manwithoutqualities

Collective Knowledge and Science

October 28, 2010Alban Bouvier, collaboration, collective intentionality, episteme, epistemic systems, epistemology, group justification, Hanne Andersen, John Beatty, joint acceptance, Kent W. Staley, Kristina Rolin, Paul Thagard, science, social epistemology

Here is the latest issue of EPISTEME guest edited by K. Brad Wray.

Swarm Intelligence – free downloads

October 20, 2010active externalism, aggregation, ants, artificial intelligence, cognition, cognitive modeling, cognitive science, cognitive systems, collaboration, collaborative filtering, collective intentionality, complexity, computational intelligence, computational psychology, computer simulations, emergence, extended cognitive systems, extended mind, externalism, spontaneous orders, stigmergic, stigmergic cognition, stigmergy, swarm, swarm behavior, swarm intelligence

The publisher of the relatively new journal Swarm Intelligence has made all content freely accessible. I’m not sure how long this offer is good for but it’s an opportunity to sample some of the best work being done in this field. Of course, the editorial board is a “Whose Who” of swarm theorists.

Knowledge Wants to be Free: From Hayek to the Hacker

October 16, 2010active externalism, adam smith, Adams & Aizawa, advances in austrian econmics, Andy Clark, artificial intelligence, austrian economics, collective intentionality, complexity, connectionism, consciousness, david chalmers, distributed cognition, distributed knowledge, Embedded, embodied cognition, enactivism, epistemic systems, epistemology, extended cognitive systems, extended mind, externalism, free-flow of knowledge, hayek, iterative knowledge, open access, philosophy of mind, philosophy of psychology, philosophy of social science, richard stallman, science, scientific publishing, social constructivism, social epistemology, spontaneous orders, stigmergic, stigmergic cognition, stigmergy, systemsoriented social epistemology, The Knowledge Hub for Pathology

My talk “Knowledge Wants to be Free: From Hayek to the Hacker” for the 2010 Wirth Conference at Simon Fraser University October 15 & 16, 2010 on “Austrian Views on Experts & Epistemic Monopolies.” I think the talk went down OK. Good to see some old friends and make new friends. Thanks to Wirth for sponsoring the event, to our local SFU host Laurent Dobuzinskis and to Roger Koppl and Steve Horwitz for organizing it.

All the participants

A conference room with a view. Delightfully unusual weather through.

Rob Wilson – Mind Spread

October 13, 2010Boundaries of the Mind, Bounds of Cognition, cognition, cognitive science, cognitive systems, consciousness, Embedded, embodied cognition, embodiment, enactivism, extended cognitive systems, extended mind, externalism, individual, mind spread, philosophy of biology, philosophy of mind, philosophy of psychology, philosophy of science, philosophy of social science, robert wilson, social psychology, sociobiology, sociology

Tune into the live stream of Rob Wilson’s keynote talk at the ARPA. Rob is of course the author of the excellent Boundaries of the Mind.

The Mysteries of the Brain

October 4, 2010barry smith, brain, brain science, cognition, cognitive science, consciousness, neurobiology, neuron, neuroscience, philosophy of mind, psychology, qualia

Here is Barry Smith talking on the BBC World Service on The Mysteries of the Brain.

Consciousness and higher-order representation

October 4, 2010cognitive science, consciousness, higher-order representation, pete mandik, philosophy of mind, philosophy tv, richard brown

Pete Mandik and Richard Brown, two of the most active, enthusiastic and competent “consciousness studies” bloggers (and who still find time to teach, write good articles, dictionary entries and books) discuss consciousness and higher-order representation on Philosophy TV.

Extended Mind Down Under

October 2, 2010active externalism, active perception, Andy Clark, cognitive science, cognitive systems, david chalmers, distributed cognition, distributed knowledge, enactivism, extended mind, externalism, john sutton, philosophy of mind, richard menary

Here is a discussion between two of the major players in the extended mind literature – John Sutton and Richard Menary.

“Some philosophers are now arguing that thoughts are not all in the head” – it’s been at least 12 years! But the idea is now spreading like wildfire.

All about me: Disclosure in online social networking profiles: The case of FACEBOOK

October 1, 2010Amanda Nosko, constructivism, disclosure, Eileen Wooda, facebook, philosophy of social science, privacy, psychology, recommendation algorithm, Seija Molema, social cognition, social connectionism, social constructivism, social epistemology, social facts, social identity, social networking, social ontology, social psychology, spontaneous order, stigmergic, stigmergic cognition, stigmergy, swarm, swarm behavior, swarm intelligence, trust, truth

With today’s release of the film The Social Network some might be interested in a recent academic study published in Computers in Human Behavior.

The Metaphysics of Skydiving

October 1, 2010Leon Malinofsky, metaphysics, philosophy, poetry

Some lovely reflections from Leon Malinofsky:

Skydiving is three things: It is a submission after years of willfulness; it is wholly absorbing, and therefore distracting from our cares; and it is the rational, peaceful contemplation of death, and eternity made less fearsome.

Excerpt from Why Skydive?

See also Imagine, Freefall, and my favourite Home.

(This is not Leon)

Big Thinkers: Dennett

September 30, 2010breaking the spell, Christopher Hitchens, cognitive science, consciousness, consciousness explained, Dennett, evolution, evolutionary biology, evolutionary psychology, freedom evolves, philosophy of mind, philosophy of religion, religion, sweet dreams

Here is a programme featuring Dennett that I hadn’t heretofore come across. Glad to see Dennett as busy and pugnacious as ever after his health scare a while back which he amusingly talks about here. Speaking of health, here is Dennett on Christopher Hitchens.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3