Archive for May, 2009
Monday, May 25th, 2009
Is the Singularity a Cult? A Nonviolent Debate
Last week I critiqued the Singularity and its chief guru Ray Kurzweil in Newsweek. The piece ended this way:
“Part of me—the part that thrilled at prospects for artificial intelligence almost 30 years ago—finds Kurzweil’s prophesies highly entertaining. He raises lots of provocative questions: What would be like to be immortal? To have an IQ of [...]
21 Comments » - Posted in The Scientific Curmudgeon by John Horgan
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
Holier-Than-Thou Buddhists
Is there anyone smugger, more sanctimonious, holier than thou than a western Buddhist? I find myself pondering this question once again as a result of recent remarks by monster blogger Andrew Sullivan. For some reason (and I’m not complaining, PR beggars can’t be choosers these days) he recently posted a snippet of my 2003 critique [...]
3 Comments » - Posted in The Scientific Curmudgeon by John Horgan
Sunday, May 10th, 2009
A Soldier Fighting for the End of War
My blatherings on warfare have neglected the views of soldiers, who unlike me and most war scholars know war from the inside. I was thus thrilled when Paul K. Chappell, a U.S. Army Captain, recently mailed me his short, passionate, powerful book Will War Ever End? A Soldier’s Vision of Peace for the 21st Century. [...]