Monthly Archives: January 2019

Quora – AI good or bad

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Ted Howard NZ

Is artificial intelligence good or bad? As many others have noted, in and of itself, AI is neutral, for as Shakespeare wrote, there is nothing either good nor bad but thinking makes it so. It all depends what our individual … Continue reading →

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Walk on the wild side

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Ted Howard NZ

Walk on the Wild Side Well done Laurie, As you know – I write a bit. I have started draft 6. Finding both the right level of detail, and getting the timing somewhere near optimal, are not easy. Hardest is … Continue reading →

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Quora – realist

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Ted Howard NZ

Are you an ontological realist, and do you believe in the real existence of universals? I am realist enough to accept the overwhelming evidence that whatever reality is, it seems to be very much more complex than any human mind … Continue reading →

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London Futurists – politics for enhanced human wellbeing

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Ted Howard NZ

Politics for profoundly enhanced human wellbeing Very interesting thread of discussions. Understand the need for your action David, and I agree – some interesting ideas in too much anger. And for me, the 20ft caterpillar on the coffee table is … Continue reading →

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Quora – Beauty

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Ted Howard NZ

Is our concept of beauty learned or derived from survival and biological advantages? Why phrase this as an either or question? Most of what we are seems to be a combination of genetic and mimetic components (DNA and culture – … Continue reading →

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Lose all posessions to save a life

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Ted Howard NZ

Would you sacrifice all of your earthly possessions to save the life of one person? Depends who the person is, and what the probabilities involved are. I actually received a “terminal cancer” diagnosis 8 years ago, and took steps to … Continue reading →

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Quora – what hinders progress

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Ted Howard NZ

What hinders AI conquering academic research given the incredible progress as demonstrated? What makes you think it has been hindered (as distinct from the economic and social pressures against reporting such progress)? And it is a very highly dimensional “game … Continue reading →

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Foundations of Logic – faith, belief and skepticism

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Ted Howard NZ

Foundations of logic – Scott Brizel’s very good distinction between faith and belief, and skepticism That captures a lot Scott, but misses some stuff also. It seems that there is an infinite set of possible logics, from the binary to … Continue reading →

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Quora – arguments not evidence

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Ted Howard NZ

Is “arguments are not evidence” actually a thing in science? Hardy Jonck gives a good answer, and like most things, the answer to this question is highly context sensitive. Everyone has to start out with simple understandings. Everyone has to … Continue reading →

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Quora – Ethics and technological advancement

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Ted Howard NZ

If ethics were forgotten, what scientific advances could we see within the next 10 years? Depends what you mean by “if ethics were forgotten”! If ethics are completely forgotten, then we will most likely destroy ourselves. Contrarily – if various … Continue reading →

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