When Brains Meet Computer Brawn 132
prankster writes "News.com has an interesting story on among other things collective minds and nanotechnology based on the 405 page report "Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance: Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology, and Cognitive Science," from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Commerce. A quote: "The human body will be more durable, healthy, energetic, easier to repair and resistant to many kinds of stress, biological threat and (the) aging process." The story even mentions our favourite enemy - the Borgs."
It's not the Borgs.... (Score:3, Funny)
Do not underestimate an angry mob of Trek fans!
Re:It's not the Borgs.... (Score:1)
Anyone who thinks Steve Austin is a wrestler... (Score:4, Insightful)
The real problem here is the 'Six Million dollar' bit. Even if nano-tech gives all the bonuses that some of its developers think it will, it's an expensive technology to develop.
Those who can pay for the tech in form of life-lengthening drugs (rich white Americans) will reap the benifits. Everyone else will get the shaft.
Don't think it won't happen. Just look at all the massive shipments of expensive AIDS drugs, condoms, and educational literature on sexual safety that are being shipped to places like Zimbabwe and South Africa where they are desperately needed.
Oh? What? No shipments of AIDS drugs to third-world countries? Imagine that...
Re:Anyone who thinks Steve Austin is a wrestler... (Score:2, Flamebait)
Of course rich folks will get the stuff first. It's just like everything, but as companies produce this stuff, they'll figure out ways to make it cheaper in an attempt to outbid their competitors and make more money. The price falls, everyone benefits.
Your second point, re: Zimbabwe assumes that the drugs came down like manna from heaven. The fact that they exist at all is due to the fact that some people were willing and able to pay what you and I would consider outrageous prices. Those outrageous prices whet the appetite of investors to pony up more dough for research.
Don't like the system? The alternative is tax money extracted at gunpoint to run labs that are under very little pressure to produce (see: NASA, NIH).
Re:Anyone who thinks Steve Austin is a wrestler... (Score:1)
The fact that poor people in the US can get generic aspirin is a testimony to the benefits of the current drug development system. Sure, the poor don't get drugs as soon as they come out, but it is usually less than a decade before new drugs go off patent, and then everyone can get them relatively cheap. Of course, by then there is a newer and better version out which the poor can't afford, but ten year old technology is always available to those who are on a tight budget. The US is one of the few places in the world where people that are considered "poor" have TV sets and cars... Some will always have more than others - but if you create incentive for achievement, the poor will always be better off than in a state where nobody has incentive to work.
Re:Anyone who thinks Steve Austin is a wrestler... (Score:2)
The one monumental fact that is being ignored in all the political schemes to bring down the cost of pharmaceutical drugs is that it costs hundreds of millions of dollars to develop one successful new medicine.
No matter how cleverly the politicians try to shift those costs around, somebody has to end up paying those hundreds of millions of dollars, if you expect new pharmaceutical drugs to continue to be developed to cope with AIDS, Alzheimer's, cancer, and all the other maladies that afflict human beings...
Senator Hillary Clinton and other political demagogues make a lot of noise about how Canadians and others are paying much less than Americans pay for the same medicines that are produced in the United States. Apparently all we need to do is to get our prices down to the level of Canadian prices, whether by re-importing these drugs from Canada or by other means. But is that true?
What is really happening is that Americans are paying more of the high fixed costs of developing new medicines, which then allows others to pay the lower costs of producing these medicines. But if American prices also come down to the lower prices charged in other countries, then the high costs of developing new medicines will not be covered, and a slowdown in developing new medicines becomes virtually inevitable.
But, by that time, Senator Clinton will have been re-elected -- and that's all that matters, isn't it?
Those who are constantly pointing to the prices and the practices of other nations when it comes to pharmaceutical drugs ignore the fact that those other nations lag far behind the United States when it comes to creating new medicines. A majority of the most widely sold medicines in the world are American. The United States has more invested in pharmaceutical research than all of Europe put together.
