David Pearce and I recently discussed relating Buddhism to the abolitionist project – both have the reduction of suffering located at the heart of their purposes. However, is there a necessary connection between desire and suffering? David argues no – highlighting a difference between emphasis of a traditional Buddhist approach to mitigating suffering through the…
There is an interesting discussion at Quanta “Solution: ‘Is Infinity Real?’” – Is infinity a real physical phenomenon outside our models? Max Tegmark doesn’t think so – while admitting it is indisputably useful for mathematical models of physics, he believes that nothing is truly continuous – including space and time. Would an infinitely X* phenomenon…
Why are some people so skeptical of the possibility of Super-intelligent Machines, while others take it quite seriously? Hugo de Garis addresses both ‘Singularity Skepticism’ and advocacy – reasons for believing machine intelligence is not only possible but quite probable! The Singularity will likely be an unprecedentedly huge issue that we will need to face…
Sundance describes particle physics and covers two grand unifying theories: super string theory and quantum loop gravity, then discusses the distribution of beliefs among experts on grand unifying theories and concludes by emphasisng the need for a wider research program in physics (and science in general) – as well as the funding to back it…
In this interview, Sundance covers his background in physics, the value of fundamental research in physics (and science in general), and finding physics aesthetically pleasing. Sundance Osland Bilson-Thompson is an Australian theoretical particle physicist. He has developed the idea that certain preon models may be represented topologically, rather than by treating preons as pointlike particles….
Something I find attractive about moral realism, is that because ethical propositions (propositions contained in ethical sentences) refer to facts about actual reality (physical and/or logical), these facts should then be amenable to testing. This means that the landscape on which to judge moral aptness gets clearer and clearer the more we understand the…
James Hughes wears many hats. He is the Executive Director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET), a bioethicist, and a sociologist at Trinity College. There, he lectures on health policy and directs institutional research and planning. Hughes holds a doctorate in sociology from the University of Chicago—where he also taught at the…
Slides [here], See this post by John Wilkins at Evolving Thoughts, the video is a talk John gave at the Philosophy of Science conference in Melbourne 2014. Every so often, somebody will attack the worth, role or relevance of philosophy on the internets, as I have discussed before. Occasionally it will be a scientist, who…
Geoff discusses statistics, confidence intervals, Bayesian approaches, meta-analysis, and problems with the use of ‘P’ values in significance testing. Discussion points: – Describe your background and involvement in statistics. – How have orthodox statistics helped psychology (& science)? How has it harmed the science? – What methods, models and tools do you commonly use in…
At a Melbourne skeptic’s meeting in Australia, theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss was asked whether spiritual experiences could ever be scientifically validated. Lawrence Krauss – Can Spiritual Experience be Scientifically Validated _“The spiritual things — the exotic phenomena people experience — in general violate the things we know to be correct on the basis of experiment,…