An interesting argument that we know nothing of the physical world around us, nor even of ourselves. Given that our brain (whatever it might be) is a medium that interprets stimuli from the external world, we can know only the interpretations, the filtered image, not the real thing - whatever that may be, and if it is at all possibly knowable given our limitations/filter. We can't even know that nature of our own filter, because as we study the human brain and body, we are perceiving not some final reality, but a filtered images of our physical selves.
A complex book with a complex idea - but it seems very reasonable. Worth rereading to understand in greater detail. It all begins to sound very Buddhist...
Showing posts with label science. Show all posts
Showing posts with label science. Show all posts
Tuesday, 23 June 2020
Monday, 24 April 2017
Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow - Yuval Noah Harari
A very interesting look at some of the possible important trends emerging as a result of technological change largely. A look at how human potential is shifting as technology changes.
Some main themes:
- human immortality; the possibility of drastically increasing the human life span
- the slow, step-by-step ceding of control of decisions to technology (smartphones), big data and AI; what happens if (when?) AI begins to set its own priorities
- a brutal look at how humans have manipulated biology to produce the modern meat factory; the possibility that intelligent computers could come to treat humans in a similar fashion
- the importance of the stories we tell in the evolution of humans and society
- threats to liberalism as humans become less necessary as a work force
- the concept of living beings as algorithms; problems and issues with this idea
A brief summary. A very dense book. Worth rereading.
Some main themes:
- human immortality; the possibility of drastically increasing the human life span
- the slow, step-by-step ceding of control of decisions to technology (smartphones), big data and AI; what happens if (when?) AI begins to set its own priorities
- a brutal look at how humans have manipulated biology to produce the modern meat factory; the possibility that intelligent computers could come to treat humans in a similar fashion
- the importance of the stories we tell in the evolution of humans and society
- threats to liberalism as humans become less necessary as a work force
- the concept of living beings as algorithms; problems and issues with this idea
A brief summary. A very dense book. Worth rereading.
Saturday, 5 September 2015
The Big Fat Surprise - Nina Teicholz
Subtitled: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet
Teicholz's book pretty much turns upside down everything that has been gospel about healthy diet for over 40 years. Turns out butter, meat, etc don't raise cholesterol, or rather, they do, but it is the good HDL cholesterol they raise. Turns out LDL cholesterol levels show no relation to heart disease risk. Turns out vegetable oils, especially when hydrogenated or heated, show a much stronger relation.
Looks like heart disease, diabetes and obesity are also related to consumption of carbohydrates, especially processed ones. The food pyramid with grains at the bottom is a recipe for the kind of health epidemics we have been seeing for decades.
This is all very interesting and mind-boggling, but the real underlying issue is how the scientific community's consensus could be so wrong. The seminal studies behind our modern diet guidelines are highly flawed and show poor scientific rigour. The results have been reported in a highly biased manner, focusing only on the data bits that have supported the dominant hypothesis. Challengers to the current field consensus have been humiliated, hounded, shunned and denied funds to pursue their work. The role of outsized egos, career status and research dollars in creating this "scientific" consensus is shocking. A prime example of how dangerous and unreliable field experts and accepted norms can be.
Scientific studies must be treated with extreme caution - probably best ignored unless you are personally willing to read it over and verify both its method and true results.
Teicholz's book pretty much turns upside down everything that has been gospel about healthy diet for over 40 years. Turns out butter, meat, etc don't raise cholesterol, or rather, they do, but it is the good HDL cholesterol they raise. Turns out LDL cholesterol levels show no relation to heart disease risk. Turns out vegetable oils, especially when hydrogenated or heated, show a much stronger relation.
Looks like heart disease, diabetes and obesity are also related to consumption of carbohydrates, especially processed ones. The food pyramid with grains at the bottom is a recipe for the kind of health epidemics we have been seeing for decades.
This is all very interesting and mind-boggling, but the real underlying issue is how the scientific community's consensus could be so wrong. The seminal studies behind our modern diet guidelines are highly flawed and show poor scientific rigour. The results have been reported in a highly biased manner, focusing only on the data bits that have supported the dominant hypothesis. Challengers to the current field consensus have been humiliated, hounded, shunned and denied funds to pursue their work. The role of outsized egos, career status and research dollars in creating this "scientific" consensus is shocking. A prime example of how dangerous and unreliable field experts and accepted norms can be.
Scientific studies must be treated with extreme caution - probably best ignored unless you are personally willing to read it over and verify both its method and true results.
Wednesday, 11 February 2015
Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution - Neil deGrasse Tyson/ Donald Goldsmith
An easy book to read about a complex subject. Very well-divided into chapters that focus on particular questions or issues around origins: the universe, galaxies, stars, planets, life. There are also a couple of chapters on the possibility and the search for life elsewhere in the universe. He also includes an interesting chapter on matter and antimatter, and dark matter and energy. You get a sense of the big pictures and also the ongoing unresolved questions or issues in this domaine.
Lots of interesting facts to pick up:
Living things are made largely of the most common elements in the universe, which differ completely from the most common elements on earth. This is considered one possible argument for life beginning outside earth and being "seeded" here, but is by no means a final argument.
A great explanation of how stars create those most common elements in the universe through fusion of progressively more complex molecules, up to iron. Once you hit iron, more energy is consumed in the fusion than is produced, leading to a collapse of the star, a huge rise in temperatures and a final explosive fusion as the star blows itself up. In this last fusion all the other elements are created, but in much smaller amounts than iron and the preceding other elements.
Lots of interesting facts to pick up:
Living things are made largely of the most common elements in the universe, which differ completely from the most common elements on earth. This is considered one possible argument for life beginning outside earth and being "seeded" here, but is by no means a final argument.
A great explanation of how stars create those most common elements in the universe through fusion of progressively more complex molecules, up to iron. Once you hit iron, more energy is consumed in the fusion than is produced, leading to a collapse of the star, a huge rise in temperatures and a final explosive fusion as the star blows itself up. In this last fusion all the other elements are created, but in much smaller amounts than iron and the preceding other elements.
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