Experience is itself a species of knowledge that involves understanding – Immanuel Kant Though doing everything without conscious thought may be a simple life (and maybe even a Good life),
Month: February 2018
A Deep Dive into: Perception [pt.1] – HYPOTHETICAL: If you were born without the sense of touch, sight, hearing, taste or smell, would you understand about the world (if anything)? [Is our understanding of the world –and science– innate in any way]?A Deep Dive into: Perception [pt.1] – HYPOTHETICAL: If you were born without the sense of touch, sight, hearing, taste or smell, would you understand about the world (if anything)? [Is our understanding of the world –and science– innate in any way]?
Imagine from the start of your life, that you’ve never seen, touched, heard, smelt or tasted anything… What would you understand, and what would you imagine about the world? Is
Is it possible that your consciousness is what actually makes your life WORSE? Maybe we ask too many questions and analyse too much? Anyway that’s why the name of the site is changing for today.Is it possible that your consciousness is what actually makes your life WORSE? Maybe we ask too many questions and analyse too much? Anyway that’s why the name of the site is changing for today.
Do other mammals, reptiles, blades of couch grass exhibit consciousness? And do they even have any? Or are all their decisions (?) and actions unconsciously performed? All for the good
It is possible that compromise is actually the WORST thing for both people?It is possible that compromise is actually the WORST thing for both people?
Do other animals in Animalia compromise? For their own, or for their mutual goals (which you could argue are ultimately selfish*) goals? If life is so god damn short as
You control your own happiness and tranquility. 100% of the time.You control your own happiness and tranquility. 100% of the time.
It’s not situations of people that make you angry, upset or feel disappointed. It’s your reaction to it. If something is not going your way, or not how you expect
Our search for alien life might not only be misguided and pointless but also arrogant and egomaniacal, and therefore dumb (is biological life the supreme form of existence?).Our search for alien life might not only be misguided and pointless but also arrogant and egomaniacal, and therefore dumb (is biological life the supreme form of existence?).
In the intro to the ‘Alien Contact’ event at next month’s World Science Festival in Brisbane it says: Humanity is on the verge of discovering alien life…NASA estimates we’ll find definitive evidence
Missing the point? + A Deep Dive into: Time [pt.2] – Schopenhauer’s idea that the past, future NOR the present can be enjoyed assumes that the past, present and future are actually things.Missing the point? + A Deep Dive into: Time [pt.2] – Schopenhauer’s idea that the past, future NOR the present can be enjoyed assumes that the past, present and future are actually things.
Time is that by virtue of which everything becomes nothingness in our hands and loses all real value. Just because my dog Chunky gets excited when I come home doesn’t
A Deep Dive into: Marriage – if everything changes and everything that begins must end, and it’s the natural order of things, is marriage also a selfish act?A Deep Dive into: Marriage – if everything changes and everything that begins must end, and it’s the natural order of things, is marriage also a selfish act?
Sidenote: Now this is another potentially flammable issue that contains that pesky thing known as emotion, but I’m going to attempt to address this issue in as dispassionate way as
What is Last Thursdayism?What is Last Thursdayism?
The past is not an indicator of (and definitely doesn’t prove) the future. But maybe the past doesn’t even prove the past. Our perceptions and memories all twist with time,
A Deep Dive into: Time – What is it?A Deep Dive into: Time – What is it?
Sidenote: Try to answer this question without mentioning any mathematical temporal intervals to measure duration, like ‘Years/weeks/minutes/seconds etc…’ What is time? (Okay, go…)
If you fear a future might not be the one you want, don’t avoid the thought. Imagine it, picture it in great detail, you might find it’s not so bad or even actually much better than you think.If you fear a future might not be the one you want, don’t avoid the thought. Imagine it, picture it in great detail, you might find it’s not so bad or even actually much better than you think.
