Links for August 22nd 2010
[Art Monasticism, Elements of monasticism » Study] via the Institute for Ethics & Emerging Technologies (IEET) » In this animation from the Royal Society of Arts, Matthew Taylor explores the idea of a 21st Century Enlightenment that would “champion a more self-aware, socially embedded model of autonomy that recognizes our frailties and limitations,” and “expand […]
Sentient Developments: David Chalmers » Consciousness is not substrate dependent
As I noted in another post, I have a hunch that monastic tools (specifically the intensive meditation and other mental training that monasteries afford) will play a vital role in steering the course of technology in decades to come. For example, in fields of genetics and cognitive, neuro-, computer, and information science—folks who are working […]
Father Bede Griffiths » “They think only monks and nuns have it”
I might have said “meditation is a way to use your senses to develop awareness, and eventually see your sensations as empty,” rather than “meditation is the way in which you get beyond your senses.” But good stuff, all in all: I start from meditation. To me meditation is the way in which you get beyond […]
What wisdom does transhuman power demand?
What wisdom does transhuman power demand? —Joel Garreau, How would the world’s wisdom traditions respond to the three scenarios of our technological future (“Heaven,” “Hell,” and “Prevail”) presented in Garreau’s new book, Radical Evolution? Read chapters 1, 2 and 6 free on Garreau’s site.
The rise of technology
In researching mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead’s views on monasticism for an upcoming post on the topic, I came across a review in the Global Spiral of David F. Noble’s The Religion of Technology. Noble claims he has found, in the words of reviewer John Haught, “the ultimate foundations of the modern ‘religion of […]
Sentient Developments: Daniel Dennett on domesticating the wild memes of religion
Can’t wait to watch this. I haven’t read Dennett’s book, Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon, but it’s high on the list. Sentient Developments: Daniel Dennett on domesticating the wild memes of religion.
Albert Einstein: Religion and Science
But there is a third stage of religious experience which belongs to all of them, even though it is rarely found in a pure form: I shall call it cosmic religious feeling. It is very difficult to elucidate this feeling to anyone who is entirely without it, especially as there is no anthropomorphic conception of […]
Chesterton’s St. Francis of Assisi
“What St. Benedict had stored St. Francis scattered.” from English writer G K Chesterton’s “Saint Francis of Assisi” via Grateful to the Dead
Accelerating Future » Al Fin: Neither Ray Kurzweil nor PZ Myers Understand the Brain
I suspect (and pray?) that the people that will have an edge designing artificial consciousness are the ones that have deeply explored their own. Accelerating Future » Al Fin: Neither Ray Kurzweil nor PZ Myers Understand the Brain. In other words, Ray Kurzweil expects humans to build a brain-functional machine in the next 2 decades […]
