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Thank you kindly...

You assume that technology could be the only possible marker of what makes us interesting? I am trying to suggest that there might be other criteria beyond current human understanding. To sufficiently advanced visitors the difference between our technology and animal tool use might be very...

Mistersloane OTM - there's no such thing as a view from nowhere. From the point of view of humans, of course we appear majorly different from other species. From the point of view of an animal, or a hypothetical advanced alien species, the differences between humans and other animals are...

^ There are some interesting experiments in manipulating empathic responses. If I remember right, it's very easy to trigger empathic responses to inappropriate things - e.g. inanimate objects, with a minimal amount of animation. I understand about mirror neurons... I just don't see what all the...

Is there a famous quote from Ballard along the lines of sci-fi being the only true or worthwhile literature of the 20th century? It's been bouncing round my head for ages so if any of you could tell me what the correct quote is and where it's from I'd be eternally grateful...

dharry is right about Eagleton's lapses back into anthropomorphism. I think he's also thinking wishfully when he declares that God as ontological ground of being is in anyway a mainstream view amongst believers. Eagleton is I guess stuck in his Catholic ways, force of habit bringing "love" into...

Just like big beat circa 1996..? I also think the Simian Mobile Disco album is the best of the bunch. Although a friend of mine referred to them as "the new-rave Orbital" :slanted:

10 books about ketamine? I didn't think there was that much literature about it.. I can only think of John Lilly and Carl Jansen. Would love to know what was on that list.

If you want really mind-melting, try looking at these 3D nets of 4D polytopes: http://www.weimholt.com/andrew/polytope.shtml 120 cell polytope, which is what a 4D object made out of 120 3D dodecahedrons folded out "flat" in 3D space would look like. Oh, here's an animation of a...

Logo and super-human atheletes aside, is everyone in broad agreement with Will Self? I know I am...

Couldn't there be a macroscopic 4th space-like (as opposed to time-like) dimension...? As in a 3-sphere projection? (Not that I'm saying that there aren't anthropic reasons why we don't have macroscopic extra dimensions) Swears: Length, breadth, width, and ... other. It's pretty difficult for...

Saw a few Dissensus type crew down there, tho I'm sure there were a few others as I have no idea what most people look like! Was ok, tho it got wrapped up when the audience discussion was just getting going, which was a shame.

Very silly. I like how Hall & Oates are listed as "in denial".

Oh... Another party, at a friends house in the countryside, where I new few people and there was a large crusty contingent. We were camping in the garden, and I had rather inadvisidly chosen to experiment with a new exotic psychedelic (5-MeO-DIPT). After generally being spooked by some...

I once returned home to find a small party in full swing, comprised of my housemates and various other friends in more inebriated states than I was. Mildy annoyed to be returning home to an unannounced party, which quickly escalated when i found a neatly curled shit in the middle of our bathroom...

Well I just ordered the Magnetic Fields "69 Love Songs" one, so I'll let you know how it is...

You're surely not trying to tell us that there's no formal dining conventions among upper class society in the east... come on..

I seem to remember there was a thread or discussion in the 33 1/3 series of books at some point... but searching on "33 1/3" is fruitless. Who's read what from the series, and are any of them any good? Convenient list at wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/33_1/3

Interestingly enough, this was in the science news again last week. The original study a year or so ago showed that a staggering 30% of world methane emmissions seemed to be coming from plants themselves, prompting re-thinks about the strategy of planting more trees. However, new results have...

Is that the one about "burying your bone in the back yard of someone else's home" - or am I completely mistaken?