it came out nearly twenty years ago, but it carries a very different meaning for me now...
I first saw this when it came out nearly twenty years ago, but it carries a very different meaning for me now...
I caught myself absently talking (out loud) to myself, in the supermarket, this morning
I think I've reached the fourth age
I think I've reached the fourth age
November 8, 2025 at 9:35 AM
I caught myself absently talking (out loud) to myself, in the supermarket, this morning
I think I've reached the fourth age
I think I've reached the fourth age
@mrjamesob.bsky.social your current caller Chris is talking about propositional logic and, in particular modal logical validity
And he's onto something crucial
A refined appreciation of the distinctions between subject/predicate, necessity, possibility, actuality, etc
.. should help discern truth
And he's onto something crucial
A refined appreciation of the distinctions between subject/predicate, necessity, possibility, actuality, etc
.. should help discern truth
November 5, 2025 at 10:44 AM
@mrjamesob.bsky.social your current caller Chris is talking about propositional logic and, in particular modal logical validity
And he's onto something crucial
A refined appreciation of the distinctions between subject/predicate, necessity, possibility, actuality, etc
.. should help discern truth
And he's onto something crucial
A refined appreciation of the distinctions between subject/predicate, necessity, possibility, actuality, etc
.. should help discern truth
By the law of excluded middle, Einstein’s famous theory is either true or it isn’t
Its success doesn’t alter that logic - only how confidently we may rely on it
And if history is any guide, it’s probably not true, just brilliantly serviceable
However, we needn't rely on induction from history...
Its success doesn’t alter that logic - only how confidently we may rely on it
And if history is any guide, it’s probably not true, just brilliantly serviceable
However, we needn't rely on induction from history...
November 5, 2025 at 6:56 AM
By the law of excluded middle, Einstein’s famous theory is either true or it isn’t
Its success doesn’t alter that logic - only how confidently we may rely on it
And if history is any guide, it’s probably not true, just brilliantly serviceable
However, we needn't rely on induction from history...
Its success doesn’t alter that logic - only how confidently we may rely on it
And if history is any guide, it’s probably not true, just brilliantly serviceable
However, we needn't rely on induction from history...
You’ve been given free access to this article from The Economist as a gift. You can open the link five times within seven days. After that it will expire.
Salman Rushdie: stabbed 15 times but still laughing
www.economist.com/culture/2025...
Salman Rushdie: stabbed 15 times but still laughing
www.economist.com/culture/2025...
Salman Rushdie: stabbed 15 times but still laughing
A long-persecuted author on humour, charlatans and death
www.economist.com
November 5, 2025 at 6:38 AM
You’ve been given free access to this article from The Economist as a gift. You can open the link five times within seven days. After that it will expire.
Salman Rushdie: stabbed 15 times but still laughing
www.economist.com/culture/2025...
Salman Rushdie: stabbed 15 times but still laughing
www.economist.com/culture/2025...
You’ve been given free access to this article from The Economist as a gift. You can open the link five times within seven days. After that it will expire.
A night of big wins for the Democrats
www.economist.com/united-state...
A night of big wins for the Democrats
www.economist.com/united-state...
A night of big wins for the Democrats
Donald Trump wasn’t on the ballot. He may as well have been
www.economist.com
November 5, 2025 at 6:30 AM
You’ve been given free access to this article from The Economist as a gift. You can open the link five times within seven days. After that it will expire.
A night of big wins for the Democrats
www.economist.com/united-state...
A night of big wins for the Democrats
www.economist.com/united-state...
To all those who still think truth is a relativistic concept:
The phrase "true for me" can mean nothing more than ‘I believe’
And belief, in essence, concedes epistemic fallibility - it points beyond itself to a truth that is not relative
The phrase "true for me" can mean nothing more than ‘I believe’
And belief, in essence, concedes epistemic fallibility - it points beyond itself to a truth that is not relative
November 4, 2025 at 11:22 AM
To all those who still think truth is a relativistic concept:
The phrase "true for me" can mean nothing more than ‘I believe’
And belief, in essence, concedes epistemic fallibility - it points beyond itself to a truth that is not relative
The phrase "true for me" can mean nothing more than ‘I believe’
And belief, in essence, concedes epistemic fallibility - it points beyond itself to a truth that is not relative
I completely agree
I would just like to add something to it, if I may:
The point of legally protecting belief is twofold:
Belief is involuntary
A rational society must enable persuasion
Everyone should be free to believe religiously but nobody should abuse that freedom by believing religiously
I would just like to add something to it, if I may:
The point of legally protecting belief is twofold:
Belief is involuntary
A rational society must enable persuasion
Everyone should be free to believe religiously but nobody should abuse that freedom by believing religiously
Freedom of and from religion is vital, but that freedom of religion doesn’t oblige us to revere or respect any religions!
