Back in September (which now seems like a million years ago), I did a series of posts on consciousness inspired by Todd Feinberg and Jon Mallatt’s recent book, ‘The Ancient Origins of Consciousness: How the Brain Created Experience‘. In that series, I explored consciousness as a system modeling its environment and itself as a guide to … Continue reading Is consciousness a simulation engine, a prediction machine?
Tag: Evolution
The necessity of dexterity for civilization
Today's SMBC highlights something about humanity that is often overlooked, something that any extraterrestrial intelligence that builds a civilization would have to have. Click through for hover-text and red button caption. Source: Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - The Mammal Conspiracy We often talk about the intelligence of dolphins, whales, cephalopods, elephants, and other species. But … Continue reading The necessity of dexterity for civilization
Predators and the rise of sensory consciousness
This is the second post in a series inspired by Todd Feinberg and Jon Mallatt's new book, 'The Ancient Origins of Consciousness: How the Brain Created Experience'. The first post in the series was: What counts as consciousness? Life appears to have gotten started fairly early in Earth's history. The oldest known fossils are now … Continue reading Predators and the rise of sensory consciousness
Let artificial intelligence evolve? Probably fruitless, possibly dangerous.
Michael Chorost has an article at Slate about artificial intelligence and any dangers it might present. I find myself in complete agreement with the early portions of his piece, as he explains why an AI (artificial intelligence) would be unlikely to be dangerous in the way many fear. To value something, an entity has to be able … Continue reading Let artificial intelligence evolve? Probably fruitless, possibly dangerous.
Fruit fly fear and AI sentience
I found this study interesting: Do flies have fear (or something like it)? -- ScienceDaily. A fruit fly starts buzzing around food at a picnic, so you wave your hand over the insect and shoo it away. But when the insect flees the scene, is it doing so because it is actually afraid? Using fruit flies … Continue reading Fruit fly fear and AI sentience
Religion, the Axial Age, and theoretic culture
I recently read the late Robert Bellah's 'Religion in Human Evolution: From the Paleolithic to the Axial Age.' Although the title of the book seems to narrow it to just religion, in ancient societies, religion was just about everything, so the book ended up being about the development of cultures, which isn't too surprising given … Continue reading Religion, the Axial Age, and theoretic culture
E.O. Wilson: Science, not philosophy, will explain the meaning of existence
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
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.
SMBC: Proof altruism exists?
(Click through for full sized version and for the red button caption.) via Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal. Of course, as we discussed on the Selfish Gene post, even if we are acting completely altruistically at a conscious level, our impulse to do so is broadly tied up with evolutionary survival advantages.
‘The Selfish Gene’: Classic science worth checking out
I don't usually read old science books. After a decade or so, I find that their content tends to have too much dated material. But 'The Selfish Gene' keeps coming up in conversations, not just because its author, Richard Dawkins, is the world's most famous atheist, but also because of its core message, that genes are … Continue reading ‘The Selfish Gene’: Classic science worth checking out
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