Steve Patterson

Author: Steve Patterson

  • Continuing the Socratic Journey

    About a year ago, I decided to quit my job to pursue philosophy. I’ve spent my time writing, speaking, creating videos, and grappling with big ideas – all explicitly outside of academia. It’s been great. But it’s only a preface to larger projects, two of which are coming to fruition in the next several weeks.

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  • Are There “Inherent Mysteries” in the Universe?

  • Challenging Empiricism with Poker

    Poker is the most challenging game I’ve ever played. Not because of the strategy, but because of the philosophy behind it. Poker has an infuriating relationship between theory and data – between knowledge and execution; between understanding and demonstration.

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  • Gender, Sex, and Language

    We’re in the middle of a culture war, and it’s getting pretty ugly. One frequent battle revolves around “sex” and “gender”. For example: is Caitlyn Jenner a man or a woman? One side of the battle shouts, “Of course he’s a man! He’s just denying reality!” Another side shouts, “Of course she’s a woman! If you insist on calling her a man, you’re just a bigot!” These disagreements have only become louder and more impassioned – especially as more people identify themselves as “trans-gender”, “trans-racial”, “trans-abled”, or even “trans-species”.

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  • You Are Not How You Self-Identify

  • How Progressives Can Fix the Economy

    “Finland and Sweden have national health care, free college, affordable housing and a higher standard of living… Why shouldn’t that appeal to our disappearing middle class?”

    – Bernie Sanders

    Like millions of Americans, I am inspired by Bernie Sanders*. He’s a true progressive – compassionate, intelligent, and full of solutions. He embodies a core principle of progressive thought: the willingness to identify problems and solve them with government. Unlike so many free-market advocates, he isn’t dogmatically attached to old economic doctrines.

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