Updates

A week and a bit has passed since my last intervention here. The presentation for the course on executive functions was a disappointment, because I couldn't manage to use the .ppt slides I prepared in advance and I was forced by the circumstances to improvise; the rest of the guys who presented seemed to really know their stuff, and I felt kind of a dummy about the whole situation; still, I talked to the prof, and he agreed to have a look on the slides I sent to him after via e-mail; it's a pity, because I really got attached to the problems and I could have said more meaningful stuff on them, had I've been given the chance. I learned something, though, from this, and sometimes I think failures have their place in the overall positive scheme of things. Now I am kind of biased towards talking here about my 'professional' activities- a superstition is on the brink of coming into the landscape of my mental life. I feel ok, though, 'cause I managed to read some inciting stuff, like McGinn's autobiographical work The Making of a Philosopher. It's a cool book, though commercial in places, but it communicates a certain excitement and power directed towards occupying oneself with philosophy. The anecdotical passages about the various legendary figures of 20th century philosophy he encountered are very useful, because they show you the human side of often schematical, abstractly-constructed persons that shaped the field. I am also very happy with Pierre Jacob's course here in Paris on key themes and concepts in the philosophy of language and philosophy of mind- it's stuff I've gone through over and over, nevertheless, but he has a great teaching style and I really feel they engrave themselves in my mind in a stronger and stronger way. I'm still unsatisfied with my progress regarding French, but I'm feeling things have internalized and I don't have to consciously construct almost everything anymore. I talked a lot with Santiago, the guy from Columbia, these days, we have a lot of common interests, and I feel a certain ease of speaking in French with him; we concluded that the French system is a bit chaotic, people are trying to be quasi-omniscient and, of course, they encounter lots and lots of problems of exposition and comprehension from the part of the audience; also, the students have a certain habit of passivity, just listening to the prof and reading at home and not really critically interacting; but there are a lot of exceptions to this, so it's perhaps just a prima facie impression; obviously, things are different from Bucharest, in the sense that there the organization was far better, but there is a big compensation here because the atmosphere is a very different one, more familiar and informal, yet the level is high, something absent in Romania, because of the attitude of the profs and the general problems with which the country is confronting, which induce a lack of interest in philosophy, etc. I am still not used to the 'puzzle' character of my curriculum, I don't have the feeling I learn that much because I don't have time for everything and I am more prone to touch ideas on my own, not in class. I guess a break from full-blown and worn-out philosophy, over and over and over, as it was back in B does me good, but I wouldn't want to continue undetached from the core philosophical problems that interest me. Next year I should come back anew to the philosophy of mind and language, but also to metaphysics and epistemology, and I want to do great things. Santiago told me it would be useful, financially, for me and Simona, if I could teach. I guess I'll talk to Andler about this, because I too feel I reached a stage in which I am ready for this and I am sure it will do me good; I am worried, though, about my command of French and I wonder if, somehow, I could use English in classes. There are some jobs at CNRS too, but my practical knowledge regarding the procedures is down to zero at this time. Among other things I've done recently, I contacted some of the teacher acquaintances from Bucharest. I still have to contact Dretske, Lehrer, and Kroon, as I very well know. And I have to start writing. It's a must, really. I must publish things next year and try my hand for some upcoming conferences. There's not much time for everything, though, and if you corroborate this with an obsessive propensity towards procrastination, it gets an idiosyncratic picture of never and never acting as I would like, in total conformity and peace with myself.
In another order of ideas, I went with Simona to a Vietnamese restaurant recently, I really like some dishes in their menus, and I learned a thing or two about the feminine psyche after long discussions with my wife, discussions we should have more often because I enjoy them and I feel I am enriched after talking with her; I should be more attentive in general, I must regain some of the qualities I once had.
Steaua are doing well in the UEFA Cup (in reality), I eagerly wait to buy the laptop to play some Football Manager in the forthcoming Christmas holiday, though I am aware of the addictedness potential of the game that occupied a big part of my last three years. Still, it has its good parts. I must supervise myself with a Stoic iron hand. Some things I am reading or re-reading these days:
Ned Block, 'On a Confusion About a Function of Consciousness', Dan Sperber, 'Modularity and relevance: How can a massively modular mind be flexible and context-sensitive?'...