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Tag Archives: science
The Final Gambit: Geoengineering
It is very likely that efforts to prevent CO2 levels from soaring to 450ppm – the level we need to stop at to have any hope of limiting temperature rise to 2C or less – will fail. This will lead … Continue reading
Posted in Sublime Oblivion
6 Comments
Cliodynamics: Mathematizing History
One of the most interesting emerging sciences today, in my opinion, is cliodynamics. Their practitioners attempt to come to with mathematical models of history to explain “big history” – things like the rise of empires, social discontent, civil wars, and … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews, Sublime Oblivion
4 Comments
Review of “Guns, Germs, and Steel” (J. Diamond)
While trawling through my computer archives, I stumbled across this book review of Jared Diamond’s “Guns, Germs, and Steel” from five years ago. Overall, it’s a great book, better than his follow-up “Collapse”, which is also interesting – especially in … Continue reading
Posted in Coffee House, Reviews
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The Belief Matrix
Consequent to my post Categorizing the Russia Debate and the lively debate it spawned, it occurred to me that much of Russia’s tortured and intriguing history could be rationalized as a self-reinforcing loop within a belief matrix. This can even … Continue reading
Posted in Coffee House, Sublime Oblivion
12 Comments
Categorizing the Russia Debate
Here I will try to categorize all the major Russia-watching schools along two axes: 1) a Russophobe – Russophile axis and 2) a values spectrum on attitudes towards the West as a universal mental matrix. Along these lines I created … Continue reading
Posted in Da Russophile, Sublime Oblivion
80 Comments
The Dilemmas of Global Dimming
Not only is global warming a real and present threat that may yet in conjunction with impending energy shortages doom industrial civilization, it may have even been dangerously underestimated. What have you been smoking!?, you might say to me. Get … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews, Sublime Oblivion
2 Comments
Notes on “The Collapse of Complex Societies” (J. Tainter)
Tainter, Joseph – The Collapse of Complex Societies (1988) PDF Category: collapse, resource depletion; Rating: 5/5 Summary: Complexity, Problem Solving and Sustainable Societies (J. Tainter) 1996 As you may have noticed from the sidebar, I am currently researching a book … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews, Sublime Oblivion
6 Comments
Sublime Oblivion – What Might Be Is
This is the first in a series of philosophical essays in which I outline my philosophy of Sublime Oblivion. Here I demonstrate the indivisibility of the material and Platonic worlds and show that our universe is almost certainly a computer simulation nested within an abstract computer program or simulacrum. The consequences of these results are explored. Continue reading
Posted in Coffee House, Sublime Oblivion
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