Intro LO: After digesting this recent Scientific American article, the conclusion is simple: it’s (nearly) impossible that life on planet Earth is a singular event within the Universe. There must be other life-forms throughout the Universe. Hence, science-fiction is (much) more like science - and technology - than like fiction. The (alleged) sightings of...
Brain vs Universe
The flatness problem
30 Jan, 2025
A recent Quanta Magazine article mentions the “flatness problem”. That remark caught my immediate attention and the 2025 Quanta article reminds me of my 2022 blog: The Universe is flat? Back then, my view was: In my view, a flat Universe defies human logic. It’s like the (disproven) flat Earth hypothesis, and – to some extent – even feels like a...
Genius, evil and insanity
15 Jan, 2025
“The notion that genius is only thinly separated from insanity goes back at least to ancient Greece. Aristotle linked the two when he said, “There is no great genius without a touch of madness.” Source: PsychologyToday (2020). A recent comment by former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, on an alleged genius and tech billionaire, calls him a “truly evil person” (eg,...
Brainwave
14 Jan, 2025
Mid December 2024, the journal Neuron published a study entitled The unbearable slowness of being: Why do we live at 10 bits/s? I became aware through the NYT: The Speed of Human Thought Lags Far Behind Your Internet Connection, Study Finds. “It’s a bit of a counterweight to the endless hyperbole about how incredibly complex and powerful the human brain is,” said...
Does everything have a beginning?
11 Dec, 2024
A recent Aeon article (ie, Will we ever know the origins of the Universe?) touched an unresolved thought of mine: must the Universe truly have a beginning?? The Aeon article has a clear answer: No. Not necessarily. “The Malament-Manchak theorem presents us with a sobering limit: our observations, no matter how extensive, may never be sufficient to determine...
What Came First: Evolution or Life?
6 Nov, 2024
My blog title above has been borrowed from a recent email by the John Templeton Foundation. The answer depends on your precise definition of Evolution and of Life. The definition of Life is (very) complex. For example: Does Life include bacteria and viruses?? Does Evolution include collisions with asteroids and comets? Does water constitute Evolution, Life or a...
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