Finally, my new site featuring my psi-fi books is up. (www.psifibooks.com). That’s one brick in place for my nascent publishing empire. “Psi-fi” is pronounced the same as “sci-fi” but psi-fi focuses on psychological fiction in a technological world. How is human psychology … Continue reading
Questions the Internet Can’t Answer: Binary Code People, especially students, seem to think that any question has an answer on the internet. This is not so. Quite often I’ve had what seems like a simple question that had no suitable … Continue reading
This briefing by Nick Bostrom on the dangers of artificial intelligence takes up a serious and legitimate question: Should we be more cautious as we go about trying to improve artificial intelligence? What if an AI became so smart it decided to take … Continue reading
Revenge of the Robots RUR is a play, first produced in 1922, remembered for introducing the word “robot” into the English lexicon. The story is, lifelike robots are manufactured by the millions to be servants and laborers so humans will … Continue reading
I recently discovered a category of sci-fi called “mundane” sci-fi. (See https://sfgenics.wordpress.com/2013/07/04/geoff-ryman-et-al-the-mundane-manifesto/) Mundane sci-fi eschews aliens, intergalactic travel, and interstellar communication, as these are entirely unrealistic and qualify as fantasy, not sci-fi. Instead, the “mundanes,” … Continue reading
Way Off Base Adams, W. A. (2009, April 22). Mind = Computation. [Review of the book, Computing the Mind: How the Mind Really Works]. PsycCRITIQUES – Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books, 54 (Release 16, Article 4). Retrieved April 22, 2009 from … Continue reading
Mental experience occurs inside the physical body, does it not? You’ve never had an experience that happened on the other side of the room while you were on this side. No. Mental activity is always “in here.” What does that … Continue reading
We think of the mind as a unitary process. Each person has one mind. But what if the mind was not a single mental process but a concert of three concurrent channels of activity? That’s an unusual thought. Yet the … Continue reading
I just read a book review in The Economist of Daniel Dennett’s recent book, “Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking” (http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21579427-tools-pondering-imponderables-pump-primer). I haven’t read the book, but I know Dennett’s philosophy of mind from reading several other of his … Continue reading