The kinds of policies in other countries that we are being urged to follow has led to a decline in those countries' roles in creating new medicines. Germany, once a worldwide leader in pharmaceutical research, has fallen far behind the United States, and some leading German pharmaceutical firms are expanding their operations in the United States more so than in Germany.
Canada, Germany and other countries get the benefits of American research but contribute much less than the United States does to the creation of drugs. On the surface, these countries have a good deal, but in reality everyone is worse off, because the development of new medicines is slower than it would be if worldwide prices were high enough to cover research costs, rather than the much lower cost of manufacturing medicines that have already been developed in the United States.
You pay one way or you pay another. Paying in needless pain, debilitation and early death is one of the worst ways of paying.
As someone who knows what it is to be rushed to the nearest hospital emergency room by paramedics because I forgot to take my medication, I am grateful that today's clever political schemes for controlling the prices of pharmaceutical drugs did not exist in years past, when these medications were being developed. Otherwise, I might not be here.
The secret -- and the tragedy -- of welfare state politics, especially in an election year, is that you can always do some immediate good, right under your nose, at costs that are hidden, ignored or postponed. But those costs don't go away. They can grow even bigger in the dark.
Too many politicians see prices as just things to be manipulated, the way they manipulate words and emotions to get votes. But the underlying realities which prices convey are not going to go away just because the prices themselves are controlled.
Price controls in general have a centuries-long record of reducing the quantity and quality of whatever product or service has its price controlled. Price controls on food have produced hunger and even starvation in some countries. Rent control produces housing shortages in cities around the world. Medicine is not exempt from economics -- or from politics.
The political temptation with pharmaceutical drugs, as with other things, is to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. But, in this case, that can also amount to killing sick people.
Re:Anyone who thinks Steve Austin is a wrestler... (Score:1)
Adjust For Inflation (Score:1)
Six million US dollars, in 1976, equates to a shade under 19 billion in 2001 dollars. How's that for expensive?
Numbers courtesy of the Inflation Calculator at
http://www.westegg.com/inflation/ .
Re:Adjust For Inflation (Score:1)
$18,993,961.76
That is because the SA goverment is stupid (Score:1)
And now for the next Mensa graduation step, he is considering wiping out the mining industry. Yes! That should sort out the poverty problem!
Re:Anyone who thinks Steve Austin is a wrestler... (Score:1)
Re:Anyone who thinks Steve Austin is a wrestler... (Score:1)
I'm sorry that THAT is the way it works, but the sooner you face it the better. I'm not saying it's humane or right or good... it just is.
The good people of Zimbabwe, and all other good people of similarly troubled countries have to correct their social situation before any lasting relief will come to their land(s). Our money, drugs, jeans, media, food, military can not help them. In fact, these things mostly prolong and increase overall suffering.
Re:Anyone who thinks Steve Austin is a wrestler... (Score:2)
Silly Slashdot (Score:4, Funny)
Wired Reflexes? (Score:1)
OT Re:Wired Reflexes? (Score:1)
Re:Wired Reflexes? (Score:1)
Is this the right approach? (Score:2)
I'm all for technology, but this looks like an attempt to make the "wonderpill" to cure all human ailments (sp?). I think we should devote some of that energy into preventing some of them, instead of demanding an instant cure for the problems we inflict on our own bodies. You know: stress, alcohol, drugs, tobacco etc. I'm not trying to push the view that you should abstain from all this (well, drugs you should avoid though), but realize that there are no magic cures for the problems these things cause to your body and mind.
Re:Is this the right approach? (Score:2, Interesting)
There must be a free and rational debate about the ethical and social aspects of potential uses of technology, and government must provide an arena for these debates that is most conducive to results that benefit humans.
In other words, here are the options, now let's debate them. That's definitely the right approach.
Re:Is this the right approach? (Score:2)
Do we really have a choice, though?
