Helen De Cruz
Community Member
Philosopher, educator, doodler.
Helen De Cruz · upvoted 10 items
over 8 years ago
Great post! Thanks for setting up these questions for the general public.
Helen De Cruz · commented on 2 posts
over 8 years ago
Hi Michael - thanks for the feedback. I have about 30 of these in total and am thinking of publishing them, but not sure what the format etc. will be. So any feedback appreciated! I am trying to make the thought experiments accessible and to encourage people to think along (also, avoiding ones that are very well known such as the Trolley problem)
It does seem to matter that his early intentions were noble. If they are not, people's intuitions (his wife should not break her promise to his earlier self) change. See here http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/theforum/gauging-personal-identity/
Helen De Cruz · published a post
over 8 years ago
Helen De Cruz · upvoted 2 items
about 11 years ago
They love prime numbers for a good reason.
American periodical cicadas aren’t sleeping the entire 17 years they’re underground. Much of the time they’re digging tunnels and building feeding cells, tapping into roots and feeding, vying with other cicadas for space along a crowded root system, growing (they experience four phases or instars while underground), avoiding unfavorable conditions like flooding, and possibly actively avoiding predators like moles and voles. Yes, cicadas can sleep — or at least the insect version of sleep called torpor — but they are definitely not asleep for 17 years.