Robots that are "self-aware"

Another short TED talk entitle "Robots that are self-aware" related to my previous post about the BBC4 program Visions of the Future. Its only 6.30 minutes long but we see rudimentary self awareness and replication in robots. Fascinating stuff!

Is copyright corroding our society?

Yes is the answer, but don't take my word for it, this blog has a short video of a TED talk outlining the issues, Is copyright corroding our society?

Cults & Brain Washing

The Psychology Behind Cults/Religion is well worth a read

The important feature about brainwashing is that it is done over and over again to achieve the desired goal. When people stop thinking independently for themselves, when they stop questioning their own personal sense of right and wrong, and when they refuse to listen to information that conflicts with their own beliefs… then they have been effectively brainwashed.

but if you find it too long they provide this great summary at the end.

1) Find lonely, desperate people

2) Break them down: Make them feel much worse about themselves

3) Build them back up: make them feel good about themselves again

4) Repeat 2-3 until their sense of self-worth is completely dependent on you

5) Reveal the “true” beliefs of the cult and take all their money

This is a "moderate"

Via Richard Dawkin's website I read this article about Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, the leader of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), an alleged moderate. He has some charming opinions, such as;

Sir Salman Rushdie should never have been knighted, he says. "He caused a huge amount of distress and discordance with his book, it should have been pulped."

Because no conversation with a muslim moderate would be complete without at least one call for censorship ... theres also;

"Alcohol is the worst drug long-term," he says, and adds that the Government should consider banning drinking in public places, as it has done with smoking.

I can't help but think that if these guys relaxed and drank a little more they wouldn't be so scrary, on the thorny issue of stoning women he adds;

"It depends what sort of stoning and what circumstances," he replies. "When our prophet talked about stoning for adultery he said there should be four [witnesses] - in realistic terms that's impossible. It's a metaphor for disapproval."

Yes, but involving real rocks. Something tells me I wouldn't like to be on the receiving end of any islamic metaphor, I'll close with this little gem;

In Dr Bari's view, suicide bombers are victims as well as aggressors. "I deal with emotionally damaged children," he explains. "Children come to hate when they don't get enough care and love. They are probably bullied, it makes a young person angry and vulnerable.

This ones so sick it actually made me laugh, meanwhile "polite" society reckons we should respect this medieval horseshit! The correct response should be to burst out laughing at their backwardness and then offer them a cold beer and some physiological help.

Dangerous Minds

Malcolm Gladwell of Tipping point & Blink fame has a great article in the New Yorker about Criminal Profilers. He raises a lot of interesting points about how they reach and phrase their conclusions (hint: he compares them to cold reading "psychics") and is well worth the read.

The Law of Evolution

Heres an interesting article about how to tackle the abuse of language by creationists. In a nutshell the author suggests scientists should stop using the word "theory" as in "Theory of Evolution" as most people mistakenly believe the word means something akin to "Hunch". Of course in every day life it does, but not in the scientific context and it is this gap in understanding which allows creationist to get away with so much bullshit. To overcome this the article suggests scientists should replace the word "Theory" with "Law" in common parlance, after all, who would argue with the "Law of Evolution"...

Americans Are NOT Stupid

A friend of mine (who I may have to start identifying him as "Braniac") sent me this funny video. Its the normal stuff of people on the street knowing absolutely nothing about basic geography, current events and history. No matter how many times I see things like this it always amazes me how people can get themselves into such a state of ignorance.

Heinikan Cup : Week One

I went to see Leinster V Leicester on Saturday and was really happy with the performance. I had serious concerns that the rot from the Rugby World Cup had infected the provinces but instead Leinster put in a sterling performance. Of course they have a habit of blowing hot and cold but I'm actually optimistic...

When to the pub afterwards to watch Munster and despite the result felt maybe Irish Rugby is not about to collapse. Roll on next weekend.

