What, Why & How do we Know ?
Still working my way slowly through Mark Solms Hidden Spring, and barely half-way through, in Chapter 6 we have the seat, source or well-spring of consciousness, signified by his title. (We really need one good anatomical brain map on which to project so many different writers’ resources – I mentioned before – every one published … Continue reading “The Mid-Brain Decision Triangle”
I’ve captured the poetry of a number of important late 20th C song lyrics over the years, just to have a searchable record of them here. Roy Harper, Tommy Womack, Graham Parker, Tom Petty, Nick Lowe, Eric Boyle, Elvis Costello, Peter Gabriel, to name a few. It’s only in the last decade or so I … Continue reading “The Secret Chord”
Busy, Busy, Busy. Mentioned strange times regarding work-load and productivity a few posts ago; my pipeline stuffed with unread bookmarks and unresolved references, and a to-do-list with at least seven dimensions of priorities to juggle, personally and professionally. Not exactly “treading water”, but difficult to discern progress going anywhere. Ironic that the immediately previous Wittgensteinian … Continue reading “A remarkable book. It changes everything.”
Preamble This is probably as close as I’ll get to an actual review of Tim Bollands “Life the Universe and Consciousness”. I’ve made significant comments and references here three times already: Problems, Problems — Life, the Universe and Consciousness Life the Universe and Consciousness #2 Life, the Universe and Nothing New Under the Sun? And … Continue reading “The Review at the End of the Universe”
Happy New Year everyone, just the one resolution here. Not posted since November and not read much either. Kinda(*) stalled I guess. Work got serious in a shift from planning & requirements gathering to funding & implementation, so I’m distracted by the day-job – in a good way, for all the right reasons – and … Continue reading “Reading (& Writing) Catch-Up Jan 2020”
A Russian Take on Political Leadership In the heat of Trump’s Putin-Helsinki summit fall-out, I posted this cartoon from Twitter to Facebook: (Hat tip @NickBryantNY for tweeting it. A Brit journalist living in US.) I posted it bare, without comment, letting the cartoon speak for itself. A picture paints a thousand words, but ~998 of them … Continue reading “A Useful Idiot Isn’t All Bad But He Ain’t Good”
The Rhetoric of International Dispute 101 – a Noddy / Abbott guide Are we outraged? Shall we do something about it? Shall we have Jaw-Jaw or War-War? Let me think. Shall we ask the public if it is in favour of armed intervention that might lead to war? Poll? Referendum? Debate? No-one is in favour … Continue reading “Jaw-War? – Let’s Not Carpet-Bomb Dresden.”
Misappropriation of political correctness really is a degenerate driver of liberal-left policy, and if we don’t find honest ways to debate it openly it will continue to fester. There is a serious Catch-22 in here. Yesterday’s social media conversations were dominated by three related topics. A secret series of eugenics conferences held annually at UCL. … Continue reading “Political Correctness is Caring About Perception”
The Conversation here on the place of understanding in AI – effectively defining AI as not involving understanding. That is Intelligence Without Understanding. Not intelligence in my book, mere competence in Dennett terms, but here Sandis and Harper are suggesting there would be too many snags if “AI” did have understanding, that it would be … Continue reading “AI Hype – Pale Imitation of Intelligence in Prospect.”
References to Yuval Noah Harari’s “Homo Deus – A Brief History of Tomorrow” are coming thick and fast: Andy Martin in The Independent “Transhumanism: The final chapter in humanity’s perpetual quest to be kitted out in comforting accessories.” (Previous brief reference solely on Information aspect). Philip Kitcher in the LA Review of Books “Future Frankensteins: The Ethics … Continue reading “Irrational Science Portends Inhuman Transhumanism”