If we wish to not pursue this approach, then it requires that all people throughout the entire world abstain. If just one [person, group, organization, government] in the entire world decides to procede, how is he to be stopped? If nanobots are released into the wild, like a computer virus, how do we protect against them? Fail once, and you are infected, become a part of the global conciousness, and will contribute. At the very least you will supply your body as a breeding ground for more nanotech virii.
Not everybody has the wealth or the knowledge to embark upon this path, but it takes just one person in the billions on the planet -- or two, one with money and one with greed & knowledge.
Any doubts that this would happen? The US developed the atomic bomb during WW2. Germany was working on it. Recently released documents show that Japan was also close to achieving an atomic device. Today over a dozen coutrys have atomic weapons.
How successful has the world been at slowing genetic experiments? While governmants, organizations & people talk about whether & how to pursue the research, other researchers announce their accomplishments. The talk of control becomes moot.
What world power could afford to not follow this approach, if nothing else than to ostensibly gain enough knowledge about the technology to thwart a foe's attempts to use it!
At best, the technology will just be delayed.
Re:Is this the right approach? (Score:2)
Let me at least get my replicated food and whatnot before we start worrying about hordes of nanotech devices co-opting my mind.
Nanotech weapons do pose a rather nasty threat to society. But then so do chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons. But lets look at the biological ones.
A biological weapon is self replicating, just like a nanotech one. It kills indescriminantly (at least the good ones do) just like a nanotech device (designed to do that). It spreads from person to person, often in large quantities. Yea... nanotech too.
But wait... You can develop your VERY OWN biological arsonal for less than $10,000!!!! Nanotech costs a bit more than that.
Yes, a nanotech plague could someday wipe humanity from the earth. I won't argue that. I'm sure it's a possibility (however distant). But more to the point, a perfectly natural biological plague has the potential to do the same... to say nothing of what happens when mankind starts messing with that plague in an attempt to make it even more vicious.
A little recomended reading on this topic
Biohazard by Ken Alibek [amazon.com]
The Demon In the Freezer [cryptome.org]
Re:Is this the right approach? (Score:2)
I was thinking more on the lines of a nanotech virus that adds you to the collective conciousness, rather than something that will kill you.
The major point I was trying for is that we really can't control this. We can discuss whether or not such a network of conciousness is desirable or not, but if it is feasible somebody somewhere will do it.
In addition to our not being able to limit this research/implementation. There is a strong possibility that somebody could force the cooperation upon unwilling & in many cases unsuspecting individuals by releasing self-replication mechano-biological entities into the wild.
Re:Is this the right approach? (Score:4, Insightful)
Yeah, that sounds good, but it doesn't work so great in practice. If it did I'd be in close to perfect health. I don't smoke, drink, in fact I avoid all drugs, and not easially stressed. About those drugs, that includes legal drugs (caffine, asprin) when I can. (I'm not stupid enough to not take those that will help a specific problem when I need it, but I avoid it when I can). I don't snake between my 3 healthy balanced meals. I exercise. I brush and floss regularly. I'm not perfect about any of the above mind you, but I do a fairly good job.
I'm not in perfect health though. My back is sore, my knees sometimes hurt. Once in a while my bad ankle twists. I have a couple moles to keep an eye on because they could be cancer. I've had my teeth filled. I have several other problems that frankly you aren't that interested in me anyway.
It is all a normal part of aging. People get older and their bodys degrade. I can still do everything I could when I was 20, but some of it hurts. Experience of others suggests that in a few years that won't be true, and some more years after that I will have to stop doing things I want to do.
Sure it would be nice if I had done something a few years ago for my knees and back, but both those problems are genetic, others in my family have similear problems. It would be nice if I didn't have a bad ankle, but how was I to know that I would twist it that one day? It is worse to not exercise than to not twist your ankle.
