Introduction

The Rule of Law. It is arguable that the fundamental change which took place between the ancient world and the modern world was the transition from the rule of a dictator to the rule of law.
Education: Inf

Education: Informing or Forming?

[Back to Regulating Society]
(This is a draft work in progress...)

Introduction

The starting point for this article is a 'modern classic', 'Pedagogy of the Oppressed' by Paulo Freire.

Freire argues that 'education is freedom'. As the Amazon summary s

People who don't understand science often think that science is about 'facts' and 'numbers', reliable things which can be proved, in contrast to religion which is about believing in things which cannot be proved. But science is about seeking to unde

Is AI about to take over the world?

Let's stop worrying about absurdly unlikely risks, and concentrate on the actual problems we face. No AI is going to take over the world any time soon. But they will be used to make incredibly rich and powerful people and corporations even more ric

Comparing Religions

It is sometimes claimed that religion is all about rejecting reason and choosing instead 'blind faith' or irrationality. But, when you actually examine most religions, and most of the people who follow them, it is hard to reconcile such claims with

Voting Systems

There is no perfect voting system. Whatever system you use, there can be situations where the system delivers the wrong result, according to some fairly obvious criteria for a fair system – and this has been mathematically demonstrated. But thi

Physical Challenges: The Human Race

All the Physical Challenges are caused by the human race, but these are the challenges caused by the presence of humans and our economic activity.

Being Realistic

There is an inevitable tension here: we need hopes and dreams, but we also need to keep our feet on the ground; we need to aim high, but also have realistic expectations. The challenge here is not to achieve a balance between these two opposing prin

CFAR and its Cousins

The ‘Center for Applied Rationality’, or ‘CFAR’ is one of a group of organizations, run by a fairly small group of individuals, in the fields of artificial intelligence, rationality and global philanthropy. This is an attempt to identify some of the

We are not truth seekers

We are not truth seekers. When it comes to tribal identity, we are motivated reasoners.

The Future of AI

there is not going to be just one market winner in the field of Artificial Intelligence, because there is not just one form of intelligence - and the different forms of intelligence are, to some extent at least, incompatible with each other

The Three State Solution

The only possible route to peace in the Middle East that I can see is the 'one state - three state - two state' solution.

Middle East

[Back to World Affairs]

In our conversations, we keep circulating around the topic of the Middle East, Israel and Gaza, but never addressing it in any substantial way, largely because nobody can think of anything productive to say. 'We are against g

AI - Social Justice

AI - a big subject - my un-artificial intelligence has serious problems even understanding what it is!

In my lifetime the JCB did away with many jobs that have never been replaced, same happened when the coal mines were closed, I could go on and on.

AI - Social Justice

AI - a big subject - my un-artificial intelligence has serious problems even understanding what it is!

In my lifetime the JCB did away with many jobs that have never been replaced, same happened when the coal mines were closed, I could go on and on.

Effective Beliefs

We need to find beliefs which work - beliefs which work sufficiently well and sufficiently often, without any need to pretend that they are 100% effective in all situations. We need beliefs which we can engage with as beliefs rather than proven trut

Emergent Properties

An emergent property is a property which is present implicitly in the components, but which can only be seen when it emerges in the larger system; once you see the emergent property, you understand how the interaction of the components produces it.

Telling the Difference between Moral and Immoral

This article is about how we can distinguish between good and bad, between moral and immoral, or between ethical and unethical. When people disagree about the moral status of an action, how can we explore - and maybe resolve - that conflict?

The Language of Morality

One difficulty when we try to talk about morality is the language: there are various terms we can use, but they are all ambiguous and problematic in various ways. It seems there is a difference between 'moral' and 'ethical', but the difference is no

Eye in the Sky - Ethics and Morality

MORALITY - Eye in the Sky - Film - Drone Strike - ethical issues

The film I referred to on Thursday was 'Eye in the Sky' - Helen Mirren one of the leading actors

The ethical issue was whether a drone strike should be completed to 'take out' a terrorris

Articles

All Articles (173)

Regulating Society

Introduction

Education: Informing or Forming?

Introduction

Understanding Science

Is AI about to take over the world?

Comparing Religions

Voting Systems

Physical Challenges: The Human Race

Being Realistic

CFAR and its Cousins

We are not truth seekers

The Future of AI

The Three State Solution

Middle East

AI - Social Justice

AI - Social Justice

Effective Beliefs

Emergent Properties

Telling the Difference between Moral and Immoral

The Language of Morality

Eye in the Sky - Ethics and Morality

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