Of all the Micah Tillmans in the world — and there are at least three — … I am this one.
Posted in Culture on Aug 20th, 2010
I’m sure you’ve all heard about the “Ground Zero Mosque.” (I hear it’s actually a community center, but I’ll call it the “Ground Zero Mosque,” just because that’s what everybody’s calling it.) There’s a lot of controversy about it, and a lot of people don’t want it to be built. Some of those people have [...]
Posted in Literature on Aug 7th, 2010
As someone who studies philosophy, plans on becoming an author when he grows up, and is married to a future librarian, I find myself concerned with books. However, as someone who majored in computer science, who blogs, who uses Google Books and Amazon’s “Look/Search Inside” features, and who is married to a web consultant genius [...]
Posted in Culture, Philosophy, Politics on Jun 9th, 2010
Immediate Background In America, our most-beloved law is the First Amendment to our Constitution. It reads: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the [...]
Posted in Linguistics (Culture) on Jun 4th, 2010
Yesterday I discovered a fascinating linguistic phenomenon. Well, I think it’s fascinating. And it was the first time I’d heard of it, anyway. Here is the tweet that started it all: Waiting for #UPS all day in the heat doesn’t count as exercise. So I’m off to run. Which I would have already done, had I [...]
Posted in Culture, Philosophy on Jun 2nd, 2010
[ Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 ] At last we come to the issue of mind, consciousness, thought, etc. and what it/they is/are. As I noted last time, robots can’t be plants or animals, since they’re not organic (outside Battlestar Galactica, anyway). But minds/consciousness/thoughts, etc. aren’t [...]
Posted in Culture, Philosophy on Jun 1st, 2010
[ Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 ] I argued last time that two things stand in the way of our ever recognizing even a sophisticated robot as being a living being: First, we would have a tough time seeing a being as alive whose parts are [...]
Posted in Culture, Philosophy on May 31st, 2010
[ Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 ] Last time I argued that we arrange nonliving things in a hierarchy based on four criteria: Can they move themselves, and how much? (My oscillating fan can, to some extent, but not as much as my car.) Are they self-motivated, and [...]
Posted in Culture, Philosophy on May 30th, 2010
[ Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 ] In classical philosophy (i.e., philosophy before the Renaissance and Reformation), philosophers were concerned — among many, many other things — to distinguish between humans and animals. After all, if you think there’s no difference between humans and animals, you’ll [...]
[ Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 ] The Wife and I have been watching Battlestar Galactica, in which there are certain robots who are quasi-organic and look/talk/think/emote like humans. One of the central plot tensions in the story, therefore, is whether these robots are persons or not. [...]
Posted in Culture, Ethics (Philosophy), Theory (Politics) on May 26th, 2010
Whiny Introduction As a libertarian type, I worry a lot about people using the government (and thus, ultimately, the police force) to tell other people what to do, say, write, buy, watch, etc. (or not do, not say, not write, not buy, not watch, etc.). In fact, the number of people who want to control [...]
