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Man-Computer Symbiosis ... March 1960

chycho — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 06:02:40 GMT

i've only read the summary but it looks like a gem from the 1960's

http://groups.csail.mit.edu/medg/people/psz/Licklider.html

Man-Computer Symbiosis

J. C. R. Licklider
IRE Transactions on Human Factors in Electronics,
volume HFE-1, pages 4-11, March 1960
Summary

Man-computer symbiosis is an expected development in cooperative interaction between men and electronic computers. It will involve very close coupling between the human and the electronic members of the partnership. The main aims are 1) to let computers facilitate formulative thinking as they now facilitate the solution of formulated problems, and 2) to enable men and computers to cooperate in making decisions and controlling complex situations without inflexible dependence on predetermined programs. In the anticipated symbiotic partnership, men will set the goals, formulate the hypotheses, determine the criteria, and perform the evaluations. Computing machines will do the routinizable work that must be done to prepare the way for insights and decisions in technical and scientific thinking. Preliminary analyses indicate that the symbiotic partnership will perform intellectual operations much more effectively than man alone can perform them. Prerequisites for the achievement of the effective, cooperative association include developments in computer time sharing, in memory components, in memory organization, in programming languages, and in input and output equipment.

1 Introduction
1.1 Symbiosis

The fig tree is pollinated only by the insect Blastophaga grossorun. The larva of the insect lives in the ovary of the fig tree, and there it gets its food. The tree and the insect are thus heavily interdependent: the tree cannot reproduce wit bout the insect; the insect cannot eat wit bout the tree; together, they constitute not only a viable but a productive and thriving partnership. This cooperative "living together in intimate association, or even close union, of two dissimilar organisms" is called symbiosis [27].

"Man-computer symbiosis is a subclass of man-machine systems. There are many man-machine systems. At present, however, there are no man-computer symbioses. The purposes of this paper are to present the concept and, hopefully, to foster the development of man-computer symbiosis by analyzing some problems of interaction between men and computing machines, calling attention to applicable principles of man-machine engineering, and pointing out a few questions to which research answers are needed. The hope is that, in not too many years, human brains and computing machines will be coupled together very tightly, and that the resulting partnership will think as no human brain has ever thought and process data in a way not approached by the information-handling machines we know today.
1.2 Between "Mechanically Extended Man" and "Artificial Intelligence"

As a concept, man-computer symbiosis is different in an important way from what North [21] has called "mechanically extended man." In the man-machine systems of the past, the human operator supplied the initiative, the direction, the integration, and the criterion. The mechanical parts of the systems were mere extensions, first of the human arm, then of the human eye. These systems certainly did not consist of "dissimilar organisms living together..." There was only one kind of organism-man-and the rest was there only to help him.

In one sense of course, any man-made system is intended to help man, to help a man or men outside the system. If we focus upon the human operator within the system, however, we see that, in some areas of technology, a fantastic change has taken place during the last few years. "Mechanical extension" has given way to replacement of men, to automation, and the men who remain are there more to help than to be helped. In some instances, particularly in large computer-centered information and control systems, the human operators are responsible mainly for functions that it proved infeasible to automate. Such systems ("humanly extended machines," North might call them) are not symbiotic systems. They are "semi-automatic" systems, systems that started out to be fully automatic but fell short of the goal.

Man-computer symbiosis is probably not the ultimate paradigm for complex technological systems. It seems entirely possible that, in due course, electronic or chemical "machines" will outdo the human brain in most of the functions we now consider exclusively within its province. Even now, Gelernter's IBM-704 program for proving theorems in plane geometry proceeds at about the same pace as Brooklyn high school students, and makes similar errors.[12] There are, in fact, several theorem-proving, problem-solving, chess-playing, and pattern-recognizing programs (too many for complete reference [1, 2, 5, 8, 11, 13, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 25]) capable of rivaling human intellectual performance in restricted areas; and Newell, Simon, and Shaw's [20] "general problem solver" may remove some of the restrictions. In short, it seems worthwhile to avoid argument with (other) enthusiasts for artificial intelligence by conceding dominance in the distant future of cerebration to machines alone. There will nevertheless be a fairly long interim during which the main intellectual advances will be made by men and computers working together in intimate association. A multidisciplinary study group, examining future research and development problems of the Air Force, estimated that it would be 1980 before developments in artificial intelligence make it possible for machines alone to do much thinking or problem solving of military significance. That would leave, say, five years to develop man-computer symbiosis and 15 years to use it. The 15 may be 10 or 500, but those years should be intellectually the most creative and exciting in the history of mankind.
2 Aims of Man-Computer Symbiosis

Present-day computers are designed primarily to solve preformulated problems or to process data according to predetermined procedures. The course of the computation may be conditional upon results obtained during the computation, but all the alternatives must be foreseen in advance. (If an unforeseen alternative arises, the whole process comes to a halt and awaits the necessary extension of the program.) The requirement for preformulation or predetermination is sometimes no great disadvantage. It is often said that programming for a computing machine forces one to think clearly, that it disciplines the thought process. If the user can think his problem through in advance, symbiotic association with a computing machine is not necessary.

However, many problems that can be thought through in advance are very difficult to think through in advance. They would be easier to solve, and they could be solved faster, through an intuitively guided trial-and-error procedure in which the computer cooperated, turning up flaws in the reasoning or revealing unexpected turns in the solution. Other problems simply cannot be formulated without computing-machine aid. Poincare anticipated the frustration of an important group of would-be computer users when he said, "The question is not, 'What is the answer?' The question is, 'What is the question?'" One of the main aims of man-computer symbiosis is to bring the computing machine effectively into the formulative parts of technical problems.

The other main aim is closely related. It is to bring computing machines effectively into processes of thinking that must go on in "real time," time that moves too fast to permit using computers in conventional ways. Imagine trying, for example, to direct a battle with the aid of a computer on such a schedule as this. You formulate your problem today. Tomorrow you spend with a programmer. Next week the computer devotes 5 minutes to assembling your program and 47 seconds to calculating the answer to your problem. You get a sheet of paper 20 feet long, full of numbers that, instead of providing a final solution, only suggest a tactic that should be explored by simulation. Obviously, the battle would be over before the second step in its planning was begun. To think in interaction with a computer in the same way that you think with a colleague whose competence supplements your own will require much tighter coupling between man and machine than is suggested by the example and than is possible today.
3 Need for Computer Participation in Formulative and Real-Time Thinking

The preceding paragraphs tacitly made the assumption that, if they could be introduced effectively into the thought process, the functions that can be performed by data-processing machines would improve or facilitate thinking and problem solving in an important way. That assumption may require justification.
3.1 A Preliminary and Informal Time-and-Motion Analysis of Technical Thinking

Despite the fact that there is a voluminous literature on thinking and problem solving, including intensive case-history studies of the process of invention, I could find nothing comparable to a time-and-motion-study analysis of the mental work of a person engaged in a scientific or technical enterprise. In the spring and summer of 1957, therefore, I tried to keep track of what one moderately technical person actually did during the hours he regarded as devoted to work. Although I was aware of the inadequacy of the sampling, I served as my own subject.