I don't need a wonderpill, I need something that will work. They could do a knee replacement, but the replacement only lasts a few years, and then they do it again. The second replacement has to last a lifetime though because today's technology won't allow a third. So lets see more research. Not all of it will pan out, but each problem solved leaves me with a working body part that I can use for other things.
I'm not saying prevention is a bad idea. I suspect I'm healthier than the average person my age. Prevention cannot solve the basic problem of normal wear and tear, but prevention is a excellent part of the solution.
Re:Is this the right approach? (Score:1)
I like the way you've conveniently separated 'drugs' from 'alcohol' and 'tobacco' as though they're different things.
'No ma, government propraganda doesn't work on me!'
-Nano.
Re:Is this the right approach? (Score:2)
'No ma, government propraganda doesn't work on me!'
I'm pretty sure it does, but not whatever propaganda you have in mind - I'm not an American citizen, and I have never even been to the US. My local government is looking into legalizing mild drugs like marihuana (stupid idea - leads to more addicts), and we're contemplating giving hard-drug addicts free drugs under control to keep them from becoming criminals too (great idea - practically destroys organized crime). My view on drugs being different from alcohol and tobacco is - mostly - my own, and usually different from mainstream thinking.
Why would sharing my governments view in certain areas be bad, BTW? There are plenty of areas where I do NOT share their views (even though I did vote for them). It's like that with most politicians - you agree with some ideas, and disagree with others. The ones you agree with the most usually gets your vote.
Your post leaves me with the impression that the "anti-government" propaganda I hear you've got so much of in the US, have really worked on *YOU*.
Re:Is this the right approach? (Score:1)
Re:Is this the right approach? (Score:2)
You make lots of good points. Really, you do. But I'm not talking about marihuana (is that an 'h' or an 'j' in there?) being addictive - I don't think it really is. It has been shown in my part of the world that the vast majority of hard-drug users started on marihuana. This is a mild "drug" with few side-effects above those of alcohol, so lots of people (wrongly) assume this goes for other drugs too. Then they try hard drugs, like the trip, and (sadly) develops physical addiction in too many cases.
Apparently, this connection from marihuana to hard drugs does NOT have a parallel "alcohol to hard drugs connection" or a "tobacco to hard drugs connection" for that matter. That's what leads me to conclude that legalizing marihuana might be more trouble than it's worth.
I don't think drug abuse should be considered a crime in itself, but most drug addict can not afford the drugs, and therefore must resort to crime to pay another criminal to get it. That's the reason why I think that it's better to give addicts drugs for free - under control, and with treatment as the endgoal. By giving it out through the authorities you eliminate a sizeable chunk of organized crime AND get regular contact with the addicts, and this contact is very valuable in terms of starting treatment. You also reduce the number of overdose deaths and deaths from impure drugs, not to mention certain transmittable diseases (AIDS, anyone?). Of course there's an inherent risk of faster escalation when hard drugs are "free", but it's well worth taking, IMHO.
Judging from your description of the US government's propaganda, I'm beginning to like not living in the US...
Re:Is this the right approach? (Score:1)
-Nano.
If my IT department is invloved... (Score:1)
Repairing myself would take a close 2nd place to download MP3s and other movies.
Every part of me woulf be firewalled off from the other to stop the spread of viruses. Unfortuntely, only Miscrosoft products and protocols would work throught he firewalls, leveing me with a vert disfunctional, but effecient virus deleivery system. We'll VPN extremities together, so we'll hide the virus only to unhide it at it's desintation. We'll never know how I got infected because of this.
I'll then have to pay money per month or per annum just to keep my body parts talking to each other.
Friends don't let friends install Windows.
Nice, but... (Score:1)
Now, if these improvements could be made hereditary, that'd be cool!
Re:Nice, but... (Score:2)
Well, develop things like the Borg nano-probes, and <ahem> inject them during sex. They end up integrated into the baby. Set them to activate when the baby's skin is exposed to sunlight, and voila - instant implants.
