Recently in Philosophy Category
September 11, 2002
The world is a complicated place. It was a complicated place on 9/10/2001, and it's an equally complicated place today. I have no doubt that it will still be a complicated place on 9/11/2003 as well. 9/11 didn't simplify things, nor complicate them; on a macro scale, I don't even think it actually changed much.
This post was actually written on 9/12, but I have backdated it to the night before so that it will show up if anyone goes looking for that date on my blog.
June 13, 2002
I was reading this post on euthanasia (along with several other posts by Mr. Den Beste on the same topic) when something interesting struck me -- something I've noticed before, but that hadn't quite coalesced until now, about the way religious people often look at this issue in contrast to how atheists tend to view this issue.
June 3, 2002
Randomly ran across this discussion of online directories like Google today, and something caught my eye:
So why does Google work so well? Because it's open and fair and seems smart (it's just a computer of course). Its algorithms figure out what the Web has to say on a given subject. Collectively we believe in Google, it's our memory, it's the way we share.
(emphasis mine)
I don't believe in a "genetic memory", or any of the other theories about shared memories I've seen (not that I've done an exhaustive review, you understand). But it seems to me that as the human race moves forward into a more and more interconnected world, one where vast volumes of information are nearly instantly accessible, we will develop one.
