01 APR 2015 by ideonexus
We are Living in an Ancestor Simulation
Now we get to the core of the simulation argument. This does not purport to demonstrate that you are in a simulation. Instead, it shows that we should accept as true at least one of the following three propositions:
(1) The chances that a species at our current level of development can avoid going extinct before becoming technologically mature is negligibly small
(2) Almost no technologically mature civilisations are interested in running computer simulations of minds like ours
(3) You are...See also Are You Living in a Computer Simulation? by the same author.
30 JUL 2013 by ideonexus
Aristotle as the First Scientist
Aristotle repeatedly pointed out that his predecessors' work and conclusions were often marred by insufficient observation. He himself, after a remarkable analysis of the reproduction of bees, states that he cannot arrive at certain conclusions because "the facts have not yet been sufficiently ascertained. And if at any future time they are ascertained, then credence must be given to the direct evidence rather than to the theories; and to the theories also, provided that the results which the...Classification of animals, empirical observations... he got much wrong, but to call into question his achievements for this is like criticizing the invention of Calculus because Newton believed in magic.