From the dawn of human civilization, science and technology has been a way to improve human life. One of the first inventions, the spear, was made in order to give early man an easier, more efficient, way to gather food. The wheel, which paved the way to modern cars, created an easier way for us to move heavy objects over long distances, or to travel more quickly.
happiness
Presentism and Imagination, Depression
How much would you enjoy a nice big slice of pizza right now? Ignoring the fact that somehow there are people out there who don’t like pizza any time, I would be willing to guess that those of you who are hungry, would enjoy it very much. Those of you who just ate, probably wouldn’t. In fact, if you just ate so much that you are stuffed, the idea of eating pizza which you might otherwise love, might just make you feel a little sick. All animals can predict the hedonic consequences of events they’ve experienced before. But humans can predict the hedonic consequences of events they’ve never experienced by simulating those events in their minds. Scientists are beginning to understand how the brain simulates future events, how it uses those simulations to predict an event’s hedonic consequences, and why these predictions so often go awry. (Prospection: Experiencing the Future) […]
The Sentence
As I am sure none of you know, I had a minor in college. While I graduated with a Major in Computer Engineering, my official minor was philosophy. A pretty odd combination, I know. I have always been a thinker, and I very much enjoy reading the thoughts of others. As such, I read a lot. When I say I read a lot, though, I am sort of cheating. I should say, I read a lot of stuff, online. Recently though, I have been trying to make a conscious effort to read more books. A recent blog article I read, which was actually about XML, made mention of a book. It didn’t say anything really about the book, and it didn’t really suggest that I should read the book, but I decided to pick it up anyhow. Seemed like as good a place to start as any. The book is […]