Science And Reason Resources
Latest Update 11/06/2003
Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is the ability to think about one's thinking in such
a way as to recognize its strengths and weaknesses and, as a result, to
recast the thinking in improved form.
A
Field
Guide to Critical Thinking
The Critical Thinking
Consortium
Skepticism
The forces of pseudoscience and mysticism would have us believe all
sorts
of ludicrous (but exciting) claims. Maintaining a skeptical attitude
toward
claims of the paranormal is our only defense.
Robert T. Carroll's Skeptic's
Dictionary is a great source for definitions of terms in both
skeptical
and pseudoscientific thinking.
The Committee for the Scientific
Investigation
of Claims Of the Paranormal is dedicated to uncovering the truth
behind
paranormal claims. It's a thankless job. Write them email and thank
them.
Evolution
"In the broadest sense, evolution is merely change, and so is
all-pervasive;
galaxies, languages, and political systems all evolve. Biological
evolution
... is change in the properties of populations of organisms that
transcend
the lifetime of a single individual. The ontogeny of an individual is
not
considered evolution; individual organisms do not evolve. The changes
in
populations that are considered evolutionary are those that are
inheritable
via the genetic material from one generation to the next. Biological
evolution
may be slight or substantial; it embraces everything from slight
changes
in the proportion of different alleles within a population (such as
those
determining blood types) to the successive alterations that led from
the
earliest protoorganism to snails, bees, giraffes, and dandelions."
- Douglas J. Futuyma in Evolutionary Biology, Sinauer Associates
1986
The Talk.Origins Archive.
The ongoing Search for
Extra-Terrestrial
Intelligence
The National Center for
Science
Education
Memetics
Human knowledge evolves by mechanisms similar to biological evolution:
over the long run, by blind variation, accurate replication, and
selective
elimination. The term which encapsulates this metaphor with genes is
"meme".
The World of Richard Dawkins,
originator of the concept of memes.
Arukat's Meme
Workshop.
Complexity And Chaos
There are many different complex phenomena in each field of science.
Until
now it has been difficult to compare phenomena between fields of
science,
such as physics, chemistry, biology, anthropology, and economics, in a
systematic manner because it has appeared that the properties and
processes
of these phenomena are radically different. However, there does seem to
be some similarity between the evolution of radically different complex
phenomena such as stars, planets, and life. The science of complexity
is
beginning to shed some light on this similarity, and it appears there
is
some important commonalty between the sciences.
The Santa Fe Institute is the
world's leading center for Complexity studies.
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the term used to describe the precision manufacture
of
materials and structures of molecular dimensions. Many of the goals of
nanotechnology were expressed nearly 40 years ago by the physicist
Richard
P. Feynman. Molecular-scale robots currently exist only in the
imaginations
of nanotechnologists and the artists who depict their ideas. But some
technological
visionaries, led by K. Eric Drexler, think that the dream will soon
become
a reality that will transform everything from health care to food
production.
(Drexler's ideas are outlined in his book Engines of Creation).
The Foresight Institute's
goal
is to guide emerging technologies to improve the human condition.
Foresight
focuses its efforts upon nanotechnology, the coming ability to build
materials
and products with atomic precision, and upon systems that will enhance
knowledge exchange and critical discussion, thus improving public and
private
policy decisions.
Dr Ralph Merkle on
nanotechnology.
Artificial Life
Artificial Life ("AL" or "Alife") is the name given to a new discipline
that studies "natural" life by attempting to recreate biological
phenomena
from scratch within computers and other "artificial" media. Alife
complements
the traditional analytic approach of traditional biology with a
synthetic
approach in which, rather than studying biological phenomena by taking
apart living organisms to see how they work, one attempts to put
together
systems that behave like living organisms.
Artificial Life Online
Cryonics
Cryonic suspension is an experimental procedure whereby patients who no
longer can be kept alive using today's medical technology are preserved
at low temperature for treatment in the future.
The Alcor Foundation, a
provider
of cryonics services.
The CryoNet Home Page.
A Cryonics FAQ.
Life Extension
The Life Extension Society.
Longevity-Science.Org - a scientific and educational website on human longevity from the Center on Aging,
NORC/University of Chicago.
Transhumanism & Extropianism
Transhumanism is a philosophy that humanity can, and should, strive to
higher levels, both physically, mentally and socially. It encourages
research
into such areas as life extension, cryonics, nanotechnology, physical
and
mental enhancements, uploading human consciousness into computers and
megascale
engineering.
Extropy is a measure of intelligence, information, energy, vitality,
experience, diversity, opportunity, and growth (the metaphorical
opposite
of 'entropy'). Extropianism is a transhumanist philosophy concerned
with
maximizing extropy.
Much of the Extropian movement is politically Libertarian. I'm not,
though I sympathize with their motivations. Many Extropians favor some
degree of decriminalization for recreational or mind-altering drugs. I
am skeptical about the notion that these drugs have any practical
value.
Foundations
of Transhumanism
The World Transhumanist
Association
A page of Transhuman Resources
The Extropy Institute
The Hedonistic Imperative
outlines how third-millennium nanotechnology, genetic engineering and
psychopharmacology
will eradicate the biological substrates of aversive experience in
sentient
life. I've been thinking about this, and it seems to me that the total
elimination of all suffering, from severe pain to nagging annoyances,
would
be about the same as non-existence. No worries, no motivations, right?
Still, I *am* in favor of a more limited and cautious assault on
suffering,
so I'm leaving this link in.
Philosophy
Principia Cybernetica.
The Project's aim is the computer-supported collaborative development
of
an evolutionary-systemic philosophy. Put more simply, PCP tries to
tackle
age-old philosophical questions with the help of the most recent
cybernetic
theories and technologies.
The Church Of Virus, a
memetically
engineered atheistic religion.
Click here to return to Jeff Dee's Home Page
Jeff Dee / unigames@prismnet.com