The Blind Spot - Aeon

Physical reality may seem to be the only game in town, but materialists do have a blind spot. Hoping to describe this blind spot without putting people on the defensive, Adam Frank, Marcelo Gleiser, and Evan Thompson hope to explain (gasp!) the shortcomings of science and strict adherence to empirical data. What better way to get a perspective from outside of the box is to consider the noumenal, or see how others see us. Since humans only know how to eat and exploit animals, rather than converse, we've taken our search farther afield with SETI and we've set about trying to create a mind through artificial intelligence. If extraterrestrials deign to converse with us, rather than exploit and/or eat us, the interaction could profoundly impact upon human, and their, philosophies. Even then, the some answers would still elude both sides precipitating another search for yet-another-perspective. Artificial intelligence, on the other hand, could prove problematic. In that quest, are we looking to re-create ourselves with silicates and metals or code up something truly alien? If the latter, would we have the capacity to think outside of that box? But I digress. If you read one thing this Sunday, let it be The Blind Spot. Philosophical quandries aren't a speedbump to every scientist hoping to find the answer to life, the universe, and everything. Consider the octonion, which is not a vegetable imagined by H.P. Lovecraft, but a Strange Number That Could Explain Reality. Paul Ratner ably explains this complex number, and why it could be the key to the universe. (CS)

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from THE ANOMALIST http://bit.ly/2FqKWJ3