I suggest there are 4 stages in the life-cycle of a didact:
— spindizzy
(1) The belief that one’s intellectual opponents can be won over by rationality.
(2) The belief that one’s intellectual opponents can be won over by rationality and emotional reassurance.
(3) The belief that one’s intellectual opponents can be won over without rationality.
(4) The belief that one’s intellectual opponents do not need to be won over.
I am not suggesting that any stage is superior to any other.
Both strong artificial intelligence (here in the sense of sentient/conscious AI) and faster than light travel (FTL) are dreams of science fiction and (some parts of) humanity, but what is the difference between the two? Proposing FTL today is pretty much a lost cause (although there are interesting ideas such as the Alcubierre Drive – [...]
There was a time of blood, and war, of thick brow and clenched jaw, snarling faces baring sharp teeth. It is the way of ape. This way is trodden yet, but when we happen upon it, we do not dwell but hasten our pace. There was a time of loyalty and honour, dependable men and [...]
Bee over at Backreaction had a post last week on Max Tegmark: Discover Interview with Tegmark, and I would like to respond to some things said there and in a previous post by Bee on the topic. (The Tegmark paper on “The Mathematical Universe” can be found on arxiv.org.) Does the theory warrant further scrutiny? [...]
This is a good development: Towards a Psychology of Philosophy? A question that I find particularly interesting is, do attitudes about science, such as naturalism vs. anti-naturalism, correlate with levels of scientific education and talent for science and math? Could it be that one factor behind the (seemingly prejudicial) anti-naturalist attitudes that are still very [...]
This post of Eli has many links and may be a good occasion for delving into some of the issues he has been talking about lately. Overcoming Bias: Heading Toward Morality Why? Because that is the conclusion he is drawing to: Artificial Intelligence melts people’s brains. Metamorality melts people’s brains. Trying to think about AI [...]
Paul Graham has a wonderful essay online, reading time approximately 10 minutes: Lies We Tell Kids (The essay was brought to my notice via overcomingbias.com) Some quotes: This sentence is gold: The truth is common property. You can’t distinguish your group by doing things that are rational, and believing things that are true. If you [...]
Nietzsche proves Kant devastatingly wrong YouTube – Kant Attack Ad Technorati Tags: humor, philosophy
This incident shows how “naive” philosophers put forth arguments for undermining this fragile project of science (=trying to make humans listen to reason). (I refer to the Pope’s quotation of Feyerabend, not that he is not allowed to speak at the university). Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog: Pope Quotes Feyerabend, and Gets in Big Trouble [...]
In the same vein as the post before, some argumentative help when confronted with science doubters. Eliezer rightly points to the problem lying behind calling science into question: it is not suggestive of an overly critical mind – quite the contrary – it is indicative of a mind in search of truth proclaimed by an [...]
That’s the attitude – it’s time scientists speak up: Evolution is a scientific fact, and every organization whose research depends on it should explain why. Spread the word : Article : Nature Technorati Tags: evolution, philosophy, philosophy of science
