Steven Pinker, writing for TIME: “The biology of consciousness offers a sounder basis for morality than the unprovable dogma of an immortal soul. It’s not just that an understanding of the physiology of consciousness will reduce human suffering through new treatments for pain and depression. That understanding can also force us to recognize the interests […]
“Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the science of how to get machines to do the things they do in the movies.”–Astro Teller
Good post from David Pogue on the use of computer technology in the movie, Firewall, starring Harrison Ford. How many times have you seen the hero grab the nearest laptop and avert catastrophe by hacking […]
Never mind reading entire books. Who has time for that? Librarians these days are information specialists teaching information literacy.
A Librarian’s Lament: Books Are a Hard Sell - washingtonpost.com
Are sites like Wikipedia and Digg.com examples of a new digital Maoism? Is the hive mind overrated?
Edge: BEWARE THE ONLINE COLLECTIVE By Jaron Lanier
Blogger George Dvorsky maintains a list of overloaded post-humanist and transhumanist terms you are supposed to know if you believe in this kooky stuff.
Sentient Developments: Must-know terms for the 21st Century intellectual: Redux
Dennis Overbye has an excellent summary of the mind-versus-matter debate in the first NYT Science Times of the new year.
If people freak at evolution, how much more will they freak if scientists and philosophers tell them they are nothing more than sophisticated meat machines, and is that conclusion now clearly warranted or is it premature?
–Michael […]
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