Shortly before noon local time. This morning
you completed forty-five minutes of exercises in an attempt to get back into
the groove.
1154 hours. I don’t really think it helps all that much
but I feel better psychologically, i.e. I accomplished something.
Surviving another day on this planet is accomplishing
something, boy. This is true for anyone anywhere on the planet and in orbit. –
Amorella
1156 hours. That doesn’t seem like an accomplishment.
One day it will boy; that’s when perspective
takes hold. – Amorella
1158 hours. I sense some humor with this.
1239 hours. I discovered a new BBC article on
feedspot.com that is as philosophical as it is science. Here it is.
TECHNOLOGY
27 December
2014 Last updated at 03:35 ET
When will
man become machine?
By Zoe Kleinman
Technology
reporter, BBC News
"I
think the development of full artificial intelligence [AI] could spell the end
of the human race."
Professor
Stephen Hawking's verdict on AI in a recent BBC interview wasn't exactly good
news for the rest of us.
"Once
humans develop AI it will take off on its own and redesign itself at an ever
increasing rate. Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn't
compete and would be superseded," he said.
Machines can
already "outlive" the humble human many times over, according to tech
editor, investor and author Michael S Malone who grew up in Silicon Valley.
"Every
living thing has one billion heartbeats in its lifetime," he told the BBC.
"The
modern micro processor goes through the equivalent of 5-10 billion operations
per second.
"These
devices are essentially immortal. Just in the time you own your phone the
micro-processor is going through almost all of human existence in terms of
digital heartbeats."
So might
machines contain the secret of eternal life?
Wriggle room
Scientists
working on a project called OpenWorm recently mapped the 302 neuron connections
which make up the small brain of a tiny roundworm - the 1mm long Caenorhabditis
elegans (humans have approximately 60 trillion synapses, or connections,
between 100 billion neurons), and replicated them in the form of software.
The
"brain" programme was then put into a simple robot made of Lego
containing motors, a sonar sensor and touch sensors.
The robot
itself was not actually programmed to "do" anything - but it did.
"It is
claimed that the robot behaved in ways that are similar to observed C.
elegans," wrote journalist Lucy Black.
"Stimulation
of the nose stopped forward motion. Touching the anterior and posterior touch
sensors made the robot move forward and back accordingly. Stimulating the food
sensor made the robot move forward."
Ms Black
went on to ask some philosophical questions about what had been created.
"Is the
robot a C. elegans in a different body or is it something quite new? Is it
alive?"
'Silicon
immortality'
And that's
just one microscopic worm... what happens when it's our turn?
Mr Malone is
fearful.
If Moore's
Law - the doubling of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits every
year, coined by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore - continues, the computers of
2030 will have as much power as the human brain, he believes.
"Then
you get into this world of Ray Kurzweil [Google's director of engineering] -
the singularity - at a certain point we will just map our brains into a
computer and that will give us a kind of silicon immortality," he reasons.
"I
wonder if the first person who maps their brain into a computer, if the first
message they send back will be "pull the plug".
"What
happens to consciousness, to selfhood, when your brain leaves your body and
inhabits a silicon-based machine in the corner? What are you? Are you human?
What happens if you can live forever but have no physical self?"
There are
worrying precedents for what happens when man swaps some of his biological
parts for computer or mechanical equivalents.
In 1982 a
dentist from Seattle called Barney Clark became the first human recipient of an
artificial heart.
He survived
for 112 days but was so ill and depressed that he begged to be allowed to die.
Fighting
fate
So perhaps
we are not emotionally ready to make that leap into the machine - but Mr
Clark's experience has not deterred some of Silicon Valley's heavyweights from
fighting back against mortality.
"We
have this strange combination of acceptance and denial - I would prefer our
mode was more one of fighting... Fighting death, fighting decline," serial
tech entrepreneur and investor Peter Thiel told the BBC.
"It's
true that death may be natural but it's also natural that we should fight
death."
But let's
not forget that nature itself has a habit of fighting back.
In 1859 the
biggest solar storm on record took place. Called the Carrington Event after
astronomer Richard Carrington, the solar flare was so powerful that there were
reports of telegraph pole wires melting and causing fires.
It is not
known how regularly flares of this size occur or if there will be another - but
the consequences for 21st century Earth would be utterly life-changing.
"If we
had one now it would take out every chip in the world," says Michael
Malone.
"If that happened civilisation would sort of stop."
From -- BBC
** **
Based on our recent post theme – what would a
soul care as long as it gained the experiences? After all, it is not physical,
the machine with heartanmind attached would still provide its need, would it
not? – Amorella
1245 hours. I am surprised. This is something I have
never thought about let alone considered.
Well, orndorff, do some considering and
think. Post. - Amorella
You
are going to Smashburgers for lunch then you have errands. Post. - Amorella
1353
hours. We are organic as is the universe. The soul would miss this essential
aspect of the embodiment of being physical. We can sense our connection with
Nature. I don’t feel an artificial intelligence could, at least not in the same
manner, as its construction would not be organic, its source is human and secondary not primary,
Nature being primary. The soul’s source at present, as I see it, is primary,
set by a primary source as nature may be. I am allowing for a pre-primary
source as a probability.
