tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15644559.post7322342432718304747..comments2024-03-21T03:55:51.565-07:00Comments on Omniorthogonal: Singularity Summit interim reviewmtravenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02356162954308418556noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15644559.post-59990726432472384032010-08-16T09:58:44.578-07:002010-08-16T09:58:44.578-07:00"Anita Goel got swarmed because she touched o...<i>"Anita Goel got swarmed because she touched on metaphysics."</i><br /><br />I'm not sure what you are asking, but my point was that people are more interested in metaphysics than science, whether they are for or against transcendence or consciousness as fundamental or whatever. Being opposed to religion effectively is a religion and this happens to be one of its meeting places. <br /><br /><i>Do you think it's possible to deny the existence of the transcendent (Auster's spider-sense is tingling) while not constituting a religion? </i><br /><br />Actually, no, not really. During the conference I came up with the idea of "conservation of transcendence". Scientific materialism ostensibly kills transcendence, but it pops up again like a bad if shiny penny. The singulatarians represent the leading edge of this tendency, although it was mostly held in check at this meeting.mtravenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02356162954308418556noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15644559.post-90566199584490247502010-08-15T22:35:43.595-07:002010-08-15T22:35:43.595-07:00"Partly this is just because science is hard ..."Partly this is just because science is hard but everybody thinks they are a qualified metaphysician. And partly it's because what brought people to this gathering was a pseudo-religion and they are feeling like victims of bait-and-switch if all they get is boring, down-to-earth science."<br />Sounds like the opposite. You said most of the presentations were just about science, but Anita Goel got swarmed because she touched on metaphysics.<br /><br />Do you think it's possible to deny the existence of the transcendent (Auster's spider-sense is tingling) while not constituting a religion?TGGPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11017651009634767649noreply@blogger.com