Maran
Re:Nice, but... (Score:2)
Re:Nice, but... (Score:1)
That's not what I meant, since you'll still have to inject them with every baby. I meant that it'd be cool if somehow these improvements could be built into our very genes, just like the Genome Project in Metal Gear Solid.
Re:Nice, but... (Score:1)
I'm not talking about brain implants, I'm talking about altering the human genome in such a way that these improvements aren't provided by nanomachines and such, but by human beings themselves (like genetically modified food has a higher resistance to certain diseases).
Hurrah. (Score:3, Funny)
And sluggish, overweight hackers chugging Mt. Dew everywhere rejoice.
Well, rejoice briefly, and then start gasping and grabbing for the ol' inhaler.
--saint
Linking minds? (Score:3, Funny)
More work for the script kiddies (Score:1)
April 27, 2130
"Microsoft released a patch today to correct the deadly such and such virus, which has claimed the lives of over 200 tech-enhanced workers. MS CEO Bill Gates Jr. claimed that the security breach that allowed the virus to infect so many people was caused by a disgruntled programmer who was fired, but was never unplugged from the MS Development net."
I would love to see the day when the human mind has the recall capability of a PC, but there is a long road ahead.....
Re:More work for the script kiddies (Score:1)
Yeah right. Gates Sr. will be the first one to fully-cybernetize his body. He'll be with us for the next thousand years.
We can rebuild him. We can make him faster, stronger; we have the technology.
Re:More work for the script kiddies (Score:1)
OOps, did you suddenly lock up and turn into a statue in the middle of a conference full of Rabid Unix techies, who then promptly took you for a hydrochloric acid bath?
That _is_ a shame
Ah Bill (Score:4, Funny)
Suddenly the Borg Gates pictues makes all the more sense.
Forced Social Collectiveness? (Score:1)
That's a frightening premise.
Re:Forced Social Collectiveness? (Score:1)
Impressive strides being made in this field (Score:2)
Apparently, this is already pretty close to being a medical reality, which begs the question of when the rest of us can get some of these units to play Halo directly in our heads! :)
Borgs? (Score:1)
You mean that weird Swedish couple that lives next door to me? I didn't realize that IKEA was an attempt to assimilate me until the article mentioned the nanotech, biotech, etc.
Anyone in the Minneapolis area need a roommate?
excellent (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:excellent (Score:2, Insightful)
This may seems a little idealistic of me, but, why not look forward to a future where we don't NEED mindless clones to fight for us. Never mind that mindless clones would make an absolutely horrible, incompetent army.
Re:excellent (Score:1)
not should, but MUST
Nanotechnology is cool. (Score:1)
Check out theouterlimits.com (Score:3, Insightful)
I believe that they did a story about this in the first or second season. There was this one guy who was unable to join into the group mind due to some childhood accident. He wasn't slow, just a normal person like most of us.
Anyway, he did his best to keep up with most everyone else reading archaic books, nobody needed to read anymore since they could simply think about the book and it would appear, fully in their mind.
What ended up happening was that there was a computer virus that attacked the network and started killing the nodes, which were the people that were connected to the network. Apparently, everyone, but a few people were connected into this world-wide network.
The virus began to cascade across the network killing off people and the protagonist was left more or less alone to stop this virus from continuing.
I never saw the episode myself, but it sure would be interesting to see how things could have been resolved in a world with a problem like that.
If such a network were to be created... there will be people that simply have no wish to become one with the group mind. This could actually lead us down some Borg-like path. I doubt that would really be good for humankind.
I value my individuality and do what I can to avoid becoming "One" with any group. I feel that my varied interests and activities make me a better person. Becoming a huge group mind, being able to experience the experiences of everyone else could take that all away. Why would anyone want to do that?
Society and life in general would become boring. So what if we could become stronger, live longer and learn more. If all we became were machines to service the group mind, what kind of fun would we have in our lives?
