philosophy
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A tour of “Newcomb’s Paradox,” in which philosophers who ought to know better argue about the best way to behave in a nonsensical, world-hopping dilemma.
Sometimes, only an irrational choice can help us make the world as good as it could possibly be.
anonymity, anonymous, anonymous action, Blood Test, brains, Charles Baxter, choice, consciousness, Daniel Dennett, emotion, emotions, ensemble behavior of matter, free will, game theory, Hamlet, irrational behavior, irrational choices, irrationality, magical thinking, neural firing, neurons, neuroscience, Newcomb’s Paradox, philosophy, physics, prediction, predictive neuroscience, prisoners’ dilemma, prophecy, quantum computers, quantum mechanics, rational behavior, rational choices, rationality, revenge, Robert Frank, Robert Sapolsky, Roko’s basilisk, Sabine Hossenfelder, science, social opprobrium, storytelling, superposition, The Lion King, The Prisoners’ Dilemma, trust, uncertainty, uncertainty principle
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Though we might not turn to stone, an encounter with the basilisk would leave us gasping for air.
An advanced transistor-based intelligence would desire a very different world from one best suited for human flourishing.
AI, AI cars, AI desires, artificial general intelligence, artificial intelligence, atmospheric oxygen, basilisk, best atmosphere for computers, biological intelligence, climate change, computer longevity, consciousness, Death of the Author, deoxygenated atmosphere, extinction, history of life, horror, human extinction, life, Lovecraft, natural intelligence, Nnedi Okorafor, ontological proof of God, ontological proof of the existence of God, oxygen, philosophy, revenge, robots, Roko’s basilisk, science, self-driving cars, self-replication, singularity, thought experiment, transistor aging, transistor oxidation, transistor-based intelligence, what does AI want, what would an AI want
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In dispraise of efficiency.
Contemporary economic interests seek greater & greater efficiency, but the most meaningful moments in our lives are the inefficient tasks to which we devote our time.
assembly line, beautiful ones, behavioral sink, biology, Capital, capital gains, capitalism, cell biology, cell division, chores, communication, comparative advantage, economics, efficiency, factory model, function of earth, function of life, health, Henry Ford, immortality, in the belly of my brother, John Calhoun, last universal common ancestor, Mary Oliver, metabolism, mitochondria, mouse dystopia, mouse utopia, opportunity cost, philosophy, photon scattering, quotidian time, Robin Wall Kimmerer, science, slow fire, specialization, store my food in the belly of my brother, The Serviceberry, wild and precious life
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Who are you going to trust, this stack of research papers or your deeply ingrained experience of the world?
The particles composing your brain should follow the laws of physics, but can you choose to believe that you can make no choices?
Ambrose Bierce, artificial intelligence, atheism, biology of choice, biology of free will, Blaise Pascal, choice, crime and punishment, criminal justice, criminal justice reform, Determined, determinism, free action, free choice, free will, magical thinking, moral agency, neurobiology of free will, neurology, philosophy, philosophy of free will, punishing a faulty algorithm, punishment, quantum computer, quantum computing, quantum mechanics, random action, random choice, reform, Robert Sapolsky, Sapolsky, science, science of free will, science of moral choice, superposition, who has free will, will
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On Jenn Shapland’s ‘The Meaning of Life’ and boundary conditions.
As we live, we must fine a way to greet the world with delight & joy.
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On Roe v. Wade
What rights do you have, if a research experiment might instantly erase them?
abortion, abortion access, abortion rights, adversarial justice, adversarial law, adversarialism, artificial womb, caregivers, choice, conception, court arguments, David Cole, equal protection, ethics, external conception, fetal development, fetal viability, freedom, gestation, imbalance of power, infanticide, Jenny Kleeman, justice, Justice Sotomayor, motherhood, Mothers and Others, parenthood, personhood, philosophy, Planned Parenthood, Planned Parenthood v Casey, potentiality of human life, pregnancy, privacy, pro-choice, pro-life, reproduction, reproductive freedom, reproductive rights, right to life movement, Roe, Roe v Wade, Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, Sarah Hrdy, science, science versus philosophy, scientific research, Sex Robots and Vegan Meat, Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court, Supreme Court justices, Supreme Court opinions, ultrasound, wealth, women's health, women's rights
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On ‘Among Us’ and honesty.
