The bet on consciousness at the end of its 25 years

None of the bettors could win Christof Koch got screwed. The neuroscientist bet in 1998 with the philosopher David Chalmers that neurosciences will be able to detect, in the next 25 years, a specific signature of consciousness in the brain, that is to say a measure of activity which makes it possible to distinguish between … Read more

The T<>D principle in sociology

This article sheds original light on the violence of 2023 in France, redefining what true participatory democracy can be. Abstract: The individualist principle is easy to locate in my unique body, while my solidarity principle is lost in a maze of social circles with less and less identity. Intimate circles focus and strengthen my empathy. … Read more

In praise of Hard Centrism

“Bringing centrists together is like driving a wheelbarrow full of frogs: they jump all over the place.”François Bayrou Half goat cheese half cabbage Peggy Sastre praises the half-goat half-cabbage in Le Point of March 16, 2023. She praises the courage of not taking sides and “making it known to slow the progression of extremes, of … Read more

A musical AI in 1982

Abstract: The story of my musical AI born in 1982 on a Sinclair ZX Spectrum, inexhaustible creator fallen into oblivion. Motivation ? An absence of instrumental talent contrasting with a fascination for sound synthesis and cosmic symphonies. Spectral Intelligence The 80s are the beginning of personal computing. I invest in 1982 in a Zinclair ZX … Read more

Sensitivity readers or new breed of inquisitors?

Abstract: Authors write about people, not for them. Essential nuance and yet misunderstood by editors assisted by ‘sensitivity readers’. A misunderstanding caused by a misconception of the collective? Bram Stoker redacted by Dracula Dracula, hired as Bram Stoker’s sensitive reader, rewrote his vampire classic. How did this author of the Barbarian Ages have the audacity … Read more

A disturbance called ego…

From the Casimir effect and other properties of the quantum vacuum, Vlatko Vedral shows that everything that exists comes from this vacuum, from a Nothing that is Everything, with infinite energy. What I see as a great illustration of the T<>D principle and double look: From the point of view of an individual (Vlatko), Everything … Read more

It is top-down causation that is fundamental

Abstract: The errors of top-down/teleological causality make one think that only the bottom-up/ontological has fundamental value. It is however the first which is entirely creative of our mental scenes, including by lending to reality per se its models, without having direct access to it. Bottom-up causality is fundamentally constitutive of our reality, which hovers over … Read more

Don’t confuse grumbling with complaining

At me or at others Grumbling is directed at me. I blame myself for forcing myself to a task. And I will carry it out, no matter how bitter this inner conflict. Complaining is directed at the other. I resent the other or others for the slavery felt in my tasks, without sufficient compensation. I … Read more