Harrison practising being a nature photographer as he rode around the lake. #dadpride #wholeworldathisfeet #lovethisguysgusto from Instagram: http://ift.tt/1WRHntW
March 27, 2016 at 06:56PM
March 27, 2016 at 04:07PM
Happy Easter everyone, whatever that actually means….. from Instagram: http://ift.tt/1RD1zeE
March 25, 2016 at 04:13PM
H-man helping out his parents pull apart the kitchen. #themortonsrenovate from Instagram: http://ift.tt/1oag8yI
March 24, 2016 at 09:08PM
Totally appropriate shirt for the premiere of #batmanvsuperman in #goldclass tonight. #herecomethebeers #marvelwins from Instagram: http://ift.tt/21IuELj
March 22, 2016 at 05:48PM
Just back from the ophthalmologist and Harrison’s pupils still haven’t contracted; where are his brilliant blue eyes! #megapupils from Instagram: http://ift.tt/1pZ96hQ
Book 12 for 2016: Superintelligence
Book 12 for 2016: Superintelligence
I have had this book waiting in my kindle all year, but it seems so daunting being written by a philosopher, and tackling some heady issues. Thus I had been picking some easier reads instead of delving in.
I have to say though, I do like the grand nature of the issue being tackled. Sure it may sound like science fiction, but if we are indeed working towards artificial intelligence, even a little, then this is clearly an issue, and a possible threat, that we need to be devoting our time to understanding.
So while the book itself may not solve any of the problems it elucidates, indeed many of these problems may never even come to be true, it is nevertheless a worthwhile undertaking simply to try and wrap our heads around the idea of Superintelligence, and how it will impact humanity.
It reminds me of one of my favourite Bertrand Russell quotes, where the philosopher explains why he thinks philosophy is a worthwhile pursuit. It’s worth reading, despite it being one of the largest sentences I can recall reading (it has two semicolons!):
“Philosophy is to be studied, not for the sake of any definite answers to its questions since no definite answers can, as a rule, be known to be true, but rather for the sake of the questions themselves; because these questions enlarge our conception of what is possible, enrich our intellectual imagination and diminish the dogmatic assurance which closes the mind against speculation; but above all because, through the greatness of the universe which philosophy contemplates, the mind also is rendered great, and becomes capable of that union with the universe which constitutes its highest good.” – Bertrand Russell, Problems of Philosophy
#2016inbooks #Superintelligence #ElonMuskWillSaveUs #bertrandrussell from Instagram: http://ift.tt/1Vxft7Y
I have had this book waiting in my kindle all year, but it seems so daunting being written by a philosopher, and tackling some heady issues. Thus I had been picking some easier reads instead of delving in.
I have to say though, I do like the grand nature of the issue being tackled. Sure it may sound like science fiction, but if we are indeed working towards artificial intelligence, even a little, then this is clearly an issue, and a possible threat, that we need to be devoting our time to understanding.
So while the book itself may not solve any of the problems it elucidates, indeed many of these problems may never even come to be true, it is nevertheless a worthwhile undertaking simply to try and wrap our heads around the idea of Superintelligence, and how it will impact humanity.
It reminds me of one of my favourite Bertrand Russell quotes, where the philosopher explains why he thinks philosophy is a worthwhile pursuit. It’s worth reading, despite it being one of the largest sentences I can recall reading (it has two semicolons!):
“Philosophy is to be studied, not for the sake of any definite answers to its questions since no definite answers can, as a rule, be known to be true, but rather for the sake of the questions themselves; because these questions enlarge our conception of what is possible, enrich our intellectual imagination and diminish the dogmatic assurance which closes the mind against speculation; but above all because, through the greatness of the universe which philosophy contemplates, the mind also is rendered great, and becomes capable of that union with the universe which constitutes its highest good.” – Bertrand Russell, Problems of Philosophy
#2016inbooks #Superintelligence #ElonMuskWillSaveUs #bertrandrussell from Instagram: http://ift.tt/1Vxft7Y
March 21, 2016 at 08:55AM
How is this quote useful? What is it meant to inspire me to do; age? I don’t need inspiration to do that, it’s involuntary… #booksarebetter from Instagram: http://ift.tt/1pVsEDK
Book 11 for 2016: The Rosie Project
Book 11 for 2016: The Rosie Project
I like being surprised by things that I wouldn’t expect to usually like. This is why I am a massive Downton Abbey fan, for instance.
So the next book on my 2016 read list come from a recommendation by Bill Gates (not to me personally, but he did give it to at least 50 people: http://ift.tt/22K7mrN); The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion.
