Physics & Philosophy:
You may not have done much discussion in science classes before, and you have certainly not done it with me before. Please read my Guidelines on Class Discussions so that you understand how I view them.
Round 1 (Day 10): For our first Physics & Philosophy discussion you should read “Spooky Action at a Distance: An Explanation of Bell’s Theorem” by Gary Felder (~8 pages + appendices & footnotes)
Round 2 (Day 11): For our second day of Physics & Philosophy we will follow up on Bell’s Theorem with two other readings. First, “Quantum mechanics and free will: counter−arguments” by Martín López−Corredoira (~7 pages + references) and “Brain Scanners Can See Your Decisions Before You Make Them” (~2 pages). This second article discusses an updated version of the work by Libet that is cited in the first article on free will. If you wish to read more about Libet’s work, check out the wikipedia article on him.
Round 3 (Day 21): For our third day of Physics & Philosophy we are going to look at science in general and what is and is not science. First, “What Is Science” by John Ziman (6 pages), which has some interesting ideas worth discussing. The second item is “Why Astrology is a Pseudoscience” by Paul R. Thagard (8 pages plus a cover sheet and references). The third item is a blog post on Cosmic Variance, written by Sean Carroll, called “Telekinesis and Quantum Field Theory“. Don’t forget to do the related WarmUp and brush up on the Guidelines on Class Discussions.