Thankful (Part 3)

We are also thankful for Jesus. Before we were born he lived a sinless life on our behalf and took the wrath of God the Father against sin that should have been against us. Then he conquered death by rising again so that we too can have new lives.

When we were physically alive but spiritually dead in our sins, Jesus gave us new life. We received his life. He took our death. He is our redeemer, sustainer, savior, king, friend, and God.

Thank you Jesus!

Thankful (Part 2)

I am thankful for such good health. Just last night I finished the box of tissues I bought before Tommy and I got married (over 3 years ago).

I am thankful that Tommy and I both have such great jobs (that we like), and we actually like our bosses too.

I am thankful I can laugh with my husband at conversations like this:
me: I feel fat
him: your eyes are pretty

Thankful (Part 1)

After a long day of being at work with me, Daniel was ready to let loose and spend some time with his daddy.


I am thankful for such a healthy and wonderful baby, and his even more wonderful and engaged daddy.

Neurotic Computers?

Nick Carr:

Anders Sandberg and Nick Bostrom, of Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute, have published an in-depth roadmap for "whole brain emulation" - in other words, the replication of a fully functional human brain inside a computer. "The basic idea" for whole brain emulation (WBE), they write, "is to take a particular brain, scan its structure in detail, and construct a software model of it that is so faithful to the original that, when run on appropriate hardware, it will behave in essentially the same way as the original brain." It's virtualization, applied to our noggins.

The catch:

They deal with the problem of free will, or, as they term it, the possibility of a random or "physically indeterministic element" in the working of the human brain, by declaring it a non-problem. They suggest that it can be dealt with rather easily by "including sufficient noise in the simulation ... Randomness is therefore highly unlikely to pose a major obstacle to WBE." And anyway: "Hidden variables or indeterministic free will appear to have the same status as quantum consciousness: while not in any obvious way directly ruled out by current observations, there is no evidence that they occur or are necessary to explain observed phenomena."

Back in college I had once thought to build a “free will” machine. I was going to use the radioactive decay of an isotope as the source of what I thought would be a truly random number generator. But then I realized at some point that there really is nothing random. Even the “noise in the simulation” for the WBE is not random; it is just that the sources of such noise are sufficiently complex that we can’t predict what such noise would look like. But it is not random or chance. Everything is deterministic, whether we know the determiner or not. Our own thoughts and will are a complex of internal competing desires and outside stimuli which are well beyond our ability to grasp. But the choices we make are not random. Just imagine: could any person reasonably be held responsible for making choices that do not arise from their desires?

Further, could any random choice be thought to be rational or reasonable? In constructing a computer with seemingly random decisions, it seems far more likely that the Oxford Future of Humanity Institute would create a computer exhibiting all manner of mental disorders than to replicate a creative consciousness.

In constructing a “free will” machine my hope was to create a creative computer. But if human creativity is not the result of chance, where does creativity come from? Interestingly, in Exodus 28:2-3 and 31:1-6 we are told that the first person(s) to receive the Spirit of God were artists. They were given the spirit of skill to devise artistic designs, for glory and for beauty. Even our creativity finds its source in God, not indeterminate chance. Praise God!

Facelift

Yep, it's the same blog, just switched up the colors and layout.
It's been a pretty boring weekend, haven't gotten out much except to work yesterday where I gift wrapped 40ish Christmas presents, and to church today.




Daniel always looks good for church. Tommy called him his little Ninja Turtle in this outfit.











I made some pumpkin pancakes in lieu of fall and cooler weather. They were only okay.







Daniel has been rolling up on his side lately.

Great-Grandparents

Daniel is so blessed to have four grandparents (all originals) and three great-grandparents (also all originals).
This picture is of Daniel and my dad's parents. I've been reading Sacred Marriage and love how he explains that marriage should be a reflection of Christ and the church. This is why divorce and homosexuality are so devastating. Although no marriage is perfect, it is so awesome to look back and see the heritage I come from.
I love you Granddad and Grandmom!




Happy Birthday (on the 12th) to my cousin Nathan!










To see more pictures of my trip to San Antonio go HERE.
To see more pictures from Halloween go HERE.

Happy Halloween

For Daniel's first Halloween/my birthday/Reformation Day, he started off by giving me my birthday present- he slept 10 hours! So Tommy and I slept in, then we dressed Daniel up and went to breakfast. I took a lazy day and just bummed around the house, I also wanted to be sure Tommy would have some cleaning to do to keep him busy while I was away this weekend.


In the evening we went to a friend's house and handed out candy so their kids could trick-or-treat. But our friends might not invite us back because there were a few undressed-up teenagers that I refused candy to. There were several moms with their kids and moms with little babies who had their own bags for candy! Hello! You're going to end up eating your kids candy anyway- and I know those babies aren't eating those Snickers!
All told it was a good birthday!