The Mind vs. The Machine

This week in class we talked a lot about the difference between the mind and the brain and what things actually have a mind. I believe that if something has a mind the most basic characteristic of this is to be able to properly display emotions. This is what separates us from super computers, even with all the advancements in technology over the past decades no one has been able to replicate a machine that can display emotions quite like something with a mind. I'm really not sure if anyone will ever be able to do this either.

Descartes on God

Descartes says in his meditations that all truth depends on God. He even goes as far to say that it would be possible for God to change the principles of mathematics and make 2 + 2 not equal 4. This seems strange to me and im sure no modern philosopher would tie so much of their theories of truth and knowledge with religion but its still interesting to see how closely tied knowledge and religion once was. Now it could b e explained that Descartes did this only so that his work would not cause him to be excommunicated from the church, but he seems genuine in his beliefs. Its interesting to think about though.

Framing

The discussion post this week talked about the subject of "Framing" and how certain frames shape the way we perceive information or how the information is being presented to us. I agree that this is true, and it can also be very difficult to remove these frames when we are receiving new information. I'm really not sure that it always comes down to people just being lazy and taking their news or information from one source either. Like we discussed in class earlier this week there are really only 5 major corporations that own 90% of the media. We these companies put their own frames or spin on information that they put out for the public it creates only a few viewpoints that the general public has to get their information from in the first place. Information has been framed for us since our childhood and i think that where we are at today its nearly impossible to find news that has not been spun in any way and that is dangerous.

War on ....wait... what?

in class on Friday we talked about the "war on terror" and if it was really necessary or not. That got me thinking, how is it possible to win a "war" when you don't have a clear enemy? How do you beat terror? how can you win against drugs? I think the term "war" is often used as propaganda justify the use of military force or to justify using billions of dollars into something that may otherwise look questionable to the public. The war on drugs has been considered by some as a huge waste of money that has yielded little results. In 2003 alone the U.S. federal government spent 19 billion dollars on the war on drugs and jails have become over crowded from its zero tolerance policy. But who can argue that drugs aren't bad?? and who can be against the WAR on DRUGS? Who can be against a WAR on TERRORISM? Once we found out that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction, we were never actually looking for them we were beginning operation IRAQI FREEDOM....seriously???? These kinds of labels that the government puts on misguided programs and military intervention makes it seem un-american to criticize them. This is smart for the government who would want little criticism of their plans but, i don't know sounds like propaganda to me.

Links:
http://www.drugsense.org/wodclock.htm