Top all-time · #13072
SelfAwarePatterns
Personal blog · selfawarepatterns.comphilosophyscience
SelfAwarePatterns is a personal blog at selfawarepatterns.com about philosophy and science. Since 2015, 6 different Hacker News readers have linked it 12 times, most often “Can a Rock Think? (2016)”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-20, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (4) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
The linked posts cover philosophy of mind, including Mary's room and physicalism, and consciousness. Commenters cite or quote them in discussion of those topics, without judging the writing.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 4 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Ponderings of science, philosophy, history, society, and many other topics
Most-linked posts?
- Can a Rock Think? (2016)2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2020-05-26
What Hacker News says?
https://selfawarepatterns.com/2020/09/04/the-problem-with-ma... > In other words, if physicalism is true, then Mary’s complete knowledge of all the physical facts will include knowledge of what it is like to experience color. When she does have the actual experience for the first time, there should be no surprises. If there are, then she didn’t really have all the physical facts.
Comment linking /2020/09/04/the-problem-with-marys-room/
on “Is the Sun Conscious? (2021) [pdf]”Submitted The Problem With The Knowledge Argument as a story · 2 points
HN discussion1. Tyson dismissed the intellectual value of philosophy in a podcast, which led to criticism from those within the discipline[1]. 2. He has been quoted saying, "What they teach in the humanities is not 'skepticism' or 'critical thinking.' It's mental masturbation disguised as critical thinking"[5]. 3. Tyson warned that philosophy "can really mess you up" and has implied that philosophy does not progress in the way s…
Comment linking /2014/05/14/more-thoughts-on-neil-degrasse-tysons-attitude-toward-philosophy/
on “"Are We Automata?" by William James (1879)”Submitted Mind Uploading And Continuity as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSo just to start with... Every legitimate physicist accepts that time travel and other major causality paradoxes are an inevitable result of ANY mechanism that provides a meaningful version of FTL travel or communication. This is provable from the math of special relativity. You need some algebra to show it, but the proof isn't super difficult if you already understand the math of special relativity . • https://phys…
Comment linking /2019/02/03/why-faster-than-light-travel-is-inevitably-also-time-travel/
on “Breaking the warp barrier: solitons in Einstein–Maxwell-plasma theory (2021)”Submitted Are Rocks Conscious? (2016) as a story · 1 points
HN discussionWhen Gopi Krishna says of the scientist "when we ask him how did it take a leap, he is dumb" and then references Darwin, he's revealing a lack of understanding of the scientific process. Darwin knew he lacked a lot of crucial knowledge -- including how heredity works. Some of the blanks have been filled in, some have not -- or only partially. Darwin's ignorance doesn't undercut his greatness or imply the limits of s…
Comment linking /2014/10/16/the-attention-schema-theory-of-consciousness-deserves-your-attention/
on “Consciousness Is Worth Thinking About”Submitted The Unity Of Storage And Processing In Nervous Systems as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Why I’m enjoying The Rings of Power more than House of the Dragon as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted What Does It Mean To Be “Like Something”? as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Forlorn Search for Moral Realism as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Can a Rock Think? (2016) as a story · 1 points
HN discussion
