Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

TagJ.R.R. Tolkien

forest-in-fog-with-mist-fairy-spooky-looking-woods-in-a-misty-day-cold-foggy-morning-in-horror-forest-with-trees-stockpack-adobe-stock
Forest in fog with mist. Fairy spooky looking woods in a misty day. Cold foggy morning in horror forest with trees
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
June 17, 2023
Categorized
Arts & Culture, Transhumanism
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That Hideous Strength, A.K.A. Transhumanism

C.S. Lewis's classic science fiction tale is about the temptation to reject being human
Peter Biles
June 17, 2023
7
Arts & Culture, Transhumanism

C.S. Lewis’s 1946 science fiction novel That Hideous Strength is almost eighty years old now. Written during the throes of World War II, the novel is the culmination of Lewis’s cosmic trilogy, preluded by Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra. There are hosts of other articles attending to the prescience of Lewis’s terrifying novel, and for good reason; That Hideous Strength is a warning against using technology to dehumanize people and ultimately cripple the world into submission. It’s a great book as a novel, but it seems especially appropriate to revisit in lieu of the growing interest in transhumanism and the rapid acceleration of AI development. It feels like much of the talk on AI in recent months involves Read More ›

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Dark knight illustration, medieval era wizard, fantasy concept. Generative AI
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
June 11, 2023
Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction
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J.R.R. Tolkien on Science Fiction

The master storyteller was more open to sci-fi and tech than the stereotype lets on
Peter Biles
June 11, 2023
5
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

In early 2021, literary scholar Holly Ordway published a deep dive into J.R.R. Tolkien’s reading habits. The celebrated author of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit was a linguist and medievalist at Oxford for decades until his death in 1973. Based on his immersion in ancient literature, people often assume that Tolkien despised all things modern – including modern books. Even C.S. Lewis is quoted as saying, “No one ever influenced Tolkien–you might as well try to influence a Bandersnatch.” Today’s conception of Tolkien stereotypically portrays him as a curmudgeon who refused to engage with modernity. Ordway, however, pushes back against such an image and lays out a comprehensive case for Tolkien’s interest in contemporary literature, including the Read More ›

3d-rendering-of-abstract-blocks-of-mathematical-formulas-located-in-the-virtual-space-stockpack-adobe-stock
3D rendering of abstract blocks of mathematical formulas located in the virtual space
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
May 13, 2023
Categorized
Arts & Culture, Mathematics
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Math, Mind, and Matter

The surprising similarities between mathematics and literature
Peter Biles
May 13, 2023
4
Arts & Culture, Mathematics

Last October, legendary American author Cormac McCarthy, who wrote Blood Meridian and The Road, released a pair of interconnected novels called The Passenger and Stella Maris. The books arrived after a sixteen-year silence from the desk of McCarthy. The books deal, per usual, with themes of mortality, fate, and the “God question,” and are predictably lyrical, vivid, and dark. But McCarthy plows new ground in these sibling novels. The books are about mathematicians. It’s fiction about math.  The story revolves around the complex relationship between a brother and sister: Bobby and Alicia Western. Bobby is a deep-sea diver with some history in the field of mathematics, while Alicia is a once-in-a-generation math prodigy.  Not Estranged, but Akin After reading these books myself, I marveled at McCarthy’s ability to Read More ›

golden-ring-and-mountains-digital-art-3d-render-stockpack-adobe-stock
Golden Ring and Mountains Digital Art 3D Render
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
March 15, 2023
Categorized
Arts & Culture
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Don’t Turn The Lord of the Rings into Star Wars

When you have something as good as the world of Middle Earth, it becomes ever easier to injure the original vision and trade quality for commercial success
Peter Biles
March 15, 2023
5
Arts & Culture

Amazon’s The Rings of Power, which is based on the appendices in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, was an ambitious and expensive project that arguably provided little more than a surface-level and underdeveloped interpretation of Middle Earth and its characters. The show, while entertaining and with its strengths, exemplified a flaw many fans feared: commercializing Tolkien inevitably leads to compromise. Even Peter Jackson’s highly praised rendition of the fantasy epic has its critics, including Tolkien’s son and heir of the family estate, Christopher. The show was visually stunning but had some storytelling issues. For one, we don’t ever get a sense of Middle Earth’s size. Characters pop in and out of different places as if it’s a five-minute Read More ›

light in the forest
Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego,Ushuaia
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
September 17, 2022
Categorized
Arts & Culture, Creativity
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Amazon’s Rings of Power and Where the Conflict Really Lies

If Peter Jackson gave the LOTR cast unnecessary internal conflicts, then the Rings of Power writers have done it on steroids.
Peter Biles
September 17, 2022
5
Arts & Culture, Creativity

The third and fourth episodes of Rings of Power have aired as of September 16th. Thousands of reviews have fountained across the internet over the last couple of weeks, some from rankled fans, others from satisfied enthusiasts, and others with both good and bad things to report. The show, as we all anticipated, has not gone without its fair share of controversy and pushback, but for this review, I want to lay those conversations aside and instead focus on some pros and cons of the recent episodes from my own perspective. To begin on a positive note, I enjoyed these last couple of episodes much more than the first two. The storyline seems to be getting somewhere. Galadriel is being Read More ›