Related papers: The Singularity May Be Near
Superintelligence is a hypothetical agent that possesses intelligence far surpassing that of the brightest and most gifted human minds. In light of recent advances in machine intelligence, a number of scientists, philosophers and…
There are many randomness notions. On the classical account, many of them are about whether a given infinite binary sequence is random for some given probability. If so, this probability turns out to be the same for all these notions, so…
Matter with an equation of state $p=-\rho/3$ may arise in certain scalar field theories, and the energy density of this matter decreases as $a^{-2}$ with the scale factor $a$ of the Universe. In this case, the Universe could be closed but…
Profile likelihood is the key tool for dealing with nuisance parameters in likelihood theory. It is often asserted, however, that profile likelihood is not a 'true' likelihood. One implication is that likelihood theory lacks the generality…
It is pointed out that the claim made by Joshi and Joshi [1], has not been rigorously demonstrated by them. A simpler and more correct proof is provided.
In this essay, I attempt to provide supporting evidence as well as some balance for the thesis on `Transforming socio-economics with a new epistemology' presented by Hollingworth and Mueller (2008). First, I review a personal highlight of…
In this short survey article, I discuss Bell's theorem and some strategies that attempt to avoid the conclusion of non-locality. I focus on two that intersect with the philosophy of probability: (1) quantum probabilities and (2)…
We discuss some aspects of recent research as well as more general issues about motivation, useful methods and open problems in the field of cosmological singularities. In particular, we review some of the approaches to the general area and…
What would a human hundreds or thousands times more intelligent than the brightest human ever born be like? We must admit we can hardly guess. A human being of such intelligence will be so radically different from us that it can hardly, if…
This short paper proposes an alternative theory to Anthropic Principle. According to our interpretation, the Universe is not "fine-tuned" for life, but "roughly-tuned" for computation and its biofilness is only a phenomenon. This standpoint…
We introduce a sharpened version of the well-known Lonely Runner Conjecture of Wills and Cusick. Given a real number $x$, let $\Vert x \Vert$ denote the distance from $x$ to the nearest integer. For each set of positive integer speeds $v_1,…
There are many ways we can not know. Even in systems that we created ourselves, as, for example, systems in mathematical logic, Go\"edel and Tarski's theorems impose limits on what we can know. As we try to speak of the real world, things…
There has been a recent spate of essays defending presentism, the view in the metaphysics of time according to which all and only present events or entities exist. What is particularly striking about this resurgence is that it takes place…
Applying a principle of "radical mundanity", this paper examines explanations for the lack of strong evidence for the presence of technology-using extraterrestrial civilizations (ETCs) in the Galaxy - the Fermi paradox. With this principle,…
All of the experiments supporting Einstein's Special Relativity Theory are also supportive of the Lorentz ether theory, or many other ether theories. However, a growing number of experiments show deviations from Einstein's Special…
We introduce and consider a certain probability question involving elementary number theory and the likelihood that a fixed prime will appear in a certain recursively defined factorization of an integer. We derive several convergent…
The evaluation of the probability of union of a large number of independent events requires several combinations involving the factorial and the use of high performance computers with several hours of processing. Bounds and simplifications…
Do completely unpredictable events exist in nature? Classical theory, being fully deterministic, completely excludes fundamental randomness. On the contrary, quantum theory allows for randomness within its axiomatic structure. Yet, the fact…
Communicating forecast uncertainty effectively is a persistent challenge in predictive endeavours such as weather forecasting. This paper explores the application of possibility theory as a complementary approach to traditional probability…
The no-supervenience theorem limits the capacity of physicalist theories to provide a comprehensive account of human consciousness. The proof of the theorem is difficult to formalize because it relies on both alethic and epistemic notions…