Author Archives: SelfAwarePatterns

Neanderthals and the beginnings of us

Posted on April 20, 2019

The Smithsonian has an interesting article up on what we currently know about Neanderthals.  The article details some of the internecine battles that always seems to be a part of the paleoanthropology field, in this case focusing on the capabilities … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Frans de Waal on animal consciousness

Posted on April 19, 2019

Frans de Waal is a well known proponent of animals being much more like us than many people are comfortable admitting.  In this short two minute video, he gives his reason for concluding that at least some non-human animals are … Continue reading →

Posted in Zeitgeist | Tagged , , , , | 32 Comments

Recommendation: Edges (Inverted Frontier Book 1)

Posted on April 16, 2019

A few weeks ago I recommended Linda Nagata’s novel, Vast, the final book of her Nanotech Succession series.  Edges is both a sequel to that book, and the first episode in a new series, Inverted Frontier. As in Vast, this … Continue reading →

Posted in Science Fiction | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

The brain is a computer, but what is a computer?

Posted on April 11, 2019

Kevin Lande has an article up at Aeon which is one of the best discussions of the brain as a computational system that I’ve seen in a while.  For an idea of the spirit of the piece: The claim that … Continue reading →

Posted in Zeitgeist | Tagged , , , , | 187 Comments

Is superintelligence possible?

Posted on April 10, 2019

Daniel Dennett and David Chalmers sat down to “debate” the possibility of superintelligence.  I quoted “debate” because this was a pretty congenial discussion. (Note: there’s a transcript of this video on the Edge site, which might be more time efficient … Continue reading →

Posted in Zeitgeist | Tagged , , , , | 24 Comments

SMBC on what separates humans from machines

Posted on April 7, 2019

Source: Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal (Click through for full sized version and the red button caption.) My own take on this is that what separates humans from machines is our survival instinct.  We intensely desire to survive, and procreate.  Machines, … Continue reading →

Posted in Zeitgeist | Tagged , , , , , | 26 Comments

David Chalmers on the meta-problem of consciousness

Posted on April 6, 2019

David Chalmers is famous as the philosopher who coined the hard problem of consciousness, the idea that how and why consciousness is produced from a physical system, how phenomenal experience arises from such a system, is an intractably difficult issue.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Zeitgeist | Tagged , , , , | 110 Comments

Recommendation: Tiamat’s Wrath (The Expanse Book 8)

Posted on April 4, 2019

Tiamat’s Wrath is the eighth book of The Expanse series.  This is definitely a series you want to read in order, so if you’re just starting, I’d recommend beginning with the first book, Leviathan Wakes. This is the penultimate book … Continue reading →

Posted in Science Fiction | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Recommendation: Vast

Posted on March 29, 2019

I have a bad habit of buying ebooks and then letting them sit in my Kindle account unread, sometimes for years.  I’m sorry to say that the book that was in this state the longest was Linda Nagata’s Vast.  I … Continue reading →

Posted in Science Fiction | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

Malcolm MacIver on imagination and consciousness

Posted on March 26, 2019

Sean Carroll’s latest episode of his podcast, Mindscape, features an interview with neuroscientist Malcom MacIver, one that is well worth checking out for anyone interested in consciousness. Consciousness has many aspects, from experience to wakefulness to self-awareness. One aspect is … Continue reading →

Posted in Zeitgeist | Tagged , , , , , | 25 Comments