Category: ideas

Lawrence M. Krauss: “Astronomers have no problem ridiculing the claims of astrologists, even though a significant fraction of the public believes these claims. Doctors have no problem condemning the actions of anti-vaccine activists who endanger children. And yet, for reasons of decorum, many scientists worry that ridiculing certain religious claims alienates the public from science. When they do so, they are being condescending at best and hypocritical at worst.”

“We shouldn’t automatically dismiss [the Luddite impulse] as one that scapegoats technology for society’s ills or pines for a simpler past free of irritating gadgets. Rather, today’s Luddites are scared that technology will reveal that humans are no different from technology – that it will eliminate what it means to be human. And frankly, I don’t blame them.”

“Historical and literary evidence suggests that, in the past, not only did men cry in public, but no one saw it as feminine or shameful. In fact, male weeping was regarded as normal in almost every part of the world for most of recorded history. … So where did all the male tears go? The truth is, we don’t know for certain. There was no anti-crying movement.”

“These days neural approaches to art — so-called neuroaesthetics — are all the rage. We find it somehow compelling to think that the brain holds the answers to the questions about, well, everything that matters to us, including art. It’s hard not to be impressed by the excitement scientists feel as they try to hunt down aesthetic experience in the brain using the advanced methods and technologies of cognitive science. But art is an elusive quarry, and it leaves its clumsy predator flailing in the dust.”

“Do we end up with this predatory content environment, where people share something, and it becomes prominent, and the rights-holder goes after everyone who shared it? That could devastate the ecosystem: “Meme practice is so important to Internet dialogue, and to how Internet culture functions.”

“The risk workers face today is that we have passed a technological turning point, and as a result, a new kind of creative destruction will unfold. Smart, learning algorithms will power robots, self-service systems, and increasingly capable mobile devices, and this will inevitably drive labor intensive industries like retail, fast food, and hospitality toward employing ever-fewer workers. At the same time the new industries that we hope will create replacement jobs will rely on artificial intelligence and robotics right from their inception.”

“Specifically, most of us are not entirely sure what that term actually … means. Stop for a moment, and think for yourself: How would you define the term?

“This is what happens when hypervigilance and moral panic take precedence over accepted scientific methodologies and hard evidence.” (And no, tis article explains, the Satanic Temple is not, in fact, a cult; It’s not even very Satanic.)

Actually, they come from Haitian vodou – specifically, “the belief that a bokor or witch-doctor can render their victim apparently dead … and then revive them as their personal slaves, since their soul or will has been captured. The zombie, in effect, is the logical outcome of being a slave: without will, without name, and trapped in a living death of unending labour.”

Allison Arieff argues that the development of the so-called “Internet of Things (“you know, that thing where a bunch of other things will be connected to the Internet”) is now plagued by “the tendency … to throw excess technological capability at every possible gadget without giving any thought to whether it’s really necessary.”