We already have abundant material rebutting creationism on scientific grounds, but the Trollingers explicitly refrain from discussing the science. What they do instead is much more interesting. In an extended and detailed analysis, they apply the Museum’s own criteria to the Museum’s own display. It does not fare well. - 3 Quarks Daily
The ultimate goal, in Dr. Ferrucci’s view, is that A.I. becomes a trusted “thought partner,” a skilled collaborator at work and at home, making suggestions and explaining them. - The New York Times
The three-body problem is the best metaphor I’ve found for a social complexity that affects us all today—a problem resulting from the interaction of three major centers of gravity. This dynamic is scrambling our intuitions and making us long for order in what feels like an increasingly chaotic world. - Wired
We see others as crippled by ignorance and cowed by superstition; we don't see the extent to which we are, in our own ways, oppressed by our rationalism and lack of "superstition" (in a spiritual sense). - Salon
Given that the world we live in forces us to deal with pandemics, economic problems, wars and climate change it can seem overwhelming that we are supposed to be happy. It’s unrealistic to think we should always look at the bright side of events. - The Conversation
In theory, counting the population seems so basic, so neutral: a math problem, albeit “a serious slog” of one. But the numerical is political, with representation and resources at stake. - The New York Times
Does its very immensity undermine its utility as a source of information? How often is it burying valuable data under lots of junk? Say you search for some famous or semifamous person. Are you getting an accurate picture of that person’s life or a false, manipulated one? - The New York Times
"Our new century ... is dominated by Silicon Valley’s technological influence. This city has produced world-changing products and services (instantaneous search results, next-day delivery of millions of products, constant connectivity to thousands of 'friends') that create and shape new desires." - Wired
If research is publicly funded, the results need to be available for free as soon as it's published (by 2025), says a new White House rule - and it must be machine-readable, and that must be consistent across all federal agencies. Some academic journals are unhappy. - The Verge
From now on, what we think as a planet is what our children get as a planet. However crucial policy and diplomacy may be, global agency ultimately requires that billions of micro-choices made every day by billions of human beings be (at least slightly) biased in favor of altruistic action. - Nautilus
When we ask what we should do to benefit others, we can’t ignore the disquieting fact that the others who occupy the future may vastly outnumber those who occupy the present, and that their very existence depends on us. From this point of view, it’s an urgent question how what we do today will affect the further future. -...
The idea of surpassing politics with technical-scientific rationality such that the “the government of persons is replaced by the administration of things” is often associated with St. Simon, but the originator of the phrase, in fact, was German philosopher (and frequent coauthor of Karl Marx) Friedrich Engels. - Boston Review
We have become too used to thinking of intelligence as the private skill of individuals, vying against one another in a neoliberal world of relentless competition. What is needed, especially in an age of irredentist warmongering and climate disaster, is a greater emphasis on our ability to reason together, our “collective intelligence”. - The Guardian
The intensity of our collective distraction is historically unprecedented, and for obvious reasons. Most importantly, the power players in our online experience are financially invested, and deeply so, in training users to flit quickly and continuously from one hyperlinked stimulus to another. - Hedgehog Review
About 1,100 Mensans journeyed to the Reno area for this year’s convention. They came because they think they are smart, they care deeply about a certain type of intelligence, and they feel most at home in a crowd of other high-IQ individuals. - New York Magazine