This sort of thing could happen. If the group mind wishes to experience something, it would compel pieces of itself to experience that for all of the other minds. Once that experience was done there would be a next one. Once all of those experiences were completed, what would be next?
Would the group mind wish to work on perfecting the human body and human technology? Why not, if you have experienced everything that can be experienced by the time you are 6 years old, the only thing left to do is become perfect, immortal, omniscient and indestructable.
I imagine that if Paramount decided that a story about how Star Trek's Borg were born, it would very closely resemble that.
Sure, all of this is pure conjecture, until it happens. Sure, I am talking SciFi, but aren't those scientists talking SciFi?
Personally, I would have nothing to do with jacking into a group mind. However, something along the lines of a cyberpunk netjack would be soemthing that I would be interested in.
These scientists seem to be advocating peace by giving up our individuality. For that alone, they should be locked away.
-.-
Re:Check out theouterlimits.com (Score:1)
The US already seems to be on it's way to taking away everyone's freedoms (and individuality), and they have done it well enough for people to think that they actually want it!
Please learn the correct plural form...... (Score:2)
Somebody hasn't watched enough Star Trek.
Re:Please learn the correct plural form...... (Score:2)
But then I am trying very hard to persuade the english-speaking world that 'jamp' and 'glid' are the past tense of 'jump' and 'glide' so maybe I am not the best person to argue semantics and grammar with.
Re:Please learn the correct plural form...... (Score:1)
I always wondered the consequences of teaching my (nonexistant) children the wrong names for colors or something similar. (My wife is not amused...)
IPR? (Score:1)
But how _would_ intellectual properly work with a collective mind?
One person buys the CD, and all of a sudden, everyone has heard the music?
I predict that this paper will be banned for violation of the DMCA. It's circumvention of copy protection to share memories of music.
Re:IPR? (Score:2)
Worse - doesn't even have to be recorded yet. One person has the idea for the music, and you already know it.
Of course, this does mean the eventual mass-lynching of anyone who writes for N'Sync, Britney et. al., so it can't be all bad.
Cheers,
Ian
extraordinary claims (Score:2)
The minute they show me that a bunch of chimps can solve a problem a 10 year old human could solve is the minute I'll believe these claims of a global collective
Borg as villians (Score:1)
NOT Always 30 years away. (Score:3, Informative)
The basic premise is that science must first learn how to create machines that can build structures atom by atom (a Universal Assembler (UA)). Once this machine is created, it can build other UA's and will vastly expand the materials and machines that mankind can make while drastically reducing their cost.
A real world example would be ribosomes in the human body. They are the molecular structures that take their instructions from RNA in cells to make all the proeteins that created us. Not only do they have the ability to make the pieces that go into making humans, but they also have the ability to coordinate the process so that all of the intermediate stages support a living organism! One set of 'Wet' Nanotechnology involves trying adopt the control mechanism that tells the ribosomes what to do. Once this can be accomplished, the ribosomes could make new UAs that are more easily controlled and that can make a wider variety materials than proteins.
Given that nature got to where we are by trial and errors (albeit over millions of years), it is not unreasonable to surmise that man can reengineer this process for his use (in a much shorter period of time).
Another important tenet of the book is that Nanotechnology and UA's will one day arrive regardless of what we do to stop it. The premise is that it is important for developed (and hopefully benevolent) nations to be first to create the technology in order to create nano-based defenses against potentially aggressive destabilizing regimes.
For the text of Drexlers books as well as several other eductional piences on molecular technology, visit: http://www.zyvex.com/nano/
Re: NOT Always 30 years away. (Score:2)
Right, and no DMCA-like law is ever going to stop someone from circumventing "replication-prevention technology", just as no law is going to prevent someone from designing DNA-specific viruses, etc. Not even a totalitarian world government in "control" of technology (*shudder*) would be able to prevent this abuse.
