Nature envelops one on a rainy day in spring more than on a sunny one. Even in a narrow strip of municipal parkland, the earth returns and belongs to its…
Tag:
thoughts on life
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We are being told by futurist Ray Kurzweil and his ilk that “merging with future superintelligent A.I.s is our best strategy for ensuring a beneficial outcome” for humanity. That’s not…
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Random processes notwithstanding, evolution has a lot invested in the human brain. But nature knows how and when to cut her losses, and we’re pushing our limits as a sentient,…
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Woodland hawks screech from all directions in the parkland, and birds sing raucously. Friendliness and joy are reflected on the faces of the many people using the park for every…
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“Ignorance is our natural state; it is a product of the way the mind works.” Statements like that, proffered by cognitive scientists Philip Fernbach and Steven Sloman in the New…
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A reader in the Middle East wrote giving voice to a central concern of this column. “There is indeed an evolutionary process taking place with consciousness, but that process takes…
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Though I’m not a Buddhist, Buddhist philosophy and poetry (as opposed to the arcane intricacies of various Buddhist traditions) speak to me. The quieting and emptying of the mind and…
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An academic philosopher raises an academic question: “How is it possible to regain one’s footing once the sources of rational belief have been radically called into question?” Clearly, not by…