Greed, Corruption, And Global Warming

I started thinking again about the prophets of doom and gloom, chief among these is Al Gore. The people who are spreading a message of fear and despair are talking about the effects and not the cause. I’m talking about the real cause, not rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. I’m talking about greed and corruption. The pain and suffering in the world that will result due to the climate changes brought about by global warming will be a direct result of our inability to adjust to the changes not the changes themselves. The prophets of doom are focusing on regions becoming arid or stormy or rising water levels that will submerge populated costal areas. The problem is not that these things will happen it is that we will not cooperate with each other to adjust to the changes. Mankind’s greed over money and the mismanagement of resources by corrupt governments will be the true culprit of our despair unless mankind becomes enlightened and transformed by the truth.

Technorati Tags: greed, corruption, global+warming, al+gore

Quantum Angels

Last week I had the privilege to hear John Parmentola speak at the U.S. Army War College’s Robotics Day. A large portion of his talk centered on the predictions made by Ray Kurzweil concerning the progress of computational power. Based on these predictions Parmentola stated that machines will contain enough power for us to enter into totally immersive artificial environments where, “humans will converse with other humans, humans will converse with artificial humans, and artificial humans will converse with artificial humans.” This struck me as something profound because these “artificial humans” will not actually be humans at all. They will only appear to us as humans. There is another place where stories exist about things that are not actually human but appear to us as humans to bring us information from a larger intellect – The Bible. These beings are called Angels. It is further believed that when we inevitably construct quantum computers it will be possible to have enough computational power to simulate an entire universe. Now, putting these concepts together leads to the thought, “Are we just constructs in quantum computer created by another intelligent race?” This concept neither invalidates evolution or creation by a superior intellect. This idea has existed for some time in fantasy (i.e. Tron and The Matrix) but breakthroughs in technology may actually support such a premise.

Technorati Tags: robot, quantum+computer, john+parmentola, artificial+life, angels, ray+kurzweil

Star Wars, An Inspiration

I’m on the road right now. I rarely have time to sit down and watch a movie. But, last night in my hotel room I was flipping channels and caught the original Star Wars movie. It had been a long time since I had watched it in its entirety. I was only 7 years old when I saw it for the first time in theaters. After 30 years it is still one of the best movies ever. Even the special effects have stood up to the test of time. Watching it again reminded me of why I studied computers, science, and now futurism. Every once in a while something like this comes along and becomes popular because it contains all the elements inherent in humanity and the future that we aspire to or in some cases fear. Star Trek is another example, specifically The Borg. Are The Borg what we fear we are becoming, are they what we want to be, or are they just simply what we will be? While technology may be what we see on the surface of these stories it is not the technology that stirs us up inside. Rather, it is the spiritual ramifications. In Star Wars it is “The Force”, in the case of The Borg it is the loss of our individuality and free will. I was introduced to the term Homo Religious 16 years ago in an undergraduate religious studies course. My interpretation of the concept is that we are religious in some manner whether we are atheists, Christians, Buddhists, etc. Basically, we all feel the need to explain why we are here and how we got here and even who we are. What if brain replacement becomes possible? Will I still be me? Am I defined by my brain? Will I still be human? Will I be an abomination, a golem?

Technorati Tags: star+wars, star+trek, homo+religious, transhuman, spirituality, borg, golem, brain+replacement

Ray Kurzweil’s Foreword to The Intelligent Universe

WOW! Ray has some high hopes for humanity or whatever it is that we are to become. In his Foreword to The Intelligent Universe he gives several numbers about what kind of calculations per second we can expect from computers in the near future. The calculation power will exceed the number of calculations that a human brain is capable of. What I wonder is, “Who will write the software that will make it more intelligent than the human brain?” Regardless of how fast our computers are, if we can’t write software to utilize the power we will not gain from it. The Problem with Programming is a good read on this aspect. One other thing I would like to mention is the evolutionary nature of the universe. Ray points out an interesting hypothesis put forward by Leonard Susskind and Lee Smolin: “universes give rise to other universes.” I believe this is compatible with Ken Wilber’s thinking:

"Evolution has a direction, yes, a principle of order out of chaos, as it is commonly phrased. In other words, a drive toward greater depth. Chance is defeated, meaning emerges -- the intrinsic value of the Kosmos increases with each unfolding. Evolution has a broad and general tendency to move in the direction of: increasing complexity, increasing differentiation/integration, increasing organization/structuration, increasing relative autonomy, increasing telos."

So, if we can keep from destroying ourselves there are some exciting times ahead. But I think in order for the kind of development to take place within the timeframe that Ray is talking about we are going to need better programming methodologies to make it happen.

Technorati Tags: ray+kurzweil, evolution, programming

Sling Your Slingbox

Do you think the Slingbox has a future? I don’t. How important is it to anyone to watch their cable or satellite television on their cellphone or PC when they are not Home? Additionally, most media companies already stream their content over the Internet already. For instance, right now I am streaming XM Radio from the Internet through my PC. I have a radio receiver but since I have an account I am also able to use the Internet streaming service that XM provides for me. I don’t need to reroute it myself using something like a Slingbox. If I want, I can watch CNN, Fox, or Bloomberg news stories from their websites. It just seems to me that this is a device with no real market or future. Present technology already makes it obsolete. It just seems like another misdirected Internet product. Its product lifecycle is over before it began.

Technorati Tags: slingbox, slinging, consumer+electronics

A New Graphical User Interface

Back to blogging! Some other projects have kept me away recently. It feels good to be back. Here is something that was brought to my attention a couple of days ago that I want to share. In the past I've seen a lot of different ideas that promise to be the next step in human-machine interface, especially stuff from the MIT Media Lab. I think this could be the one that takes off. The drop in prices and the rapid advances that are taking place in the manufacture of large, flat screen technology will make this possible.

Technorati Tags: graphical+user+interface, touch+screen, hmi

The Time Lords

The Financial Times’ website has an article titled, The Time Lords. This has to be the best article that I have ever seen published that describes the field of professional futurism (as opposed to sensationalists and Pop Futurists). The article is very well researched. Andy Hines and Wendy Schultz are members of the Association of Professional Futurists and are interviewed in the article.

Technorati Tags: futurist, futurism