Recently, I wanted to find out more about two brothers – not just any brothers, but, alongside Wilhelm and Alexander von Humboldt, Friedrich and August Wilhelm Schlegel and the brothers Thomas and Heinrich Mann, two men who could hardly be more important for the intellectual history of Germany: Georg and Ludwig Büchner. One of them recognized as a literary genius only decades after his death, while the other was a celebrity in his time.
How bad is AI (Askgpt)? Incredibly bad! weiterlesenKategorie: general
Nexus or Harari, the visionary
What a biography! The range of this great thinker extends from “Sapiens – a brief History of Mankind” to “Nexus – A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI”, which means that it embraces three centuries of European intellectual history. While “Sapiens”, the great early work, was still imbued with that euphoria of progress and science, or at least with that amazement at its demiurgic achievements that we already know from Francis Bacon in the early 17th century, “Nexus” surprises us with its radical skepticism.
Nexus or Harari, the visionary weiterlesenHe who does not work shall not eat!
This highly controversial saying, which goes back to St. Paul, is one of the most significant of all, because all existing or utopian social systems can be derived from it. All either arise from agreement with it or from protest against it.
He who does not work shall not eat! weiterlesenIsrael and Ukraine – about wars of princes and wars of faith
The 1949 Geneva Convention defined war crimes by setting out specific rules on how wars may not be waged under any circumstances. Protecting civilians is the top priority. This agreement was a great attempt to secure fundamental human rights. However, the effort was doomed to failure from the outset.
Israel and Ukraine – about wars of princes and wars of faith weiterlesenCan we still be saved?
Confronted with such a question, the critical reader will think of several counter-questions. Who is meant by „we“? From “what” are we meant to be saved? And “who” dares to ask such a curious question? Can we still be saved? weiterlesen
All against all: the cyberwar against truth and reason
(section taken from my yet unpublished new book »Homo Faber – what holodoxy tells us about the future of man«)
Hardly any thinking person today would still claim that the „progress“ of weapons technology makes the world a better let alone safer place, but this was precisely the prediction made with regard to the internet and the social media. The interconnectedness of all with all appeared to its creators as a promise of worldwide dissemination of truth and knowledge. The fact that everyone could now express their opinions and that these could, in principle, be heard by everyone else on the globe was even hailed as the dawn of a new global democracy.
All against all: the cyberwar against truth and reason weiterlesenGerman Language Screwers
Since antiquity, humans know that they are a species of political animals: „zoon politikon“. They want to be appreciated and understood by their peers. That’s why they have a strong need for harmony and resonance – on a less pleasant note, one could call this aspiration a desire for uniformity. German Language Screwers weiterlesen
The unresolved Challenge of Freedom
Not long ago, politicians and even some scientists tried to convince us that democracy would soon spread throughout the world, as if history were following some kind of teleological law. Historical evidence has always argued against such a view, but reason and our feelings of right and wrong seemed clearly in favor of it. Must it not seem much more desirable to every rational and justice-seeking person to take an active and participatory part in political affairs rather than to follow the dictates of a government that decides over his head? Doesn’t such an attitude make democracy an imperative?
The unresolved Challenge of Freedom weiterlesenNatural versus Artificial Intelligence
Recently, the world has been shaken by a hitherto unknown fever, its name: Artificial Intelligence or AI. Given the clever answers that a program like ChatGPT gives to arbitrary questions within seconds, the collective excitement is understandable. Some people even believe they are talking to more than merely an intelligent machine; they imagine they are communicating with a compassionate human being. Yuval Noah Harari sees an apocalyptic time dawning where we will all be puppets of artificial intelligence.
Technópolis – the promise of eternal bliss
For the longest time in our history, we Europeans believed that the devil would only grant us a miserable existence in this vale of tears. Real happiness for man only existed in a paradise up somewhere in heaven. In the seventeenth century, however, the Enlightenment set in. It taught us that we only had to become reasonable, then nothing would prevent us from realizing paradise here and now.
Technópolis – the promise of eternal bliss weiterlesenChance and the God of religion
Dedicated to Anton Zeilinger
1. When one of the leading scientists of our time, quantum physicist Anton Zeilinger, celebrates the discovery of chance as the most significant discovery of the 20th century, we should take notice.*1* He directly opposes a tradition that goes back to the Babylonians Chance and the God of religion weiterlesen
Will peace come to Ukraine during the G 20 summit in November?
I allow myself to believe in a miracle or rather in the force of reason that urges Russia and the US to end the war in Ukraine. But for those who do not believe in political reason, let me add that elementary interests are at play. Vladimir Putin must have realized that he can no longer win his war against the „Ukrainian brothers“, because contrary to what he thought at the beginning, the Ukrainians have by now turned into Russia’s bitter enemies though once they were among its best friends. Will peace come to Ukraine during the G 20 summit in November? weiterlesen