brain
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On the apparent rarity of human-like intelligence.
When we look around, we see such a small sliver of our planet’s total life.
ancient world, animal cognition, animal intelligence, archaeological evidence, archaeology, bird brains, birds, brain, brain construction, cognition, deep time, dinosaur, evolution, evolution of intelligence, evolutionary time, fossil evidence, fossils, human extinction, intelligence, lifespan of the sun, neuron counts, neuron numbers, non-human animal cognition, Oded Galor, rocks, stone age, stone tools, Suzana Herculano-Houzel, t-rex, The Journey of Humanity, The Origins of Wealth and Inequality, time as a twenty-four hour day, Tyrannosaurus rex
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On AI-generated art.
Can we imagine a world where human artists still get to do their work, and eat?
AI, AI art, AI art generators, AI training, AI-generated art, algorithm, algorithmic art, algorithms, art, art competition, art generator, art generators, artificial intelligence, artwork, brain, capital versus labor, capitalism, collaboration, creativity, digital brain, digital tools, digital versus biological, economics, equity, fairness, inspiration, justice, Midjourney, neural network, paintings, robots, training sets, Wombo
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On Constantine Cavafy’s ‘Body, Remember,’ and the mutability of memory.
Would your life be better if you mistakenly believed in past triumph?
addiction, alcoholism, Aliki Barnstone, assault, beer, Body Remember, Boltzmann brain, brain, Brett Kavanaugh, CBT, cognition, cognitive behavioral therapy, consciousness, Constantine Cavafy, drinking problem, episodic memory, Exhalation, failed seduction, Flirtation, incarceration, jail poetry, jail poetry workshop, Kavanaugh, Last Gods, mass incarceration, memory, misremembrance, missed connections, mutability of memory, opiate abuse, opiates, poetry, problem drinking, recovery, recovery from addiction, Remember Body, risque poetry, seduction, sexual aggression, sexual assault, sexy poetry, sultry poetry, Supreme Court, teaching in jail, Ted Chiang, Truth of Fact Truth of Feeling, violative assault
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On mind control versus body control
In jail last week, we found ourselves discussing mind control. Ants that haul infected comrades away from the colony – otherwise, the zombie will climb above the colony before a Cordyceps fruiting body bursts from its spine, raining spores down onto everyone below, causing them all to die. Several parasites, including Toxoplasma gondii, are known…
body control, brain, consciousness, free will, infection, jail, magnetic pulse, mass incarceration, mind control, neurobiology, parasites, parasitic mind control, perception of free will, phantom limb, teaching in jail, toxoplasma, toxoplasmosis, transcranial magnetic stimulation, zombi, zombie, zombie ants, zombies
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On evolution and League of Legends.
Okay, here’s something that I feel like the Cosmos show did nicely – when they showed a tree representing evolutionary lineage, humans were on a branch jutting out seemingly at random to the side. Whereas many popular science presentations of evolution depict humans as the pinnacle – we’re here at the top, and if you…
Frank Brown Cloud 