So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for every thing one has mind to do.
— Benjamin Franklin
I’m an adherent of conceptual metaphor theory, here is a nice intro with nice references and a concise explanation of what it’s all about: Mixing Memory : Conceptual Metaphor Comment by Dr. Gibbs (The cognitive science community is very critical of CMT, but I think a paradigm shift will occur as soon as more researchers [...]
To all those singularity doubters: biological engineering is upon us, and will change our ways more than can yet be imagined: Cyborg moths Times Online Technorati Tags: artificial intelligence, singularity
I am not a Buddhist, but many of the teachings of Buddha are very modern and very helpful to everyday life. Here a study which concerns “mindfulness” meditation – in effect, you train to control your emotional (amygdala) response with your higher brain functions (prefrontal cortex). Putting feelings into words produces therapeutic effects in the [...]
I have long been fascinated with the possibility that maybe we were not the first sentient species on earth, but that a prior civilization somehow became extinct and that their remains would not be visible to us anymore (100 000 years would probably be more than enough). Unfortunately, one thing definitely speaks against it: that [...]
One of my favourite pet topics is criticism of the current practice of statistical significance testing (which I found ridiculous from my first exposure to it). Here some reading on the feud: Is significance testing all bad? Technorati Tags: statistics
Now I know what I will be saving my money for: BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Firm rockets into space tourism What really pleases me is that this is a european effort. Such cool ideas usually only come to fruition in the U.S. – I hope this works out. Technorati Tags: entertainment
Whoever thought language is what separates humans from animals should think again (BTW, tool use is out also – chimps have been seen to use tools!): ABC News: Amazing Science: Apes ‘Talk’ to Humans And here: It goes without saying that taking care of animals is now more than ever a moral obligation. Technorati Tags: [...]