We often fear the unknown. In fact, maybe most of our fears are about things that might happen. Or maybe not. So if you’re tossing up a decision between one thing or
A Deep Dive into: AI [pt.8] The philosophy of Peter Haas: We need a healthy scepticism to make AI both benign and useful for humanityA Deep Dive into: AI [pt.8] The philosophy of Peter Haas: We need a healthy scepticism to make AI both benign and useful for humanity
Humanity hasn’t faced a serious threat to its existence since the plague ravished Europe, on a smaller scale, hundreds of thousands died of cholera (which still do in underdeveloped countries),
‘Thanks for reminding me’ – How our emotions, past experiences, judgements, sentimentality and sense of attachment interfere with understanding and coming to conclusions about the things that matter most. (+ The philosophy of: Nick Bostrom & one of my students)‘Thanks for reminding me’ – How our emotions, past experiences, judgements, sentimentality and sense of attachment interfere with understanding and coming to conclusions about the things that matter most. (+ The philosophy of: Nick Bostrom & one of my students)
The problem with the things we don’t want to talk about is exactly that: we don’t want to talk about them. But often, and I would argue that always, the
Hypothetical: If you could choose between dying peacefully (and unaware) during your sleep, or die FULLY AWARE, but have ONE SECOND after your heart stops (and before your brain shuts down) where you could see the universe’s entire past and future and understand every single thing in the universe ever (alas Lucy in yep ‘Lucy’), which would you choose? & The Philosophy of: Lucy [pt.4]Hypothetical: If you could choose between dying peacefully (and unaware) during your sleep, or die FULLY AWARE, but have ONE SECOND after your heart stops (and before your brain shuts down) where you could see the universe’s entire past and future and understand every single thing in the universe ever (alas Lucy in yep ‘Lucy’), which would you choose? & The Philosophy of: Lucy [pt.4]
There’s one thing, just one, that is impossible to ever know about. One thing that no one can ever experience and tell us about, for us to know, for a
‘Holy flying fuck, that thing took off.’ – The Philosophy of SpaceX & Elon Musk [SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy taking off, and its outer cores landing, is god damn incredible and could give you goosebumps (and why)‘Holy flying fuck, that thing took off.’ – The Philosophy of SpaceX & Elon Musk [SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy taking off, and its outer cores landing, is god damn incredible and could give you goosebumps (and why)
Why are things like seeing panoramic views of cities (say, from the top of skyscrapers or the Eiffel Tower for example) so appealing and so captivating? It’s possible that it’s
A Deep Dive into: The Future of Humanity & Why we have kids [pt.3]: My ethical conclusionA Deep Dive into: The Future of Humanity & Why we have kids [pt.3]: My ethical conclusion
This is my opinion on my we have kids in a world where we are already the ‘dominant’ species. This is my ethical view for, and this is the against side, go here. For background on this (and
A Deep Dive into: The Future of Humanity & Why we have kids [pt.2]: The ethical argument FOR having more kids – Even if there’s already 7 billion of us, is it not our biological and human duty to keep having as many kids as possible (so as to minimise the probability of humanity dying out)?A Deep Dive into: The Future of Humanity & Why we have kids [pt.2]: The ethical argument FOR having more kids – Even if there’s already 7 billion of us, is it not our biological and human duty to keep having as many kids as possible (so as to minimise the probability of humanity dying out)?
This is the ethical view for further procreation in a world where we are already are the ‘dominant’ species. For the against side, go here. For background on this (and what I
A Deep Dive into: The Future of Humanity & Why we have kids – The Ethical view against having more kids: Is there one conceivable motivation for having kids that is not self-serving?A Deep Dive into: The Future of Humanity & Why we have kids – The Ethical view against having more kids: Is there one conceivable motivation for having kids that is not self-serving?
This is the ethical view against further procreation in a world where we are already the ‘dominant’. For background on this (and what I mean by dominant), go here. And this
A Deep Dive into: The Future of Humanity (and kids) – If humans aren’t in any impending danger of losing our position as the dominant* species on earth, why do we make more kids? Wouldn’t it be more beneficial for the future of humanity to focus on helping the already alive ones who don’t have parents –or more importantly– positive guidance and support?A Deep Dive into: The Future of Humanity (and kids) – If humans aren’t in any impending danger of losing our position as the dominant* species on earth, why do we make more kids? Wouldn’t it be more beneficial for the future of humanity to focus on helping the already alive ones who don’t have parents –or more importantly– positive guidance and support?
This is part 2 in a Deep Dive into why we have kids. Here’s part 1. –———————————- * The word ‘dominant’ in the title of this, in reference to us
The concept of time in years, weeks, days, hours, minutes, seconds doesn’t exist. Is it possible time moves forward, but doesn’t LAST for any amount of time at all?The concept of time in years, weeks, days, hours, minutes, seconds doesn’t exist. Is it possible time moves forward, but doesn’t LAST for any amount of time at all?
Think about the last 5 minutes. What did you do? How do those five minutes feel now? Now think back to a period of your life that lasted years. School.