The best solution to the nano-terrorist problem I've heard is one the one where the good guys develop the tech first, and the first order of business is to infest every nook and cranny with an "active shield" - an exo-immune system of sorts.
--
Borg? Pah. (Score:1)
Well...I suppose I'm in a Slashdot minority here, but I find the whole Borg thing to be desperately sad.
Reminiscent of Blake's 7 at its very worst, it is yet another in a long line of stick-a-bit-metal-on-'em no-budget special effects to suggest sci-fi. Terrible. You can almost here some kid wandering round in the bedroom going "I..AM..A..ROBOT" in a unconvincing, poor imitation of what they imagine a metallic voice to be.
No thank you.
Cheers,
Ian
(should probably state that I don't really like any Trek except the original series and the first two films. Favourite Sci-Fi villains? Hmm...maybe the Sontarans from Doctor Who)
Re:Borg? Pah. (Score:1)
Or even 'hear'. Oops.
Cheers,
Ian
Re:Borg? Pah. (Score:2)
Re:Borg? Pah. (Score:1)
Err........don't know what you mean.
No...the thing is that Doctor Who showed imagination (for most of its life), whereas I think the Star Trek franchices have just bogged down in politics and moralising.
As to the effects - well, yes there were terrible effects in Doctor Who. But always done with style.
Cheers,
Ian
We can't write 1000 lines of code without a bug (Score:1, Insightful)
The Outer Limits (Score:1)
Call me crazy, but I'll leave the gills to the fish.
Sorry, not buying this... (Score:1)
Re:Sorry, not buying this... (Score:2)
Kintanon
Review on transhumanity (Score:1, Informative)
One page too much! (Score:1)
Page not found!
Imagine... (Score:1)
The enemy of my enemy is my enemy (Score:1)
Anyone ever seen.... (Score:1)
Bill could use this against us all... (Score:1)
Re:Bill could use this against us all... (Score:1)
Utopian (Score:1)
How can anyone be expected to take this seriously? To quote from the Executive Summary:
If anything like this ever happens, the pigs really will be flying.
Collective Consciousness = God? (Score:2, Interesting)
When all of human consciousness is merged into a universal network, what exactly do we have? We have a huge, self-aware "organism" that contains all of human knowledge within itself, and is constantly learning and growing. The internet may be the birth of this future network.
What does this being encompass in a thousand years? A million? A billion?
In this scenario, the universe slowly becomes a self-aware entity. The universe is conscious. Could this be considered god?
Two words... (Score:1)
Yet, there are a couple parts worth reading, as they're worth some healthy laugh. Like that article written by a guy everyone here should love to hate. Best quote : "I am 58 and I am already thinking about Alzheimer's disease and cancer. The fact that George Harrison has died and was my age makes mortality much more vivid. So, I have a vested interest in accelerating the rate of discovery and the application of that discovery. The largest single voting block is baby boomers, and they would all understand that argument. They may not understand plasma physics or the highest level of the human genome project. But they can surely understand the alternative between having Alzheimer's and not having it." Yup, that's Newt Gingrich writing...
By the way, don't you feel there's something amiss on their logo? Like an eye or something...
I'm not joining a hive mind . . . (Score:2)
Maybe the reason that Borg members so much time standing around comatose was that the Collective spent 90% of its processing cycles dealing with a flood of subspace messages offering Viagra, Hot Barnyard Action, and Schlong Lengtheners.
Stefan
I'm with Vonnegut on this one ... (Score:3, Insightful)
In "Galapagos", Vonnegut traces all the problems of humanity to our "great brains", and he makes a good case that they are an evolutionary mistake. He wrote it before the Internet bubble, but he would have put that down as another example of a destructive delusion supportable only because our brains are too big.
The assumption that all these folks seem to be making is that we'll solve all our problems if we can only become more intelligent. What if our intelligence itself is part of the problem? If we just put more intelligence at the service of our raw emotional drives, like our need for sex, power, and to destroy those we don't like, we might just wind up destroying each other more efficiently, or (at best) create our own little mental masturbation worlds.
