First, let me be clear on what I'm talking about: intelligent aliens with an advanced civilization. This is a different question than extraterrestrial life in general. For life in general, particularly simple life, I'd be surprised if we'd have to look more than a hundred light years from Earth. (We may know the answer to … Continue reading How far away is the closest extraterrestrial civilization?
Month: January 2014
Proof that the external world exists?
Eric Schwitzgebel is reading Stannis Lem's novel 'Solaris' and discovers in the novel a test of the existence of the external world: I instructed the satellite to give me the figure of the galactic meridians it was traversing at 22-second intervals while orbiting Solaris, and I specified an answer to five decimal points. Then I sat … Continue reading Proof that the external world exists?
The physics of the multiverse
Fellow blogger agrudzinsky shared this video in a comment, but I thought it was good enough to warrant a full post. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ywn2Lz5zmYg I like the fact that he repeatedly states that these ideas have not been experimentally confirmed, and the wrap-up where he points out that physics is not philosophy (or at least it's not supposed to … Continue reading The physics of the multiverse
Seven things about evolution – john hawks weblog
What is evolution? In its original sense, evolution meant "unrolling", as if a papyrus scroll were being unrolled to reveal its contents. We may talk about the "evolution" of many things, from an individual's lifetime to the evolution of the universe. In the most general sense, evolution means "change". Biologists are very specific about the … Continue reading Seven things about evolution – john hawks weblog
Why is the solar system flat?
Machines Like Us and others linked to this cool video explaining why the solar system is flat. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmNXKqeUtJM I'm not entirely sure the four dimensional stuff was necessary, although it was interesting. One thing to realize though, is that while the solar system is flat, it's not flat in the same orientation as other solar systems, … Continue reading Why is the solar system flat?
Is this life real or a simulation? – Matthew R Francis – Aeon
Our species is not going to last forever. One way or another, humanity will vanish from the Universe, but before it does, it might summon together sufficient computing power to emulate human experience, in all of its rich detail. Some philosophers and physicists have begun to wonder if we’re already there. Maybe we are in … Continue reading Is this life real or a simulation? – Matthew R Francis – Aeon
MLK (and moral progress, knowledge, biases and cultural diversity)
Newly translated pre-Biblical tablet describes a great flood and a “rescue boat” with wild animals aboard—in pairs!
We’ve known since at least 1872 that the Great Flood detailed in Genesis is a descendant of earlier flood myths from Mesopotamia. And there may be some credibility to the presence of at least some serious floods then, based on the fact that Mesopotamia is a giant flood plain and the presence of some archeological evidence for a big flood around 5000 BC. But what we didn’t know until now is that those earlier flood myths also incorporated a boat onto which species of wild animals were sequestered to save them—two by two! This clearly shows, as if we didn’t know it already, that the Genesis story of Noah and the Ark isn’t true, but was simply an embroidery of earlier flood stories. (It will be interesting to see how Biblical literalists like Ken Ham react to this finding.)
This has all come to light since the recent…
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A Dialog with a Madman – Existential Comics
Came across this awesome philosophical comic site with some pretty profound contemplations. I found this particular entry relevant to our recent discussions. Click through to see the whole thing. via A Dialog with a Madman - Existential Comics. h/t Conscious Entities
Falsifiability is useful, but a matter of judgment
Our discussions last week on Jim Baggott's book, 'Farewell to Reality', and Sean Carroll's Edge response, left me pondering falsifiability, the idea that theories should be falsifiable in order to be considered science. Falsifiability is a criteria identified by the philosopher Karl Popper. Popper was arguing against a conception held at the time by logical … Continue reading Falsifiability is useful, but a matter of judgment
SelfAwarePatterns 