Requiem for an Artificial Superintelligence

Alexandria, artificial general intelligence, artificial superintelligence, arts, batteries, Brownshirts, Caltech, competition, Computational Sciences, Elliot Pryce, Engineering, ethics, experience machine, family, fans, Fiction, fidelity, general intelligence, governments, Gustav Mahler, human beings, humans, intelligences, language, light, machine life, Maine, marriage, Mars, metaphysics, Palo Alto, perpetual light, processors, quantum effects, retirement, Robert Nozick, robots, Science and Culture Today, self-preservation, superintelligence, Technology, The Battering Company, theorems, University of Texas
On the morning of his upload, he signed transfer papers, redundancy protocols, continuity covenants, and one handwritten page that no lawyer saw. Source
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Can Formless Matter Exist? A Pitfall in Reading Biblical Texts

air, Ambrose, Aristotle, Basil of Caesarea, Bible, Biblical texts, cellulose, Christianity, Chrysostom, classical science, demiurge, duck, earth, elements, Ephrem the Syrian, Faith & Science, fire, form, Genesis, house, John Calvin, Justin Martyr, Martin Luther, matter, metal, metaphysics, nuclear reactions, Periodic Table, philosophy, physics, pipes, plastic, Plato, rabbit, radioactive decay, scientific ideas, Septuagint, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Tertullian, The Heavens the Waters and the Partridge, Timaeus, water, wires, Wisdom of Solomon, wood
The solution is to go back to the source and follow the text to see what it actually says. Source
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Framing a Finely Tuned Response to a Chorus of Critical “Carrollers”

Alex O’Connor, Bayesian reasoning, cosmology, fine-tuning, Hans Halvorson, Humean probabilities, Intelligent Design, likelihood ratio, Luke Barnes, mathematicians, metaphysics, monotheistic tradition, multiverse, Ned Hall, Nevin Climenhaga, personal beliefs, philosophers, philosophy, physics, plausibility, podcasters, Presbyterians, priors, probability, psychological states, Robin Collins, Sean Carroll, spacetime, subjective inclinations, The Fine-Tuning Argument and Its Cultured Despisers (series), theism, theology, theoretical physicists, Thomas Bayes
Using Sean Carroll’s criticisms of the fine-tuning argument as a general guide, I propose to address objections to that argument, Source
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According to New Physics Model, Consciousness Underlies the Universe

Carl Sagan, consciousness, Daily Mail, David Klinghoffer, life after death, Maria Strømme, metaphysics, near-death experiences, Neuroscience & Mind, panpsychism, physicists, physics, Plato, Plato's Revenge, quantum mechanics, Richard Sternberg, Stephen Hawking, telepathy, terminal lucidity, Thomas Henry Huxley, universal field, universe, Uppsala University, William Hunter, __featured2
We live in a universe closer to the vision of Plato (c. 427 – 348 BC) than of Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895). Source
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Why Philosophical Proofs For God Are Better Than “Scientific” Proofs

2. Does God Exist?, Apologetics, Aquinas’s Five Ways, Argumentation, Arguments for God, BrianHuffling.com, Christianity, ed feser, Gospel, metaphysics, philosophy, science, scientism
Let me first say that I think the “scientific” proofs for God’s existence are very good, as far as they go (I’ll explain why that word is in quotes later). Since middle school one of my hobbies has been backyard astronomy. I am very familiar with the intelligent design arguments from cosmology and biology. They are all very good and very convincing. So, what’s the issue? Well, for one, natural science alone can’t prove God. It needs philosophy. What then makes the scientific arguments good? They are good because they show that the chances for the design (not existence) of the universe and life due to random events are essentially zero. But the jump from probability to cause is a philosophical one. Science, does after all, require the use of…
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The Road to the Perfect God

2. Does God Exist?, Apologetics, Arguments for God, Being, Christianity, Diego Fallas, existence, God's nature, Gospel, metaphysics, Perfection, Philosophical Theology, Theology Proper
Human beings have wondered about God for millennia. The Bible explains this by saying that God “set eternity in the human heart.”[1] How can, limited, finite human beings wonder about the supreme being? Some say that we are not alone in this quest and that God has revealed himself to us. That he has bridged the infinite chasm between creature and creator so that finite creatures can know him. Other say that God, if he exists at all, is too hidden and has not done a good job in making his existence evident. My contention here is that, not only is God not hidden, but there is evidence for his existence that we cannot dismiss because it is right “in front” of us, every moment, every second, every day and…
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The Real Issue and the Christian Philosopher

2. Does God Exist?, Apologetics, Christianity, Diego Fallas, Gospel, metaphysics, philosophy, Thomas Aquinas, Thomism, william lane craig
Human beings are rational animals, according to Aristotle. As animals, human beings are sensible beings who have sensations and movements (in contrast to plants, which are living beings without true sensation and self-initiated movement). But human beings are not just any kind of animal. We have a special quality that separates us from animals, plants and the rest of the material world, which is that we have a rational soul. Furthermore, leaving Aristotle aside (as we shall see later), this doesn’t mean that human beings are the summit of all that exists. God, who is infinite and intellect in its fullest form can alone claim his proper place at the top of the summit (although, technically speaking, He is the foundation) of all that exists. Still, since human beings are…
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Pointing to Design, Ross Douthat Makes the Case that Religious Belief Is Rational

Artificial Intelligence, Belief, Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious, carbon dioxide, Christianity, consciousness, disenchantment, fail, Faith & Science, freedom, hamlet, intelligence, Intelligent Design, metaphysics, multiverse, New York Times, open-mindedness, Physics, Earth & Space, Return of the God Hypothesis, Roman Catholics, Stephen Meyer, Tao Lin, Technology, telescope, universe, water, Zondervan
He kicks off the book by talking about the evident design in nature and the fine-tuning of the universe. Source
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What Philosophy Is, And Why You Can’t Avoid It

1. Does Truth Exist?, Apologetics, Christian Mind, Christianity, critical thinking, Epistemology, Gospel, Intellect, J. Brian Huffling, logic, metaphysics, philosophy
Many Christians believe that philosophy is a pagan discipline practiced either by ivory tower professors or Starbucks hippies. This belief has led some to object to the relevance of philosophy, as either they believe only a few can do it, or that it deals with such weird and abstract issues that it is a waste of time. Many Christian theologians object that philosophy is rooted in paganism, and thus has no place in Christian theology. After explaining what philosophy is, it should become clear that not only do these objections fail, but philosophy is unavoidable. For the Love of Wisdom… ‘Philosophy’ literally means “love (phil) of wisdom (sophia).” It is the quest for knowledge, truth, and how to live the good (moral) life. Fields of Philosophy There are several branches…
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