Another interesting idea I’ve been playing around with:
The Tamakicka (plural: Tamakickas), the anti-social networking device.
It’s a melt of Tamagotchi and kickin’ ass.
You wear a device on your key-chain that beeps when you are close to a person whose ass needs kickin’, aka the target. The target’s thingy beeps too, but with a different tone so that it’s immediately known to both parties who’s attacking whom.
If you kick the target’s ass, you get points that you can use to have someone else’s ass kicked. If the target kicks your ass, he (or she, let’s not be, like, sexistic about this) gets to choose between points or finding out who put a contract on him (or her).
And if you’re wondering who decides who’s ass was kicked, it’s easy: it’s the one who gets to punch his code in the other’s Tamakicka.
Obviously, the Tamakicka will have to be able to stand a few blows. And, of course, we’ll need the mother of all disclaimers to cover this baby internationally.
Now, if this isn’t a million dollar idea I don’ t know what is. Imagine the spin-offs and the merchandising!
The first rule of Tamakicka is: You don’t talk about Tamakicka.
If you are interested in Dennett’s philosophy, then you must read “Dennett” by Tadeusz Zawidski (ISBN: 1-85168-484-0). It is one of the most interesting philosophy books I have read.
“Dennett” aims to show the unifying theme in Dennett’s philosophy. This alone makes this book worth your time.
It also gives the background and the major arguments on all sides - properly referenced - of all the issues that concern Dennet.
Even Dennett himself likes it. Here’s his blob for the backcover:
Zawidski reveals the systematic structure of my work as never before, and shows, with more patience than I have been able to muster, just how and why the parts fit together as they do. Zawidski also usefully points out the weak spots in my position that need more work.
While I do know Steven Weinberg, I confess I have not read anything of his yet. But I do know the following often-quoted saying of his which I’d like to share with you:
“Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you’d have good people doing good things and evil people doing bad things, but for good people to do bad things, it takes religion.”
This quote has been repeated by the likes of Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett. And now by me.
Here it is again (repeat after me):
“Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you’d have good people doing good things and evil people doing bad things, but for good people to do bad things, it takes religion.”
You can download a lot of audio and video clips of interviews and appearances by Dennett on Daniel Dennett - Multimedia.