Thinking about any scenario that places your loves one(s) in danger is rather morbid but for the sake of exploration we’ll overlook that, still, being in any bad situation one you immediately see the worst result and not the best solution. There are a variety of ways to look at this problem, some really in-depth analyses require some sturdy maths skill others merely ethical or moral stances. The collective name for the understanding this and similar problems is called Game Theory, and it is not, as the name implies, a soft subject....read more »
One of my favourite films is the 1960 classic (H.G. Wells’) The Time Machine. A 19th Century Scientist builds a Time Machine and travels forwards in time to see the progress of Humanity. Witnessing the destruction in World War II he travels further eventually seeing the 803rd Century and a Utopian society of gentle humans. But all is not as ideal as it seems....read more »
Most people should be familiar with the box office success I, Robot (2004), it’s 2035 AD, robots are everyday tools and are programmed to live and serve alongside humans. Detective Spooner is called out to investigate the apparent suicide of the scientist that designs robots; Dr. Alfred Lanning. A robot is found in close proximity to the crime scene and Spooner suspects it might be the perpetrator despite robots never having injured a human because of the unbreakable 3 Laws in there Circuits....read more »
So I’m watching the first season of The West Wing and the White House staff are interviewing a young African-American teenager for the position of Personal Aid to the President. Josh Lyman, the Deputy Chief of Staff, is concerned that it will look poor for a ‘young black kid’ to ‘wait’ on the President. Leo McGary, the Chief of Staff says that he has held doors open for the President and considers it an honour, Josh retorts that it’s not the same holding The Presidents overnight bag. They, despite the cosmetic implications realise that it’s not casting (the irony considering it is a television show) and they simply get the right person for the job. ...read more »
Given the choice which would you prefer to be, Freak or Idiot?
Firstly what type of freak? The word means something that is a strange deviation from nature. So freak would be a ball falling upwards which is a deviation from the natural phenomenon known as gravity. The question doesn’t poise a definition of the type of freak we would be so we don’t know and presumably upon making the choice between the options we would find out. ...read more »
Pre-determination implies there is a plan for the Universe, a fixed route to get from the past to the future. In this type of Universe no accidents occur because they were all suposed to happen and although we think we are making choices we’re not, we’re just conforming to the plan.
In The Matrix amongst all the protagonist’s abilities he had the ability of foresight, this gift was only for events within the matrix and its machinery but not the real world. How does this apply to us? ...read more »
There are 2 types of Universe we can exist in, one where we only think we are making choices and one were we are actually making choices. The one where choice is an illusion means that there could be a map or plan to the Universe, the other anything that could happen might. If the Universe has a plan then we are obviously not privy to it, if anything can happen then what are the consequences?...read more »