How is ‘Among Us’ like ‘The Art of Seduction’? They’ll help you learn to get what you want. But I doubt I’ll play again.
Among Us, Among Us game, Among Us game review, Among Us review, Among Us strategy, Among Us tips, Art of Seduction, bluffing, childhood trauma, consensual roleplay, consent, conspiracy, conspiracy theories, conspiracy theory, Daniel Dennett, deception, emotions, ethical game design, ethics, ethics of computer games, ethics of games, ethics of gaming, ethics of video games, Freedom Evolves, gambling, game, honesty, illusion, InnerSloth, InnerSloth Among Us, Jonathan Blow, lying, lying games, Maria Konnikova, Midwest Pages to Prisoners, mobile game, mobile games, MWPP, Pages to Prisoners, philosophy, philosophy of computer games, philosophy of video games, pick up artist, pickup artist, pickup artists, pickup guides, poker, poker strategy, polyamorous, polyamory, prisoners’ dilemma, privilege, Robert Greene, roleplay, roleplaying, roleplaying games, santa claus, Secret Hitler, seduction, seduction guide, seduction guides, social deduction, social deduction game, social deduction games, The Art of Seduction, The Biggest Bluff, unethical game design
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On empathy and the color red.
We can care about others’ lives even if we’re not entirely certain how those lives feel.
AI, Ai poet, Americanah, animal cognition, animal consciousness, animal perception, anti-racist, bat, bat perception, bats, bee vision, Being a Beast, building empathy, Charles Foster, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, cognition, color perception, color red, color vision, dismantling racism, empathy, evolution of vision, frog vision, imagination, infrared vision, IR vision, literature, Nagel, non-human animal cognition, persona poem, persona poetry, philosophy, poet Ai, Racial oppression, racism, red, Robert Jackson Bennett, Shorefall, theory of mind, Thomas Nagel, ultraviolet vision, UV vision, vision, What Is It Like to Be a Bat?, what red means, why we see color, why we see red
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On unintended consequences.
Drones can keep soldiers safe, but they put everyone else at risk.
A Theory of the Drone, assassination, Chamayou, dope, drone, drone pilot, drone pilot suicide, drone pilots, drone strikes, drone war, drone warfare, drones, drug overdose, drugs, drugs in jail, drugs in prison, grass, Gregoire Chamayou, jail smuggling, marijuana, military, military suicide, military suicides, military violence, philosophy, philosophy of war, politics, pot, pot replacer, prison mail, prison smuggling, spice, suicide, synthetic marijuana, terror, terrorism, terrorist, terrorist attack, violence against civilians, War on Drugs, war on terror
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On Jonathan Safran Foer’s ‘We Are the Weather.’
A lot of climate change is caused by cheeseburgers. Killer superbugs are, too.
animal agriculture, antibiotic resistance, antibiotic resistant bacterial, antibiotic use in animal agriculture, antibiotics, antibiotics in animal agriculture, carbon emissions, climate change, climate destabilization, cognitive bias, cognitive biases, concentrated animal feeding operation, cutting carbon, emotional understanding, energy conservation, energy use, energy use in animal agriculture, environmental veganism, environmentalism, ethical diet, ethical veganism, ethics of eating, existentialism, global warming, greenhouse gas emissions, human cognition, human extinction, Jonathan Safran Foer, low carbon diet, meaning of life, moral diet, MRSA, philosophy, plant-based diet, Saving the planet begins at breakfast, vegan, veganism, vegetarian, vegetarianism, We Are the Weather
Frank Brown Cloud 