Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, recently said: I am optimistic. I think you can build things and the world gets better. But with AI especially, I am really optimistic. Source: Zuckerberg and Musk are both wrong about AI | Ars Technica I agree. But with every new technology, starting with the very first hominid who picked […]
Today in 1854 Henry David Thoreau published Walden. At SPEX we like to use Thoreau’s Walden as a starting point for many of our programs. Walden is a great example of what can happen when we step outside, wander onto a trail, or push off from shore into the pull of a river. We gain […]
Philosophers can come up with some pretty wacky ideas. Or at least it seems so. When Cicero said that <a href=
I’m picking up where I left off on the last post about Laurie Anderson and the importance of being tender. One of the most tender moments in her film was when she described the walks she used to take with her rat terrier, Lolabelle, in northern California. LAURIE ANDERSON’S HEART OF A DOG After 9/11, […]
Death makes us think about life. Laurie Anderson’s documentary/art film Heart of a Dog invites us to think about both. These serious subjects are balanced by an approach that is both comic and courageous. Anderson is brutally, and beautifully, honest. But she’s not necessarily easy to follow. That’s why I’m glad I watched the interview […]
“I find your lack of faith disturbing.” – Darth Vader The Star Wars series is great, and not just for the action and special effects, but also for the philosophical concepts. What is the nature of the Force? What are good and evil? Do droids think? Do they dream? Do they have any rights? I […]
Sometimes songs are confusing. And then they’re not. Like life. Last night after an amazing class at Sedona Hot Yoga I was settling into Savasana. The music was new—slow, soothing chords. But then the music changed into an irritating tapping and clacking . What happened? Where were the soothing chords? They came back, but then […]