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TST PRACTICE

By Philosopher Michael Alan Prestwood

#WB Science

Do facts actually change minds?

Take control of debate by correcting the claim without turning the person into the target. Focus attention on what is true, not on proving the ...

Can AI have a normative aim?

AI agents can pursue normative aims at different levels. Higher-level directives can guide and constrain the smaller aims they pursue.

Does AI already possess physical agency?

Direct physical agency is the ability of an agent to act directly on the material world through a body or other physical system.

Are robots the real security risk with AI?

Robots make AI risk physical by giving software independent physical agency in the material world. But the deeper threat is still the software.

Can AI kill switches save humanity?

For AI systems to be safe, we cannot rely on one emergency switch. We need as many layers of containment as possible.

What does the TST Roadmap tell us about AI superintelligence?

Superintelligence may emerge less from one all-knowing machine and more from coordinated intelligence that can choose, act, observe reality, preserve what works, and continually adjust.

Can science prove flourishing should be our goal?

Science can test what supports flourishing, but it cannot by itself prove that flourishing ought to be our goal. Philosophy states the value; science tests ...

Did a Canadian discover the Big Bang’s afterglow 25 years early?

Science advances when bold ideas and strange observations finally connect.

Can anything travel faster than light?

Nothing can travel through spacetime faster than light, but our expanding universe is carrying nearly all galaxies away faster than light.

Did morality evolve?

Morality has deep evolutionary roots. Cooperation, empathy, and even some of our more selfish impulses were shaped long before humans began writing ethical rules.

Why does fiction feel real?

Walton argued that fiction works like a guided game of make-believe: the story becomes a prop that tells the mind what to imagine.

Was T. Rex feathered?

Empirical evidence shows some T. rex skin was scaly. Rational comparison with feathered relatives suggests possible feathers. The full picture remains speculative.

How do time entropy and the Many Worlds theory intersect?

Time entropy gives reality its forward-only arrow. If the wave function does not collapse, Many Worlds imagines that reality branches into separate histories.

Can you explain the quantum measurement problem simply?

The quantum measurement problem asks why measurement gives one definite result from a range of quantum possibilities.

What is the difference between a spiritual and empirical belief?

In your life, let empirical beliefs track the material world. Spiritual beliefs can still explore meaning, purpose, essence, sacredness, and the unknown.

Can you explain superposition simply?

Superposition says a system exists in a linear combination of all possible states until measurement. Maybe physically, but common sense says there is more to ...

Did we evolve from single cells into plants and animals then chimps to human?

Evolution is not a ladder from single cells to chimps to humans. It is a branching tree: single-celled branches, to animal branches, with single-celled evolution ...

What is Schrödinger’s Cat and why is it important?

Schrödinger’s Cat shows the tension between quantum superposition and everyday reality: the math allows multiple possible states, but measurement gives us one observed outcome.

Why do we overreact and escalate?

When emotion rises, pause long enough to ask whether your response fits the situation and helps make things better.

Do brain chemicals relate to the “Hard Problem of Consciousness”?

Some inner struggles are shaped by biology, not just willpower.
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