Sometimes we send text messages we wish hadn’t. It may have been due to a sudden emotional reaction, miss-
dialing from your contacts, lack of thought, or something akin to drunk dialing. Whatever the reason, almost all of us have done it at some point during the time we’ve possessed a cell phone and ended up feeling like Little Miss Whoops.
Continue reading “Did Someone Really Send That Text Message?”
Check out this clip and pause for a moment to ponder. Feel free to comment. Want more videos that amuse while you muse? Check out Clips to Ponder. Continue reading How Many Lucky Chances Have You Had?
A new MIT artificial intelligence project, the Mind Machine Project (MMP), recently began research that will 
“reconcile natural intelligence with machine intelligence, and in doing so develop and engineer a class of intelligent machines.” The researchers believe that many aspects of the foundations of AI have been rooted in mistakes made over the past generation of AI research. Therefore, they think that combining “current advances in each of these areas with insights from their roots, it will be possible to fulfill the early vision that lies at their intersection.” As part of the process they will reexamine assumptions about AI and attempt to unveil new answers to fundamental questions that fall within all aspects of AI study.
Continue reading “Rewinding, Resetting And Redefining Artificial Intelligence”
I overheard these words from a computer illiterate sexagenarian (someone 60-69 yrs old) as his daughter helped him sign up for a Facebook account and he viewed the homepage for the first time. Yep, you read that right. He said, “Are those nipples? Oh, they’re faces!” I never ever considered that these little yellow icons could be nipples. Now, after hearing that question, I can never look at this page the same way. In addition to the ab-crunching, side-busting laughter I experienced, my mind underwent a perceptual scarring. Maybe I’ll forget about it some day, but I doubt it. How … Continue reading Are Those Nipples? Oh, They’re Faces!
We don’t always see the same thing, particularly when it comes to optical illusions. I’ve shared some classic illusions below and ask you to vote on what you saw first in each image. Honestly respond to the poll questions with your initial observation and then compare your results with other readers. Even if you’ve seen some of these on a prior occasion, just respond quickly without taking time to examine the pictures. See how your perceptions compare….
Continue reading “Vote: What Do You See In These Optical Illusions?”
Life’s not worth living without laughter. Humor heals and there’s no doubt that a good chuckle or two does wonders for the soul. It’s human to err, which means there’s plenty to laugh at out there. My fellow humans, myself included, have committed enough blunders to amuse the world a million times over. Maybe it’s bad karma to entertain oneself by watching others make fools of themselves, but I can’t resist a good blooper or two. Plus, I’m captivated by various oddities, ridiculous rarities and other general weirdness.
Recently, as I surfed the web I came across quite a bit of random ridiculousness. Often I prefer to stumble, but sometimes I just follow links without too much thought and see where I end up. I’m sure a better strategy is to follow links suggested by sites that interest me. Oh well, I got to fly by the seat of my pants from time to time. Anyway, I came across a random assortment of sites that had me grinning, laughing and giggling like a little kid caught in a nitrous oxide gas chamber and I thought I’d share them with you here.
Check out this clip and pause for a moment to ponder. Feel free to comment. Want more videos that amuse while you muse? Check out Clips to Ponder. Continue reading How Do You Know If You’re Dead?
I absolutely love puzzles! Logic games, riddles, crosswords, math, brain teasers
, mysteries, chess, Rubik’s cubes and the like are my brain food. If I go too long with attempting to tackle anything of the sort, I feel as if I am losing a part of myself. It’s almost as if I can sense neural connections between my synapses fading away into oblivion. Perhaps it’s more like the wire’s snapping on a collapsing bridge. Regardless of how it happens, I try to avoid letting my brain get mushy by tackling a few of my favorite mind games from time to time. So, I thought I’d share some that I’ve enjoyed.
Here’s a classic riddle that I found on BrainBashers:
You are in a room with 2 doors leading out. Behind 1 door is a coffer overflowing with jewels and gold, along with an exit. Behind the other door is an enormous, hungry lion that will pounce on anyone opening the door. You do not know which door leads to the treasure and exit, and which door leads to the lion. In the room you are in are 2 individuals. The first is a knight, who always tells the truth, and a knave, who always lies. Both of these individuals know what is behind each door. You do not know which individual is the knight, or which one is the knave. You may ask one of the individuals exactly 1 question. What should you ask in order to be certain that you will open the door with the coffer behind it, instead of the hungry lion?
I guess that I don’t look all that American to Americans. On my second day here in Abu Dhabi I was waiting in the lobby of my residence building with a couple dozen teachers who are in my program. I wasn’t feeling particularly social, so I sat alone on the side of the lobby. Regardless, the lobby was densely packed and one couldn’t avoid being more than a couple feet away from another person. I think anyone who entered and observed the language and demeanor of the people would assume that all in the lobby were part of the same group: Americans.
At this point, I’ve previously spoken to a few of my new colleagues, but I hadn’t met everyone. As I sat there, a group of four women in the program stepped out of the elevator and began making their rounds greeting all the teachers in the lobby. Interestingly, I was excluded from these kind formalities.
conditional cognition 