December 2010
November 2010
Russell's Paradox for Laymen
A judge is sentencing a man for a crime that he finds reprehensible and for which he wishes to mete out the most severe sentence he can think of. So he tells the convicted man not only that he is sentenced to die but also that because his crime was so offensive, the sentence is to be carried out in a unique way. “The sentence is to be carried out quickly,” the judge says. “It...
The Eternal Pattern
A wealthy father knew that if he were to bestow his wealth upon a child who had not yet developed the needed wisdom and stature, the inheritance would probably be wasted. The father said to his child:
“All that I have I desire to give you—not only my wealth, but also my position and standing among men. That which I have I can easily give you, but that which I am you must obtain for...
“In saying that science can provide insight and answers in these areas, that in...”
– The limits of science (and its relationship to religion)
Hugh Nibley on New-Atheism
For the new-atheist, the Atonement is nothing but wishful thinking, the effect of a frenzied mind. Such a doctrine is the last thing in the world that a seeker for an easy and blissfully happy land would invent. The rigorous terms of the Atonement, which demands the active participation of all its beneficiaries and passes the bitter cup of sacrifice to all of them, has made it unpopular to the...
Can Computers Think? →
The essence of humanity isn’t reason or logic or any of the other things that computers can do: it’s intuition, sensuality, and emotion. So how can a computer think if it does not feel, and how can it feel if it knows nothing of love, anguish, exhilaration, loneliness, and all the rest of what it means to be a living human being?”
—Mitchell Waldrop
A Taoist Fable
Two sages were standing on a bridge over a stream.
One said to the other, “I wish I were a fish. They are so happy.”
The other replied, “How do you know whether fish are happy or not? You’re not a fish!”
The first said, “But you’re not me, so how do you know whether I know how fish feel?”
Watchdanielholter:
The Music and Sound of The Social Network
via designingsound
Korean Horror Cinema
I’ve currently been doing extensive research with my international cinema professor on Asian “extreme” cinema. The following abstract has been submitted for the approval of Edinburgh University Press. In 2012, EUP will release a compendium of short essays on the culturally significant and critically fascinating horror genre, considering South Korean horror beyond the limited canon constructed by...
Top 10 Reasons to expect the next 10 years to be... →
1. DNA sequencing: Over the next decade gene sequencing prices are expected to continue to decline by over 50% per year. That means that by the end of the decade we should probably know the genomes of a large fraction of the developed world population; of all important species of animals, plants and fungi; and of the microbial ecosystems in all sorts of natural environments. This should...
“Waiting is essential to the spiritual life. But waiting as a disciple of Jesus...”
– Henri Nouwen (via azspot)
vruz: if a god were real and came to earth (on a spaceship?) he would be sickened and utterly disappointed. especially about modern christians taking the words of some primitive men and projecting their own fears and poor judgement on a nomadic spiritual leader who lived...
R.L. Rutsky on the Techno-Cultural Unconscious
The realm of techno-culture is also a science-fictional realm, where small changes can generate profound and unpredictable mutations in the future. Indeed, the processes of the techno-cultural unconscious are the processes through which the future emerges. In such a realm, however, the future need not be simply “human,” need not be predicated solely on the “utopian”...
Erik Davis on Techno-Paganistic Computer...
As computers blanket the world like digital kudzu, we surround ourselves with an animated webwork of complex, powerful, and unseen forces that even the ‘experts’ can’t totally comprehend. Our technological environment may soon appear to be as strangely sentient as the caves, lakes, and forests in which the first magicians glimpsed the gods.
“Our life is like a journey on which, as we advance, the landscape takes a...”
– Arthur Schopenhauer (via ageofreason)
“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster...”
– Isaac Asimov
Age of Reason: Ten Rules for Being Human →
ageofreason:
1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it’s yours to keep for the entire period. 2. You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called, “life.” 3. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial, error, and experimentation. The “failed” experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiments that ultimately...
Robo-Renaissance: Ethical Implications of...
Nothing in our digital economy has been more celebrated or damned, cast as utopian or dystopian, than the rise of modern technology. In recent years this historical narrative of promise and peril concerning the use of technology has challenged our view of who we are in ways both exciting and disturbing. Now, for the first time since the Industrial Revolution, our digital nation is embarking on yet...
WatchEnding Aging — Aubrey de Grey
The aging of the human body, just like the aging of man-made machines, results from an accumulation of various types of damage. As with man-made machines, this damage can periodically be repaired, leading to indefinite extension of the machine’s fully functional lifetime, just as is routinely done with classic cars. We already know what types of damage...
“[Your] future, at least any qualitative aspect of it, must be vigorously fought...”
– Jeffery R. Holland
The Myth of Rationalism
The myth that everything in the world can be rationally explained has been gaining ground since the time of Descartes. An inversion was necessary to restore the balance. The realization that reason and anti-reason, design and chance, consciousness and unconsciousness belong together as necessary parts of a whole.
—Hans Richter, Dada
Well we certainly know what the Rand corporation would...
Promise and Peril of Technology in the 21st... →
Technology has always been a double-edged sword, empowering both our creative and our destructive natures. It has brought us longer and healthier lives, freedom from physical and mental drudgery, and many new creative possibilities. Yet it has also introduced new and salient dangers…
…People often go through three stages in examining the impact of future technology: awe and wonderment...
Jacques Attali on Eternity, Liberty, and Equality
At the dawn of societies, men saw their passage on Earth as nothing more than a labyrinth of pain, at the end of which stood a door leading, via their death, to the company of gods and to Eternity. With the Hebrews and then the Greeks, some men dared free themselves from theological demands and dream of an ideal City where Liberty would flourish. Others, noting the evolution of the market...
Why the future doesn't need us, Bill Joy →
Our most powerful 21st-century technologies - robotics, genetic engineering, and nanotech - are threatening to make humans an endangered species.
Todd VS Highschool →
optimisto:
My friend Todd (Social Scientist, 33) decided to go back to High School to prove he was capable of raising his GPA from a 1.7 to a 4.0, and to see if he would make better choices with the experiences he’s gained since becoming an adult - the trailer is awesome.
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When Billy Madison becomes reality…
(DMS)
“New occasions teach new duties; Time makes ancient good uncouth;
They must...”
– James Russell Lowell, from The Present Crisis 