Ponderings of science, philosophy, history, society, and many other topics
Adrian Tchaikovsky announced the other day that he and Emma Newman were starting a new podcast: Starship Alexandria, where they will take turns recommending sci-fi and fantasy books, with most of the episode devoted to discussing them. Their first episode dropped a couple of weeks ago, and Newman made the first recommendation: The Kraken Wakes … Continue reading The Kraken Wakes
IAI has a brief interview of David Deutsch on his advocacy for the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. (Warning: possible paywall.) Deutsch has a history of showing little patience with other interpretations, and this interview is no different. A lot of the discussion centers around his advocacy for scientific realism, the idea that science is … Continue reading Many-worlds without necessarily many worlds?
What would aliens look like? Not just another intelligent species, but alien animals, or entire ecosystems? It's very hard for us to imagine them without falling back on variations of Earth animals. So aliens in sci-fi often look like insects, octopuses, or other species we're familiar with. To be sure, aliens would have evolved in … Continue reading Alien Clay
Just my usual thoughts on a number of shows I've been watching. The third season of Wheel of Time is six episodes in. It starts off with a lot of action and movement. I'm still enjoying the series, particularly since we now appear to be well past what I might have read in the books … Continue reading Severance and other TV notes
I've recently come across a couple of writing podcasts that are worth checking out for any aspiring sci-fi or fantasy authors. The first is On Writing With Brandon Sanderson. Sanderson is a bestselling epic fantasy author with a number of major series under his belt, not the least of which was completing Robert Jordan's Wheel … Continue reading Sci-fi and fantasy writing podcasts and advice worth checking out
Annaka Harris has a new audio book out which she is promoting. I haven't listened to it, but based on the interviews and spots like the one below, it appears that she's doubling down on the conclusions she reached in her book from a few years ago, that consciousness is fundamental and pervasive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nP2swgDVl5M The … Continue reading Reducing felt experience requires not preemptively dismissing the solutions
A long standing debate in quantum physics is whether the wave function is real. A quick reminder: quantum entities appear to move like waves, including portions interfering with each other. These waves are modeled with the wave function. But once measured, quantum objects manifest as localized points or field excitations. The wave function can't predict … Continue reading Avoiding the structural gaps
Among my earliest memories are the TV series Star Trek and Lost in Space, two shows that promised a universe teeming with alien life, intelligent life. As a boy, the aliens seemed everywhere. We'd probably find some on Mars and Venus, and there wasn't much doubt we'd find them in other solar systems. And that … Continue reading Where are the aliens?
Scientific realism vs instrumentalism A long standing debate in the philosophy of science is about what our best scientific theories tell us. Some argue that they reveal true reality, that is, they are real. Others that scientific theories are only useful prediction frameworks, instruments useful in the creation of technology, but that taking any further … Continue reading Why I’m an ontic structural realist
As a computational functionalist, I think the mind is a system that exists in this universe and operates according to the laws of physics. Which means that, in principle, there shouldn't be any reason why the information and dispositions that make up a mind can't be recorded and copied into another substrate someday, such as … Continue reading Mind uploading and continuity
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