Mark R. Kelly
» Founder in 1997 and site-runner for 20 years of Locus Online (Hugo Award winner in 2002). Founder in 2012 and still site-runner of sfadb.com (Science Fiction Awards Database). Retired in 2012 after 30 years as a software engineer for a certain rocket engine factory.
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Meta
Category Archives: Philosophy
Ted Chiang, Carl Sagan, Peter Singer
Ten Chiang characterizes the current examples of “artificial intelligence” as “applied statistics”; How Carl Sagan was wrong about the “reptilian brain”, in The Dragons of Eden; And an interview with Peter Singer, the controversial philosopher, author of The Expanding Circle … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Philosophy, Science
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Last Questions and Possible Answers, 2
This is a sequel to a post I did back in March, Last Questions and Possible Answers, 1, in which I considered the John Brockman book The Last Unknowns, in which he gathers deep unanswered questions about “the universe, the … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Philosophy, Science
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Progressions
Topics in this post: The success of wokeness. How the least religious nations are among the healthiest along many measures. Partha Dasgupta on how the GDP should account for the cost of what we use. Julian Baggini on philosophy and … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Reviews, Science, Social Progress
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Last Questions and Possible Answers, 1
When I was browsing through several John Brockman books a few weeks ago, I decided to buy the last one he published in that series, from 2019. It’s called The Last Unknowns, and instead of gathering answers from many contributors … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Philosophy, Science
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Items from Big Think about Science and Philosophy
How fast is the Earth moving, and in what direction? How the ancient Greek philosophers were mostly wrong but blazed conceptual trails. And thought experiments that challenge conventional thinking.
Posted in Philosophy, Science
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Two Philosophical Bits
Are you the same person you were last week? How long should you shop?
Posted in Philosophy, science fiction
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The Gaps Between Beliefs and Reality
Items today about how Americans treat Presidents’ Day and other holidays; about more Republicans lying on their resumes; why Fox News viewers don’t care the network is lying to them; and why Putin’s fabulations about his war in Ukraine appeal … Continue reading
Posted in Lunacy, Narrative, Philosophy, Politics
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The Myth of the Perfect Past
When life was simple and everything you were supposed to know was contained in a single book. Also: why The Lord of the Rings is so appealing to the right; media libel laws; policing; and a lagniappe about a real … Continue reading
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Philosophy, Politics
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Longtermism (and its implications), part 3
Here’s one more leftover saved link to an article about Sam Bankman-Fried and longtermism. It’s from a Salon writer who did two previously pieces about it/them (which I discussed on 14 Sep and on on 22 Aug), giving me the … Continue reading
Posted in longtermism, Philosophy
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Longtermism (and Science Fiction), part 2
More about “longermism,” Effective Altruism, how they relate to science fiction, and whether or not books can be reduced to six-paragraph summaries.
Posted in longtermism, Philosophy, science fiction
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