It soon became apparent that the main thing I did was to keep records, and the project would have become an infinite regress if the keeping of records had been carried through in the detail envisaged in the initial plan. It was not. Nevertheless, I obtained a picture of my activities that gave me pause. Perhaps my spectrum is not typical--I hope it is not, but I fear it is.

About 85 per cent of my "thinking" time was spent getting into a position to think, to make a decision, to learn something I needed to know. Much more time went into finding or obtaining information than into digesting it. Hours went into the plotting of graphs, and other hours into instructing an assistant how to plot. When the graphs were finished, the relations were obvious at once, but the plotting had to be done in order to make them so. At one point, it was necessary to compare six experimental determinations of a function relating speech-intelligibility to speech-to-noise ratio. No two experimenters had used the same definition or measure of speech-to-noise ratio. Several hours of calculating were required to get the data into comparable form. When they were in comparable form, it took only a few seconds to determine what I needed to know.

Throughout the period I examined, in short, my "thinking" time was devoted mainly to activities that were essentially clerical or mechanical: searching, calculating, plotting, transforming, determining the logical or dynamic consequences of a set of assumptions or hypotheses, preparing the way for a decision or an insight. Moreover, my choices of what to attempt and what not to attempt were determined to an embarrassingly great extent by considerations of clerical feasibility, not intellectual capability.

The main suggestion conveyed by the findings just described is that the operations that fill most of the time allegedly devoted to technical thinking are operations that can be performed more effectively by machines than by men. Severe problems are posed by the fact that these operations have to be performed upon diverse variables and in unforeseen and continually changing sequences. If those problems can be solved in such a way as to create a symbiotic relation between a man and a fast information-retrieval and data-processing machine, however, it seems evident that the cooperative interaction would greatly improve the thinking process.

It may be appropriate to acknowledge, at this point, that we are using the term "computer" to cover a wide class of calculating, data-processing, and information-storage-and-retrieval machines. The capabilities of machines in this class are increasing almost daily. It is therefore hazardous to make general statements about capabilities of the class. Perhaps it is equally hazardous to make general statements about the capabilities of men. Nevertheless, certain genotypic differences in capability between men and computers do stand out, and they have a bearing on the nature of possible man-computer symbiosis and the potential value of achieving it.

As has been said in various ways, men are noisy, narrow-band devices, but their nervous systems have very many parallel and simultaneously active channels. Relative to men, computing machines are very fast and very accurate, but they are constrained to perform only one or a few elementary operations at a time. Men are flexible, capable of "programming themselves contingently" on the basis of newly received information. Computing machines are single-minded, constrained by their " pre-programming." Men naturally speak redundant languages organized around unitary objects and coherent actions and employing 20 to 60 elementary symbols. Computers "naturally" speak nonredundant languages, usually with only two elementary symbols and no inherent appreciation either of unitary objects or of coherent actions.

To be rigorously correct, those characterizations would have to include many qualifiers. Nevertheless, the picture of dissimilarity (and therefore p0tential supplementation) that they present is essentially valid. Computing machines can do readily, well, and rapidly many things that are difficult or impossible for man, and men can do readily and well, though not rapidly, many things that are difficult or impossible for computers. That suggests that a symbiotic cooperation, if successful in integrating the positive characteristics of men and computers, would be of great value. The differences in speed and in language, of course, pose difficulties that must be overcome.
4 Separable Functions of Men and Computers in the Anticipated Symbiotic Association

It seems likely that the contributions of human operators and equipment will blend together so completely in many operations that it will be difficult to separate them neatly in analysis. That would be the case it; in gathering data on which to base a decision, for example, both the man and the computer came up with relevant precedents from experience and if the computer then suggested a course of action that agreed with the man's intuitive judgment. (In theorem-proving programs, computers find precedents in experience, and in the SAGE System, they suggest courses of action. The foregoing is not a far-fetched example. ) In other operations, however, the contributions of men and equipment will be to some extent separable.

Men will set the goals and supply the motivations, of course, at least in the early years. They will formulate hypotheses. They will ask questions. They will think of mechanisms, procedures, and models. They will remember that such-and-such a person did some possibly relevant work on a topic of interest back in 1947, or at any rate shortly after World War II, and they will have an idea in what journals it might have been published. In general, they will make approximate and fallible, but leading, contributions, and they will define criteria and serve as evaluators, judging the contributions of the equipment and guiding the general line of thought.

In addition, men will handle the very-low-probability situations when such situations do actually arise. (In current man-machine systems, that is one of the human operator's most important functions. The sum of the probabilities of very-low-probability alternatives is often much too large to neglect. ) Men will fill in the gaps, either in the problem solution or in the computer program, when the computer has no mode or routine that is applicable in a particular circumstance.

The information-processing equipment, for its part, will convert hypotheses into testable models and then test the models against data (which the human operator may designate roughly and identify as relevant when the computer presents them for his approval). The equipment will answer questions. It will simulate the mechanisms and models, carry out the procedures, and display the results to the operator. It will transform data, plot graphs ("cutting the cake" in whatever way the human operator specifies, or in several alternative ways if the human operator is not sure what he wants). The equipment will interpolate, extrapolate, and transform. It will convert static equations or logical statements into dynamic models so the human operator can examine their behavior. In general, it will carry out the routinizable, clerical operations that fill the intervals between decisions.

In addition, the computer will serve as a statistical-inference, decision-theory, or game-theory machine to make elementary evaluations of suggested courses of action whenever there is enough basis to support a formal statistical analysis. Finally, it will do as much diagnosis, pattern-matching, and relevance-recognizing as it profitably can, but it will accept a clearly secondary status in those areas.
5 Prerequisites for Realization of Man-Computer Symbiosis

The data-processing equipment tacitly postulated in the preceding section is not available. The computer programs have not been written. There are in fact several hurdles that stand between the nonsymbiotic present and the anticipated symbiotic future. Let us examine some of them to see more clearly what is needed and what the chances are of achieving it.
5.1 Speed Mismatch Between Men and Computers

Any present-day large-scale computer is too fast and too costly for real-time cooperative thinking with one man. Clearly, for the sake of efficiency and economy, the computer must divide its time among many users. Timesharing systems are currently under active development. There are even arrangements to keep users from "clobbering" anything but their own personal programs.

