Philosophy & Ethics
Has anyone ever wondered what embodies our self’s essence? May be a needle in a haystack number of people think of such wonderments. However, the question is, are such thoughts just a waste of time or it has indeed some utility for human existence?
Indeed it is, as this query makes us ponder our very presence as a living being. So is there a single component, which represents our self or more than one? Currently scientists are unaware of this, however, based on metaphysics and cultural beliefs our self has quite a few parts whose function and very existence is a question mark.
According to…
Rene Descartes, father of modern philosophy and analytical geometry, is perhaps best known for his simple statement: Cogito, ergo sum. I think, therefore I am (or I am thinking, therefore I exist).
In Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes works to rationally deduce a set of absolutely true principles (much like his famous Discourse on Method), including the existence of matter outside of the mind. Descartes says that his senses pick up involuntary stimuli from matter, and God must have created the ability to detect those stimuli. If these external objects sending out…
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According to Einsteins Theory of Relativity, the maximum speed in the universe is light velocity. But let's imagine a space ship - if it was possible - running at this limit speed in one direction in deep space, and other, at the same speed and time, running to the right opposite side. Aren't they going over that speed limit, in relative velocity to each other?
Now you can also imagine a very very far way galaxy, that is moving in deep space and withdrawing very fast from our Milk Way Galaxy. If the relative velocity of each other are over the light speed we will never be able to find and…
John Tierney asks, why not bring a neanderthal to life?". With today's technology, we could probably completely reconstruct a physical neanderthal genome. Tierney sees no reason not to do it.
Commenters over at Tierney's column point out that it might be just a tad unethical to raise a cloned neanderthal as a science experiment. This clone would of course start out as a child, extremely similar to children of our own species, complete with all of the emotional complexity that comes with being human.
The other ethical problem is that you don't just grow a neanderthal clone in a giant bubbling…
--- ---WARNING--- --- THIS IS RAW UNEDITED CONTENT --- it essentially amounts to stream of conscious and I have not gone back over it since I wrote it. I have included it because it contains some elements that I want to convey that links with ideas from previous exerpts. Also It is helpful for me to see peoples comments on what I have so far. I do plan on breaking this down and starting from scratch. I hope to publish the final product. --- --- And now... Explanation Part Two...Religion was useful at a time when humanity had no knowledge of physical properties and thought that the wheel was a…
A problem arises with abstract representational thought where we imbue more significance to the symbol… the word… than to what that word is a symbol of. This is the major failing of most established memes throughout recorded history. This principle can be traced historically to Plato who has infected all thinking since. Christianity picked it up when St Augustine merged Christianity and Platonism. Plato sub-consciously ascribed more significance in the subjective than the objective when he asked “what is chair”.
He answered the question by looking for the ideal chair, not in the physical…
We are alone. Life as we know it will end. There is no god. There is certainly no pre-established meaning of life. Then again the previous statements could be wrong.
So what do we have left? Ourselves. Our “meaning of life” is created by our existence. We create meaning by existing. This is innate in the fact that our minds subjective reality is our reality as in our beliefs about reality directly affect how we live. We alone have the power to manipulate the universe with intent. Life as we KNOW it is guaranteed to end. This does not mean life has to end completely. We will evolve past…
Reality is deceptive. Life is all lies. We all live in subjective states of existence. One man’s truth is another man’s oppression. There is only one thing that is truly universal in life and that is the human need of empowerment.
The qualifiers of this universal principal are the different levels of empowerment. This is the secondary universality and it is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. From there universality breaks down and qualifiers spread to each individual and beyond.
This method focuses on studying ideas. Ideas are the bonding mechanism of society. They are the bond between…
Throughout history, scientists, philosophers, mathematicians and PhD students lacking funding for actual research have turned to the thought experiment in hopes of discovering something publishable, thereby retaining tenure and/or attracting the admiration of comely undergraduates.
The best thought experiments throw light into dark corners of the universe and also provide other scientists, philosophers, mathematicians and destitute PhD students a way to kill time while waiting for the bus.
Below is a classic thought experiment, pillaged from my book The Geeks' Guide to World Domination (Be…
We may be a long way off from using genetics to reliably gauge our risks for specific diseases, say researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. Yet, many companies currently offer personalized genetic testing for diseases like cancer, heart disease and diabetes, and tout the ability of DNA testing to predict future health risks.
"The rapid discovery of new genetic risk factors is giving us vitally important insights into human health, but a strong association between these factors and disease risk may not reliably predict which health issues a specific…