Unfortunately, the link you provided doesn't work.. at least on my PC... I don't know for others... sorry ;P 

to determine
1) What they have done
and
2) what it means.

Of course, most probably it's just hype. Will see within time. Now bed. If the damn chess players in the living room aren't too loud. 

<quote>Are we excluding more and more of raw input and is more and more of our experience pre-filtered by our expectations? This kind of plays into a suspicion I have that things like language and analytical thought actually enforce a structure on the mind, and while it may feel like the internal world becomes more and more crisp, is it really just becoming more limited? Otherwise, where does the extra complexity come from in our finite brains? </quote>

As we grow up we definitely tend to apply more filters to the input we receive and streamline our thought process in different ways. I think this is very apparent when trying to learn how to draw and paint when you have to work with the way you interpret visual data and try to see the actual appearance of things instead of just quickly looking up objects as simplified "symbols" ("face" "cup" "dolphin" .. ) stored in a big database built up throughout life.

I have no doubt that language impose structure and limit people's thought (Orwell's 1984...) and that we should question the strong dominance the spoken/written/"intellectual" language has in modern(western?) society and the way it affects/limits our thoughts.

It can be very rewarding to try to look at any seemingly insignificant thing without any preconceptions and telling the part(s) in your brain that likes to think in words to shut up. Don't lose the curiosity you had as a child!

/End of incoherent post 

! 

what do you guys think is the most important thing to know? i mean this in a really grand sense 

what do you guys think is the most important thing to know?

How to whipe your own ass. I use that almost every day.

Ok, so are you talking strictly about knowledge, i.e. I know 2+2=4, or are you also including tasks, i.e. I know how to learn? 

That you are a worthless failure. 

I'm not sure what I mean, but I think I'm asking what is the most fundamental fact needed to get more knowledge. Maybe something like "the cause of the universe" or something. 

and for one individual or as a collective? Your clarification wasn't all that clear... and I think what's the most important thing to know is highly subjective. Maybe one of the better things to know is that you know close to nothing in the grand sense of things and to think that you've figured it all out and settle in a fixed view of how the universe (or whatever) works is just plain silly (although it'd be convenient). 

of course, that's the point, why i asked all of yous... 

anything that we don't already know can't be too important, or else how could we have survived so long? 

How to whipe your own ass. I use that almost every day.

How can you avail yourself of such knowledge when there are little kids in daycares in Langford, Michigan who do not have this abilaty, and instead have rashy little sore bottoms. You should refrain from using this advantage until everyone is able to wipe their asses, justice demands it! Poop'n'Go!

I bet you horde toliet paper like some obscene capitalist pig too when there is someone stuck
in a McDonald's bathroom stall at this very moment that has ran of paper and shit out of luck. The unbelievable lack of a conscience
some people display for their fellow human. 

do you guys think about Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and "self-actualization"? i've been interested in it for a few years, now...

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs&oldid=125745454

if it's plausible and/or true, what implications does it have for morality and value systems? 

I wonder what aliens would think when watching the earthlings and spotting stuff like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyyCcjbrWOM&feature=dir 

I wonder what aliens would think when watching the earthlings and spotting stuff like this

Since you ask, I find it to be mildly entertaining, and some of the balloons have pretty, colorful designs that make me chuckle a 'oh, might as well let them live another day, how much harm can they really do.' As long as you keep churning out decent whiskey, coke, and slutty chicks with daddy issues who are not put off by two prong prosthetic penises, you'll be safe from extermination from the rest of the universe. 

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/allinthemind/stories/2007/1907069.htm

music and language

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/philosopherszone/stories/2007/1916966.htm

mind and embodiment 

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v29/n10/fodo01_.html

Warning: Do not try to get me to defend this article I didn't write just because you don't agree with it. :) 

http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=1297 

interesting. Reminds me of some of the themes in the book Permutation City. 

nice, is that from L2? /me bookmarks that blog

(finally someone talking seriously about matroishki brains!) 

it's just a blog I have subscribed via RSS. Even pictures come in that way and it's updated regularly. Works fine in Opera.

I think it's true that in some sense, SETI will be surpassed by optical observations in a decade or two when we can actually see the extrasolar planets... 

Just browsed thru some old cybernetics stuff, and found this nice demonstration how science (and engineering) models work at distinct levels. Adjacent levels are inmiscible because of their fundamentally different approaches:
http://a.photos.cx/levels_of_modeling-a75.png 

But a nice discussion about decisions now affecting the future generations:
http://groups.google.com/group/globalchange/browse_thread/thread/c59cd7f688a576ba 

http://s3.amazonaws.com/graffiti/6ec00b94c0b1c60e29bb645832887f01_580x270.png 

... you might be interested in my new book =) together with two fellow philosophers i compiled 12 selftests that let you find out what type of philosopher you are:

http://www.philomat.de

have fun!