Considering that even networks comprising little more than a motor neuron, a sensory neuron, and an excitatory interneuron (a la Aplysia) can `learn', why is this surprising/interesting?

Now, if you want to talk about the maintenance of actual `human-like behaviour' being reason to rethink the position of veggie-people, I'll be willing to talk. But a vegetable is a vegetable--there's a reason we don't treat vegetables like we do humans.

No, that's entirely sound. But trying to pick out (natural?) kinds based on words is a pretty silly idea from the start. It becomes even more painfully obvious when people realize that there is more than one language and `yours' and `theirs' don't always match up. And then trying to pick out (natural?) kinds based on conceptualisation in the first place fails as well, since there are multiple cultures, which may again have different views on the matter.
BUT, I would argue that picking out a range of ages based on two iterations of counting through all 10 of your fingers is a more natural and universal concept based on sounder and more natural terms than is the age range defined by the affix to numbers between 13 and 19 in English :P I guess the question is whether 13-19 has some other, more sound basis. For instance, some important biological function being mostly present in 13-year olds, but less so in 12, 11, 10-year olds. Not that language is based on useful functions though. I agree that, in many cases, it is not.
I guess all of this is (though interesting) totally tangential. In this case calling the 10 and 12 year old `teens' is more appropriate than calling them `pre-teens' because then all the more inapplicable associations with `pre-teen' (still unable to operate computers, etc. because they are 5yrs old) may have been misapplied. Had the child been 15, or 17, or 19 years old the story would not have changed much. But had they been 5, and been able to work out the cell phone usage and facebook etc., that would have been amazing in its own right. So, in the context of this story, they fit more into the `teen' category, than the `pre-teen' category. Though, I guess here `children' may have been sufficient.
Whatever :P

Only (?) in English do the words that refer to that adolescent age group and the endings of the number words for 13 through 19 match up.

No, no...I was confused at his post too (wow this guy reads too much SF!) but then I realized that his first statement is not about the existence of advanced civilisations, but rather suggests that an advanced civilisation will have more of the tools and ability to solve these problems. He is suggesting that WE need to focus on such efforts as nanotechnology and such, because once we're one of those `high tech civilisations', doing physics will be easier. To an extent I think he's got a point; we can certainly do much better physics now than Gallileo (if only because of apparati), and nanotechnology may indeed allow us to build larger (or smaller) and more stable structures, which may be necessary to directly detect some of the more elusive universal secrets.

There's also the view that that entire framework for statistical analysis is fatally flawed. An argument to that effect (available publicly from his course website):
http://www.indiana.edu/~kruschke/articles/KruschkeBayesianDataAnalysisDraft.pdf
Hope the uni servers don't get slashdotted >.>;

Oh noes! So, what if someone with some REAL terrorist intentions got ahold of one of these radios, and actually did his research, and got on the ATC frequency and navigated a plane into something important like

At least he's not a square :P

I don't see why your qualification of LA leads to your conclusion that how it is, is how it must be. Have you ever heard of Tokyo? Even more so than LA, it is cities within cities, back to back, for hundreds of kilometers. And THEY seem to do just fine (though, granted, it takes more than "two light rail systems and a couple of buses"). Your point regarding deliveries, services, etc. is taken (and it is indeed true that this is the case in Tokyo as well--deliveries are done by people in personal vehicles, be they mopeds or trucks), but the primary mode of moving people is public transportation. It requires scores of rail lines criss-crossing, constantly running, on accurate schedules, and bus systems fanning and overlaid on top of those, but it works. And they don't seem to have a problem with it. As many have realized, it is primarily a mentality problem.

(There, fixed that for you)

I'll keep my castle *insecure* primarily with... ALL OF THE ABOVE! w00t!

(Disclaimer: not suggested for those who wish to keep insurance premiums down)

kind of like your mum :P

Jag Ãr Flygfesten! Jag Ãr en gummischnod! And other such nonsense! My Swedish is advanced far past past perfect that I can make statements mere human minds cannot grok the gravity of! Yar!

It takes more than an hour each way to cover the mere two miles, but I am quite certain that I am one of an elite minority of moon-walking commuters.

Oo a Swede!

Did the writer mean 'shores up'? I mean, I guess they're easy to get confused...they both (in at least one sense) have to do with water...though they sort of mean opposite things...

Dredge up...wow what a great phrase. Does it mean like, 'reminds us of' or 'recalls'?

I DEMAND A REFUND!

I'm sorry, I somewhat agree with this statement just because WoW etc. is so easy...you can solo, anyone can do a job, etc.. However, in a game like FFXI, teamwork and doing your job, and reacting in situations are more difficult. Your whole team will die and lose a LOT of time and possibly money if you screw up (not just time lost in the instance or fighting the HNM but also lost b/c of experience loss from dying...).

And it 'is' different. You can say 'I killed a million rats to get here'. The guy who says 'I flipped a million burgers to get here' will probably be ridiculed. An unfortunate characteristic of our society/world. People like similar things. I.e. comfortable things.