1058
hours. I found this interesting article online this morning.
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BBC: Science & Environment
Hawking: Humans at risk of lethal 'own goal'
David
Shukman
Science
editor
19 January 2016
Humanity is at risk from a series of dangers of our own making,
according to Prof Stephen Hawking.
Nuclear war, global warming and genetically-engineered viruses
are among the scenarios he singles out.
And he says that further progress in science and technology will
create "new ways things can go wrong".
Prof Hawking is giving this year's BBC Reith Lectures, which
explore research into black holes, and his warning came in answer to audience
questions.
He says that assuming humanity eventually establishes colonies
on other worlds, it will be able to survive.
"Although the chance of a disaster to planet Earth in a
given year may be quite low, it adds up over time, and becomes a near certainty
in the next thousand or ten thousand years.
"By that time we should have spread out into space, and to
other stars, so a disaster on Earth would not mean the end of the human race.
"However, we will not establish self-sustaining colonies in
space for at least the next hundred years, so we have to be very careful in
this period."
. . .
iWonder: A brief
history of Stephen Hawking
It is ironic that such a prominent figure in science identifies
scientific progress itself as the major source of new threats.
On previous occasions, he has highlighted the potential risks of
artificial intelligence (AI) becoming powerful enough to cause the extinction
of the human race.
But he insists that ways will be found to cope.
"We are not going to stop making progress, or reverse it,
so we have to recognise the dangers and control them. I'm an optimist, and I
believe we can."
Asked for advice for young scientists, Prof Hawking said they
should retain a sense of wonder about "our vast and complex"
Universe.
"From my own perspective, it has been a glorious time to be
alive and doing research in theoretical physics. There is nothing like the
Eureka moment of discovering something that no one knew before."
But he also
said that future generations of researchers should be aware of how scientific
and technological progress is changing the world, and to help the wider public
understand it.
"It's important to ensure that these changes are heading in
the right directions. In a democratic society, this means that everyone needs
to have a basic understanding of science to make informed decisions about the
future.
"So communicate plainly what you are trying to do in
science, and who knows, you might even end up understanding it yourself."
Since his diagnosis with motor neurone disease, Prof Hawking's
determination to overcome the immense physical challenges of his disability has
been a source of worldwide admiration and fascination.
His daughter Lucy, a journalist and writer, who has co-written
children's science books with Prof Hawking, was asked to explain his drive.
"I think he's enormously stubborn and has a very enviable
wish to keep going and the ability to summon all his reserves, all his energy,
all his mental focus and press them all into that goal of keeping going,"
she said.
"But not
just to keep going for the purposes of survival, but to transcend this by
producing extraordinary work, writing books, giving lectures, inspiring other
people with neurodegenerative and other disabilities, and being a family man, a
friend and a colleague to so many people and keeping up with friends across the
world."
Selected and
edited from -- http://www.bbcDOTcom/news/science-environment-35344664
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1100 hours.
Stephen Hawking gives us a hundred years to keep ourselves safe. He estimates
that between a thousand years and ten thousand years there is a chance of a
terrible calamity caused through us or through nature; however, once we
have colonies off the planet our species’ survival chances are better. I am
pleased there are people in the world who look ahead at least one hundred years
though a thousand is better for perspective. This way we are thinking beyond
our own limelight.
Thinking beyond your own limelight is not
beyond you, boy. This was the intent of my comment: “Your books are one thing;
the world is another.” Post. – Amorella
1113 hours. This article then serves
as reinforcement.
2305
hours. The article does serve as a reinforcement to somehow make the Merlyn
books more relevant to the real world. The books (the stories) have timelessness
and long perspectives, far into the Past, Present and into a Future as well as the
act of being Dead. Merlyn is the ingrained, the singular character, who has the
dreams. He is really the only character. However, a great weakness here is that
he is a shaman. This modern world has little need of shamans. See modern
definition below.
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shaman - noun (pl. shamans)
a person regarded as
having access to, and influence in, the world of good and evil spirits,
especially among some peoples of northern Asia and North America. Typically
such people enter a trance state during a ritual, and practice divination and
healing.
Selected and edited
from Oxford/American software
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2317 hours.
My Merlyn was Medieval born (part truth and part fiction) and in death he has
access to and influence in the world of spirits. His dream state is not during
a ritual; he is beyond divination and healing. He is the contextual conduit for
the storytelling. If this were modernized he would have to be, for example, the
first AI self-aware piece of machinery that actually survives death, that is,
he would be as a non-biological machine with a heartansoulanmind just as human
beings do. Hmm. This would be an interesting story in itself . . . too bad I
can’t copyright the idea. No doubt someone has already written such a scenario
or will soon. – rho
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