Well, in remarks that I'm pretty sure are guaranteed to rile up philosophers, E.O. Wilson, who apparently has a new book out on the meaning of human existence, disses both philosophy and religion, saying that scientists will provide the meaning of of existence. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx26k8LTCdI I can agree with a lot of what Wilson says in … Continue reading E.O. Wilson: Science, not philosophy, will explain the meaning of existence
Category: Zeitgeist
The blogging experience at one year
One year ago today, I published my first post on this blog: Patterns who have achieved consciousness. It wasn't actually the very first post I wrote. I had just written one on mind uploading, but wanted the blog's first post to reference its title. My immediate motivations for starting this blog was frustration with heavy handed but … Continue reading The blogging experience at one year
The movie ‘Interstellar’ and wormholes
The other day, I did a post on interstellar exploration which linked to one by Sten Odenwald on the problems with interstellar travel. Well, he posted some follow-up remarks, expressing some surprise at the response, doubling down on the aspects of the limitations of interstellar travel he identified, and urging people to be optimistically realistic. (I predict he'll get … Continue reading The movie ‘Interstellar’ and wormholes
Half the stars in the universe may exist outside of galaxies
Every so often you get a reminder of how little we know about the universe: Rogue stars outside galaxies may be everywhere | Science/AAAS | News. You’ve heard of rogue planets, floating through the universe untethered to any solar system. Now meet rogue stars, which drift through space with no galaxy to call home. A new … Continue reading Half the stars in the universe may exist outside of galaxies
Is the human species still evolving? Of course.
It looks like Bill Nye, the science guy, is coming out with a new book on evolution, with an excerpt at Popular Science: Is The Human Species Still Evolving? | Popular Science. We cannot step away from evolution. Our genomes are always collecting mutations, and we are always making mate selections. Are humans preferentially mating with … Continue reading Is the human species still evolving? Of course.
Back to Square One: toward a post-intentional future
New interpretation of quantum physics: Many Interacting Worlds
There's a new interpretation of quantum mechanics: Scientists propose existence and interaction of parallel worlds: Many Interacting Worlds theory challenges foundations of quantum science -- ScienceDaily. This new interpretation appears to be similar to the MWI (Many Worlds Interpretation) where quantum superpositions don't collapse, but spread, creating what amounts to new universes. However, in this theory, … Continue reading New interpretation of quantum physics: Many Interacting Worlds
Why are we still doing daylight savings time?
Here in the United States, daylight savings time ended today. We got an extra hour of sleep (yay!). But this is only a temporary reprieve. It'll be back in the spring, when we'll have to "spring forward" and start waking up an hour earlier again. Multiple people put up articles this weekend pointing out that … Continue reading Why are we still doing daylight savings time?
Atul Gawande: How do we heal medicine?
An interesting TED talk by Atul Gawande discussing some of the problems with the modern medical profession. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3QkaS249Bc I came across this video when reading a recent piece by Dr. Gawande on the medical field's struggles to clearly explain a terminal patient's real situation to them, often relying on a blizzard of facts instead of … Continue reading Atul Gawande: How do we heal medicine?
Are social psychologists biased against conservatives? A simple check for ideological bias.
Maria Konnikova has an article in the New Yorker on whether there is bias in social psychology against conservatives. One of the people calling attention to the issue is Jonathan Haidt, whose work my long time readers will know I'm generally a fan of. The core issue that Haidt is calling attention to is the … Continue reading Are social psychologists biased against conservatives? A simple check for ideological bias.
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