Less Than Nothing

Consciousness is a fundamentally human concept. The charge and mass of an object are measurable properties of matter that can be experimentally verified, however no physical reaction will take the sentience of an agent into account, simply put, to be alive is a  definition assigned only by the alive, and to whom only it is important That being said, to be aware is clearly an important distinction to us humans, it forms a core aspect of our collective moral philosophy ('beings' deserve a certain level of rights and welfare over the inanimate). Therefore it is important to form a conception of what it means to be conscious, how we see consciousness as an attribute, and what elements of the universe 'count'.  As has been stated, what humans think of as 'being' is an illusion created by our own minds. We see ourselves as single agents, indivisible mental 'atoms'. This of course is a convenient lie, evolutionarily it is more effective to view fellow humans an...

The Future is, essentially an illusion, it is inaccessible and unknowable to a being in the present, while we often presume that we can, at least partially, understand what the future holds, this is necessarily impossible. Simply due to the fact that the future is impossible to reach, no experiments can be conducted, and therefore no meaningful conclusions can be formed. To predict the future, we humans instead must use causality in the present, this however, hinges upon the fact that our conception of cause and effect holds true at any future point, which is, of course, impossible to prove definitively. While this may be true, it does not negate the importance which humanity's perception of time holds for our survival. Evolutionarily speaking, it is necessary for species to have an understanding of the passage of time, in order to take actions in the present which benefit a future instance of the individual, or it's species at large. In many ways, the passage of time is the fu...

The Industrial Revolution has created an unprecedented trend in the development of Human society, every second that passes, the world develops, new technologies arise, and the net effectiveness of the Human species increases. We are on an exponentially rising trajectory of advancement. Generally speaking, today, is the greatest day in human history, the day when the most people are living best. Of course, there are issues with today's world, there is still death, and exploitation, and poverty, but as a whole, the Human Species is improving, standards of living are better than they were 100 years ago, we live longer, we know more, and we have vaccines and modern medicines. Historically speaking, this state of perpetual advancement is the outlier in terms of societies, as civilisations rose and fell, their innovations and technologies were often lost. Individuals lived in the shadows of their ancestors, tales of whose societies became legendary. Only since the industrial revolution, ...

c = 299 792 458 m/s The speed of light, c, is one of the most important fundamental constants in the universe, the absolute speed limit across spacetime. Light, as a particle has no mass, thus any amount of energy will accelerate it to the maximum possible speed, having no inertia to resist motion. This, however, raises the question, why doesn't light travel at an infinite speed? And does the question make sense to ask? Should we look for a 'reason' for fundamental constants? Are there certain facets of the Universe which are, simply because they are? The Scientific Method often leads us to believe that everything is linked by cause and effect, however, at the most fundamental level, are there laws and systems which are true, simply because they are true? Both answers to this question are somewhat unsatisfying. It seems illogical that the fundamental laws and systems of the universe simply exist, without any meaningful explanations, is 2.99x10^8 simply a random number, con...

Anarchist Theory abhors the modern nation's monopoly on force. Today the public perception of Anarchism is often more of Molotov Cocktails and Carbombs than of liberty and social cooperation. Anarchism however intends to establish a system of absolute self-determination, under an anarchic system, individuals are free from enforced societal participation, and human progress is built upon collaboration on a voluntary basis. This system, taken at face value seems excellent, though in the modern day, the control of the state over individuals is seen as a necessary evil, Anarchists however, hold that this system is not a requirement in order to create a functioning 'society'. The issue with the establishment of a functional Anarchist commune is the question of whether the individual is incentivised to uphold cooperation, without a disincentive in the form of the power of the state, do individuals actively participate in a society, or even not participate, can a collective, witho...

In an age shaped by massive scientific advancement, absolute empirical examination is seen as a standard to be strived for. In an era where so many traditional beliefs and practices are torn apart by rigorous testing, general skepticism is the norm in science and philosophy. This development is undoubtably a good one, humans must base their actions on knowledge which has been proved irrevocably by the most effective methods possible. Objectivity is the only way to truly understand. A core practice of the scientific method is not to take traditionally held knowledge for granted, to examine for oneself every aspect of one's knowledge in order to prove an airtight understanding, it is massively important in any form of education to base one's knowledge on fundamental truths we can prove for ourselves rather than taking at face value, information which is provided by others, no matter how important this knowledge may be in the collective cultural memory, tradition is no substitute ...

  Life is ultimately meaningless.  It is the only conclusion that can be drawn from an objective examination of the Universe. There is no grand end goal, no purpose for which we were placed upon this Earth, because we weren't placed here, a fluke of mathematics created the ideal conditions for our species, and the less than ideal conditions for your coming into consciousness, we were nowhere before we were born, and when we die, we pass into oblivion, becoming less than nothing.  If this is the case, if all objective analysis points to a meaningless reality. Why continue to exist? Suffering is an everpresent part of human existence, why continue to strive, and therefore endure some degree of suffering, in a life that amounts to nothing. There is no satisfactory answer to this question, there is no objective purpose, this however, does not mean that purpose cannot exist, in fact, it must. In a meaningless reality, we must derive meaning from ourselves, this is t...

Philosophy, like Science, pursues the truth, yet without the empiricism which marks the objective nature of the Sciences. It is from this fact which arises the 'personal philosophy', an individual's conception of reality and their place within it. As living organisms, the self-preservation is perhaps the greatest focus of our minds, thus, humanity is often placed at the centre of an individual's perception of existence. It is incredibly difficult for one to separate their conception of reality from the value they place upon their own being. This is perhaps the origin of theology as a near-constant within the human condition, a universe centred around humanity is easier to live with, and does not come with the extensive existential baggage of a reality in which our entire existence is a spontaneity of mathematical chance upon the universe, surrounded by oblivion. However, to create a true understanding of existence, we must rely only on objectivity and logic, though this...

  Artificial Intelligence VS Art: There has been lengthy discussion on the internet, of the societal and economic impacts of the further development of artificial intelligence technology, we have already seen the rapid advancement of these systems, and many are worried about the impact which this technology will have on the current economic landscape. Perhaps one of the most prevalent issues is that of Neural Network based art generation programmes, and particularly their impact on human artists, given that programmes like Dall-E can already generate in minutes, what may take a conventional human artist hours or days, and significant expense, though these programmes are currently still lacking in many regards, it can easily be conceived that a technology will arise that is superior in every regard to humans in the arts, and while these systems are today limited primarily to literary and visual art, an entirely AI dominated internet art space is entirely a ...