Saturday, August 23, 2025

Time

 Consider that time IS change and motion including entrophy and not an independent natural property. Without matter, there is no time. Cosmologically, I theorize that the universe has always been, possibly in various forms, including a void. In a void there, of course, would be no matter and thus, no change and no time. Causality and entropy, basic elements of change and motion, arrived with the advent of matter either during inflation before the Big Bang or if there was no inflation, at the Big Bang. 

 Read: https://aeon.co/essays/philosophers-must-reckon-with-the-meaning-of-thermodynamics?utm_source=Aeon+Newsletter&utm_campaign=43d4b3bd26-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_08_23&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4ef8a26106-73343035


Monday, August 18, 2025

Evil

 A recent contemplation: is evil the bottom half of good in that it evolves from the lack of or decrease of good, or does it stand alone upon its own strength in opposition or ignorance of good?

Emotions

 As far as I can perceive, there are many human emotions: joy, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, disgust, love, hate, guilt, shame, pride, embarrassment, envy, jealousy, contempt, hope, disappointment, relief, anticipation, nostalgia, compassion, empathy, awe, contentment, melancholy, irritation, anxiety, excitement, serenity, frustration, elation, despair, confidence, insecurity, loneliness, and euphoria. 

Saturday, August 16, 2025

 Memory, in great part, defines who we are, whether or not we are aware that they do. Experiences are stored as memories to be recalled by the conscious and unconscious mind, usually resulting in a decision or action. The advent of computer technologies and now AGI has allowed us to delegate most of our memories to machines. From a recent Skeptic newsletter article by Katherine Brodsky (https://www.skeptic.com/article/outsourcing-our-memory-how-digital-tools-are-reshaping-human-thought/?ref=skeptic-newsletter):

Consider how you access your autobiographical memory. How much of it is reflected in the thousands of images you’ve captured on your smartphone? Or saved emails and private messages you can’t bring yourself to delete? Then there are sources of external memory: How many phone numbers do you remember? How often do you rely on GPS to navigate? How frequently do you turn to Google or ChatGPT to recall a fact, event, or concept? Even when a restaurant doesn’t automatically suggest the tip amount for you, can you do it in your head or do you need the calculator on your phone?

 How, if in any way, will this affect the quality of life?