27 JUL 2018 by ideonexus
Rules are the Persistent Identity of a Game Across Cultur...
There are at least two senses in which the RULES schemas offer a "formal" way of looking at games. First, the term formal is used in the sense of "form": rules constitute the inner form or organization of games. In other words, rules are the inner, essential structures that constitute the real-world objects known as games. For example, consider two games of Go that differ in a variety of ways. They might differ in terms of:
Material: one version is played with stones on a wooden board; the o... 1 
notes
notes22 NOV 2017 by ideonexus
Removing Prepositions in Defining Thought
Having turned my back on propositions, I thought, what am I going to do about this? The area where it really comes up is when you start looking at the contents of consciousness, which is my number one topic. I like to quote Maynard Keynes on this. He was once asked, “Do you think in words or pictures?” to which he responded, “I think in thoughts.” It was a wonderful answer, but also wonderfully uninformative. What the hell’s a thought then? How does it carry information? Is it like ... 1 notes
notes15 JUN 2016 by ideonexus
How Science Resists the Philosophical Concept that Percep...
In the traditional theory, which still is the prevailing one, there were alleged to exist inherent defects in perception and observation as means of knowledge, in reference to the subjectmatter they furnish. This material, in the older notion, is inherently so particular, so contingent and variable, that by no possible means can it contribute to knowledge; it can result only in opinion, mere belief. But in modern science, there are only practical defects in the senses, certain limitations of ...Folksonomies: knowledge perception
Folksonomies: knowledge perception
1 notes
notes25 MAY 2016 by ideonexus
Political Pragmatism
A reasonable and logical way of doing things or of thinking about problems that is based on dealing with specific situations instead of on ideas and theories. An approach to philosophy, primarily held by American philosophers, which holds that the truth or meaning of a statement is to be measured by its practical (i.e., pragmatic) consequences. William James and John Dewey were pragmatists.
Pragmatism in common usage may mean simply a practical approach to problems and affairs. But it’s al...Folksonomies: politics political philosophy
Folksonomies: politics political philosophy
1 29 OCT 2014 by ideonexus
So Many Objects in Space, Why isn't it Filled with Light?
So numerous are the objects which meet our view in the heavens, that we cannot imagine a point of space where some light would not strike the eye;—innumerable stars, thousands of double and multiple systems, clusters in one blaze with their tens of thousands of stars, and the nebulae amazing us by the strangeness of their forms and the incomprehensibility of their nature, till at last, from the limit of our senses, even these thin and airy phantoms vanish in the distance. Folksonomies: astronomy
Folksonomies: astronomy
1 notes
notes27 DEC 2013 by ideonexus
Exercise of Directing a Child's Focus
OK, Nicole, while you’re lying still, move your eyes around the room. Even without moving your head, you can see the lamp over on the table. Now look over at your baby pictures. See them? Now look at the bookcase. Can you see the big Harry Potter book there? Now look back at the lamp. Do you see how you have the power to focus your attention all over this room? That’s what I want to teach you about, but we’re going to focus your attention on what’s going on inside your mind and body. ...An example of teaching a child how they can direct their attention at will.
24 DEC 2013 by ideonexus
Multisensory Integration
In sensory perception, multisensory integration is the rule, not the exception. In audition, we don’t just hear with our ears, we use our eyes to locate the apparent sources of sounds in the cinema where we “hear” the voices coming from the actors’ mouths on the screen, although the sounds are coming from the sides of the theater. This is known as the ventriloquism effect. Similarly, retronasal odors detected by olfactory receptors in the nose are experienced as tastes in the mouth. T...Folksonomies: perception senses
Folksonomies: perception senses
1 notes
notesBarry C. Smith describes how our senses collaborate, our hearing with our sight to read lips and our sense of smell with taste to enhance one another.
16 APR 2013 by ideonexus
The Sensory Database
Both technological sensors and enhanced biological
senses come equipped with databases of scanned
“signatures” that make it easier to identify whatever
the user is sensing (in the case of bioware, these databases
are stored and accessed via the character’s
mesh inserts). For example, infrared sensors feature
databases listing the heat signatures of different
animals and items, making it easier to identify such
things. In relevant situations, apply a 20 modifier
for identifying targets ...
1 SF idea that cyber-implants would be linked to a database of identifiers. Similar to how the nose is a library of molecules, with dogs having longer noses and therefore a larger library of molecules they can identify in their database.
26 MAR 2013 by ideonexus
Digiphrenia
In the digital universe, our personal history and its sense of narrative is succeeded by our social networking profile—a snapshot of the current moment. The information itself—our social graph of friends and likes—is a product being sold to market researchers in order to better predict and guide our futures. Using past data to steer the future, however, ends up negating the present. The futile quest for omniscience we looked at earlier in this chapter encourages us, particularly busines...Folksonomies: new media
Folksonomies: new media
1 notes
notesWe move our values into the digital realm from the physical.
09 JAN 2013 by ideonexus
Humanism is Grounded in Empirical Reality
We base our understanding of the world on what we can perceive with our senses and comprehend with our minds. Anything that is said to make sense should make sense to us as humans; else there is no reason for it to be the basis of our decisions and actions. Supposed transcendent knowledge or intuitions that are said to reach beyond human comprehension cannot instruct us because we cannot relate concretely to them. The way in which humans accept supposed transcendent or religious knowledge is ...Folksonomies: humanism empiricism
Folksonomies: humanism empiricism
1 notes
notesRevealed knowledge serves no purpose because it is not shared by everyone.
