Tag: non-thinking

  • I am not a robot. Because… (in a minute!)

    If you were trying to convince another human that you yourself are also human, what would you say? Probably something about emotions, right? That might work – but other humans are more likely to believe your humanity if you talk about bodily functions. Specifically, the word ‘poop’. At least, that’s the finding from a study […]

  • Death.

    Around 252 million years ago, the Earth changed drastically and catastrophically. Massive, ongoing volcanic activity in Siberia wrapped the planet in a thick shroud of ash for almost a million years, killing off most of the life that was around at the time. (1) Raw death. No explanation. No rationality. Just death. And then life. […]

  • The birth of consciousness…

    Think about consciousness for long enough, and you’ll drive yourself to distraction. To psychologist Julian Jaynes, the question of consciousness was big enough to last a lifetime. His answer? Consciousness is much smaller, much rarer, and much younger than we tend to think. Forget about wondering if a dog, cat, or earthworm has consciousness — […]

  • The problem of problems…

    The problem with solving problems. You are always changing your view on the problem as time passes by. So much that sometimes you do not realize that you have solved the problem. (1) We spend all our lives in solving problems. At work. At our personal relationships. Everywhere. But why try to solve problems in […]

  • Improved (useless) algorithms…

    Scientists being enthusiastic about improving computers to solve problems faster. (1) At the end we will make computers which will solve all problems at once. And yet. Every problem-solving method entails an important drawback we always tend to forget: that it takes the existence of the problem for granted in the first place… Imagine a […]