intellect
Insightful post about reason, abstract thinking, and science, highlighting gifted science fiction influencers.
The Voice of the Universe
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom the emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead —his eyes are closed. The insight into the mystery of life, coupled though it be with fear, has also given rise to religion. To know what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty, which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their most primitive forms — this knowledge, this feeling is at the centre of true religiousness.” - Albert Einstein.
By Alva v.Harzi9 years ago in Futurism
The Matrix: Sci-Phi...?
What if I told you that no one can be told what the Matrix is, they can only be shown? What if I said that the laws of physics protected this exact knowledge from ever being realized from inside of the Matrix? What if I wrote this whole article with “What if” statements? Nah, that’d be bloody insufferable. However, I wanted to illustrate that certain fundamental things about the universe may very well prevent our ever being able to see what the purpose of everything really is. An excellent philosophical analogy, believe it or else, is “The Matrix” series by the Wachowski siblings. It involves a much grander scale, and obviously, that movie was a work of fiction: art. However, the purpose of art is to convey ideas through a medium, and in this case, the medium is story telling.
By Mickey Finn9 years ago in Futurism
The Wickedness of A.I.
Like with most things in life “There's no rose without a thorn”, in other words, there are going to be some negative points to this tale, and they don't exactly sound very reassuring, quite the contrary. Some of these have even been the target of works of fiction, TV series, games, podcasts, you name it, it has been done; movies like The Matrix, The Terminator, AI, 2001 space odyssey, and the movie adaptation of Marvel's Avengers (where the main villain is a being of "evil" artificial intelligence). Almost every apocalyptic scenario, every "machine turn on the humans that created them" scenario has been covered one way or another. These works of fiction can to some extent be seen as cautionary tales to what may come if ethics and caution are put aside.
By Tomás Brandão9 years ago in Futurism
Where X Marks the Spot: An Interview with Steve Barnes
Steve Barnes is a writer, lecturer, personal performance coach and a killer philosopher. He has published more than 25 science fiction, fantasy and horror novels, including New York Times bestsellers. He’s been nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, and Cable Ace Awards. And he wrote the Emmy winning episode, “A Stitch In Time” for Showtime’s the Outer Limits. He’s also written for the New Twilight Zone, StarGate, Andromeda, and Ben 10. I got to sit with Steve to discuss his viewpoints on the state of the field, life, the universe, and everything in-between.
By Joshua Sky9 years ago in Futurism
Primordial Beginnings
A preface of sorts, although the concept is then incongruous: “Without motion, time could not exist. The static is eternal, the dynamic bounded by time. Energy and matter, at their most elemental, require some space, or so it would seem, even if but infinitesimal”.
By Guillermo Calvo9 years ago in Futurism
Magnetic Energy: Lindbergh's Secret
As long as there continues to be more oil discoveries instead of developing and implementing renewable green energy sources, global warming will continue to get more intense. The pursuit for more power, control, and wealth by the current energy conglomerates that continue to use fuel sources of the first and second industrial revolution has always prevailed. They have always trumped those who seek renewable green energy sources that would benefit all of mankind and achieve a balance with nature. Lives have been sacrificed, the natural balance of the planet has been compromised, and mankind has always been the unwitting victim of the greed by the powers that be. Their unquenchable thirst has wrought mayhem and destruction on a global scale for over a hundred years. All one has to do to realize just how far they will go is just look what happened to the Tucker Automobile. The ice caps melting at alarming rates is yet another sure sign that our consumption of fossil fuels has only accelerated climate change all over the world.
By Dr. Williams9 years ago in Futurism
Questing in the Valley of the Lonely and the Lost
Questing in the Valley of the Lonely and the Lost The great adventures: the greatest adventures, the most daring and thus the most final. Will I ever dare them? If only for an instant, the smallest segment of a nanosecond perhaps?
By Guillermo Calvo9 years ago in Futurism
