Ponderings of science, philosophy, history, society, and many other topics
Nicolas Rouleau and Michael Levin have a new preprint out: Brains and Where Else? Mapping Theories of Consciousness to Unconventional Embodiments. The gist of the paper is that we should be open to seeing consciousness in places other than brains. While I'm onboard with that general premise, they take it to places that don't seem … Continue reading Fundamental and naturalistic panpsychism
Happy Newtonmas, Happy Hanukkah, a belated Happy Solstice, and overall Season's Greetings! This was another low volume year as far as blogging went. The principle reason was work and the epic project we've been working on in the last few years, which is entering its most intense period. By this time next year, it won't … Continue reading Merry Christmas
Some thoughts on the US election. First, there's no way to sugarcoat this. It's a Trump win. Not only did he win the electoral college, but it looks like he will win the popular vote this time. However we feel about it, it is a decisive win. Strangely enough, I'm not as shell shocked as … Continue reading Election 2024
I voted today. As with the last several elections, it was via early voting. My schedule was relatively light today, lighter than it's going to be next week, and probably lighter than election day. Getting it out of the way seemed like a good idea. This time I avoided the mistake I made last time, … Continue reading Voting 2024
I've written before that I think the idea of politics as happening between different philosophical schools is misguided. In this interview on The Dissenter podcast, Hyrum Lewis often strikes me as criticizing the left more than the right, but I think his thesis is basically sound. "Left" and "right" as concepts can be misleading when … Continue reading The myth of left and right
Yesterday I watched the live action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Live action remakes of anime (or anime inspired) shows has been a dodgy proposition over the years, with the 2010 attempt for this franchise being a stark example. I actually enjoy most of them, but historically I'm an outlier. (I should note that … Continue reading Avatar: The Last Airbender: the live actioning
SMBC on how to get access to the secrets of reality. Click through for source and red button caption: https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/secrets-2 I guess this is philosophical comic sharing week for me. Somewhat related, I've been slowly working my way through Sean Carroll's The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: space, time, and motion. I know a lot … Continue reading How to study reality
What is the difference between magic and science? It's been a while since I shared an Existential Comic. This one gets at a question we've discussed before, although it's been several years. What exactly is the distinction between the physical and non-physical, in this case between science and magic? Credit: https://existentialcomics.com/comic/537 Corey Mohler, the author, has a … Continue reading Existential Comics: the philosophy of magic
Cosmic voids may cause dark energy, or at least provide an explanation for the Hubble tension. A team of Iranian scientists have proposed that dark energy may not be something inherent to space itself, but the result of cosmic voids, vast regions of the universe between galactic superclusters and filaments with relatively little matter. Paul … Continue reading Cosmic voids and dark energy
Another year, another 41 posts and 1600 comments. I reminisced about the blog last month on the tenth anniversary post, so I'll spare you any more of it this time. I just want to thank all of you, my online friends, for the interesting conversations we've had this year. I'm looking forward to the next year's discussions and … Continue reading Merry Christmas
SelfAwarePatterns 