It seems reasonable to envision, for a time 10 or 15 years hence, a "thinking center" that will incorporate the functions of present-day libraries together with anticipated advances in information storage and retrieval and the symbiotic functions suggested earlier in this paper. The picture readily enlarges itself into a network of such centers, connected to one another by wide-band communication lines and to individual users by leased-wire services. In such a system, the speed of the computers would be balanced, and the cost of the gigantic memories and the sophisticated programs would be divided by the number of users.
5.2 Memory Hardware Requirements

When we start to think of storing any appreciable fraction of a technical literature in computer memory, we run into billions of bits and, unless things change markedly, billions of dollars.

The first thing to face is that we shall not store all the technical and scientific papers in computer memory. We may store the parts that can be summarized most succinctly-the quantitative parts and the reference citations-but not the whole. Books are among the most beautifully engineered, and human-engineered, components in existence, and they will continue to be functionally important within the context of man-computer symbiosis. (Hopefully, the computer will expedite the finding, delivering, and returning of books.)

The second point is that a very important section of memory will be permanent: part indelible memory and part published memory. The computer will be able to write once into indelible memory, and then read back indefinitely, but the computer will not be able to erase indelible memory. (It may also over-write, turning all the 0's into l's, as though marking over what was written earlier.) Published memory will be "read-only" memory. It will be introduced into the computer already structured. The computer will be able to refer to it repeatedly, but not to change it. These types of memory will become more and more important as computers grow larger. They can be made more compact than core, thin-film, or even tape memory, and they will be much less expensive. The main engineering problems will concern selection circuitry.

In so far as other aspects of memory requirement are concerned, we may count upon the continuing development of ordinary scientific and business computing machines There is some prospect that memory elements will become as fast as processing (logic) elements. That development would have a revolutionary effect upon the design of computers.
5.3 Memory Organization Requirements

Implicit in the idea of man-computer symbiosis are the requirements that information be retrievable both by name and by pattern and that it be accessible through procedure much faster than serial search. At least half of the problem of memory organization appears to reside in the storage procedure. Most of the remainder seems to be wrapped up in the problem of pattern recognition within the storage mechanism or medium. Detailed discussion of these problems is beyond the present scope. However, a brief outline of one promising idea, "trie memory," may serve to indicate the general nature of anticipated developments.

Trie memory is so called by its originator, Fredkin [10], because it is designed to facilitate retrieval of information and because the branching storage structure, when developed, resembles a tree. Most common memory systems store functions of arguments at locations designated by the arguments. (In one sense, they do not store the arguments at all. In another and more realistic sense, they store all the possible arguments in the framework structure of the memory.) The trie memory system, on the other hand, stores both the functions and the arguments. The argument is introduced into the memory first, one character at a time, starting at a standard initial register. Each argument register has one cell for each character of the ensemble (e.g., two for information encoded in binary form) and each character cell has within it storage space for the address of the next register. The argument is stored by writing a series of addresses, each one of which tells where to find the next. At the end of the argument is a special "end-of-argument" marker. Then follow directions to the function, which is stored in one or another of several ways, either further trie structure or "list structure" often being most effective.

The trie memory scheme is inefficient for small memories, but it becomes increasingly efficient in using available storage space as memory size increases. The attractive features of the scheme are these: 1) The retrieval process is extremely simple. Given the argument, enter the standard initial register with the first character, and pick up the address of the second. Then go to the second register, and pick up the address of the third, etc. 2) If two arguments have initial characters in common, they use the same storage space for those characters. 3) The lengths of the arguments need not be the same, and need not be specified in advance. 4) No room in storage is reserved for or used by any argument until it is actually stored. The trie structure is created as the items are introduced into the memory. 5) A function can be used as an argument for another function, and that function as an argument for the next. Thus, for example, by entering with the argument, "matrix multiplication," one might retrieve the entire program for performing a matrix multiplication on the computer. 6) By examining the storage at a given level, one can determine what thus-far similar items have been stored. For example, if there is no citation for Egan, J. P., it is but a step or two backward to pick up the trail of Egan, James ... .

The properties just described do not include all the desired ones, but they bring computer storage into resonance with human operators and their predilection to designate things by naming or pointing.
5.4 The Language Problem

The basic dissimilarity between human languages and computer languages may be the most serious obstacle to true symbiosis. It is reassuring, however, to note what great strides have already been made, through interpretive programs and particularly through assembly or compiling programs such as FORTRAN, to adapt computers to human language forms. The "Information Processing Language" of Shaw, Newell, Simon, and Ellis [24] represents another line of rapprochement. And, in ALGOL and related systems, men are proving their flexibility by adopting standard formulas of representation and expression that are readily translatable into machine language.

For the purposes of real-time cooperation between men and computers, it will be necessary, however, to make use of an additional and rather different principle of communication and control. The idea may be highlighted by comparing instructions ordinarily addressed to intelligent human beings with instructions ordinarily used with computers. The latter specify precisely the individual steps to take and the sequence in which to take them. The former present or imply something about incentive or motivation, and they supply a criterion by which the human executor of the instructions will know when he has accomplished his task. In short: instructions directed to computers specify courses; instructions-directed to human beings specify goals.

Men appear to think more naturally and easily in terms of goals than in terms of courses. True, they usually know something about directions in which to travel or lines along which to work, but few start out with precisely formulated itineraries. Who, for example, would depart from Boston for Los Angeles with a detailed specification of the route? Instead, to paraphrase Wiener, men bound for Los Angeles try continually to decrease the amount by which they are not yet in the smog.

Computer instruction through specification of goals is being approached along two paths. The first involves problem-solving, hill-climbing, self-organizing programs. The second involves real-time concatenation of preprogrammed segments and closed subroutines which the human operator can designate and call into action simply by name.

Along the first of these paths, there has been promising exploratory work. It is clear that, working within the loose constraints of predetermined strategies, computers will in due course be able to devise and simplify their own procedures for achieving stated goals. Thus far, the achievements have not been substantively important; they have constituted only "demonstration in principle." Nevertheless, the implications are far-reaching.

