Search found 69 matches
- Thu Apr 12, 2007 10:57 am
- Forum: Literature and Cinema
- Topic: Book Review: The View from the Center of the Universe
- Replies: 13
- Views: 97236
I haven't read the book or the introduction so I won't comment on that. I will make two comments: First, having taught physics for over ten years now, it is clear to me that students are natural Aristotleans, not Newtonites. The typical student has to struggle just to master Newton's point of view,...
- Wed Apr 11, 2007 9:15 pm
- Forum: Literature and Cinema
- Topic: Book Review: The View from the Center of the Universe
- Replies: 13
- Views: 97236
Again, I can only extrapolate from the introduction. But since you asked, I will mention a couple of recurring points. I think the introduction has given you a caricature of the book as a whole. Publishers (and authors) do like to be controversial in their marketing, but in this case, the substance...
- Wed Apr 11, 2007 4:56 pm
- Forum: Literature and Cinema
- Topic: Book Review: The View from the Center of the Universe
- Replies: 13
- Views: 97236
I haven't read the whole book. This will be a verdict based only on its introduction, which I read at the link that you sent. I detected many dollops of sloppy thinking in that excerpt. I'm all for integrated viewpoints, but the moment I see praise of medieval worldviews I become extremely wary. Ac...
- Tue Apr 10, 2007 9:37 pm
- Forum: Literature and Cinema
- Topic: Book Review: The View from the Center of the Universe
- Replies: 13
- Views: 97236
Book Review: The View from the Center of the Universe
Joel Primack and Nancy Ellen Abrams' book is both a 101 on modern cosmology for the layperson and a proposal on what this means for us in our daily lives. There's a web site to accompany at http://viewfromthecenter.com/ So on to the review... First, I recommend the book highly to anyone who wants a ...
- Tue Apr 10, 2007 9:12 pm
- Forum: Literature and Cinema
- Topic: Fantasy universes and worlds
- Replies: 40
- Views: 267317
Douglas Adams was a much funnier writer, but he never really had a plot... That may have been his point to some degree. I think his most poignant/humorous commentary on plot was the immortal character who, out of boredom, decided to insult every being in the universe in alphabetical order. I have a...
- Mon Apr 09, 2007 5:03 pm
- Forum: The Art of Science, Fantasy and Science Fiction
- Topic: Recent additions to the Gallery
- Replies: 7
- Views: 69113
- Wed Apr 04, 2007 4:53 pm
- Forum: The Poetry and Prose of Science and Science Fiction
- Topic: Creating planetary systems
- Replies: 5
- Views: 56987
- Sun Apr 01, 2007 11:14 pm
- Forum: The Poetry and Prose of Science and Science Fiction
- Topic: Twins and Chimaeras
- Replies: 7
- Views: 66849
- Sun Apr 01, 2007 9:35 pm
- Forum: The Poetry and Prose of Science and Science Fiction
- Topic: Twins and Chimaeras
- Replies: 7
- Views: 66849
The links are for you lucky few with Nature subscriptions... But there have been a number of non-pay stories covering the issue. Interesting stuff for sure. A couple questions from the peanut gallery: 1) This appears to be an extraordinarily rare occurrance based on the press it's getting, etc. Is t...
- Wed Mar 28, 2007 3:34 pm
- Forum: The Poetry and Prose of Science and Science Fiction
- Topic: Artificial Intelligence / Synthetic Consciousness
- Replies: 38
- Views: 262584
Will it lead to a kind of popular pantheism, where people tend to believe that everything is conscious? It may not even be malicious, as SC worries, but it could distort the general view of the universe. I chose the analogy to a statue for a reason - Golden Calves, Numens, etc. are the ancient equi...
- Tue Mar 27, 2007 7:34 pm
- Forum: The Poetry and Prose of Science and Science Fiction
- Topic: Frozen and freezing seas: Mars, Europa, Titan
- Replies: 4
- Views: 51534
- Tue Mar 27, 2007 7:01 pm
- Forum: The Poetry and Prose of Science and Science Fiction
- Topic: Artificial Intelligence / Synthetic Consciousness
- Replies: 38
- Views: 262584
- Tue Mar 27, 2007 5:55 pm
- Forum: The Poetry and Prose of Science and Science Fiction
- Topic: Artificial Intelligence / Synthetic Consciousness
- Replies: 38
- Views: 262584
I don't think they are very convincing at all--such as in your example. Clearly they are tricks, and take advantage of how people respond to social clues. How will we know it is not a trick? That is hard to answer. Agreed. The convincing simulacra I was describing are more in specialized areas. The...
- Tue Mar 27, 2007 4:18 pm
- Forum: The Poetry and Prose of Science and Science Fiction
- Topic: Artificial Intelligence / Synthetic Consciousness
- Replies: 38
- Views: 262584
Sorry if I came across as argumentative. But I say this is a false analogy. The real analogy would be a plastic-and-glass stomach that adds chemicals to process food and make it suitable for uptake. It might use different chemical processes, but in the end a source of energy and building blocks is ...
- Tue Mar 27, 2007 1:33 pm
- Forum: The Poetry and Prose of Science and Science Fiction
- Topic: Artificial Intelligence / Synthetic Consciousness
- Replies: 38
- Views: 262584