Category: Culture & Ethics
Can a Computer Think?
The Turing test isn’t a test of a computer. Computers can’t take tests, because computers can’t think. The Turing test is a test of us. If a computer “passes” it, we fail it.
Review of Saving Leonardo
We often focus on individual issues: The latest headline on faith in science in public schools, the latest research paper on biological systems, or the latest book on evolutionary theory. We live in a world of fast-paced news and sound bites. How often do we step back and think about why these issues are in the news?
NPR Describes Way it Covers Science
What NPR has decided is that there is only one correct side to the issue and that the critics will be heard only in the political content of the debate, not the scientific.
Wallace Gets “Darwinized”
Purveyors of the reigning journalistic paradigm have taken trouble to marginalize the co-discoverer of evolution by natural selection — missing the true picture of the consummate empiricist.
Does Watson Have a Mind?
There has been much discussion about the recent appearance on Jeopardy of a computer named Watson. Watson has played against human contestants, and has provided uncannily accurate answers to some questions. Can Watson actually think? Does Watson have a mind?