I’m quite happy with this resolution of the conflict between determinism and free will…
By ‘free will’ do you mean ability to make an utterly random decision? But what is ‘utterly random’? If something’s unpredictable, it’s all but indistinguishable from being random, no?
Here’s another thing I have changed my mind on. Well, sort of. I used to make fun of “vitalism” and trade insults with my favorite archenemy Dale Carrico. Now I must repent or at least add important qualifications.
Vitalism is currently defined by Wikipedia as “the belief that living organisms are fundamentally different from non-living entities because they contain some non-physical element or are governed by different principles than are inanimate things.”
If we eliminate a few words from this definition we are left with a statement that I don’t disagree with:
Philosopher and science fiction writer Olaf Stapledon didn’t see the possibility of technological resurrection. Why? He had the building blocks for a physical theory of resurrection in mind, except one.
Stapledon was a deep, thoughtful and highly imaginative thinker, whose works are a source of endless inspiration for me. I consider “Star Maker” as a masterpiece of cosmic science fiction and theology.
In “Philosophy and Living,” Stapledon gives a cold shower (soberly and elegantly of course) to the idea of afterlife.
The smooth space-time fabric of reality seems to break down at very small scales, and become a fractal with infinite depth. New physics, with intriguing implications for metaphysics and theology, could be hidden in those fractal depths.
Smooth (continuous and differentiable) curves and surfaces become locally flat if you zoom-in deep enough. But fractals are always rough at all scales, and you can zoom-in a fractal forever.
In his seminal book “The Fractal Geometry of Nature,” Benoît Mandelbrot mentioned “a new fractal wrinkle to the presentation of quantum mechanics.”
CRISPR gene editing has made it possible to cure sickle cell disease, which affects millions worldwide, but most people with the condition won’t be able to afford the cost of the treatment.
Analysts at Credit Suisse have a price target of $275 on Nvidia, saying its hardware and software give it an edge over rivals in AI.
U.S. health officials are alerting consumers about two more recalls of eyedrops due to contamination risks that could lead to vision problems and serious injury.
South Korea’s giant leap into space started with a small step on the internet.
With treaties banning certain tech transfers, South Korea’s rocket scientists turned to a search service to find an engine they could mimic as the country embarked on an ambitious plan to build an indigenous space program. The nation launched its first home-grown rocket called Nuri in October 2021.
Computer scientist Amit Sahai, PhD, is asked to explain the concept of zero-knowledge proofs to 5 different people; a child, a teen, a college student, a grad student, and an expert. Using a variety of techniques, Amit breaks down what zero-knowledge proofs are and why it’s so exciting in the world of cryptography.
Amit Sahai, PhD, is a professor of computer science at UCLA Samueli School of Engineering.
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As impersonation scams in the United States rise, Card’s ordeal is indicative of a troubling trend. Technology is making it easier and cheaper for bad actors to mimic voices, convincing people, often the elderly, that their loved ones are in distress. In 2022, impostor scams were the second most popular racket in America, with over 36,000 reports of people being swindled by those pretending to be friends and family, according to data from the Federal Trade Commission. Over 5,100 of those incidents happened over the phone, accounting for over $11 million in losses, FTC officials said.
Advancements in artificial intelligence have added a terrifying new layer, allowing bad actors to replicate a voice with just an audio sample of a few sentences. Powered by AI, a slew of cheap online tools can translate an audio file into a replica of a voice, allowing a swindler to make it “speak” whatever they type.
Experts say federal regulators, law enforcement and the courts are ill-equipped to rein in the burgeoning scam. Most victims have few leads to identify the perpetrator and it’s difficult for the police to trace calls and funds from scammers operating across the world. And there’s little legal precedent for courts to hold the companies that make the tools accountable for their use.
