Tag Archives: evolution
An Existential Disconnect
In Franz Kafka’s (very) short 1908 story “The Passenger” he writes: I am standing on the platform of the tram and I am entirely uncertain as to my place in this world, in this town, in my family. Not even … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Science & Religion
Tagged evolution, Existential disconnect, Franz Kafka, human history, justification, The Passenger
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Is There a Point to the Universe?
“The more the universe seems comprehensible, the more it also seems pointless. … “So says renowned physicist and Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg in his 1977 book “The First Three Minutes: A Modern View of the Origin of the Universe)” In … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Science & Religion
Tagged Albert Camus, cosmology, creation, evolution, homo sapiens, human race, Jean-Paul Sartre, Karl Popper, meaning of life
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An Uncertain Future
Given what we think we know about the age of the universe, planet earth and the myriad of creatures that have and are continuing to inhabit it since life first appeared, we have arrived only recently as a species uniquely … Continue reading
Posted in People, Politics & Culture, Philosophy, Science & Religion
Tagged cosmos, evolution, future
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On The Nature of Consciousness
Somehow, our consciousness is the reason the universe is here. (Sir Roger Penrose) So, what is consciousness? Consciousness is a way of being in the world that appears to go beyond any known physical properties in the material universe, … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Science & Religion
Tagged consciousness, cosmos, evolution, Existence, laws of physics, life-forms, organism, reality, self-preservation
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Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence has been in the news a lot lately, mainly because more and more people at all levels of society are starting to recognize its potential, in whatever area of human activity. From a briefing paper published by the … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Science & Religion
Tagged Artificial Intelligence, evolution, homo sapiens, what it means to be human
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A Tale of Two Selves
Why is the human race, with its superior intellectual capacity when compared to its most recent primate ancestry on the phylogenetic tree, at the same time so unstable, so unpredictable, and so neurotic, and so often acting against its own … Continue reading
Posted in People, Politics & Culture
Tagged abstraction and conceptualization, AI, Artificial Intelligence, cortex, evolution, human cortex, human endeavour, instinctive self, Knowledge Doubling Curve, neocortex, neuroanatomy, phylogenetic tree, rational self, self-destructive behaviour
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Evolution in Transition
Neuroscientists have described the human brain as the most complex biological structure in the known universe, containing hundreds of billions of cells, and trillions of connections controlling every thought, feeling, movement and function of our bodies. If this proves anything, … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Science & Religion, Uncategorized
Tagged evolution, evolutionary objectives, organizational complexity, teleological process, the human brain
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The World is Larger than the Sum of its Parts
As I stated up front – in so many words – I’m writing this primarily for myself in the attempt to figure out what the world is all about beyond the twists and turns that life can throw our way, … Continue reading
Posted in People, Politics & Culture, Philosophy, Science & Religion
Tagged evolution, religion, the future, the larger context, the meaning of life, the state of the world
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The World as Form and Function
Reality is created by observers in the universe – John Archibald Wheeler, Theoretical Physicist (1911-2008) Today I am revisiting the views held by Schopenhauer in The World as Will and Idea (1818), and his rejection of naïve realism, or what has been … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Science & Religion
Tagged cosmos, evolution, form, function, Kant, life, matter, Schopenhauer, thing-in-itself, universe, world
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The Larger Context
Life’s larger context is defined, in the first place, by our ideas about our place in the world provided we see it in in terms of being intrinsically linked to everything else that is going on in it. Consequently, our … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Science & Religion, Uncategorized
Tagged creativity, evolution, technology, the larger context
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