New additions to the Heap…

1. In Memo Akten’s ‘Learning To See’, “an artificial neural network loosely inspired by our own visual cortex, looks through cameras and tries to make sense of what it sees” — “Of course it can only see what it already knows. Just like us.”
2. “It is morally imperative to not say true things on social media” — Justin E. H. Smith on the “false representative class” today’s technology has spawned
3. “The visual image can no longer compete. Video is dead. Videogames seek to evolve into—or devolve back into—text-based games, so far with little success” — a fascinating short story from philosopher John Holbo (NUS) about a world in which how people read has radically changed
4. “I sometimes wonder whether it’s news to most philosophers that ‘A = A’ can be funny and even is the structure, or the form, of the perfect joke” — a philosopher’s appreciation of comedian Norm McDonald, who died in September
5. It’s likely we’ll find that “being conscious, much like being alive, has many different properties that will express in different ways… among different species, among different systems” — and so, says neuroscientist Anil Seth, “the mystery of consciousness may dissolve”
6. “One reason most humanities professors wouldn’t consider themselves humanists: they’re too busy pretending to be scientists” — by looking at the ideas of Charles Babbitt, we can see reasons to “jumpstart an omni-cultural humanist revival”
7. A Facebook group for faculty and graduate students in philosophy who were first-generation college students — created by Georgi Gardiner (Tennessee)

Mini-Heap posts usually appear when 7 or so new items accumulate in the Heap of Links, the collection of items from around the web that may be of interest to philosophers. Discussion welcome.

The Heap of Links consists partly of suggestions from readers; if you find something online that you think would be of interest to the philosophical community, please send it in for consideration for the Heap. Thanks!