On the face of it, this book doesn’t really fall into a category that usually attracts me. For instance, it appears to be a love story. The blurb tells of the main characters goal to find a wife, and the cover is literally adorned with a man carrying flowers; not what I usually read. But then again I don’t want to close myself off to new experiences, and considering I have gone through something of a Bill Gates respect renaissance over the past few years, I sent it to the top of my read pile.
Plus after reading the first few pages I was surprised to find it is written by an Aussie author! Nice to see places like Shepparton and Melbourne mentioned in a story once in a while.
#2016inbooks #TheRosieProject #GiveSomethingDifferentATry from Instagram: http://ift.tt/1R4SVtl
I like being surprised by things that I wouldn’t expect to usually like. This is why I am a massive Downton Abbey fan, for instance.
So the next book on my 2016 read list come from a recommendation by Bill Gates (not to me personally, but he did give it to at least 50 people: http://ift.tt/22K7mrN); The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion.
On the face of it, this book doesn’t really fall into a category that usually attracts me. For instance, it appears to be a love story. The blurb tells of the main characters goal to find a wife, and the cover is literally adorned with a man carrying flowers; not what I usually read. But then again I don’t want to close myself off to new experiences, and considering I have gone through something of a Bill Gates respect renaissance over the past few years, I sent it to the top of my read pile.
Plus after reading the first few pages I was surprised to find it is written by an Aussie author! Nice to see places like Shepparton and Melbourne mentioned in a story once in a while.
#2016inbooks #TheRosieProject #GiveSomethingDifferentATry from Instagram: http://ift.tt/1R4SVtl
Book 10 for 2016: Tilt
Book 10 for 2016: Tilt
Not quite sure how this book found its way to the top of my ‘to-read’ pile, but as I churned through the short kindle read in less than two nights this post is more of a mini-review than an introduction.
Tilt bills itself as a climate change thriller, which is what originally spurred me into buying it, but where previous ‘cli-fi’ books I had read focused on the science, and how people would deal with it, the entirety of this novel appears to be a conspiracy theory/assassin/political thriller. While there is nothing wrong with that, it wasn’t what I was hoping for.
I loved Kim Staley Robinsons ‘Science in the Capital’ trilogy because it dealt with climate change as a real challenge to be dealt with by real people in practical ways. I enjoyed The Water Knife because it gave a pretty clear picture of how things could all go wrong. But Tilt seemed to focus too much on trying to tie together multiple conspiracy theories (climate change isn’t caused by fossil fuels, MH370, the Rise of China and the doomed Air New Zealand Flight 901 all feature), while the central mystery to the story slowly fizzles, and remains insufficiently explained by the end of the book.
That all being said, this was the writer’s first book, and there is a lot of promise and things to enjoy.
#2016inbooks #clifi #DontKnowIfActualConspiracryTheoristOrJustAQuickBitOfFiction from Instagram: http://ift.tt/1S9mvgr
Not quite sure how this book found its way to the top of my ‘to-read’ pile, but as I churned through the short kindle read in less than two nights this post is more of a mini-review than an introduction.
Tilt bills itself as a climate change thriller, which is what originally spurred me into buying it, but where previous ‘cli-fi’ books I had read focused on the science, and how people would deal with it, the entirety of this novel appears to be a conspiracy theory/assassin/political thriller. While there is nothing wrong with that, it wasn’t what I was hoping for.
I loved Kim Staley Robinsons ‘Science in the Capital’ trilogy because it dealt with climate change as a real challenge to be dealt with by real people in practical ways. I enjoyed The Water Knife because it gave a pretty clear picture of how things could all go wrong. But Tilt seemed to focus too much on trying to tie together multiple conspiracy theories (climate change isn’t caused by fossil fuels, MH370, the Rise of China and the doomed Air New Zealand Flight 901 all feature), while the central mystery to the story slowly fizzles, and remains insufficiently explained by the end of the book.
That all being said, this was the writer’s first book, and there is a lot of promise and things to enjoy.
#2016inbooks #clifi #DontKnowIfActualConspiracryTheoristOrJustAQuickBitOfFiction from Instagram: http://ift.tt/1S9mvgr
My son loves to read
This is my boy Harrison. He loves to read. Anywhere, anyhow. This is how I found him reading the other morning over the course of half an hour. Strange awesome little dude.
#dadpride #bookworm #booksrock from Instagram: http://ift.tt/1RSuUSM
#dadpride #bookworm #booksrock from Instagram: http://ift.tt/1RSuUSM
A Moment Worth 