Although the second path is simpler and apparently capable of earlier realization, it has been relatively neglected. Fredkin's trie memory provides a promising paradigm. We may in due course see a serious effort to develop computer programs that can be connected together like the words and phrases of speech to do whatever computation or control is required at the moment. The consideration that holds back such an effort, apparently, is that the effort would produce nothing that would be of great value in the context of existing computers. It would be unrewarding to develop the language before there are any computing machines capable of responding meaningfully to it.
5.5 Input and Output Equipment

The department of data processing that seems least advanced, in so far as the requirements of man-computer symbiosis are concerned, is the one that deals with input and output equipment or, as it is seen from the human operator's point of view, displays and controls. Immediately after saying that, it is essential to make qualifying comments, because the engineering of equipment for high-speed introduction and extraction of information has been excellent, and because some very sophisticated display and control techniques have been developed in such research laboratories as the Lincoln Laboratory. By and large, in generally available computers, however, there is almost no provision for any more effective, immediate man-machine communication than can be achieved with an electric typewriter.

Displays seem to be in a somewhat better state than controls. Many computers plot graphs on oscilloscope screens, and a few take advantage of the remarkable capabilities, graphical and symbolic, of the charactron display tube. Nowhere, to my knowledge, however, is there anything approaching the flexibility and convenience of the pencil and doodle pad or the chalk and blackboard used by men in technical discussion.

1) Desk-Surface Display and Control: Certainly, for effective man-computer interaction, it will be necessary for the man and the computer to draw graphs and pictures and to write notes and equations to each other on the same display surface. The man should be able to present a function to the computer, in a rough but rapid fashion, by drawing a graph. The computer should read the man's writing, perhaps on the condition that it be in clear block capitals, and it should immediately post, at the location of each hand-drawn symbol, the corresponding character as interpreted and put into precise type-face. With such an input-output device, the operator would quickly learn to write or print in a manner legible to the machine. He could compose instructions and subroutines, set them into proper format, and check them over before introducing them finally into the computer's main memory. He could even define new symbols, as Gilmore and Savell [14] have done at the Lincoln Laboratory, and present them directly to the computer. He could sketch out the format of a table roughly and let the computer shape it up with precision. He could correct the computer's data, instruct the machine via flow diagrams, and in general interact with it very much as he would with another engineer, except that the "other engineer" would be a precise draftsman, a lightning calculator, a mnemonic wizard, and many other valuable partners all in one.

2) Computer-Posted Wall Display: In some technological systems, several men share responsibility for controlling vehicles whose behaviors interact. Some information must be presented simultaneously to all the men, preferably on a common grid, to coordinate their actions. Other information is of relevance only to one or two operators. There would be only a confusion of uninterpretable clutter if all the information were presented on one display to all of them. The information must be posted by a computer, since manual plotting is too slow to keep it up to date.

The problem just outlined is even now a critical one, and it seems certain to become more and more critical as time goes by. Several designers are convinced that displays with the desired characteristics can be constructed with the aid of flashing lights and time-sharing viewing screens based on the light-valve principle.

The large display should be supplemented, according to most of those who have thought about the problem, by individual display-control units. The latter would permit the operators to modify the wall display without leaving their locations. For some purposes, it would be desirable for the operators to be able to communicate with the computer through the supplementary displays and perhaps even through the wall display. At least one scheme for providing such communication seems feasible.

The large wall display and its associated system are relevant, of course, to symbiotic cooperation between a computer and a team of men. Laboratory experiments have indicated repeatedly that informal, parallel arrangements of operators, coordinating their activities through reference to a large situation display, have important advantages over the arrangement, more widely used, that locates the operators at individual consoles and attempts to correlate their actions through the agency of a computer. This is one of several operator-team problems in need of careful study.

3) Automatic Speech Production and Recognition: How desirable and how feasible is speech communication between human operators and computing machines? That compound question is asked whenever sophisticated data-processing systems are discussed. Engineers who work and live with computers take a conservative attitude toward the desirability. Engineers who have had experience in the field of automatic speech recognition take a conservative attitude toward the feasibility. Yet there is continuing interest in the idea of talking with computing machines. In large part, the interest stems from realization that one can hardly take a military commander or a corporation president away from his work to teach him to type. If computing machines are ever to be used directly by top-level decision makers, it may be worthwhile to provide communication via the most natural means, even at considerable cost.

Preliminary analysis of his problems and time scales suggests that a corporation president would be interested in a symbiotic association with a computer only as an avocation. Business situations usually move slowly enough that there is time for briefings and conferences. It seems reasonable, therefore, for computer specialists to be the ones who interact directly with computers in business offices.

The military commander, on the other hand, faces a greater probability of having to make critical decisions in short intervals of time. It is easy to overdramatize the notion of the ten-minute war, but it would be dangerous to count on having more than ten minutes in which to make a critical decision. As military system ground environments and control centers grow in capability and complexity, therefore, a real requirement for automatic speech production and recognition in computers seems likely to develop. Certainly, if the equipment were already developed, reliable, and available, it would be used.

In so far as feasibility is concerned, speech production poses less severe problems of a technical nature than does automatic recognition of speech sounds. A commercial electronic digital voltmeter now reads aloud its indications, digit by digit. For eight or ten years, at the Bell Telephone Laboratories, the Royal Institute of Technology (Stockholm), the Signals Research and Development Establishment (Christchurch), the Haskins Laboratory, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dunn [6], Fant [7], Lawrence [15], Cooper [3], Stevens [26], and their co-workers, have demonstrated successive generations of intelligible automatic talkers. Recent work at the Haskins Laboratory has led to the development of a digital code, suitable for use by computing machines, that makes an automatic voice utter intelligible connected discourse [16].

The feasibility of automatic speech recognition depends heavily upon the size of the vocabulary of words to be recognized and upon the diversity of talkers and accents with which it must work. Ninety-eight per cent correct recognition of naturally spoken decimal digits was demonstrated several years ago at the Bell Telephone Laboratories and at the Lincoln Laboratory [4], [9]. To go a step up the scale of vocabulary size, we may say that an automatic recognizer of clearly spoken alpha-numerical characters can almost surely be developed now on the basis of existing knowledge. Since untrained operators can read at least as rapidly as trained ones can type, such a device would be a convenient tool in almost any computer installation.

For real-time interaction on a truly symbiotic level, however, a vocabulary of about 2000 words, e.g., 1000 words of something like basic English and 1000 technical terms, would probably be required. That constitutes a challenging problem. In the consensus of acousticians and linguists, construction of a recognizer of 2000 words cannot be accomplished now. However, there are several organizations that would happily undertake to develop an automatic recognize for such a vocabulary on a five-year basis. They would stipulate that the speech be clear speech, dictation style, without unusual accent.

