October 11, 2011
Cybernetic revolt is a scenario in which an artificial intelligence (either a single supercomputer, a computer network, or sometimes a ‘race’ of intelligent machines) decide that humans (and/or organic non-humans) are a threat (either to the machines or to themselves), are inferior, or are oppressors and try to destroy or to enslave them potentially leading to machine rule. In this fictional scenario, humans are often depicted to prevail using ‘human’ qualities, for example using emotions, illogic, inefficiency, duplicity, unpredictability, or exploiting the supposedly rigid, rules-based thinking and lack of innovation of the computer’s black/white mind.
Fear of humanity being made obsolete by technology taps into some of modern humans’ deepest fears. This can be shown to have been the case even before the computer became prominent, as in Karel Capek’s 1921 play ‘R.U.R.’ (Rossum’s Universal Robots). However, even as they were slowly being displaced from most physical tasks, humans have always prided themselves on their brains, taking the mechanistic ‘thoughts’ of early computers as proof that they would not be overtaken by their ‘Frankenstein’ creations.
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October 11, 2011
‘Why the future doesn’t need us‘ is an article written by Bill Joy (then Chief Scientist at Sun Microsystems) in the April 2000 issue of ‘Wired’ magazine. In the article, he argues (quoting the sub title) that ‘Our most powerful 21st-century technologies — robotics, genetic engineering, and nanotech — are threatening to make humans an endangered species.’ Joy warns: ‘The experiences of the atomic scientists clearly show the need to take personal responsibility, the danger that things will move too fast, and the way in which a process can take on a life of its own. We can, as they did, create insurmountable problems in almost no time flat. We must do more thinking up front if we are not to be similarly surprised and shocked by the consequences of our inventions.’
While some critics have characterized Joy’s stance as obscurantism (the practice of deliberately preventing the facts or the full details of some matter from becoming known) or neo-Luddism, others share his concerns about the consequences of rapidly expanding technology.
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October 11, 2011
Strong AI is artificial intelligence that matches or exceeds human intelligence — the intelligence of a machine that can successfully perform any intellectual task that a human being can. It is a primary goal of artificial intelligence research and an important topic for science fiction writers and futurists.
Strong AI is also referred to as ‘artificial general intelligence’ or as the ability to perform ‘general intelligent action.’ Science fiction associates strong AI with such human traits as consciousness (subjective experience and thought), sentience (subjective feelings and emotion), sapience (wisdom) and self-awareness (identification of oneself as a separate individual, especially to be aware of one’s own thoughts). Some references emphasize a distinction between strong AI and ‘applied AI’ (also called ‘narrow AI’ or ‘weak AI’): the use of software to study or accomplish specific problem solving or reasoning tasks that do not encompass (or in some cases are completely outside of) the full range of human cognitive abilities.
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October 7, 2011
In Internet culture, a lurker is a person who reads discussions on a message board, newsgroup, chatroom, file sharing or other interactive system, but rarely or never participates actively.
Research indicates that lurkers make up over 90% of online groups. Lack of trust represents one of the reasons explaining lurking behavior.
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September 29, 2011
Technophobia is the fear or dislike of advanced technology or complex devices, especially computers. The term is generally used in the sense of an irrational fear, but others contend fears are justified. It is the opposite of technophilia. First receiving widespread notice during the Industrial Revolution, technophobia has been observed to affect various societies and communities throughout the world. This has caused some groups to take stances against some modern technological developments in order to preserve their ideologies. In some of these cases, the new technologies conflict with established beliefs, such as the personal values of simplicity and modest lifestyles.
A number of examples of technophobic ideas can be found in multiple forms of art, ranging from literary works such as ‘Frankenstein’ to films like ‘Metropolis.’ Many of these works portray the darker side of technology as seen by the technophobic. As technologies become increasingly complex and difficult to understand, people are more likely to harbor anxieties relating to their use of modern technologies.
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September 29, 2011
The concept known as the law of the instrument, Maslow’s hammer, or a golden hammer is an over-reliance on a familiar tool; as psychologist Abraham Maslow said in 1966, ‘It is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.’ The sentiment that people look for cure-alls, and over-use familiar tools, is likely traditional; see panacea. Likewise, the use of a hammer and nail as imagery are likely as old as hammers and nails, or even the use of rocks as tools, which the hammer evokes.
The hammer and nail metaphor may not be original to Kaplan or Maslow, and has been attributed to Mark Twain, though there is no documentation of this origin in Twain’s published writings. Under the name of ‘Baruch’s Observation,’ it is also been attributed to Bernard M. Baruch, a stock market speculator and author.
