What is happiness? I think anyone who has ever given the question serious thought realizes that there is no one simple answer. Click though for the full version. via A Dialog on Happiness - Existential Comics. I would say that Amencia's first example is defective though. If the man hooked up to the machine is watching … Continue reading A Dialog on Happiness – Existential Comics
Poseidon’s Children: a review of the first two books
I've recently read the first two books in Alastair Reynolds's new series, 'Poseidon's Children': 'Blue Remembered Earth' and 'On the Steel Breeze'. I've mentioned before that I'm a fan of Reynolds's work, and these books fit his usual style: hard(ish) science fiction, a rich and interesting universe, and characters in interesting situations and dilemmas. The … Continue reading Poseidon’s Children: a review of the first two books
IBM’s Watson: Cognitive or Sentient?
I've heard of Watson of course, the supercomputer system that won at Jeopardy, but I think I stilled picked up some interesting bits from this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmPlBJgmU1o Iwata is clear that Watson isn't sentient or conscious, but listening to him, I'm sure many people will be creeped out by its learning abilities.
SMBC on “science” channels
I find that the actual Science Channel is still pretty good, with shows like 'Through the Wormhole' or 'How the Universe Works', which makes the terminology Wiener uses here unfortunate. But the point he makes fits for just about every other cable "educational" channel. These channels once had decent material but have devolved into mostly crap of … Continue reading SMBC on “science” channels
Logic and the World
Origins of Hierarchy: How Egyptian Pharaohs Rose to Power
Stephanie Pappas has an interesting post at LiveScience: Origins of Hierarchy: How Egyptian Pharaohs Rose to Power. The rulers of ancient Egypt lived in glorious opulence, decorating themselves with gold and perfumes and taking their treasures with them to the grave. But how could such a hierarchical, despotic system arise from egalitarian hunter-gatherer societies? The … Continue reading Origins of Hierarchy: How Egyptian Pharaohs Rose to Power
Graham Priest on Buddhism and logic
This feels somewhat related to our discussion on logic over the last week. Priest's essay left my mind feeling like it had been twisted into a knot (in a good way). I have some sympathy with the skepticism Massimo's expresses in his write up, although I still found Priest's essay thought provoking. Although it probably … Continue reading Graham Priest on Buddhism and logic
The War Photo No One Would Publish – The Atlantic
Stan Hummel called my attention to this article: The War Photo No One Would Publish - The Atlantic. I didn't embed the specific image here. If you want to see it, you can follow the link. Warning: it may not be something many people want to see. The Iraqi soldier died attempting to pull himself up over … Continue reading The War Photo No One Would Publish – The Atlantic
SMBC: Free will and personal responsibility
Click through to see full sized version. I'll have to remember this strategy. via Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal.
Logic has empirical foundations, sort of.
Massimo Pigliucci has an interesting post at Scientia Salon on philosophical zombies. Massimo looks at David Chalmers's argument for philosophical zombie arguments and, I think, does an excellent job at showing the problems with them. But in the discussion, a distinction is made that I find interesting. Apparently, Chalmers admits that zombies are probably not naturally … Continue reading Logic has empirical foundations, sort of.
SelfAwarePatterns 