My favorite Dilbert strip goes something like this:
All progress is driven by technology and male hormones. So, when realistic virtual reality is invented, civilization will collapse.
"Where's Dilbert?"
"He's been in the holodeck since March."
Re:I'm with Vonnegut on this one ... (Score:1)
Re:I'm with Vonnegut on this one ... (Score:2)
There was also a Futurama episode (the "Nappster" one with Lucy Lu) where a 50s-style educational film warned Fry that sex with robots would lead to the collapse of civilization, because all that man has accomplished is merely a side effect of trying to impress chicks in order to spread their seed. :)
Anyway, the fear of change is perfectly normal -- evolution favored those who didn't risk much change, leaving the occasional mutant do so. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?
What you deride as a "mental masturbation world", others, including myself, view as a hedonistic imperative [hedweb.com] to eliminate suffering in all sentient life.
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NEWS ALERT: Dog learns complex algebra (Score:1)
Woof has not been able to return to union meetings since he learned to talk. Slobber Union Local 451 banned Woof when he began to experiment using his mouth for unusual purposes. Union Leader Spark comments: "The manual clearly states the dog mouth is only intended for eating, barking, and slobber. We are pursuing Woof to the fullest extent of the law and will see that he never works again".
While most dogs cannot fathom why Woof is not content with chasing cars, biting at water, and drooling, others feel that it might be an evolutionary move. "This may be the biggest event since our ancestors learned to drink out of toilets when the bowl ran dry" claims and excited pup who prefers not to be named.
Race to the Trigger (Score:1)
From the article:
The idea that some kind of "tech-triggered unity" would prevent a global catastrophe is ludricrous. "Tech-triggered unity" simply means that the future of humanity belongs to whoever manages to trigger it. The race to "trigger" such "unity" would be a struggle orders of magnitude more intense than the arms race of the cold war.
It is almost refreshing, in the middle of all the globalist science fiction dreaminess, to see good old fashioned nationalist chauvinism raise its little head. The solution to "leapfrogging" would be to open-source all of the above. To renounce, and encourage all nations to renounce, any sort of "intellectual property" in these areas. That way, no one has to worry about anyone else trying to rule the world with these developments.
Ughhh.... (Score:1)
How to prevent bad guys from doing bad things.. (Score:1)
Truth Machine Website [randomhouse.com]
Japanese Government Initiative (Score:2)
It is not 30 years away, or trying to make some "wonder pill". The primary points are:
1. Biotech is currently major driving force in economy.
2. IT as a tool, not an end in and of itself.
3. Nanotech (which currently DOES have business applications) is the next competitive landscape. There is a grey area between biotech and nanotech, for example dna motors.
4. Major need for interdisciplinary efforts to make the most of contemporary science, and the fusion of Government, Industry and Education (which was the title of the conference).
5. These, and education to create the most creative, science-minded researchers, as key to national competitivity.
One leadup meeting on nanotech and biotech at Tokyo University Medical School earlier this year was held to coincide with the nanotech conference of the year in the U.S. The recent meeting in Kyoto featured the most famous biotech entrepreneur in the U.S. and the head of MIT's tech ventures program (because Japan's schools are not conducive to spinoffs).
This is real stuff, even if it seems futuristic. The bottom line is research that is happening today and I expect multidisciplinary, creative thinking is something slashdotters usually respect. The interesting thing is it's not just Japan, there are new nanotech labs being built all over the place (Oxford just built one, and Cornell U. has a new building going up now, just for two examples). This is a historical opportunity, in other words we are stomping on the bottom of the S curve (see page 36 of the PDF). Anyone with similar thoughts, looking forward to your email.
The future will start in a moment
The Bill Gates Borg icon (Score:2)
"Here comes Mr. Bill's dog." -- Narrator, Saturday Night Live