[Cooper North]

Hi Eleanor,

Thank you for your wonderful & insightful response! I am in complete agreement. The “feverish sense of righteousness” is something both James & I have been discussing. James highlighted, especially when compared to Iain, Ellis’s staggering lack of humility. In my response to James, I remembered the Dunning-Kruger effect: the more you think you know, the less you actually know, & so on. Even though I lack the philosophy credentials Ellis boasts, still, his total lack of humility & self-righteousness clues me into suspecting I think the effect may apply to him here.

I agree with you that there may be some interesting nuggets of good ideas here, as well. However, I think many of Ellis’s points are misunderstandings & mischaracterizations (namely his treatment of intuition, Iain’s “idealizing the past”, and his critique of “metaphysics”). If he had watched Iain’s dialogues with Alex, I think some of these would’ve been cleared up, especially the metaphysics, & the way the hemispheres relate. I must admit, my knowledge of Popper is extremely limited, but from what I know, I think a discussion of his ideas with Iain may be incredibly fruitful & insightful. I’d love to hear Iain’s take on it.

Again, I appreciate your lovely response, Eleanor. I hope you have an excellent day!

Best,

Cooper