I don’t believe in God as I dont believe in Mother Goose. Clarence Darrow, Toronto, 1930 There is something feeble and a little contemptible about a man who cannot face the perils of life without the help of comfortable myths. Bertrand Russell, Human Society in Ethics and Politics, 1955 For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as Read More ›
Among the pleasures of taking up space on this page is the chance, from time to time, to report on some accomplishment that might otherwise go under-noticed. When the accomplishment belongs to a friend . . .well, OK, this is a puff piece. But the pufferys deserved, because the accomplishments magnificent. Adam Pruzan works for Toward Tradition, a Seattle-based Jewish/conservative Read More ›
Free speech, not forced religion, lies at the heart of the Supreme Court’s recent decision regarding the use of public school buildings by religious groups after school hours. But you might not glean that fact from comments by the ruling’s critics, who seem determined to depict the court’s decision in Good News Club v. Milford Central School as an invitation Read More ›
In the closing session of the 1998 Telecosm conference, hosted annually by Gilder Publishing and Forbes at Lake Tahoe, inventor and author Ray Kurzweil engaged a number of critics. He advocated “Strong Artificial Intelligence” (AI), the claim that a computational process sufficiently capable of altering or organizing itself can produce “consciousness.” The session had an unexpectedly profound impact, not least Read More ›