We should respect people’s right to believe, but we are NOT obliged to respect religions.
We should respect people’s right to believe, but we are NOT obliged to respect religions.
November 4, 2025 at 7:05 AM
I completely agree
I would just like to add something to it, if I may:
The point of legally protecting belief is twofold:
Belief is involuntary
A rational society must enable persuasion
Everyone should be free to believe religiously but nobody should abuse that freedom by believing religiously
I would just like to add something to it, if I may:
The point of legally protecting belief is twofold:
Belief is involuntary
A rational society must enable persuasion
Everyone should be free to believe religiously but nobody should abuse that freedom by believing religiously
This - from this morning's Economist - interested me, because who can really tell whether the Chinese marketplace is sufficiently free?
Boyu, like all Chinese entities, is ultimately controlled by the One Party under Xi
And its 'Social Credit System' can ensure compliance without overt violence
Boyu, like all Chinese entities, is ultimately controlled by the One Party under Xi
And its 'Social Credit System' can ensure compliance without overt violence
November 4, 2025 at 6:12 AM
This - from this morning's Economist - interested me, because who can really tell whether the Chinese marketplace is sufficiently free?
Boyu, like all Chinese entities, is ultimately controlled by the One Party under Xi
And its 'Social Credit System' can ensure compliance without overt violence
Boyu, like all Chinese entities, is ultimately controlled by the One Party under Xi
And its 'Social Credit System' can ensure compliance without overt violence
Taking advantage of the autumn sunshine...
November 2, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Taking advantage of the autumn sunshine...
Reposted by Alan Colquhoun
He could be just known as Andrew Cunt living in a portaloo on the Sandringham estate and we’re still gonna just want him in court answering big ol’ pedo questions. He can keep all his titles and his little medals if he wants, go talk to the police, fucko.
November 2, 2025 at 11:17 AM
He could be just known as Andrew Cunt living in a portaloo on the Sandringham estate and we’re still gonna just want him in court answering big ol’ pedo questions. He can keep all his titles and his little medals if he wants, go talk to the police, fucko.
Imagine phoning 999 to report a powerful man for a serious crime and finding that the caller, not the accused, is the one detained
That is essentially what happened in Edinburgh in 2022:
a citizen called for justice and the system treated the call itself as arrestable, disorderly conduct
That is essentially what happened in Edinburgh in 2022:
a citizen called for justice and the system treated the call itself as arrestable, disorderly conduct
Here, in Edinburgh in September 2022, the system moved faster to protect Andrew Windsor from shouted criticism than it has ever moved to test, in court, the substance of the credible allegations against him
November 2, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Imagine phoning 999 to report a powerful man for a serious crime and finding that the caller, not the accused, is the one detained
That is essentially what happened in Edinburgh in 2022:
a citizen called for justice and the system treated the call itself as arrestable, disorderly conduct
That is essentially what happened in Edinburgh in 2022:
a citizen called for justice and the system treated the call itself as arrestable, disorderly conduct
Last night's movie was 'The Tall Guy' (1989), an early Richard Curtis script and Mel Smith’s directorial debut
You can see the DNA of Four Weddings and Notting Hill forming, but it’s stranger, spikier, and much funnier than either
You can see the DNA of Four Weddings and Notting Hill forming, but it’s stranger, spikier, and much funnier than either
November 2, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Last night's movie was 'The Tall Guy' (1989), an early Richard Curtis script and Mel Smith’s directorial debut
You can see the DNA of Four Weddings and Notting Hill forming, but it’s stranger, spikier, and much funnier than either
You can see the DNA of Four Weddings and Notting Hill forming, but it’s stranger, spikier, and much funnier than either
Reposted by Alan Colquhoun
Obama: I believe in an America where we don't fear each other. But look out for each other. And if we want that story to continue. If we believe in that better story. We need leaders who believe in it too.
November 1, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Obama: I believe in an America where we don't fear each other. But look out for each other. And if we want that story to continue. If we believe in that better story. We need leaders who believe in it too.
Here, in Edinburgh in September 2022, the system moved faster to protect Andrew Windsor from shouted criticism than it has ever moved to test, in court, the substance of the credible allegations against him
November 2, 2025 at 7:13 AM
Here, in Edinburgh in September 2022, the system moved faster to protect Andrew Windsor from shouted criticism than it has ever moved to test, in court, the substance of the credible allegations against him