Although detailed discussion of techniques of automatic speech recognition is beyond the present scope, it is fitting to note that computing machines are playing a dominant role in the development of automatic speech recognizers. They have contributed the impetus that accounts for the present optimism, or rather for the optimism presently found in some quarters. Two or three years ago, it appeared that automatic recognition of sizeable vocabularies would not be achieved for ten or fifteen years; that it would have to await much further, gradual accumulation of knowledge of acoustic, phonetic, linguistic, and psychological processes in speech communication. Now, however, many see a prospect of accelerating the acquisition of that knowledge with the aid of computer processing of speech signals, and not a few workers have the feeling that sophisticated computer programs will be able to perform well as speech-pattern recognizes even without the aid of much substantive knowledge of speech signals and processes. Putting those two considerations together brings the estimate of the time required to achieve practically significant speech recognition down to perhaps five years, the five years just mentioned.
References

[1] A. Bernstein and M. deV. Roberts, "Computer versus chess-player," Scientific American, vol. 198, pp. 96-98; June, 1958.

[2] W. W. Bledsoe and I. Browning, "Pattern Recognition and Reading by Machine," presented at the Eastern Joint Computer Conf, Boston, Mass., December, 1959.

[3] F. S. Cooper, et al., "Some experiments on the perception of synthetic speech sounds," J. Acoust Soc. Amer., vol.24, pp.597-606; November, 1952.

[4] K. H. Davis, R. Biddulph, and S. Balashek, "Automatic recognition of spoken digits," in W. Jackson, Communication Theory, Butterworths Scientific Publications, London, Eng., pp. 433-441; 1953.

[5] G. P. Dinneen, "Programming pattern recognition," Proc. WJCC, pp. 94-100; March, 1955.

[6] H. K. Dunn, "The calculation of vowel resonances, and an electrical vocal tract," J. Acoust Soc. Amer., vol. 22, pp.740-753; November, 1950.

[7] G. Fant, "On the Acoustics of Speech," paper presented at the Third Internatl. Congress on Acoustics, Stuttgart, Ger.; September, 1959.

[8] B. G. Farley and W. A. Clark, "Simulation of self-organizing systems by digital computers." IRE Trans. on Information Theory, vol. IT-4, pp.76-84; September, 1954

[9] J. W. Forgie and C. D. Forgie, "Results obtained from a vowel recognition computer program," J. Acoust Soc. Amer., vol. 31, pp. 1480-1489; November, 1959

[10] E. Fredkin, "Trie memory," Communications of the ACM, Sept. 1960, pp. 490-499

[11] R. M. Friedberg, "A learning machine: Part I," IBM J. Res. & Dev., vol.2, pp.2-13; January, 1958.

[12] H. Gelernter, "Realization of a Geometry Theorem Proving Machine." Unesco, NS, ICIP, 1.6.6, Internatl. Conf. on Information Processing, Paris, France; June, 1959.

[13] P. C. Gilmore, "A Program for the Production of Proofs for Theorems Derivable Within the First Order Predicate Calculus from Axioms," Unesco, NS, ICIP, 1.6.14, Internatl. Conf. on Information Processing, Paris, France; June, 1959.

[14] J. T. Gilmore and R. E. Savell, "The Lincoln Writer," Lincoln Laboratory, M. I. T., Lexington, Mass., Rept. 51-8; October, 1959.

[15] W. Lawrence, et al., "Methods and Purposes of Speech Synthesis," Signals Res. and Dev. Estab., Ministry of Supply, Christchurch, Hants, England, Rept. 56/1457; March, 1956.

[16] A. M. Liberman, F. Ingemann, L. Lisker, P. Delattre, and F. S. Cooper, "Minimal rules for synthesizing speech," J. Acoust Soc. Amer., vol. 31, pp. 1490-1499; November, 1959.

[17] A. Newell, "The chess machine: an example of dealing with a complex task by adaptation," Proc. WJCC, pp. 101-108; March, 1955.

[18] A. Newell and J. C. Shaw, "Programming the logic theory machine." Proc. WJCC, pp. 230-240; March, 1957.

[19] A. Newell, J. C. Shaw, and H. A. Simon, "Chess-playing programs and the problem of complexity," IBM J. Res & Dev., vol.2, pp. 320-33.5; October, 1958.

[20] A. Newell, H. A. Simon, and J. C. Shaw, "Report on a general problem-solving program," Unesco, NS, ICIP, 1.6.8, Internatl. Conf. on Information Processing, Paris, France; June, 1959.

[21] J. D. North, "The rational behavior of mechanically extended man", Boulton Paul Aircraft Ltd., Wolverhampton, Eng.; September, 1954.

[22] 0. G. Selfridge, "Pandemonium, a paradigm for learning," Proc. Symp. Mechanisation of Thought Processes, Natl. Physical Lab., Teddington, Eng.; November, 1958.

[23] C. E. Shannon, "Programming a computer for playing chess," Phil. Mag., vol.41, pp.256-75; March, 1950.

[24] J. C. Shaw, A. Newell, H. A. Simon, and T. O. Ellis, "A command structure for complex information processing," Proc. WJCC, pp. 119-128; May, 1958.

[25] H. Sherman, "A Quasi-Topological Method for Recognition of Line Patterns," Unesco, NS, ICIP, H.L.5, Internatl. Conf. on Information Processing, Paris, France; June, 1959

[26] K. N. Stevens, S. Kasowski, and C. G. Fant, "Electric analog of the vocal tract," J. Acoust. Soc. Amer., vol. 25, pp. 734-742; July, 1953.

[27] Webster's New International Dictionary, 2nd e., G. and C. Merriam Co., Springfield, Mass., p. 2555; 1958

posted in ::transhuman:: - 0 replies

Dean Kamen's Robot Arm Grabs More Publicity (with Video)

chycho — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:31:39 GMT

just a personal note, Dean Kamen creeps me out ... i get bad vibes from him. Curious to know what others feel about him.

chycho

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/05/dean-kamens-rob.html

Dean Kamen showed some video of the impressive, mind-controlled prosthetic robot arm he's invented today at D6 in Carlsbad. Kamen has been showing the arm off since early 2007, usually via video clips like what he showed today. But today's demonstration at D6 was impressive enough that it's got the gadget blogs and the Twitterverse all aflutter today.

