Author: SelfAwarePatterns

A middle aged guy who loves discussing science, philosophy, history, science fiction, and many other nerdy topics.

Recommendation: Edges (Inverted Frontier Book 1)

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 is a future where mind uploading and copying is possible, where multiple copies of someone's … Continue reading Recommendation: Edges (Inverted Frontier Book 1) →

Is superintelligence possible?

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 for some than watching a one hour video.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHN_o6RqrHY Usually for these types of discussions, … Continue reading Is superintelligence possible? →

SMBC on what separates humans from machines

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, by and large, don't.  At least they won't unless we design them to.  If we … Continue reading SMBC on what separates humans from machines →

David Chalmers on the meta-problem of consciousness

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.  He contrasts the hard problem with what he calls "easy problems" such as discriminating between … Continue reading David Chalmers on the meta-problem of consciousness →

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

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 of the series, so it shouldn't surprise anyone that things are seriously heating up.  We … Continue reading Recommendation: Tiamat’s Wrath (The Expanse Book 8) →

Malcolm MacIver on imagination and consciousness

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 imagination: our minds can conjure up multiple hypothetical futures to help us decide which choices … Continue reading Malcolm MacIver on imagination and consciousness →

Big societies came before big gods

Some years ago I reviewed a book by Ara Norenzayan called Big Gods: How Religion Transformed Cooperation and Conflict.  Norenzayan's thesis was that it was a belief in big gods, specifically cosmic gods that cared about human morality, that enabled the creation of large scale human societies. In small societies, reputation serves as an effective … Continue reading Big societies came before big gods →

Kurzgesagt on the origin of consciousness

This video by Kurzgesagt is pretty interesting.  A word of warning; it's funded by Templeton, which I know will bother some of you, but I found the content to be reasonably solid from a scientific perspective. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6u0VBqNBQ8& The only real issues I might have are the mysterian overtones at the beginning, and the assertion that … Continue reading Kurzgesagt on the origin of consciousness →