From time to time I’m asked to recommend a novel that has consciousness as its central concern. Two that I’ve read are David Lodge’s Thinks . . . and Dan Lloyd’s Radiant Cool. The former is light entertaining fluff (the “new” university setting will be especially resonant for British readers; most readers will recognise the…
Here’s a freely available download of an article entitled “Embodied economics: how bodily information shapes the social coordination dynamics of decision-making” from the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. The article references many of the major embodiment theorists and refreshingly there is much on Hayek and of course The Sensory Order.
I want to bring your attention to The Phenomenal Qualities Project. With a Whose Who of theorists involved, it promises to offer a wonderful forum for ecumenical discussion: Objectives: There are four main objectives. To investigate a set of fundamental questions concerning phenomenal qualities – such as the colours, sounds and so on, of which we…
As is usual for the National Geographic, here is a super article beautifully illustrated on the latest developments in bionics. Check out the hard copy for more detailed case studies and real world applications.
Here is the uncorrected proof of my essay – do not cite.
I’m pleased to have discovered a superb website that accompanies the PBS series Closer to Truth. The definitive series on the latest advances in brain, mind, free will, personal identity, alien intelligence, parapsychology, afterlife, and brain-mind critical thinking. Interviewer Robert Lawrence Kuhn does a super job of guiding the discussion for a lay audience and pretty…
Press release from MIT. Essentially, we want to rewind to 30 years ago and revisit some ideas that had gotten frozen,” he says, adding that the new group hopes to correct “fundamental mistakes” made in AI research over the years.
Swarm grandee Guy Theraulaz presents a lecture on Biological Principles of Swarm Intelligence. Other salient talks available on this site include: Evolutionary Algorithms by Adam Prügel-Bennett Dance evolution by Jeff Balogh, Gregg Dubbin, Michael Do Science, Technology, and Applications of Swarm Robotics by Dario Floreano The Mathematics of Emergence and Flocking by Stephen Smale Fuzzy Logic by Michael Berthold Differential Evolution and…
Over at Vitorino Ramos’ ever thoughtful blog is a post extolling the virtues of the “small”. The point is twofold: First, the superb detail afforded by the photographs that Vitorino has assembled shows a rather complexly “designed” creature – a design that belies the supposedly simple life-form that ants are typically taken to be. The…
V.S. is always good value for money – his enthusiasm is palpable. Click photo to view video.
manwithoutqualities 