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September 28, 2011
Morphing is a special effect in motion pictures and animations that changes (or morphs) one image into another through a seamless transition. Most often it is used to depict one person turning into another through technological means or as part of a fantasy or surreal sequence. Traditionally such a depiction would be achieved through cross-fading techniques on film. Since the early 1990s, this has been replaced by computer software to create more realistic transitions.
Though the 1986 movie ‘The Golden Child’ implemented very crude morphing effects from animal to human and back, the first movie to employ detailed morphing was ‘Willow,’ in 1988. A similar process was used a year later in ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’ to create Walter Donovan’s gruesome demise. Both effects were created by Industrial Light and Magic using grid warping techniques developed by Tom Brigham and Doug Smythe.
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September 27, 2011
The concept of multiple discovery is the hypothesis that most scientific discoveries and inventions are made independently and more or less simultaneously by multiple scientists and inventors. The concept of multiple discovery opposes a traditional view—the ‘heroic theory’ of invention and discovery. When Nobel laureates are announced annually—especially in physics, chemistry, physiology-or-medicine, and economics—increasingly, in the given field, rather than just a single laureate, there are two or the maximally-permissible three, who often have independently made the same discovery.
Commonly cited examples of multiple independent discovery are the 17th-century independent formulation of calculus by Isaac Newton, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and others, described by British historian A. Rupert Hall; the 18th-century discovery of oxygen by Carl Wilhelm Scheele, Joseph Priestley, Antoine Lavoisier and others; and the theory of evolution of species, independently advanced in the 19th century by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace.
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September 27, 2011
Hypermiling is the act of driving using techniques that maximize fuel economy. Those who practice these techniques are referred to as ‘hypermilers.’ Hypermiling can be practiced in any vehicle regardless of its fuel economy. It gained popularity as a result of the rise in gasoline prices during the 2000s. Some hypermiling techniques are illegal in some jurisdictions because they are dangerous. Hypermiling has come under fire from several quarters due to claims of dangerous or unlawful behavior by some hypermilers, such as tailgating larger vehicles on freeways to save fuel by drafting. As a result, the Hypermiling Safety Foundation was formed in August 2008 to promote a safety and public awareness program, advocating legal fuel-saving techniques.
Hypermiling contests have been held on selected courses. The Maximum Fuel Economy contest was held in Indiana, where ‘world records’ for the Honda Insight (213 miles per gallon), Toyota Prius (136 miles per gallon) and the Ford Escape Hybrid (76 miles per gallon) were set. Contestants used techniques which included rolling through all stop signs and having the vehicle tires inflated well beyond recommended specifications. Another contest is the Tour to the Shore, held in New Jersey, which evaluates drivers of cars and trucks.
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September 26, 2011
Titanium rings are jewelry rings or bands which have been primarily constructed from titanium. The actual compositions of titanium can vary, such as ‘commercial pure’ (99.2% titanium) or ‘aircraft grade’ (90% titanium). Rings crafted from titanium are a modern phenomenon, becoming widely available on the market around the 1990s.
They offer several unique properties: they are biocompatible (hypoallergenic), lightweight, corrosion-resistant, and have the highest strength-to-weight ratio of any metal. Titanium was discovered in England in 1791 by William Gregor.
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September 26, 2011
Real-time ridesharing (also known as dynamic carpooling) is a service that arranges one-time shared rides on very short notice. This type of carpooling generally makes use of three recent technological advances: GPS navigation devices to determine a driver’s route and arrange the shared ride; Smartphones for a traveler to request a ride from wherever they happen to be; and social networks to establish trust and accountability between drivers and passengers. These elements are coordinated through a network service, which can instantaneously handle the driver payments and match rides using an optimization algorithm.
Real-time ridesharing is promoted as a way to better utilize the empty seats in most passenger cars, thus lowering fuel usage and transport costs. It can serve areas not covered by a public transit system and act as a transit feeder service. It is also capable of serving one-time trips, not only recurrent commute trips. Furthermore, it can serve to limit the volume of car traffic, thereby reducing congestion and mitigating traffic’s environmental impact.
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September 26, 2011
A simulation video game describes a diverse super-category of video games, generally designed to closely simulate aspects of a real or fictional reality. Construction and management simulation (CMS) is a subtype in which players build, expand or manage fictional communities or projects with limited resources.
Strategy games sometimes incorporate CMS aspects into their game economy, as players must manage resources while expanding their project. But pure CMS games differ from strategy games in that ‘the player’s goal is not to defeat an enemy, but to build something within the context of an ongoing process.’ Games in this category are sometimes also called ‘management games.’
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