Since the nineteen-sixties, much of American public life has become automated, driven by computers and predictive algorithms that can do the political work of rallying support, running campaigns, communicating with constituents, and even crafting policy. - The New Yorker
Figuring out how to relate to minds of unconventional origin — not just AI and robotics but also cells, organs, hybrots, cyborgs and many others — is an existential-level task for humanity as it matures. - Noema
Continually choosing the convenient path lessens your ability to deal with unavoidable difficulties. And, from an evolutionary perspective, some measure of discomfort is just as crucial to our survival as rest and relaxation. - The Guardian
If you speak more than one language, ask yourself: in which language do you find it easier to say ‘I love you’? And in which one do you swear more liberally? For me, cursing in a foreign language feels strangely playful, as if it gives me permission to access a different version of myself. - Psyche
“It is surprising that few scholars have stopped to wonder whether Rousseau’s fledging as a philosophe ... had anything to do with the six years he marinated in Madame Dupin’s project, quill to linen, taking dictation, making clean drafts, and trawling through stacks upon stacks of books.” - Aeon
“I just started poking around on the internet and eventually got the right combination of search terms and number of Google pages results in and found this data set. As soon as I opened it up I was delighted, surprised, and amazed.” - Wired
Considering the way that many recent novels reference recent, niche cultural fragments most relevant to an incestuous class of urban media professionals, future generations would need a comically thick companion book. - The Walrus
Eventually, I would learn that stories are not just a way of communicating science; they are intrinsic to science, actually part of doing science. - Aeon
A philosophical theory can either go against common sense or it can support or justify common sense. Supporting common sense seems pointless. After all, what you are trying to prove is, by definition, already commonly recognized as the sensible view. - 3 Quarks Daily
Medium CEO Tony Stubblebine and other executives at the company have described the platform as “a home for human writing.” But there is evidence that robot bloggers are increasingly flocking to the platform, too. - Wired
The distance between a mechanical watch and a modern smartphone seems to embody the divide between the pre-digital and digital worlds. We imagine that people used to live among eccentric, fiddly, physical gizmos, whereas now we navigate a network of infallible devices animated by code. But the digital age is often more fiddly. - The New Yorker
In civic life, decisions are increasingly driven by data, by algorithms, by statistics. Without the ability to understand or even grapple with the numbers and their implications, people are easily disenfranchised and manipulated. - The New York Times
Thinking through—rather than just thinking—is important. A thought or an idea is never that precious. People have thoughts and ideas all the time, many of them preliminary. Sometimes people mistake their feelings for thoughts and ideas, which are in turn mistaken for absolute truths. - Harper's
Just as Copernicus reimagined the architecture of our solar system five centuries ago, we are once again in a revolution that pivots on planets. A new science called astrobiology has changed the night sky. - Noema
And possibly even creepier, on a privacy scale, than FB: “It is jarring when you just had a loved one pass away and you go and you find out that their information, and not just their information, but also their photos, are available online.” - Slate
