
Ask HN: Once and for All - ata_aman
If you could research &#x27;controversial&#x27; topics, what would they be? Things that are always debated but can be proven with data (let&#x27;s assume the data is out there). Ex: global warming
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mw67
Ah! Just got into the life after death topic... what is our life on Earth
about. And really this is controversial. It started when I read this book just
last weekend, hasn't slept much since that, try to gather information and I'm
getting mind-blown at every step. The book is Journey of Souls
([https://www.amazon.com/Journey-Souls-Studies-Between-
Lives/d...](https://www.amazon.com/Journey-Souls-Studies-Between-
Lives/dp/1567184855/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8))

There is a good summary on Youtube:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lzwle9gjC2E](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lzwle9gjC2E)

~~~
ata_aman
honestly, I don't think there is any data on that. unless someone has come
back from the dead.

also this can take several definitions! depends on how you want to define the
_measure_ or maybe the research itself is finding that meter stick itself

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Cozumel
The data might be out there but it doesn't mean less informed people will ever
agree with you and no amount of data or reasoning can ever change their minds.

A better question would be, in this context, why research 'controversial'
topics? If it's in hopes of persuading people to your point of view it seems
like it'll be a futile effort.

~~~
mw67
Or because some people have personal believes, or simply cannot comprehend
some phenomenons - by studying the topics you would 'demystify' them and
explain them in a cartesian way to the general public

------
azeirah
Edit: I missed the "but can be proven with data" part of the OP. I'm not sure
if any of the questions I ask here can be proven with data, I have no idea how
to tackle any of these questions to begin with. Regardless, I think it's very
interesting so I'll leave it here, especially because of the other post
mentioning life after death.

Consciousness and everything related to it. Lucid dreams, the effect that
different drugs have on consciousness, ranging from coffee to hallucinogenics,
the space of human qualia.

Would it possible to add a new dimension to our conscious experience, for
example, our best model of human color space is CIELAB, it has three
dimensions, L, meaning lightness, A, where negative values indicate green
while positive values indicate magenta and B, where negative values indicate
blue and positive values indicate yellow, what if we could add another
dimension to our color-space?

What would it take to measure qualia/conscious experiences, or, are they
really "private" as Daniel Dennet claims?[1]. What would it mean for a human
if we could "engineer" their consciousness.

What is the role of consciousness within the human brain?

Are non-humans conscious? Or, does consciousness exist outside of humans? Are
dogs conscious? What about worms? Ants? Bacteria? Viruses? What about the USA?
([https://www.physicalism.com/](https://www.physicalism.com/))

How can you objectively determine that "something" is conscious?

Was consciousness "recruited" by evolution? Just like how electricity was
"recruited" by evolution, meaning it was naturally occurring before, but
manifests itself in a far more complex way, being one part of a gigantically
complex biological machine?

Is it possible to "share" or "conjoin" multiple consciousnesses? What are the
ethical implications of something like this? Should judges be allowed to go
"inside the heads" of victims, the defendant and witnesses?

I could go on for a while. I think the implications of finding answers to some
of these questions would be unimaginable. I don't think any of this is
feasible within the coming few hundred years, but perhaps we'll make some
progress.

[1] private; that is, all interpersonal comparisons of qualia are
systematically impossible.

~~~
ata_aman
although all very ... thought provoking ;) questions, like you said, finding
data on these would be a feat

i think there are several topics out there than can be tackled with data.
we're just too lazy (or the data is extremely hard to find)

------
flukus
The link between intelligence and genetics, and the genetic manipulation
required to enhance it.

~~~
ata_aman
hmm, interesting. you mean if there are any genetic markers that show
intelligence? also (this is probably more important), how do you measure
intelligence in this case?

~~~
flukus
IQ, there has been some controversial research that pops up from time to time.
It gets really controversial once race is added to the mix.

~~~
ata_aman
yeah I was going to say IQ but based on simple readings, there's better ways
maybe?

also, could always use all of the meter sticks and see if there is a trend
there. the more the meter sticks the better