VISIONS OF THE FUTURE

Part two, entitled "THE BIOTECH REVOLUTION", of this excellent series aired on BBC4 last night and it was as good as the first. Last nights episode dealt with genetics and biotechnology and, like the first episode, was simultaneously fascinating and terrifying. The potential of this technology is mind bending, from being able to grow replacement body parts to "improving" ourselves physically & mentally to dramatically increasing our lifespans - pretty much, the sky-is-the-limit for what we may be able to do. The program also discussed the dangerous potential of this technology such as the rich and powerful literally genetically enhancing themselves into a permanent ruling class (with near immortality) or how we could evolve ourselves away from humanity into a new species to even how we could remove all the distinguishing foibles of being human and become "perfect". Obviously none of this is possible today but its not too far off and we need to start deciding now, how we are going to use this technology. The overall effect of the program was to give the sense that we really are on the cusp of science-fiction becoming science-fact - a dizzying notion. It reminded me of that Chinese curse, we are living in interesting times.

Sicko

I went to see Michael Moore's new film "Sicko" last night and I really enjoyed it. As with his other films its a roller coaster of emotion as he moves from funny/heartwarming scenes one minute to sad/heartbreaking scenes the next. The film leaves you in no doubt that for profit health care is a very bad idea, for example, when one of these insurance companies has to make a payment its termed a "Medical Loss". In this environment the profit motive sweeps all before it and its the people who suffer. There were a lot of hard cases featured in the movie but my greatest sympathy was reserved for the couple who went bankrupt at age 60+ and had to move in with their daughter who seemed slightly resentful at the prospect: the small room she put them in hadn't even been cleared out (it contained a PC desk, display case and chest of drawers, but no bed) and bunk beds where mentioned for the parents to sleep in - nightmare!

The worrying thing from an Irish perspective is that Harney et al seem intent on bringing the US model here and the way to do that is to throughly undermine and destroy public confidence in the health service while at the same time touting the benefits on competition and private health insurance. I'm sad to say I imagine they will be successful, not only where the current bunch of crooks and liars returned to office but the Greens have totally sold out and the opposition are a bunch spineless centrists who will continue to do the bidding of whomever's got the money. We're screwed!

5%

The current theory is that ordinary matter (the stuff that you, me, the planet, stars and galaxy's are made from) accounts for about 5% of the universe which brings me to this excellent motivational poster. Enjoy.

Bring back the Greek gods

Here's an interesting article from the LA Times arguing that religion isn't the problem; it's monotheism. The author suggests that having one all powerful god leads to notions of "truth" and "certainty" which polytheistic societies lack.

The polytheistic Greeks didn't advocate killing those who worshiped different gods, and they did not pretend that their religion provided the right answers. Their religion made the ancient Greeks aware of their ignorance and weakness, letting them recognize multiple points of view.

She argues that it also allowed them to be more open and tolerant to different ideas and faiths, even merging them into their own religion from time to time.

The Greeks and Romans did not share the narrow view of the ancient Hebrews that a divinity could only be masculine. Like many other ancient peoples in the eastern Mediterranean, the Greeks recognized female divinities, and they attributed to goddesses almost all of the powers held by the male gods.

The world, as the Greek philosopher Thales wrote, is full of gods, and all deserve respect and honor. Such a generous understanding of the nature of divinity allowed the ancient Greeks and Romans to accept and respect other people's gods and to admire (rather than despise) other nations for their own notions of piety. If the Greeks were in close contact with a particular nation, they gave the foreign gods names of their own gods: the Egyptian goddess Isis was Demeter, Horus was Apollo, and so on. Thus they incorporated other people's gods into their pantheon.

Now I think the author is presenting a rather rosy view of the ancients as they could be incredibly cruel and they tended to treat women abysmally even though they worshiped goddesses, but the idea has merits. A whole pantheon of rowdy, randy and petty gods carousing around the place cause all sorts of mayhem would be a welcome change from the stiff, uptight, guilt ridden austere god we have at present. It would also open a whole new dimension to believers Sunday morning, "Shall we go to the temple of Zeus or Athena this week?" or "I need to know whether or not to take that new job, lets go worship Apollo today and ask him for a sign". It all sounds like great stuff to me and would make a welcome change from the dry mumbling I grew up with. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not about to start praying to Zeus or anything but the ancient Greeks did have a God of Wine ........ perhaps I'll offer a libation at some point over the weekend and see if anything happens.