Confessions of a Conservative Atheist
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If only we could sleep as easily as we can die. I could end my life in an instant, but for reasons that defy explanation, simply putting the mind to rest for a few hours can prove impossible. If only we could sleep as easily as we can die. I could, if I chose, end… Continue reading Sleep, death, and the limits of Mark Twain and William Shakespeare
In a world where computers are creating content, from text to images, video, even writing songs, can they rightly be considered artists, or is there still something that makes humans unique? Today’s Artificial Intelligence software can create new things, generating content that has never been produced before, from the written word to pictures, videos, even… Continue reading Artificial Intelligence, the nature of creativity, and the difference between humans and machines
As a child, did you ever think to yourself that you’ll never stop playing with toys or you’ll never like a member of the opposite sex whatever the adults say? If so, do you remember when and why you changed your mind? The question is oddly impossible to answer. Childhood is a wonderfully weird thing,… Continue reading Why do humans have to grow up rather than emerge from a cocoon like butterflies?
Whether you have heard of Caenorhabditis elegans, your own body and mind work much the same way. Essentially, your brain is C elegans’ times 331,125,828 or so, having neurons that look both inward and outward, reflecting even upon themselves over and over and over again. I am one of those neurons. I am a neuron… Continue reading I am a neuron in the human brain, almost the same as that found in a lowly roundworm
It’s human nature, but if you value what you have now, what you’ve seen, done, and hopefully learned, why would you want to go back to a point where you had none of it or at least less of it? Aging is a funny thing to say the least. I suspect almost all of us… Continue reading New Year’s, the mysteries of aging, and whether we’d really want to go back in time to be our younger selves
For billions of Christians around the world, Christmas honors the birth of their savior, Jesus Christ, who lived to die to purge humanity of original sin in the ultimate sacrifice, but what if you believe in none of that? Why is a holiday to honor what you don’t accept still so important? For billions of… Continue reading An atheist on the spirit of Christmas
Based on the latest research, we can continue to maintain that sentience, and the higher order consciousness that springs from it in humans, is the most widespread accident in the history of life, completely unnecessary, but somehow omnipresent, or we can reject that view and assume it serves a deep evolutionary purpose. Thought experiments can… Continue reading The evolution of consciousness and the omnipresence of sentience
Can octopuses feel pain and pleasure? What about crabs, shrimp, insects, and spiders? The phrase “thought provoking” is frequently overused, but Professor Jonathan Birch’s new book on animal sentience and what we can do about it deserves the accolade and then some. When I was asked to review an advance copy of Professor Jonathan… Continue reading The Edge of Sentience and the beauty of being wrong
Is your beloved dog really excited about a treat or is looking excited simply an evolutionary strategy to get more treats? How about our own emotions, can they be as selfish or even more so? Our greyhound, Rosie, is by all outward appearances a very happy dog most of the time, literally hopping with excitement… Continue reading The dogs we love, the emotions they might or might not experience, and what it means for ourselves
There is, apparently, a “robust scientific literature [that] leaves no doubt about the anguish pets experience.” This anguish includes “physical confinement, social isolation, and chronic exposure to stress.” In other words, we are torturing our pets and should let them run free... Last week, people were a threat to the planet itself. This week, people… Continue reading Progressives are coming for your pets
Confessions of a Conservative Atheist 