cicero

22 ms·

181.
by cicero 10y ago
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter Miller (recommended SF classic) The Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis (an old favorite, recommended) The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco (some interesting parts, but overall a disappointment) Theology and Sa
182.
by cicero 10y ago
Even Schemes can take a practical turn, e.g. Racket.
183.
by cicero 10y ago
The question is why did survival and replication arise? Rocks don't try to survive or replicate.
184.
by cicero 10y ago
My two favorite female authors are Jane Austen and Dorothy Sayers, neither of whom are on this list. Austen's books definitely feel like they are written by a woman. She was a stickler for authenticity, so she never depicted a scene wi
185.
by cicero 10y ago
The tendency is there even if it doesn't go as far as Lord of the Flies. I work at a boys school for gifted students. They are all smart and they are usually well behaved as individuals, but if they get in an unsupervised group, things
186.
Has dogma derailed the scientific search for dark matter?(aeon.co)
2 points by cicero 10y ago|0 comments
187.
The Real War on Science(city-journal.org)
33 points by cicero 10y ago|8 comments
188.
by cicero 10y ago
Surely your immigrant coworkers are here legally. I don't think legal immigration is a problem for anyone except for a small extreme fringe.
189.
by cicero 10y ago
Twitter is currently in the trough of the hype curve. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hype_cycle
190.
by cicero 10y ago
Build large libraries with lots of paper books.
191.
by cicero 10y ago
The Bible gives no good reason to deny climate change. The leaders of the two largest Christian groups, the Catholic Popes (specifically Benedict XVI and Francis) and the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople, have long been supporters of gr
192.
by cicero 10y ago
I was at a presentation for high school students last week. At the end, the presenter gave out contact information for Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. There was no mention of Twitter.
193.
by cicero 10y ago
What is different today is the Internet. Before that we had TV and radio, which also magnified fear, but not to the extent as the Internet where you can find the "news source" that best fits your particular fears.
194.
by cicero 10y ago
What do you expect; it's "Material"? Souls are immaterial.
195.
by cicero 10y ago
I'm not talking about faith in the existence of technology, but in the capability of technology to produce life. By ruling out the existence of God, the only logical explanation for life is that it's the result of physical process
196.
by cicero 10y ago
I searched for Reactor and found Reason[1] instead. Is that what you meant? 1: https://facebook.github.io/reason/
197.
by cicero 10y ago
Thank you for this. I learned to write natural, harmonic, and melodic minor scales when I was a kid, but I never knew this explanation. It makes perfect sense!
198.
by cicero 10y ago
I think I read this when it first came out. I loved Wired back then.
199.
by cicero 10y ago
In other words, since you don't have faith in God, you must have faith in technology even though there is no evidence that technology can bring forth creative, living intelligence.
200.
by cicero 10y ago
I think this interview with Ray Kurzweil[1] does a good job articulating this question. I know Kurzweil can get way out there, but in this case I think he makes sense. 1: https://youtu.be/v3f4pQOHKPA
201.
by cicero 10y ago
I will agree with you that Python didn't consciously consider itself institution-centric, but it has valued institution-friendly goals such as readability and maintainability.
202.
by cicero 10y ago
Although I don't think of Python and Java as that similar, I do see what Larry is getting at. Python encourages "There should be one-- and preferably only one --obvious way to do it", which is very nice for institutions where
203.
by cicero 10y ago
I read "cannibalistic" as a qualifier. Destructive tribesmen are those that are cannibalistic. A collaborative tribal society like you describe is not cannibalistic or destructive and would not be included in his list.
204.
by cicero 10y ago
Apps are told when a phone's battery is low so that they can change into a battery conserving state.
205.
by cicero 10y ago
I think Common Lisp's success is due to the power of Lisp and that Common Lisp is the most modern full-featured version of Lisp. For all we know, if the standardization had been done better, Lisp might be more widely used than it is to
206.
by cicero 10y ago
God doesn't require a creator because existence is intrinsic to him. At the burning bush, when Moses asked for God's name, he replied "I am that I am." Also, I am not postulating a creator god; I am reporting on the God
207.
by cicero 10y ago
Yes, you are correct. Science has only now come to the point of being a somewhat unified field because of the communications network of the scientific community and the relatively simple task of describing the physical universe. Religions a
208.
by cicero 10y ago
What is the cause of the existence of a universe in which emergent phenomena can arise spontaneously?
209.
by cicero 10y ago
Isn't science all about understanding causes? It seems funny that scientifically minded people turn to Hume only when we're talking about God.
210.
by cicero 10y ago
It is a greater good to have the freedom to do evil than to be constrained to where it is impossible. Would you prefer an all-powerful, super-totalitarian government that made it impossible for anyone to commit a crime, or would you prefer

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