What, Why & How do we Know ?
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”
Here (#3) below is the David Hamill piece from the Free Thought Prophet blog that triggered the two … previous (#1) … posts (#2) as well as a lot of comments and tweets. Most of my earlier thoughts concerned the Jerry Coyne post given as a reference and the linked Dan Dennett Big Think video. … Continue reading “Dennett and the “Little People” #3″
I came across a twitter thread of Free Thought Prophet (FTP, otherwise anon) recommending a blog post by John Hamill (Atheist Ireland National Committee) about Dennett’s position on free-will. FTP I know as a knockabout humorous commentator in the space occupied by the four horsemen. As a rationalist, atheist, humanist myself, “free-thought” is the traditional tag … Continue reading “Dennett and the “Little People””
I am at last reading and considering this TLS piece in which Tim Crane presents the Papineau / Dennett exchanges on Dennett’s “From Bacteria to Bach and Back”. I’ve had it bookmarked for over a week and so far made only passing references. Tim Crane’s a professional, I’m an amateur, when it comes to the … Continue reading “A New Species of Mind-Matter Explanation”
This is really just a place-holder post to bookmark two great twitter threads (below) and to link them to something I need to elaborate on. Without editing, this isn’t it. Read the two Twitter threads whatever, but for now: I’m a fan of Marxism intrinsically (theoretically) and in the latest Paul Mason Post Capitalism sense … Continue reading “Tying up Corbynism and Marxism”