Who wants two new chapters this week???

  Do we have free will?

Also called the dilemma of determinism, we do not know if our actions are controlled by a causal chain of preceding events (or by some other external influence), or if we're truly free agents making decisions of our own volition. Philosophers (and now some scientists) have been debating this for millennia, and with no apparent end in sight. If our decision making is influenced by an endless chain of causality, then determinism is true and we don't have free will. But if the opposite is true, what's called indeterminism, then our actions must be random — what some argue is still not free will. Conversely, libertarians (no, not political libertarians, those are other people), make the case for compatibilism — the idea that free will is logically compatible with deterministic views of the universe. Compounding the problem are advances in neuroscience showing that our brains make decisions before we're even conscious of them. But if we don't have free will, then why did we evolve consciousness instead of zombie-minds? Quantum mechanics makes this problem even more complicated by suggesting that we live in a universe of probability, and that determinism of any sort is impossible. And as Linas Vepstas has said, "Consciousness seems to be intimately and inescapably tied to the perception of the passage of time, and indeed, the idea that the past is fixed and perfectly deterministic, and that the future is unknowable. This fits well, because if the future were predetermined, then there'd be no free will, and no point in the participation of the passage of time." 
-http://io9.gizmodo.com/

  Is our universe real?
 
"This the classic Cartesian question. It essentially asks, how do we know that what we see around us is the real deal, and not some grand illusion perpetuated by an unseen force (who René Descartes referred to as the hypothesized ‘evil demon')? More recently, the question has been reframed as the "brain in a vat" problem, or the Simulation Argument. And it could very well be that we're the products of an elaborate simulation. A deeper question to ask, therefore, is whether the civilization running the simulation is also in a simulation — a kind of supercomputer regression (or simulationception). Moreover, we may not be who we think we are. Assuming that the people running the simulation are also taking part in it, our true identities may be temporarily suppressed, to heighten the realness of the experience. This philosophical conundrum also forces us to re-evaluate what we mean by "real." Modal realists argue that if the universe around us seems rational (as opposed to it being dreamy, incoherent, or lawless), then we have no choice but to declare it as being real and genuine. Or maybe, as Cipher said after eating a piece of "simulated" steak in The Matrix, "Ignorance is bliss."
-http://io9.gizmodo.com/

 

Great guest post by Alexander Barnes over at Apotheosis Studios. Amaranth looks to be Space Opera at its finest! Freedom Fighters, Cybernetic Killers, Totalitarian Governments, and EPIC Spaceships! Head on over to the Post to get a sneak peek into the world, and why Alexander and Christopher wrote such an awesome story!

Click HERE to enter the contest!

Scan this QR code with your phone... No seriously try it... I'm serious! I promise you wont be disappointed... 

You could also click this link: Storm Chaser Contest Page

Thanks Vincent! You just made our day!

Damnit. You've done it. You've just put the awe back into awesome! 

Hey guys. Thought you might get a kick out of this...

Many of the ships from our story are available as 3D printed collectables. Here's one i've hand painted.

...

Check out our online store and grab yourself one. :)

https://www.shapeways.com/shops/byteshop

Chris and I would REALLY appreciate your help in spreading the word via Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media you use!

Here's a direct link you can copy and paste!

https://www.inkshares.com/projects/the-amaranth-chronicles