What, Why & How do we Know ?
The paper referenced in the previous post is well worth a read, if you find probabilistic collapsing wave-functions, and the suggestion that thanks to quantum mechanics there is no actual single physical reality, too weird to actually believe. Einstein was right for knowing Bohr was wrong, even if he never cottoned onto De Broglie’s pilot wave … Continue reading “Suck that up, Copenhagen”
It’s all happening at once today. Prompted I guess by the first episode of Jim Al Khalili’s BBC4 series on Quantum Mechanics, the usual alternative theories are crawling out of the woodwork. Not watched the episode yet, but judging by the Grauniad review we get the “Einstein was wrong” take and a bit of wave-particle … Continue reading “Uncertain Times from Quanta to the Cosmos”
Interesting blog, collection of bloggers, and additional linked blogs, all on a topic dear to my heart. Hat tip to Rebecca Goldstein @platobooktour for the link to the specific post. When apparently serious commentators simply dismiss ideas they don’t agree with (or understand) as “silly” you can be pretty sure they’re defending a position rather … Continue reading “Cultural Evolution”
I’ve picked-up where I left off with Thomas Nagel’s View From Nowhere, having put it aside to deal with some domestic priorities and then being captivated by Rebecca Goldstein’s latest. So back to Nagel. After some good stuff about his problems with the unsatisfactory incompleteness of reductionist objectivity generally, he embarks on a review of … Continue reading “Nagel’s nowhere man seeks free-will and moral responsibility”
My investigations here started 15 years ago into information, particularly as knowledge in a decision-making context, but it’s been some years since I decided governance was the umbrella term for that agenda – the basis for enacting best decisions – for any groups of people or constituencies of any size. Furthermore, wherever the information does not simply represent … Continue reading “Governance with Love, from New York to Boston. @platobooktour”
A date for the diary : April 21-26 2014 is the 20th Anniversary conference Toward a Science of Consciousness in Tucson. Ned Block, David Chalmers, Karl Deisseroth, Daniel Dennett, David Eagleman, Rebecca Goldstein, Stuart Hameroff, Christof Koch, Henry Markram, John Searle, Petra Stoerig, Giulio Tononi and many more. Many of the usual Tucson suspects, Chalmers returns, plus … Continue reading “Tucson 20th Anniversary”
This year’s Edge question 2012 is: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DEEP, ELEGANT, OR BEAUTIFUL EXPLANATION? Many of the responses don’t really answer the question, but there are hundreds of responses on many subjects. These are a few that caught my eye – almost all mean further reading! Some are just interesting to see in this … Continue reading “The Edge 2012 Q&A”
Finished Rebecca Goldstein’s “Betraying Spinoza” the other day, and found it an excellent piece of work. Having been very busy for a couple of days, I’ve not really had a chance to compose a detailed review. For now … Radical objectivism. Ultimately the self-other dualism is dissolved by expanding the scope of self. I am … Continue reading “Cosmic Man”