Tukte Yekan

Guess which audiobook is next on my list 😉

Reg, it took me forever to finish Anna Karenina but it wasn’t as bad as War and Peace. I don’t like audiobooks.

Thanks, Reg!

@onyangomakagutu – I try to read as much as I can. I will often listen to audiobook versions when out walking (at least 90 minutes a day). Over half way through Anne Karenina at the moment……only 98 chapters left!!

Thanks Reg.

Now if only i could read a book a week i would be comfortably at 52 books by end of year

Have a great week everyone!

Reg,

It would take a month of Sundays to read all of these articles but the ones I’ve read are great and thought-provoking!

Thanks you both. Tried my best to keep election posts low key.

Thanks Reg!

Nice Sunday school this week Reg!

The words of Ann Druyan on the death of her husband Carl Sagan. (see 2 links above).

“When my husband died, because he was so famous and known for not being a believer, many people would come up to me-it still sometimes happens-and ask me if Carl changed at the end and converted to a belief in an afterlife. They also frequently ask me if I t…[Read more]

Thanks, Reg!  Losing track of days here, waiting for Armageddon

Reg,

The United House of Prayer super-spreader event is an ongoing cluster-fizzle.  As of three days ago, there are 181 infections and 6 deaths:

https://www.wbtv.com/2020/10/30/covid-cases-linked-outbreak-charlotte-church-event-jumps-four-counties/

Also, I know this is anecdotal, but is worth study in it’s own right; The United House of Prayer…[Read more]

You can tell the meat robots by the red caps they wear.

But, of course, how would we know that a robot could feel, have experiences like fear and terror? We can’t even know for sure when it comes to people. I’m remembering that prior discussion now. How do we know that other people aren’t meat robots which are just clever simulations of people with feelings and experiences. If we can’t be sure of…[Read more]

Yes, reacting to stimuli or programed instructions is not the same as being self-aware. Each reaction would be a unique event with no recollection of the previous occasions. But being self-aware would allow for a history of events to be built up over time.

If the AI could seek out patterns from these databases then it could become conscious to…[Read more]

If a robot is conscious in the sense of self-aware and can experience fear and terror, I suppose it probably is a valid ethical question. But just conscious on its own? I’m not so sure.

I think we had another discussion where the question of whether being conscious necessarily involves self-awareness came up.

Life is far more meaningful without searching for moral perfection.

I’m not sure I’ve ever encountered the author’s stereotypical Loving Saint although I have come across some “extraordinary altruists”, or people higher than normal in the range of empathic concern for others.

I have known some Rational Saints, who are motivated by duty to follow…[Read more]