Philosophy Wire: Collective intelligence…

A new study has demonstrated that using the 'wisdom of crowds' (also known as collective intelligence) of three or more medical prescribers, can improve decisions about antibiotic prescribing and help combat rising levels of antibiotic resistance. [1] Collective intelligence. Collective actions. Collective decisions. Seemingly better than the individual ones. But are there individual decisions? Could there be individual intelligence? We are all here together. And whenever I think, all of you think as well. My parents who raised me, my fiends who talked with me, my enemies who pushed me, my children who laughed at me, all those people who never knew me. Yes, collective intelligence is better than the individual one. But only because the latter - even though a prerequisite of the former - does not even exist... Listen to me. And then go think about it alone for a second...

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Can you sense the Cosmos tremble?

Researchers have shown that over the past two thousand years, volcanoes have played a larger role in natural temperature variability than previously thought, and their climatic effects may have contributed to past societal and economic change. [1] Look at the economy. Study history. Look at empires fall. Try to understand how empires rise. Analyze data. Can't you feel the rage? Can you sense the Earth tremble? The earthquake will kill us all. And at that moment we will smile. For we will realize. That it was the same exact earthquake who have given birth to us...

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Consciousness. Brain. Interconnections.

A research found two main patterns of communication across brain regions, with regards to the differences between conscious and unconscious states.

One simply reflected physical connections of the brain, such as communication only between pairs of regions that have a direct physical link between them. This was seen in patients with virtually no conscious experience.

The other represented very complex brain-wide dynamic interactions across a set of 42 brain regions that belong to six brain networks with important roles in cognition. This complex pattern was almost only present in people with some level of consciousness. (this complex pattern disappeared when patients were under deep anesthesia) [1]

In other words: Consciousness seems related to remote areas of the brain interconnected. While the lack of consciousness seems related to a state in which only neighboring areas are functionally connected.

Going at a larger scale, we can see a man who only has his brain neurons interconnected as “unconscious” in relation to the wider universe. A man fully utilizing the whole network of his brain can be completely unaware of the cosmos around him, in the same way the neurons in a specific area of his brain are completely unaware of what is happening in the brain as a whole, during unconscious states.

At the end, what seems important is the interconnection of every point to create a full picture. And by irrational deduction, we can conclude that the interconnection with no points at all is the ultimate goal we should reach. Because at the end, being interconnected with everything means that anything “else” will stop being and everything will be considered as part of “us”.

Grow. Reach out.
Interconnect.
Discover the cosmos.

And you will see that there is no cosmos… 

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Quantum entanglement, Post selection, One.

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2014-09-26]: Quantum entanglement: Two entangled particles share a single quantum state: they behave as one and cannot be described individually. Measuring one instantaneously affects the other, no matter how far apart they become, an oddity that prompted Einstein to describe entanglement as "spooky action at a distance". However, for this to happen the particles must have interacted in some way when they came into existence, which may mean only a small fraction of the particles in the universe are entangled at any given time.

To continue the tour in the weird world of quantum mechanics, Yakir Aharonov, in the 1960s, showed that, mathematically speaking, a system's properties can be influenced by measurements made in the future. Aharonov has been studying the strange consequences of this "post-selection" process ever since.

Now Aharonov, Tollaksen, Sandu Popescu and their colleagues show mathematically that post-selection should link any two particles every time their quantum properties are measured, no matter where they are in the universe. In other words, all particles everywhere could be linked, provided they have been post-selected in some way. "Is that mind-blowing or is that mind-blowing?" Tollaksen says. [1]

I think I will stop writing.
We are all One. You already know what I have to say. You will read it in the future...

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Bacteria, synchronization, light...

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2014-08-29]: Bacteria synchronizing themselves. Either with the help of light or without it. [1] From bacteria to humans, we are all dancing in the same tune. And as something unites organisms of the same species together, there must be something which unites all species together. Because after all, the boundaries between species are only in our mind. Let go. Try to hear the music...

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Essential elements...

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2014-07-18]: Twenty-seven chemical elements are considered to be essential for human life. Now there is a 28th: bromine. In a new paper, researchers establish for the first time that bromine, among the 92 naturally-occurring chemical elements in the universe, is the 28th element essential for tissue development in all animals, from primitive sea creatures to humans. [1] We like tagging things. We like to analyze things. But in a world where everything is interconnected, how can anything NOT be essential? Let the butterfly fly. And you will see worlds coming to an end...

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Weather, interconnections, One...

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2014-06-08]: Long-distance atmospheric connections between the North and South poles are linking weather and climate in distant parts of the globe, according to data from a NASA spacecraft. These so-called "teleconnections" explain why the winter air temperature in Indianapolis, Ind., during the so-called polar vortex correlated with a reduction in high-altitude clouds over Antarctica, thousands of miles away, researchers say. [1] We are all part of One. Affecting each other. From the cold weather to cold emotions, from the warmth of the Sun to the warmth in ones heart... All together... In a world full of love... Feel the warmth of snow. Laugh at the thunder's noise. I am. Here.

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Facebook, Internet, an old man by the tree...

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2014-05-15]:

Facebook trying to spread Internet everywhere.
We are coming close to an Internet of Things (IoT) where all devices will be interconnected at 5G speeds, not only at Earth but even in space. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Humans are gone.
Only inanimate matter is left.
We have CHOSEN not to be.
And we are not.
The world is an empty place now.
Our soul gone.
But keep smiling.
At least we have the... Internet of THINGS!
An old man stands under a tree.
Without Internet.
He smiles.
He Is.
There is still hope.
Smile!

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…