John Scalzi, as he periodically does, is responding to reader questions, and one was on his attitude toward Republicans. If you're familiar with Scalzi, then you can probably guess that his attitude toward Republican politicians isn't generally positive. I found a lot to agree with in his post, notably on his social positions such as being pro-choice … Continue reading A Democrat in a two party system
Author: SelfAwarePatterns
A middle aged guy who loves discussing science, philosophy, history, science fiction, and many other nerdy topics.
Freedom regained
Emotional versus intellectual attributions of consciousness
Click through for full sized version and the red button caption. via Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal. This SMBC reminds me of a concept that I've been debating on ways to express, but a brief comment here seems like the opportunity to do so. We've had a lot of discussions about exactly when we might start to … Continue reading Emotional versus intellectual attributions of consciousness
NASA has never accidentally sent a probe into the Sun.
Last week, I was having lunch with some friends, which included a number of programmers. One of them mentioned an old urban myth, that I hadn't heard in several years, which claims that, due to a programming bug (involving a misplaced semicolon), NASA once accidentally sent a probe into the Sun. I pointed out to my friend how implausible this was. … Continue reading NASA has never accidentally sent a probe into the Sun.
A darker vision of the post-singularity: The Quantum Thief trilogy
I just finished reading Hannu Rajaniemi's Quantum Thief trilogy: 'The Quantum Thief', 'The Fractal Prince', and 'The Causal Angel'. (The official name of the trilogy is the Jean le Flambeur series, named after one of the chief protagonists, but everyone seems to call it the Quantum Thief trilogy instead.) Most visions of society after the singularity … Continue reading A darker vision of the post-singularity: The Quantum Thief trilogy
The definition of the science fiction genre
Charlie Stross has an interesting post up on the distinction between science fiction and fantasy. He looks at a question I haven't thought about in a while: Not too long ago, someone in the twittersphere asked, "Whatever happened to psi? It used to be all the rage in science fiction." The answer, essentially, was that … Continue reading The definition of the science fiction genre
The problems with ensuring humanity’s survival with space colonies
Stephen Hawking, as he has done before, expresses a common sentiment, that we need to colonize space in order to survive. Humans should go and live in space within the next 1,000 years, or it will die out, Stephen Hawking has warned. "We must continue to go into space for the future of humanity," Mr … Continue reading The problems with ensuring humanity’s survival with space colonies
The danger of thinking we know best
Click through for full sized version, and to see the red-button caption. via Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal. I often wish I could draw comics. You can say a lot in a brief and humorous cartoon. I think one of the dangers we always have to be on guard against is the trap of thinking that we know … Continue reading The danger of thinking we know best
The Three-Body Problem
Cixin Liu's 'The Three-Body Problem' is getting a lot of attention. It's a popular and award winning science fiction novel in China that has recently been translated into English by Ken Liu, to considerable acclaim. It's been nominated for both the Nebula and Hugo Awards. (Note: if you're following the current Hugo nomination debacle, this … Continue reading The Three-Body Problem
Star Wars: The Force Awakens – teaser trailer #2
And this one is much more of a tease than the first. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngElkyQ6Rhs
SelfAwarePatterns 