If We the Earth

If only we all cared.

If we measure a number, we get an interval. What if we measure a function or an operator?

Assume that we measure a physical ~mntity x with a measuring device whose accuracy is ~ (i.e., whose prtniucers guarantee that the difference a: ~ between the actual value :r and the measured value d{ms m~t exceed 5). If the result of this measurement is ~, then Ix~ssible values of a: fiwm an interval [~-~,~+~]. Suppose nnw that we know that a physical qtiantity y is a function of the physical ...

If we have it, do we use it?

Should We Expect To Feel As If We Understand Consciousness?

We tend to assume that progress in answering the ‘hard question’ of consciousness will be accompanied by a subjective feeling of greater understanding. However, in order to feel we understand how one state of affairs arises from another, we have to deceive ourselves into thinking we have found a type of causal link which in reality may not exist (Rosch, 1994). I draw from and expand upon Rosch’...

Do we harm others even if we don't need to?

Evolutionary explanations of the co-existence of large-scale cooperation and warfare in human societies rest on the hypothesis of parochial altruism, the view that in-group pro-sociality and out-group anti-sociality have co-evolved. We designed an experiment that allows subjects to freely choose between actions that are purely pro-social, purely anti-social, or a combination of the two. We pres...