Please distribute...
You are hereby invited to our
twenty-third "Evolution, Complexity and Cognition
(ECCO)" seminar of
2005:
A
Philosophical Approach to the Selfish Biocosm
Hypothesis
by
(philosophons.com & Université Paris
1-Sorbonne)
Place: room 3C204 (building
C, 3rd floor), VUB campus
Etterbeek
Time: Friday, October 7, at
17:30 h.
Abstract:
This seminar will propose a
possible philosophical project for research within ECCO. It is
about a very large worldview, developed by James N. Gardner, linking
in a deep way the universe, life and intelligence. Based on the
strong anthropic principle, and Lee Smolin's reproducing universes,
Gardner tackles big questions like: Why is our universe bio-friendly?
What is the meaning of life and intelligence in the universe? What
are the beginning and the end of the universe? I'll present the main
points of Gardner's argumentation. A critical point of view will be
adopted, and avenues of research to develop an evolutionary-systemic
philosophy will be suggested.
In addition, I will shortly present
another project about scientific communication. In the spirit of
Marko Rodriguez's work on self-organization of scientific knowledge,
it will be proposed that Open Commentary (OC), a proven very
efficient way of scientific communication, could be extended to all
scientific documents.
More info:
- Gardner, J. N., (2003) Biocosm. The new scientific theory of evolution: intelligent life is the architect of the universe. Inner Ocean Publishing. See www.biocosm.org where the introduction is available. Gardner, J. N. (2001) Assessing the Robustness of the Emergence of Intelligence: Testing the Selfish Biocosm Hypothesis. Acta Astronautica 48, no. 5-12, p951-955. Abstract : http://www.setileague.org/iaaseti/abst2000/gardner.pdf Smolin, L. (1997) The life of the cosmos. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Vidal, C. (2005) Le commentaire ouvert. http://clement.vidal.club.fr/temp/vidal2005.pdf
About the
speaker:
Clément Vidal has studied
philosophy and logic at the Université Paris I-Panthéon-Sorbonne,
where he wrote a thesis on the notion of infinity. He is now
finishing an additional Master in Cognitive Science. He is webmaster
of the site philosophons.com, which supports discussion and the
writing of philosophy papers. In addition to the subject of the
seminar, he is interested in the idea of the Internet evolving into a
global brain.
ECCO seminar programme coming weeks
The programme for the new academic
year is being prepared. Proposals for lectures are most welcome!
Already note the following lecture from Marko, presenting some of the
work he has done at the Los Alamos National Laboratory:
- Oct 28: Marko Rodriguez: A Hyper-Cortical Model of the Scholarly Process
ECCO seminars normally take place
each Friday at 17h30 in room 3C204 of the VUB Campus Etterbeek.
Everyone interested is welcome. The seminars are very interactive,
with small groups (about 8-10 people). The intention is to discuss in
depth the research being proposed, and to look for interdisciplinary
connections with other ECCO-related themes. Seminars last about two
hours, after which the remaining participants go to take a drink or a
snack in the Opinio Café on the campus, to continue the discussion
in a more relaxed setting.
--
Francis Heylighen
"Evolution, Complexity and Cognition" research group
Free University of Brussels
http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/HEYL.html
Francis Heylighen
"Evolution, Complexity and Cognition" research group
Free University of Brussels
http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/HEYL.html
