Humanity’s Next God: You? In a recent article in The Economist, futurist Paul Saffo claims humanity’s overdue for a new god. He points out that throughout history, great new religions took shape during times characterized by uncertainty and social unrest, combined with an ability to spread compelling new ideas and world views virally. And here we are today, he says, equipped with the Web as our communication channel, and a cultural climate bubbling with that same potential for something new to emerge. The article ends there, with only an image of worshippers gathered around an iPad to suggest where we might be placing our faith next. It was just a prompt, but it’s made me wonder.. is this where we’re headed? Will the next “great” mythology be a story about how technology is going to save us? If a new zeitgeist were to capture the minds of billions, what might it look like? Perhaps it’s time to advance our collective story. We continue to grow more connected, more informed, more intelligent, and more dangerous.
Guy Kawasaki (GuyKawasaki) Loneliness can spread through social networks, study suggests -- Preserving Cabrini-Green's images In the sharp sun of an April afternoon, Nate Lanthrum walks through the remains of Cabrini-Green giving away what he has taken. He looks out of place, a white guy carrying a $1,500 Nikon D700 camera, but the residents are used to him by now and greet... Blackhawks thrilled to have Brent Seabrook back Starting with Game 6 Sunday, Brent Seabrook's timeout will be over and the defenseman will be back on the ice — so long as he promises to play nice. NFL draft preview: Defensive ends As the NFL draft nears — it takes place May 8-10 — we're taking an 11-day, position-by-position look at what's out there and what the Bears need. In May 1974, Tribune delivered 2 Watergate bombshells Forty years ago this Thursday, Tribune readers found an extraordinary special section in their morning paper — a 44-page transcript of taped Oval Office conversations, the long-sought smoking gun of Watergate, perhaps the greatest political crisis... Northwestern women win at Wrigley
Facing Up to the Problem of Consciousness David J. Chalmers Department of Philosophy University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721 chalmers@arizona.edu [Published in the Journal of Consciousness Studies 2(3):200-19, 1995. 1 Introduction Consciousness poses the most baffling problems in the science of the mind. To make progress on the problem of consciousness, we have to confront it directly. 2 The easy problems and the hard problem There is not just one problem of consciousness. The easy problems of consciousness include those of explaining the following phenomena: the ability to discriminate, categorize, and react to environmental stimuli; the integration of information by a cognitive system; the reportability of mental states; the ability of a system to access its own internal states; the focus of attention; the deliberate control of behavior; the difference between wakefulness and sleep. All of these phenomena are associated with the notion of consciousness. The really hard problem of consciousness is the problem of experience.
Cindy King (CindyKing) 'Male Brain': Why men obsess over sex Louann Brizendine: Male and female brains mostly alike, but some profound differences existMen's sexual pursuit area 2.5 times larger than the one in the female brain, she writesShe says testosterone drives the "Man Trance"-- or a glazed-eye stare at breastsBrizendine: A wife's pheromones cause "Daddy Brain." Later, "Lovable Grandpa" or "Grumpy Old Man"? Editor's note: Dr. (CNN) -- Although women the world over have been doing it for centuries, we can't really blame a guy for being a guy. Our brains are mostly alike. The "defend your turf" area -- dorsal premammillary nucleus -- is larger in the male brain and contains special circuits to detect territorial challenges by other males. Meanwhile, the "I feel what you feel" part of the brain -- mirror-neuron system -- is larger and more active in the female brain. There's the 'Man Trance,' that glazed-eye look a man gets when he sees breasts. If testosterone were beer, a 9-year-old boy would be getting the equivalent of a cup a day.
Moving Forward on the Problem of Consciousness David J. Chalmers Department of Philosophy University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721 chalmers@arizona.edu Published in the Journal of Consciousness Studies 4(1):3-46. This paper is a response to the commentaries in the Journal of Consciousness Studies on my paper "Facing Up to the Problem of Consciousness." The 26 commentaries (with links to online versions when they exist) were by Bernard Baars, Douglas Bilodeau, Patricia Churchland, Tom Clark, C.J.S. I am very grateful to all the contributors to this symposium for their thoughtful comments. When I wrote my paper, I had no idea that it would be subject to such close analysis. Because of the unexpected influence of the "hard problem" formulation, I have occasionally received far more credit than I deserve. The papers in the symposium are divided fairly evenly into those that take issue with aspects of my analysis, and those that provide positive approaches of their own. The reply has three main parts. 2.1 Deflationary analogies
55 Must Know Twitter Tools and Applications If you haven’t heard of TWITTER, than you are surely an endangered species!!!! Today twitter is omnipresent. The growth of Twitter has been phenomenal. Due to this growth more and more people are trying to learn everything that they can about it. Also because of such a popularity the rate at which its tools and apps have been growing is uncontrollable. These Twitter Apps are websites which have built-in scripts that complement Twitter and also some other social networking sites. We have segregated the list into Twitter General Apps, Twitter Mobile Apps, Twitter Adobe AIR Platform Apps, Twitter Search Apps, Twitter Statistics Apps, Real Time Tweets Interface Apps, Twitter Browser Add-ons General Tools and Apps TwitPic TwitPic allows you to post photos to their site and then tweet the same to Twitter. Twittercal Twittercal connects your Twitter account with Google Calendar. Twitpay Twitpay is a simple way to send payments via Twitter Twitterfeed Sit back and focus on your blog now. Twitturly twibs