Monthly Archives: November 2019

November 12, 2019

Causal Systems

Recently, I’ve been involved in some discussions about causality, and some of those discussions have struggled to find any resolution, which I find frustrating. I don’t think people need to agree on ideas, but my experience is that usually people can agree on how to frame and talk about those ideas.

I sometimes get the feeling people are so set on disagreeing that they don’t always engage on what the other party is saying. I never know if it’s a lack of comprehension, a lack of willingness, or (on my part) a lack of communication skill or sufficient explanation.

So here are some things I think (I hope) are uncontroversial.

10 Comments | tags: causal determinism, causal system, causality, determinism, electricity, physical system, sound vibrations, sound waves | posted in Science

November 9, 2019

SF: Old Gems and Older Duds

By Wyrd Smythe

I’ve been reading Spacehounds of IPC (1947), by E.E. “Doc” Smith, and… it hasn’t aged well. For a long time I’ve been thinking it would be fun to read Smith’s Lensmen series again but given that I’m having a hard time finishing Spacehounds, maybe that train left the station some time ago (especially with so much other stuff to read).

It’s a pity because I sure liked those books when I was (much) younger. Smith wrote action-filled space opera that was very imaginative, and which also reeked of technology and science. I’ve never been that much into the space battles, but I’ve always been a sucker for hard SF. Fictionalized tech manuals work okay for me.

But these aren’t the gems mentioned in the post’s title.

11 Comments | tags: Contact (movie), Dark City, E.E. Doc Smith, science fiction, science fiction books, science fiction film, science fiction movies, SF, SF Books, SF Movies | posted in Books, Sci-Fi Saturday

November 2, 2019

Virtual Reality

By Wyrd Smythe

I’ve seen objections that simulating a virtual reality is a difficult proposition. Many computer games, and a number of animated movies, illustrate that we’re very far along — at least regarding the visual aspects. Modern audio technology demonstrates another bag of tricks we’ve gotten really good at.

The context here is not a reality rendered on screen and in headphones, but one either for plugged-in biological humans (à la The Matrix) or for uploaded human minds (à la many Greg Egan stories). Both cases do present some challenges.

But generating the virtual reality for them to exist in really isn’t all that hard.

12 Comments | tags: Greg Egan, simulations, virtual reality | posted in Computers, Sci-Fi Saturday