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Articles by Paul Thagard
The Brain and the Meaning of Life
Why don't you kill yourself? Albert Camus began his book The Myth of Sisyphus with the startling assertion: "There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide." A French novelist and philosopher who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1957, Camus said that judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy.
Recommended reads
From the staff of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County “Cuddly Crochet Plushies” by Glory Shofowora Want to expand your crochet skills? Look no further! This nonfiction how-to guide is a must-read. The animals featured are incredibly cute. The step-by-step instructions for creating these fun animals are easy to follow. You’ll find animals from woodland creatures to mythical beings. There’s an animal here that you’d love to create for that special someone.
Energy Requirements Undermine Substrate Independence and Mind-Body Functionalism
1. Introduction In the Matrix movies, people are kept in a computer-generated dream world because intelligent machines are using human bodies as a power source. This story is ridiculous because bodies are inefficient batteries, but it does suggest the importance of energy to minds and computers. Without energy, there is no thinking and no computation. Nevertheless, most reflections on mind and computation ignore the impact of energy on processing information that supports intelligence.
Bots and Beasts
Description Praise An expert on the mind considers how animals and smart machines measure up to human intelligence. Octopuses can open jars to get food, and chimpanzees can plan for the future. An IBM computer named Watson won on Jeopardy! and Alexa knows our favorite songs. But do animals and smart machines really have intelligence comparable to that of humans?
Cura morale | Per regolare l’Intelligenza artificiale dobbiamo usare l’etica della medicina - Linkiesta.it
Gli enormi progressi teorici e pratici dell’intelligenza artificiale nell’ultimo decennio hanno sollevato serie preoccupazioni sulle sue conseguenze etiche. Come risposta, più di 80 organizzazioni hanno proposto codici di principi per un’intelligenza artificiale eticamente accettabile. I principi proposti sono sovrapponibili nella comune attenzione a valori come la trasparenza, la giustizia, la correttezza, i benefici umani, l’evitare i rischi, la responsabilità e la privacy.
Why Your Zodiac Sign Is Probably Wrong
I was born a Capricorn (please don’t judge me), but the Sun was in the middle of Sagittarius when I was born. As a professor emeritus of astronomy, I am often asked about the difference between astrology and astronomy. The practice of astrology, which predicts one’s fate and fortune based on the positions of the Sun, Moon, stars and planets, dates back to ancient times.
Do dogs and cats actually get jealous, or are we just projecting? – Paul Thagard | Aeon Essays
My friend Laurette has two cats, Zhanna and Pixie. When Laurette pets Zhanna, Pixie interferes by attacking Zhanna. By analogy to humans, it is natural to interpret Pixie’s behaviour as jealousy, but perhaps Pixie is just attempting to assert dominance or establish territoriality. There have been no experimental studies of cats to discriminate between jealousy and alternative hypotheses, but studies of dogs support the claim that they actually do get jealous.
When Did Consciousness Begin?
When Did Consciousness Begin? A provocative new book by Arthur Reber argues that bacteria are conscious and that the origins of mind are found in the simplest, single-celled organisms that arose billions of years ago. Here are some alternative answers to the question of when consciousness began. Read Full Article »
Mental health assessment: Inference, explanation, and coherence
Mental health professionals such as psychiatrists and psychotherapists assess their patients by identifying disorders that explain their symptoms. This assessment requires an inference to the best explanation that compares different disorders with respect to how well they explain the available evidence. Such comparisons are captured by the theory of explanatory coherence that states 7 principles for evaluating competing hypotheses in the light of evidence.
Philosophy of Science
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Scientific Discovery and Technological Innovation: Ulcers, Dinosaur Extinction, and the Programming Language Java
Abstract Whereas scientists formulate laws and theories to account for observations, inventors create new technology to accomplish practical goals. Scientific discovery and technological innovation are among the most important accomplishments of the creative human mind. The aim of this paper is to compare how scientists produce discoveries with how inventors produce new technology.
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