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Archive for the ‘philosophy’ Category

Book Review: The Singularity is Near, by Ray Kurzweil

Posted in book reviews, general science, philosophy, technology on November 19, 2007 | 6 Comments »

The singularity refers to a time, sometime in the future, when machines become more intelligent than biological humans, and technology begins to improve rapidly as a result. The Singularity is Near is Ray Kurzweil’s attempt to justify his belief that the singularity is coming sooner than most people think, and what consequences it will [...]

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Book Review: The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, Book 1), by Phillip Pullman

Posted in book reviews, general science, philosophy on May 31, 2007 | 1 Comment »

The Golden Compass is actually called Northern Lights in every place except North America. I guess the publishers thought that kids would get confused, because they would not know what lights could possibly be doing in the north. Never mind that the book never refers to the titular object as a compass; that’s not [...]

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Am I a Materialist?

Posted in general science, philosophy on February 27, 2007 | Leave a Comment »

Sometimes I wonder whether I, or any real scientist, can be considered a “materialist” any more. That is, do I really think that matter – chunks of solid ’stuff’ – is all there is? Here is a quote from Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion which may help clarify (or further confuse) the issue:
We have this [...]

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