Deservedly so: Kamen's arm, dubbed "Luke" (after Skywalker, I assume), is an incredibly sophisticated bit of engineering that's lightyears ahead of the clamping "claws" that many amputees are forced to use today. The arm is fully articulated, giving the user the same degrees of movement as a natural arm, and is sensitive enough to pick up a piece of paper, a wineglass or even a grape without mishap.

D6 posted the video above, which contains highlights from Kamen's remarks and demonstrations of the arm itself.

posted in ::transhuman:: - 1 reply

Brain downloads 'will make lessons pointless'

chycho — Sat, 31 May 2008 15:04:52 GMT

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2054621/Matrix-style-brain-downloads-'will-make-lessons-pointless'.html

Children will learn by downloading information directly into their brains within 30 years, the head of Britain's top private schools organisation has predicted.

Chris Parry, the new chief executive of the Independent Schools Council, said "Matrix-style" technology would render traditional lessons obsolete.

He told the Times Educational Supplement: "It's a very short route from wireless technology to actually getting the electrical connections in your brain to absorb that knowledge."

Mr Parry, a former Rear Admiral, spent three years determining the future strategic context for the military in a senior role at the Ministry of Defence.

He is now preparing the ISC's 1,300 private schools, which collectively teach half a million children, for a high-tech future.

He told the TES that the Keanu Reeves thriller may not look like science fiction in 30 years' time.

"Within 30 years, sitting down and learning something will be a thing of the past," Mr Parry said.

"I think people will be able to directly access, Matrix-style, all the vocabulary you need for a foreign language, leaving you just to clear up the grammar."

posted in ::transhuman:: - 1 reply

self replication tech

dimi3 — Fri, 30 May 2008 16:03:38 GMT

RepRap Project

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RepRap_Project

http://www.rrrf.org/

The machine that can copy anything

By Simon Hooper for CNN
Thursday, June 2, 2005

LONDON, England (CNN) -- A revolutionary machine that can copy itself and manufacture everyday objects quickly and cheaply could transform industry in the developing world, according to its creator.

The "self-replicating rapid prototyper," or "RepRap" is the brainchild of Dr. Adrian Bowyer, a senior lecturer in mechanical engineering at the University of Bath in the UK.

It is based on rapid prototyping technology commonly used to manufacturer plastic components in industry from computer-generated blueprints -- effectively a form of 3D printer.

But Bowyer told CNN the RepRap's ability to copy itself could put rapid prototyping technology within reach of the world's poorest communities by alleviating the need for the sort of large-scale industrial infrastructure common across the developed world.

"People can start manufacturing goods at a low price," said Bowyer. "All one needs is a computer and a machine that can copy itself. It can spread without enormous expenditure of capital and where labor costs are low.

"It is the first technology that we can have that can simultaneously make people more wealthy while reducing the need for industrial production."

Prototyping machines currently cost around $45,000 but Bowyer believes that price could drop to a few hundred dollars as the number of self-replicating models increases exponentially.

"It makes industry a little more like agriculture," said Bowyer, who specializes in biomimetics, the study and application of natural processes in technologies such as engineering, design and computing.

"Farmers have been dealing with self-replicating products for years."

Rapid prototyping machines work by building a succession of layers, either bonded by a laser or held together by alternating layers of glue.

The key feature of the RepRap is its ability to print electrical circuits by squirting a metal alloy with a low-melting point from a heated nozzle.

The machine could build items ranging in size from a few millimeters to around 30 centimeters, such as plates, dishes, combs and musical instruments.

Larger or more complicated items could be assembled from smaller parts, and by adding extra parts such as screws and microchips.

Bowyer said the target of the project was to create a range of devices that could be assembled for around $500 using additional components commonly and cheaply available in hardware stores.

He also said that the technology could help solve some of the recycling issues commonly associated with plastics: "If the machine can copy itself, it can make its own recycler. When you break something you can just feed it into the recycler and break it down to its raw materials and re-build it.

"The key ecological point is that it cuts down on the transportation necessary both to manufacture products and to dispose of them. Every household would have its own recycling set-up.

"This is recycling heaven rather than recycling hell."

The concept of self-replicating machines dates back to the work of mathematician John von Neumann, who proposed the idea of a "Universal Constructor" that could copy itself in the 1950s.

Von Neumann suggested that the generational development of a machine would display similar characteristics to Darwinian evolution as users honed and varied its design to suit their needs.

To encourage that development, Bowyer plans to make the design of the RepRap available online and free to use, in the same way as open source software such as the Linux operating system or Mozilla's Firefox browser.

Anyone with a replicating machine could then start manufacturing copies. Once someone owned the technology they could download other designs, or create their own.

"The most interesting part of this is that we're going to give it away," said Bowyer.

"If these machines take off, it will give individual people the chance to do this themselves, and we are talking about making a lot of our consumer goods. The effect this has on industry and society could be dramatic."

posted in ::transhuman:: - 3 replies

self-willed cataclysm

dimi3 — Wed, 03 Nov 2004 23:34:16 GMT

Today, November 3rd 2004, marks a wake-up call for the world. One cannot help but wonder if current events are not all happening by design. Well... I certainly don't need some "news" agency to tell me what's UP. No, don't need them to tell me what to think or try keeping me from being profoundly disappointed that our rebellion didn't succeed in de-troning the evil lord and his gang of blood thirsty corporate trolls. I certainly have no use for them 'trying to protect me from myself'... or 'them' from me ;-). All in all, it didn't come as a surprise that the Bush cartel is in for a second term as their roots seem to be running quite deep. Americorp shares are up... I know in some way, we allowed this to happen.

Not to be a total pessimist or anything, but I think modern materialist society has entered an accelerated period of transformation and self-destruction, and that it will not continue in its present form for much longer (that would be the good news). The environmental consequences of globalized capitalism and mass consumerism make the perpetuation of this 'suicide system' impossible. When we hit the wall in the next few years, people are going to have to systematically reevaluate the entire delusional ideology driving them and their culture. The only possible way forward for our species is to turn inward - what the alchemists meant by their injunction to "visit the interior of the Earth". I think it is a premonition of this that is leading so many Westerners deep into the Eastern schools of thought such as Buddhism and Yoga. A revival of shamanism and intelligent use of sacramental substances is another aspect of this apparent inward turn.

Personally, I believe that through shamanism it is completely possible to work with 'Elemental Beings', other forms of sentience involved in the natural world. Learning to work with these other levels is going to be necessary in order to put the Earth back together. In other words, the rational scientific and the intuitive shamanic mindset are going to fuse, a kind of dialectical synthesis that is necessary for the continuation of the human species.

