10 MAR 2019 by ideonexus
Being Against Technological Progress if Futile
Ron complaining that antibiotics put too many grave diggers out of work. The transfer of labor from humans to our inventions is nothing less than the history of civilization. It is inseparable from centuries of rising living standards and improvements in human rights. What a luxury to sit in a climate-controlled room with access to the sum of hu¬ man knowledge on a device in your pocket and lament how we don't work with our hands anymore! There are still plenty of places in the world where p...Folksonomies: automation
Folksonomies: automation
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notes
notes03 APR 2015 by ideonexus
Prejudice Against Transhumanism in Star Trek
Star Trek’s greatest villains are, almost without exception, the products of human (or whatever-the-original-species-was) enhancement. For example Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan, universally regarded as the best Trek movie, has as its villain Khan Noonien Singh.
[...]
In Star Trek: The Next Generation, of course, we get the Borg, cyborgs from the other side of the galaxy who exist as part of a single collective consciousness which they continually seek to forcibly add other species to. And ...
1 A reoccurring theme of bioism in the series.
18 MAR 2015 by ideonexus
Altruism is a Basic Human Instinct
The cost for my survival must have been hundreds of millions of dollars. All to save one dorky botanist. Why bother?
Well, okay. I know the answer to that. Part of it might be what I represent: progress, science, and the interplanetary future we’ve dreamed of for centuries. But really, they did it because every human being has a basic instinct to help each other out. It might not seem that way sometimes, but it’s true.
If a hiker gets lost in the mountains, people will coordinate a sear...Folksonomies: altruism
Folksonomies: altruism
1 notes
notes24 JAN 2015 by ideonexus
War is the Price of Diversity
The state of the world today is not essentially different from the state of the world in 1948. We are still faced with the same choices that we were facing in 1948. On the level of fundamental principles, we are faced with a choice between unity and diversity. The unity of mankind, or the diversity of nations and political institutions. National sovereignty is the contemporary expression of the ancient human tradition which divided us into {202} tribes, each jealously guarding its independe... 1 notes
notes24 DEC 2013 by ideonexus
Strategic Allocation of Attention
Instead, Mischel discovered something interesting when he studied the tiny percentage of kids who could successfully wait for the second treat. Without exception, these “high delayers” all relied on the same mental strategy: They found a way to keep themselves from thinking about the treat, directing their gaze away from the yummy marshmallow. Some covered their eyes or played hide-and-seek underneath the desks. Others sang songs from Sesame Street, or repeatedly tied their shoelaces, or ...Jonah Lehrer describes a characteristic of children who are later successful in life. They have much better self-control early in life, and they accomplish this by strategically allocating their attention elsewhere to avoid breaking the rules.
24 DEC 2013 by ideonexus
The Mediocrity Principle
The reason this principle is so essential to science is that it’s the beginning of understanding how we came to be here and how everything works. We look for general principles that apply to the universe as a whole first, and those explain much of the story; and then we look for the quirks and exceptions that led to the details. It’s a strategy that succeeds and is useful in gaining a deeper knowledge. Starting with a presumption that a subject of interest represents a violation of the pr... 1 notes
notesP. Z. Myers' explanation for how this principle means we cannot look to supernatural explanations for our origins, because there is no reason to think we are an exception to the rules of the universe.
23 MAR 2013 by ideonexus
Emotions Happen, But Don't Let Them Cloud Judgement
let’s revisit
that initial encounter in The Sign of Four,
when Mary Morstan, the mysterious lady
caller, first makes her appearance. Do the
two men see Mary in the same light? Not
at all. The first thing Watson notices is the
lady’s appearance. She is, he remarks, a
rather attractive woman. Irrelevant,
counters Holmes. “It is of the first
importance not to allow your judgment to
be biased by personal qualities,” he
explains. “A client is to me a mere unit, a
factor in a problem. The...Folksonomies: emotion mindfulness
Folksonomies: emotion mindfulness
Another example using Watson and Holmes.
25 DEC 2012 by ideonexus
Life Works Against the Tide of Entropy
The harsh, demystifying light of science has left the modern biologist with one last miracle, a miracle of organization. Somehow, back in the planet's youth, molecules organized themselves into a structure that could reproduce itself. Dust quickened, and into an inanimate world came animation. All the rest has followed, the flight of the pelican, the fragrance of a baby's skin, the songs of wolf and whale. These latter developments are relatively recent and we know in a general way how they c...While everything else in the universe is trending toward disorder, life works against the trend.
27 JUL 2011 by ideonexus
Science Takes No Sides--and No Prisoners
The great thing about science is that it takes no sides—and no prisoners. Once you know which research to trust, the big picture emerges and myths fade away. To gain my trust, research must pass my “grump factor.” To make it into this book, studies must first have been published in the refereed literature and then successfully replicated. Some results have been confirmed dozens of times. Where I make an exception for cutting-edge research, reliable but not yet fully vetted by the passag...Folksonomies: scientific method peer review
Folksonomies: scientific method peer review
1 notes
notesA good summary of what research to take seriously.
01 JUN 2011 by ideonexus
The Encyclopedia Could Only Emerge in an Enlightened Age
I have I have said I have said that it could only belong to a philosophical age to attempt an encyclopidie; and I have said this because such a work constantly demands more intellectual daring than is commonly found in ages of pusillanimous taste. All things must be examined, debated, investigated without exception and without regard for anyone's feelings. . . . We must ride roughshod over all these ancient puerilities, overturn the barriers that reason never erected, give back to the arts an... 1 notes
notesWhere ideas may be openly debated and discussed, and people exist who are interested in giving back to society.
