Category: ideas

“In recent years, the age-old discussion about whether technology diminishes our humanity has grown increasingly shrill. Yet Patrick Tresset demonstrates how, when built and implemented thoughtfully, technology can instead enhance humanity.”

Put together all the transistors in all the computers in the world and you have roughly 1,000 times as many connections as the human brain has synapses. Could they achieve something like the consciousness that the human brain has? A number of observers, including neuroscientist Christof Koch, argue that there’s no reason why not, “in principle.” Philosopher Massimo Pigliucci points out a great big flaw in that argument..

“That’s because, as new research demonstrates, seeing these images every time a person reaches for a pack is a more effective deterrent than a text-only warning. The research also indicates that the graphic warnings are especially powerful in discouraging low-health literacy populations from smoking- the one group in which smoking rates have remained stubbornly high over the past few decades.”

“I’m more bothered about the fact that if you look at Disney’s pattern of acquisitions, they’re acting like Procter & Gamble, they’re acting like a packaged goods company. In fact, less innovative than a packaged goods company.”

“A hunter-gatherer who did not correctly conceive a solution to providing food or shelter probably died, along with his/her progeny, whereas a modern Wall Street executive that made a similar conceptual mistake would receive a substantial bonus and be a more attractive mate. Clearly, extreme [natural] selection is a thing of the past.”

“It may lie in the very structure of the ear and brain, which are designed to respond to the elegantly spaced structure of a harmonious sound.”

“The past three decades of wanton patent-granting have created a disastrous environment for innovation. Today it’s practically impossible to build anything without violating a patent of some kind–and risking a multimillion-dollar lawsuit for your troubles.”

“New discoveries in the young field of acoustic archaeology hint that just as we create elaborate sonic environments with our electronics, the ancients may have sculpted their soundscapes as well. Like many artistic endeavors, their efforts may have been rooted in an attempt to reach the divine.”

“To sweeten the breath, medieval Europeans could crush herbs into their tooth scrub or vinegar mouthwash; mint was sometimes used for this purpose, but so were rosemary, parsley, and sage. Other cultures chewed aromatic seeds – fennel seeds, cardamom, star anise – to abrade and sweeten the mouth.” How did mint gain primacy? A confluence of mass production, the US climate, and a biochemical trick.

Neuroscientists, of course.