The AI chatbot Replika has always been an inconsistent app, but its latest changes have upset and confused its many fans. I can see why. Constant course changes inevitably upset any product’s userbase, but these are particularly poorly considered. Over time, people have subtly but irrevocably shifted how they engage Read more
Sure, it’s gallows humor. But maybe sometimes we need a good laugh when things are on fire all around us.
Fear is part of the human condition. Horror games speak to that part of us and allow us to take a little control over it.
Many Christians seem to love the idea of humans being hardwired for belief. By this phrase, they mean that their god placed in each human’s heart a desire to worship something supernatural. Unfortunately, their god didn’t finish the job.
One of the very most human parts of the human situation is our love of stories. It’s how early humans formed groups and stuck together, and it’s how we learn even today.
I often mis-say specific words. I know the word I want and I’m thinking of the right thing at the time, but the wrong word consistently pops out. It turns out there’s a term for this situation: semantic paraphasia. Today, Lord Snow Presides over our brains — and the stuff we literally can’t help sometimes.
One of the most potent ways historians connect people to our past is through facial reconstruction. As the technology to reproduce those ancient faces progresses, we’re discovering that we need to be aware of how we use it. Our biases can accidentally shift the appearance of those faces and distort Read more
Lord Snow Presides over the unique way that knowing how to describe something can help us frame problems—and solve them.
Christian claims always have a pedigree, if our two current series, Journey Into Hell and 1st-Century Fridays, are anything to go by. I want to know the source of this particular mythology. So today, let’s check out this wingnut’s specific claims — and see, if we can, where she’s getting them and why she cherishes them so much.
Today, let’s see how wingnuts like Patrice Lewis assess truth claims in the first place. They do it a lot differently from reality-based people.