I've had little time for anything but work lately. But with the holidays this week I got some time to catch up on my personal reading of articles.

These struck me as particularly interesting:

The Computational Engine

Unrealistic Realism? - When has storytelling reached the limits of realism?

Not The Mere Reasoning Machine

The Inhuman Friend - I have to admit, the older I get the more admiration I gain for certain animals and their abilities, and their intelligence. I'd never directly equate humans and animals on a moral scale, but I'm the first to admit I'm sometimes envious of their abilities, manners of operating, and perhaps in some cases, their apparent way of thinking and interacting with the world. And I've definitely known some animals that I thought far more highly morally evolved than some humans I've encountered. Like some killers. For instance my Great Danes and Saint Bernard would go out of their way and risk their lives to save the lives of children (they have to save my children's lives). Most humans would too, on the other hand I'm sure some animals would love to eat children, and unfortunately some people are like that too. So my dogs are definitely better friends to me and mine than some kinds of men would be.

One thing I'd really like to see and was discussing with my father on the Fourth would be for science to be able to manipulate the genomes of animals well enough (without disastrous side effects) to be able to suppress the aggression responses towards humans in lions, tigers, bears, wolves, and animals of that kind. Maybe even modify their digestive tract to eat cereal foods and that kind of thing, make them a little bit smaller too. Basically to make domesticated dogs of them, though perhaps the polar bear would be six to seven feet tall instead of ten feet tall. Then, for the most part we wouldn't have to worry about such creatures, and they wouldn't have to wry about us under normal circumstances and neither would mess with the other. Some could even be domesticated and befriended. I'm no fool, I wouldn't have a grizzly as a pet the way grizzlies are now, even when raised form a cub, they could easily accidentally kill you not even meaning to, but if they could be really and sufficiently altered to be no more aggressive than my dogs then I'd have one as a pet and companion. Wouldn't necessarily let them around the neighbors, and they'd have to be intensely trained, but I like bears and wolves and wouldn't mind having a few friends like that.

God and the World

When the Dead Still Walk

The Melancholy Man - personally, I really like Mahler's music. Das Lied Von Der Erde is almost without parallel to me.

Jack7