10 MAR 2019 by ideonexus
Asimov Story on Computation
■ N 1958, American science fiction legend Isaac Asimov wrote a very short story called "The Feeling of Power." In it, lowly technician MyI ron Aub discovers that he is capable of duplicating the work of his computer by multiplying two numbers together on a piece of paper. Amazing! This miraculous discovery makes its way up the chain of command, where the generals and politicians are stunned by Aub's black magic. The top general is intrigued by the possibility that human calculations could g... 1 
notes
notes21 JUN 2013 by ideonexus
Intelligence in Animals, Humans and Machines
To build software that is deemed intelligent, it’s helpful to begin with a definition of intelligence. Intelligence can be simply defined as a set of properties of the mind. These properties include the ability to plan, solve problems, and in general, reason. A simpler definition could be that intelligence is the ability to make the right decision given a set of inputs and a variety of possible actions.
Using this simple definition of intelligence (making the right decision),
we can apply ...
1 All have shared intelligences, but some have more than one kind of intelligence. What makes humans special is that we have multiple kinds of intelligence: language communication, problem solving, kinesthetic, etc.
12 SEP 2011 by ideonexus
Science is Uncertain
Science is uncertain. Theories are subject to revision; observations are open to a variety of interpretations, and scientists quarrel amongst themselves. This is disillusioning for those untrained in the scientific method, who thus turn to the rigid certainty of the Bible instead. There is something comfortable about a view that allows for no deviation and that spares you the painful necessity of having to think.Folksonomies: creationism
Folksonomies: creationism
1 notes
notes...it is easier to accept a dogmatic religion that removes the need to think. An Isaac Asimov quote.
12 SEP 2011 by ideonexus
Religion is Comforting
Science is complex and chilling. The mathematical language of science is understood by very few. The vistas it presents are scary—an enormous universe ruled by chance and impersonal rules, empty and uncaring, ungraspable and vertiginous. How comfortable to turn instead to a small world, only a few thousand years old, and under God's personal; and immediate care; a world in which you are His peculiar concern.Folksonomies: creationism
Folksonomies: creationism
1 notes
notes...in comparison to Science's baffling complexity. A quote from Isaac Asimov.
12 SEP 2011 by ideonexus
Thankful to Atheism
Although the time of death is approaching me, I am not afraid of dying and going to Hell or (what would be considerably worse) going to the popularized version of Heaven. I expect death to be nothingness and, for removing me from all possible fears of death, I am thankful to atheism. Folksonomies: atheism spirituality
Folksonomies: atheism spirituality
1 notes
notesQuoting Isaac Asimov
12 SEP 2011 by ideonexus
The Foundation of Science, Not the Periphery, Is Where th...
A number of years ago, when I was a freshly-appointed instructor, I met, for the first time, a certain eminent historian of science. At the time I could only regard him with tolerant condescension.
I was sorry of the man who, it seemed to me, was forced to hover about the edges of science. He was compelled to shiver endlessly in the outskirts, getting only feeble warmth from the distant sun of science- in-progress; while I, just beginning my research, was bathed in the heady liquid heat up a... 1 notes
notesIsaac Asimov describing his young experience with a professor as he worked on new research.
23 MAR 2011 by ideonexus
1973 Humanist Manifesto II - Introduction
The next century can be and should be the humanistic century. Dramatic scientific, technological, and ever-accelerating social and political changes crowd our awareness. We have virtually conquered the planet, explored the moon, overcome the natural limits of travel and communication; we stand at the dawn of a new age, ready to move farther into space and perhaps inhabit other planets. Using technology wisely, we can control our environment, conquer poverty, markedly reduce disease, exten...
1 A revised Humanist Manifesto, considered necessary in response to World War II and Nazism. Isaac Asimov was among the signers.
06 MAR 2011 by ideonexus
Isaac Asimov on Star Trek
They speak about the mission of the Enterprise being "To boldly go--" a split infinitive I heard every single time--"To boldly go where no man has ever gone before" they mean it primarily, I suppose, in... territorially. They're visiting stars that no man has till then ever visited. Their going through vastnesses no man has ever penetrated. But in addition, they're meeting problems that man has not faced.
[What] Star Trek really presented was the brotherhood of intelligence. It mattered not...The prolific science fiction author explains what was so great and inspiring about the original television series.
