<html><head></head><body><div><span data-mailaddress="listsb@infinitefaculty.org" data-contactname="Brian Manning Delaney" class="clickable"><span title="listsb@infinitefaculty.org">Brian Manning Delaney</span><span class="detail"> <listsb@infinitefaculty.org></span></span> , 21/7/2014 3:50 PM:<br><blockquote class="mori" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:2px blue solid;padding-left:1ex;">
<br>Was at a get-together with some philosophers here in Stockholm -- a
<br>mixture of (so-called...) analytic philosophers from Stockholm
<br>University and Continental philosophers from Södertörn University,</blockquote></div><div><br></div><div>Haha, the stereotypes of Stockholm academia remain true! :-)</div><br><div><blockquote class="mori" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:2px blue solid;padding-left:1ex;"> and
<br>lo and behold, a heated discussion of Anders' just-(re-)published
<br>Guardian article arose.</blockquote></div><div><br></div><div>Any useful comments?</div><br><div><blockquote class="mori" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:2px blue solid;padding-left:1ex;"> Good to see academic types -- esp. those who
<br>typically focus on Hegel and Heidegger & co. -- taking up these issues.
<br>The article seemed deftly designed to pose the important questions
<br>without getting into realms, or using terms (like "singularity"), that
<br>can come across as flaky.
</blockquote></div><div><br></div><div>Yes, I deliberately tried to avoid that. Both as good popular science (do not feed the flakes :-) and to protect the field. Heaven knows there are enough doomsday people around, and far too few xrisk reduction people. I also made the article linkbait by turning it into a list. </div><br><div><blockquote class="mori" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:2px blue solid;padding-left:1ex;"><br>The role of the philosopher is still fundamentally Socratic in my view:
<br>getting people to question what they think they know. So, Socratically
<br>well done, Anders!
</blockquote></div><div><br></div>Thanks! Now I better check my food for hemlock :-)<br><br><br>Anders Sandberg, Future of Humanity Institute Philosophy Faculty of Oxford University</body></html>