I would like to explore what I think is a useful distinction between “thinking” and a quite different phenomenon that might be best referred to as a “simulation of thinking”. First a quick clarification of two core concepts. This is easy. If you remember learning how to drive a car or ride a bike, you likely […]
On Thinking and Simulated Thinking Read More »
Mann titled his talk “The Edge of the Petri Dish.” He explained, “If you drop a couple protozoa in a Petri dish filled with nutrient goo, they will multiply until they run out of resources or drown in their own wastes.” Humans in the world Petri dish appear to be similarly doomed, judging by our
Two ways to save humanity Read More »
I’ve been thinking about the relationship between freedom, choice and responsibility. A couple of months ago, I read Finite and Infinite Games: A Vision Of Life as Play and Possibility by James P. Carse, a profound philosophical book that talks about game theory in the context of politics, religion, art, sex, and every other area
A Framework For Thinking About Freedom, Choice, and Responsibility Read More »
You keep saming when you should be changing. — Frank Sinatra In 2015 I chaired an RSA event with Vincent Deary on his book ‘How to Live’ and was struck by his emphasis on the perennial human challenge of getting from act one to act two. Deary’s point is that in dramatic contexts of plays, books and films we
The recurring challenge of your life: how to get from act one to act two Read More »
“I don’t believe in God, but I miss him.” — Julian Barnes Christmas is the season of shallow critique. We lament the commercialisation around us as if it were a seasonal problem, but lurking inside the wrapped presents, juicy puddings and roasted birds there are deeper questions about ethical drift and the social logic of our entire economic model.
Christmas is about more than consumerism, fa la la la la la la la la. Read More »
photo by Evan Spiler Thanks to the growing human domination of natural systems on Earth, people say we are entering an Anthropocene Epoch, Grinspoon began, but what if the term “epoch” understates the consequence of what is going on? (The Holocene Epoch is only 11,700 years old.) Astrobiologists recently learned that planet formation is the norm
https://medium.com/media/650c36c9ac28864f53ff02eeb0be8a24/href What is The Blockchain? The blockchain is a distributed ledger technology that underlies cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and platforms like Ethereum. It provides a way to record and transfer data that is transparent, safe, auditable, and resistant to outages. This technology has the ability to make the organizations that use it transparent, democratic, decentralized, efficient,
19 Industries The Blockchain Will Disrupt Read More »
photo by Evan Spiler IF WE FIND, anywhere in the universe, one more instance of life besides what evolved on Earth, then we are bound to conclude that life is common throughout the vastness of this galaxy and the 200 billion other galaxies. The discovery would change how we think about everything. Most of the search
Are Marxist anti-capitalists post-modernists?No. Postmodernists attacked Marxism. Many PoMos are anti-capitalist and some have adapted Marxist ideas but they are still different things. Marxists are very critical of postmodernism. I am not sure what you’re asking about this in relation to our manifesto? I don’t know where we are conflating philosophy and politics. We are
Are Marxist anti-capitalists post-modernists? Read More »
photo by Evan Spiler HE BEGAN, “Hi, I’m Nicky Case, and I explain complex systems in a visual, tangible, and playful way.” He did exactly that with 207 brilliant slides and clear terminology. What system engineers call “negative feedback,” for example, Case calls “balancing loops.” They maintain a value. Likewise “positive feedback” he calls “reinforcing loops.”
How to finesse complexity Read More »