You had a leisurely lunch with a stop at Graeter’s for a
special holiday dessert – peppermint stick with a dollop of hot fudge;
presently you are stopped at Kroger’s on Tylersville for essentials before
heading home. – Amorella'
1541 hours. It is later than I thought, but then we
didn’t have breakfast until about ten this morning.
I anticipated your question, boy. In here
machines don’t have souls but one day they may have minds and hearts of a sort.
– Amorella
1545 hours. How would that work?
You create a human-like mind with
consciousness and the heart will naturally follow as an extension of the mind.
As such it would be well to treat it as an equal species under civilized rules,
particularly if it is set following an upgraded version of Asimov’s four laws
for robots. Mostly the rules would apply to politeness and respect as an
artificial species, much as one would treat a beloved pet. Care for it and it
will care for you.
1552 hours. I don’t think this would work.
Perhaps in the process the humans would
learn to better adapt to the robotic ways. – Amorella
1554 hours. What would be the division of labor?
People would have to adapt. – Amorella
1555 hours. I see some humor in this.
Everyone pays the Piper, boy. – Amorella
1556 hours. That would be different than the usual
stories; most of them anyway. No need for a rebellion among the robots or the
humans.
Some people learn empathy from their pets.
Maybe they’d learn. – Amorella
1655 hours. We are home after running a couple more
errands. – Amorella
We will use this when we learn more about it
in Pouch Eight. – Amorella
1657 hours. We need to define it.
AIRH artificial intelligence with a built
in mind for a good social and personal consciousness that has a marsupial humanoid-like
body and appearance for the psychological comfort – at least
this is how the marsupial humanoids see them as honorary citizens (HC's) of
ThreePlanets. Post. – Amorella
1716 hours. The word I wanted to use, "hubot" exist already.
Let's let the marsupial humanoids use their own word.
1719 hours. I think this has all been done.
Not in our context. - Amorella
You took a break and read a couple more chapters (p. 63) of A Short History of Nearly Everything. It reminds you of other books you have read, one of which uses the same work of art. – Amorella
Post. - Amorella
Honest enough. Post. - Amorella
1716 hours. The word I wanted to use, "hubot" exist already.
Let's let the marsupial humanoids use their own word.
1719 hours. I think this has all been done.
Not in our context. - Amorella
You took a break and read a couple more chapters (p. 63) of A Short History of Nearly Everything. It reminds you of other books you have read, one of which uses the same work of art. – Amorella
1830 hours. I find the book an enjoyable read; some of
the facts presented I have read before but it has been awhile while other facts
are shown of which I was not aware. So far, it is a relaxing fun read just as I
had predicted. I shall have to stair my way into the basement to bring up that
other book. I remember it was given to me by my muse, Kym Sollinger and her
friend, (also one of my students) Edmond T. for Xmas, 1983. The book is The
Discoverers by Daniel J. Boorstin. The book’s protective cover has the same
work of art, at least the piece representing the sun’s face, it is very famous
but I do not remember its painter or title. This presents a strange coincidence
for the same art, which I look so lightly on and given to me, in part, by two
in my heart named Kim, although spelled differently – and both books, as Xmas
presents no less. I found the image online it is a 16th century
woodcut but no title and artist.
16th Century Woodcut
Today I see it as rather representing my own path into
the transcendental experience of the heartansoulanmind, which I find easier to
represent in fiction. Perhaps this is the reason I am enthusiastic about both
books relating to facts and science. (1902)
You are up to chapter eight (p. 113) in “A
Short History –“ and snickered about every two pages on the average. Dark
humored irony is a highlight wherever you see it presented. – Amorella
2046 hours. So many scientists go about their business
of discovering new things and then not getting the credit for it. As grandson
Owen might say, “Unfair”, indeed. Some were obsessed or crazed over one thing
or another and spent their lives studying what it was whether there was a name
for it or not. Then, lo and behold, because they did not publish in time
someone else pops up and discovers it half a century later and gains the credit.
I think it was phosphor that was credited to H. Davy; it was discovered earlier
by a Swed. I don’t remember and don’t feel like looking it up, but that is the
gist I see in this. Some people in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
screwed over people to get recognition for something they didn’t do. In Davy’s
case, he just didn’t know someone had discovered phosphor. No one else at the
time seemed to know this either. While this sort of thing is quite irritating
and appears unfair, that appears to have little to do with the world outside of
the humans living in it. Looking at all this sideways it takes on the dark
humor that I pretty much expect as I move along in the world. We are such a
species that it does us well to see the humor – it drops me down a notch or two
when smugness creeps up in a silent moment. I feel more at ease on a low
mountain side than sitting or standing on its peak. First of all I can roll
down with some childish glee rather than fall from the jolt of an unexpected
surprise or shock. (2104).
Are you done pontificating? – Amorella
2105 hours. Yes. They are honest thoughts, but I keep
them politely quiet and in a more private circumstance, wholly to myself. I
know it doesn’t help in writing the Merlyn books but it gets rid of bubbles
rumbling, mostly in my mind from time to time. Who in the world do people talk
to about what is in their head and succeed at it? They have to be able to
articulate and I do not have the sense of the words other than to say, “The
world is unfair,” while at the same time I do not have in my mind the worthy
words to define the wisdom and justice needed to have the unfairness go away.
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