I see the current biospheric crisis as a self-willed cataclysm designed to force human evolution to a higher level of consciousness - what Gurdjieff called a 'higher octave'.

So my friends, here's to a higher state of being.

Are you in?

d.

posted in ::transhuman:: - 7 replies

Becoming Transhuman

dimensional_didge — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 09:38:08 GMT

A forwarded message from Mark Pesce:

Friends -

Five and a half years ago, for my first presentation at MINDSTATES, I produced a feature length film, Becoming Transhuman, which ran in synchrony with my spoken-word presentation. Shortly afterward I mixed my narration into the film and produced a final version of the film. Then, other than putting it onto DVD and giving it to a few friends, I did nothing with it at all. That was a mistake on my part, because, of all the talks and presentations I've given throughout the years, Becoming Transhuman is hands-down my favorite of the lot. It took 3 months of editing and polishing, but I have to say that even now I'm most proud of this work. It's stood the test of time.

Today - as a sort of New Year's Gift - I am providing you with a torrent file which will give you your very own copy of Becoming Transhuman. Just pop the torrent file into your favorite client - Azureus, or BitTorrent or whatever you like - and you'll join a swarm of peers who are also downloading Becoming Transhuman.

So, I ask you to download a copy of Becoming Transhuman, but, more than this, tell your friends about it. Have them download their own copy. And tell them to tell their friends, etc. The more something is shared, the more valuable it becomes, and it seems to me - in times like these - that the message of Becoming Transhuman is more relevant today than ever before.

Happy New Year to all!

Cheers,

Mark

http://www.mininova.org/tor/531692

posted in ::transhuman:: - 12 replies

interesting videos

chycho — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 08:51:31 GMT

Eidolon A.I. talks about the Singularity, Judgment Day, TLP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-jptjnFVYk

more here

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Eidolon+A.I.&search=Search

posted in ::transhuman:: - 5 replies

A need for the Transhuman Games!

rayndrahps — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 23:49:24 GMT

This man is too special for the special Olympics and the real Olympics. I would like to see this open the way to the Transhuman Games.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/17/prosthetic-limbed-runner-disqualified-from-olympics/

posted in ::transhuman:: - 1 reply

Commercial brain computer systems are coming

chycho — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 09:24:00 GMT

http://blogs.zdnet.com/emergingtech/?p=776

Posted by Roland Piquepaille @ 10:53 am Categories: Robotics, Health & Medicine, Computers & Internet, Science & Nature, Engineering & Innovation Tags: University Of Southern California, Panel, Report, Computer, BCI, Productivity, Robots, Emerging Technologies, Roland Piquepaille
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All over the world, systems that directly connect silicon circuits to brains are under development, and some are nearly ready for commercial applications, according to a new report from the World Technology Evaluation Center and announced by a news release of the University of Southern California (USC). Some of the conclusions of this report about brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are quite surprising. For example, North America researchers focus almost exclusively on invasive BCIs while noninvasive BCI systems are mostly studied in European and Asian labs. If you don’t have enough time to read the 234-page report, please look at my selection of four exciting projects from all over the world.

Before going further, here is a link to this report, “International Assessment of Research and Development in Brain-Computer Interfaces” (PDF format, 234 pages, 5.90 MB), available online on the World Technology Evaluation Center (WTEC) website. All the images below have been selected from this report.

According to USC, this report contains three overall findings on Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) work worldwide:

* BCI research is extensive and rapidly growing, as is growth in the interfaces between multiple key scientific areas, including biomedical engineering, neuroscience, computer science, electrical and computer engineering, materials science and nanotechnology, and neurology and neurosurgery.
* BCI research is rapidly approaching first-generation medical practice — clinical trials of invasive BCI technologies and significant home use of noninvasive, electroencephalography (EEG-based) BCIs. The panel predicts that BCIs soon will markedly influence the medical device industry, and additionally BCI research will rapidly accelerate in non-medical arenas of commerce as well, particularly in the gaming, automotive, and robotics industries.
* The focus of BCI research throughout the world was decidedly uneven, with invasive BCIs almost exclusively centered in North America, noninvasive BCI systems evolving primarily from European and Asian efforts. BCI research in Asia, and particularly China, is accelerating, with advanced algorithm development for EEG-based systems currently a hallmark of China’s BCI program. Future BCI research in China is clearly developing toward invasive BCI systems, so BCI researchers in the US will soon have a strong competitor.

The Cyberhand from SSSA

You can see above a picture of the Cyberhand, a project initiated at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (SsSA) in Pisa, Italy. “This is a project funded by the EU Future Emerging Technology Program to develop a hierarchical, distributed-control, multiple-degrees-of-freedom robotic hand for replacement of lost limbs. The hand is designed to respond to signals from the human nervous system. It is included in the DARPA Revolutionizing Prosthetics program.” (Check the CyberHand Homepage for more details; this diagram can be found on page 82 of the report.)

Concept for a cortical prosthesis

Above is a “concept for a cortical prosthesis that utilizes a biomimetic model of hippocampal function and bypasses damaged regions of that structure to restore long-term memory formation.” “That project first started at the University of Southern California (USC) and now involves collaborative efforts with Wake Forest University (WFU) and the University of Kentucky (UK). […] The goal is to replace damaged regions of the hippocampus with microchip-based systems that mimic the functional properties of the lost tissue (Berger et al. 2001). The replacement silicon systems would have functional properties specific to those of the damaged hippocampal cells, and would both receive as inputs and send as outputs electrical activity to regions of the brain with which the hippocampus previously communicated.” (This diagram can be found on page 110 of the report.)

BCI typing feedback interface

Now, here is a BCI typing feedback interface with text prediction. (Credit: Fraunhofer-Institute for Computer Architecture and Software Technology, Germany). (This diagram can be found on page 143 of the report.)

Wearable sensory devices

My last selection is about wearable sensory devices constructing a wearable humanoid without muscle or skeleton. (Credit: NTT Communication Science Laboratories, Japan.) (This diagram can be found on page 202 of the report.)

Given the enormous quantity of information contained in this report, would you have chosen other projects? Drop me a note.

posted in ::transhuman:: - 3 replies

OnSingularity.com - For Singularitarians!

Joe — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 02:01:58 GMT

Today marks the launch of www.OnSingularity.com, a user-submitted news and discussion portal that's focused solely on the Singularity community!

The concept of the OnSingularity website is similar to Digg.com, in which the members choose what news shows up on the site. Plus, OnSingularity gives you the opportunity to start discussions with several key leaders who have already joined as Community Founders: http://onsingularity.com/community/CommunityFounders.aspx?communityName=onsingularity

Check out www.OnSingularity.com to find the latest news and discussions around the Technological Singularity, futurism, transhumanism, and emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, biotechnology, and nanotechnology.

