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The “Uncanny Valley” is the evocative name for the commonplace reaction to realistic-but-not-quite-right simulated humans, robotic or animated. Most of us, when encountering such a simulacrum, have an instinctive “it’s creepy” response, one that is enhanced when the sim is moving. Invented by roboticist Masahiro Mori, the Uncanny Valley concept is typically applied to beings (broadly conceived) as they become increasingly similar to humans in appearance and action. But what about beings as they become less similar to humans—following the path of transhumans and, eventually, posthumans?
Believing that our technology will become, or make us, god-like is fundamentally undemocratic. We need to remain critical of this transcendentalizing tendency in techno-utopian discourse in order to work towards real liberatory uses of technology.
Back in the long-ago 1980s and 1990s, it was common to hear all about the rapid expansion of democratic movements around the planet. The tale was largely true, of course, and today more people live under systems of representative government than at any other time in the history of the world. But, in addition to the spread of political democracy, might we be witnessing an equally significant democratization of capital, of knowledge, and of regulation?
Geoengineering—or, as I sometimes call it, re-terraforming the Earth—is back in the news, with a sobering editorial in the New York Times by Carnegie’s Dr. Ken Caldeira.
Christopher Csikszentmihalyi’s concerns about military robotics in Engineering Politics are valid. They are why I got involved with the IEET in the first place. But his effort to communicate to the general public comes up a bit short.
From Wikipedia: End Day is a docu-drama produced by the BBC and airing on the National Geographic Channel, on the TV series, National Geographic Channel Presents, that depicts various doomsday scenarios. The documentary follows the fictional scientist Dr. Howell as he travels from his hotel room in London, England to his laboratory in New York City, and shows how each scenario affects his journey as well as those around him, with various experts providing commentary on that specific disaster as it unfolds. The five scenarios: Mega-Tsunami, Killer Asteroid, Global Pandemic, Supervolcano and Strange Matter.
Abstract This paper examines the UK regulatory framework and the ethical arguments surrounding the use of genetic tests, specifically considering how they would apply to selecting for enhanced health characteristics.
Lawrence Lessig‘s brilliant lecture explaining why he has turned his attention from the copyleft fight to the struggle against institutional corruption, especially the corporate corruption of democracy.
The Reasoning Show is an Australian podcast produced by David Quinn, Dan Rowden and Kevin Solway, co-founders of Genius Forum. It consists of audio recordings of philosophical discussions between participants from around the world. Their hour-long interview with the IEET’s J. Hughes about the brain and the future is up now: ListenDownload
With Al Gore and the IPCC winning the Nobel Peace Prize yesterday, lots of people are talking about global warming. The remaining holdouts and dead-enders continue to bray about hoaxes and imaginary disputes, but by and large the dominant focus of conversation about climate disruption boils down to a simple question: what do we do about it?
What kind of lives we lead when we are old will depend in part upon the attitudes we adopt today toward the elders that already exist. This means that yes, we all have an interest in such notions as the problems with institutional nursing. We also need to encourage efforts to improve the safety of medicine for the elderly. And we need to improve efforts toward creating a more interdependent culture, in which the contributions of diverse types and ages of persons are recognized more consistently.
The People Database project continues to do us a great service by transcribing talks given by IEET staff and fellows. This is a transcription they have just posted of an interview I did with Dheera Sujan of Radio Netherlands for their program “The State We’re In.”
Last week I left a note on Laura’s desk
It said I love you signed anonymous friend
Turns out she’s smarter than I thought she was
She knows I wrote it, now the whole class does too
And I’m alone during couple skate
When she skates by with some guy on her arm
But I know that I’ll forget the look of pity in her face
When I’m living in my solar dome on a platform in space
Cause it’s gonna be the future soon
And I won’t always be this way
When the things that make me weak and strange get engineered away
It’s gonna be the future soon I’ve never seen it quite so clear
And when my heart is breaking I can close my eyes and it’s already here
I’ll probably be some kind of scientist
Building inventions in my space lab in space
I’ll end world hunger
I’ll make dolphins speak
Work through the daytime, spend my nights and weekends
Perfecting my warrior robot race
Building them one laser gun at a time
I will do my best to teach them
About life and what it’s worth
I just hope that I can keep them from destroying the Earth
Cause it’s gonna be the future soon
And I won’t always be this way
When the things that make me weak and strange get engineered away
It’s gonna be the future soon I’ve never seen it quite so clear
And when my heart is breaking I can close my eyes and it’s already
Here on Earth they’ll wonder
As I piece by piece replace myself
And the steel and circuits will make me whole
But I’ll still feel so alone
Until Laura calls me home
I’ll see her standing by the monorail
She’ll look the same except for bionic eyes
She lost the real ones in the robot wars
I’ll say I’m sorry, she’ll say it’s not your fault Or is it?
And she eyes me suspiciously
Hearing the whir of the servos inside
She will scream and try to run
But there’s nowhere she can hide
When a crazy cyborg wants to make you his robot bride
Well it’s gonna be the future soon
And I won’t always be this way
When the things that make me weak and strange get engineered away
It’s gonna be the future soon I’ve never seen it quite so clear
And when my heart is breaking I can close my eyes and it’s already here
I’ve never really paid much attention to Christopher Hitchens, renowned and reviled critic of all things religious. But when my brother recently brought his anti-Buddhist sentiments to my attention I had to take a closer look.
Recently we (CRN) posted a somewhat controversial article about four stages of Climate Change Denialism. Our fourth level of denial was characterized as “Global warming is happening, and it is a result of human actions, and it will be catastrophic, but that’s okay.”
Keith Olberman, producer of the boldly progressive MSNBC program Countdown, covers Nick Bostrom Simulation Hypothesis in an interview with Matrix philosopher William Irwin.
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