Thursday, December 23, 2010

They're made out of data - Boing Boing

They're made out of data - Boing Boing

"They're made out of data."
"Data?"
"Data. They're made out of data."
"Data?"
"No doubt about it. We picked them up as holonomic extrusions, sent in an amnesiant isomorphic scout party, and checked them out up close. They are completely data."
"That's impossible. What about that page?"
"The page didn't come from them. The page came from a machine."
"So who made the machine? That's who we want to contact."
"I'll get to that in a minute. But they're definitely data. Bits and bytes. Running on a machine."
"You're asking me to believe in sentient data."

Friday, December 10, 2010

Barry Loewer and Tim O’Connor: Philosophy TV

Barry Loewer and Tim O’Connor Philosophy TV

O’Connor defends, and Loewer opposes, strong emergentism: the view that there are properties and laws beyond those which can be captured by any fundamental physical theory. After clarifying their positions, they discuss (starting at 30:01) whether quantum mechanics supports or undermines O’Connor’s view. Then (starting at 43:27) they turn to phenomena of consciousness, and consider whether the immediacy and simplicity of conscious experience provide evidence of strong emergence.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Egregore - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Egregore - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Egregore (also 'egregor') is an occult concept representing a 'thoughtform' or 'collective group mind', an autonomous psychic entity made up of, and influencing, the thoughts of a group of people. The symbiotic relationship between an egregore and its group has been compared to the more recent, non-occult concepts of the corporation (as a legal entity) and the meme."

Vernor Vinge's sequel to A Fire Upon The Deep coming in October!

Vernor Vinge's sequel to A Fire Upon The Deep coming in October! No word yet whether the Tines will be in it.

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