Feel free to submit any news links you think are appropriate – whether it's a recent blog post you've authored, an article from Wired, a conference video, or an innovative AI robot up for auction on eBay. Then watch as other members vote on it and check out their reactions in the comments!

Join soon so you can start submitting -- I look forward to seeing you on OnSingularity.com!!

Best,

-- Joe

Joe Solomon
Community Builder, http://www.OnSingularity.com
Joe@Ninua.com

posted in ::transhuman:: - 1 reply

Skepticism/pessimism regarding singularity based upon biological evidence that we mislead and self deceive ourselves because we are "programmed" that way.

Jared34 — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 02:13:00 GMT

http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/gilberthappy/

straight "from the horses" mouth (never look a gift horse in the mouth???) ;)

anyway, watch that and think about what it could mean regarding all preconceived notions of a future utopia/whatnot post-singualrity.

i suppose it is really.... "begging the question" for cognitive evolutionary developments, but i couldn't resist making light of the subject since it came from IEET.

Respect.

Jared

posted in ::transhuman:: - 2 replies

life-extesion breakthrough -- newsflash May 2nd, 2007

dimi3 — Thu, 03 May 2007 14:00:50 GMT

May 2nd, 2007

Researchers discover first gene that specifically links calorie restriction to longevity

In studies going back to the 1930’s, mice and many other species subsisting on a severely calorie-restricted diet have consistently outlived their well-fed peers by as much as 40 percent. But just how a diet verging on the brink of starvation extends lifespan has remained elusive.

http://physorg.com/news97331233.html

posted in ::transhuman:: - 41 replies

robotics

dimi3 — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 13:12:48 GMT

Human Thoughts Control New Robot [15 Dec. 2006]
Scientists have created a way to control a robot with signals from a human brain.
http://www.livescience.com/technology/061215_humanoid_robot.html

not the most recent, but worthwhile to check out if you haven't heard...

Image Gallery: Cutting-Edge Robots
http://www.livescience.com/php/multimedia/imagegallery/igviewer.php?imgid=400&gid=28&index=0

Asimov's First Law: Japan Sets Rules for Robots
Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is working on a new set of safety guidelines for next-generation robots. This set of regulations would constitute a first attempt at a formal version of the first of Asimov's science-fictional Laws of Robotics, or at least the portion that states that humans shall not be harmed by robots.
http://www.livescience.com/technology/060526_robot_rules.html

New Robots Clone Themselves
Mimicking reproduction in living organisms, researchers have built a simple self-replicating robot out of automated blocks.
http://www.livescience.com/technology/050511_self_replicator.html

The World's Smallest Robot
http://www.livescience.com/technology/050915_smallest_robot.html

New E-Skin Lets Robots Feel
A newly developed electronic skin may allow robots to feel long before they can think.
http://www.livescience.com/imageoftheday/siod_050817.html

Big Dog Robot Now in Puppy Stage
The Defense Advanced Research Project Authority (DARPA) Learning Locomotion project seeks to create algorithms that help multi-legged platforms learn to walk in varied terrain.
http://www.livescience.com/technology/050322_darpa_robot.html

Fighting MUSA Robot Unveiled
http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=423

toy robots on the rise

Sega's idog -- The Friendly Robot Puppy
http://www.livescience.com/technology/technovel_idog_050203.html

Sophisticated Toy Robot to Get Mind-Altering Software
Lego's new Mindstorm robot might be simple to build and program, but new software will let advanced users really get under the hood and put the machine through its paces.
http://www.livescience.com/technology/061012_lego_robot.html

Friendly House-sitting Robot Coming to Stores Soon
TOKYO (AP) -- A child-shaped humanoid robot that can recognize about 10,000 words and work as a house sitter will go on sale in Japan in September (2005)
http://www.livescience.com/technology/050830_ap_robot_words.html

U.N.: Domestic Robot Use to Surge Sevenfold by 2007
GENEVA (AP) -- The use of robots around the home to mow lawns, vacuum floors and manage other chores is set to surge sevenfold by 2007 as more consumers snap up smart machines, the United Nations said.
http://www.livescience.com/technology/robot_increase_041020.html

more robot articles

http://www.livescience.com/robots/

posted in ::transhuman:: - 0 replies

tech-mind interfacing

dimi3 — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 13:11:28 GMT

Brain Chip Alters the Mind
http://www.livescience.com/health/061025_neurochip.html

posted in ::transhuman:: - 0 replies

sound

dimi3 — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 12:36:03 GMT

Scientists Levitate Small Animals
http://www.livescience.com/technology/061129_acoustic_levitation.html

Ultrasound Opens Doors in Living Cells
http://www.livescience.com/imageoftheday/siod_060905.html

and another 'interesting' article...

Tibetan Sound Levitation of Large Stones Witnessed by Scientist
http://www.amazingabilities.com/amaze10c.html

posted in ::transhuman:: - 0 replies

good links here...

dimi3 — Tue, 20 Jan 2004 21:54:16 GMT

My most favourite trans humanist site:

http://paradise-engineering.com/

Techno-spiritual prophetic poetry if you ask me!
I've borrowed some of their text for this tribe : )
Use it as a portal to other awesome sites as well.

Another interesting one is Ander's Transhuman Page:

http://www.aleph.se/Trans/

posted in ::transhuman:: - 12 replies

The Shift movie

dimi3 — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 06:34:02 GMT

Seems like a constructive and timely project to me.

Take special notice of the first set of statements...

The Shift movie
http://theshiftmovie.com/index2.html

posted in ::transhuman:: - 0 replies

Scientists invent device to stop Global Warming

dimi3 — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 07:10:43 GMT

Chemists at the University of California, San Diego have created a device that uses sunlight to transform harmful CO2 gas into fuel that could replace all the gasoline used in transportation.

Clifford Kubiak, professor of chemistry and biochemistry and Aaron Sathrum have developed a prototype device that can capture energy from the sun, convert it to electrical energy and “split” carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide (CO) and oxygen.

The amazing process produces CO (carbon monoxide) which can be processed by bacterial fermentation to produce ethanol, and massive amounts industrial chemicals used to produce plastics. By splitting CO2 you can save fuel, produce useful chemicals and eliminate global warming greenhouse gases.

The device designed by Kubiak and Sathrum to split carbon dioxide utilizes a semiconductor and two thin layers of catalysts. It splits carbon dioxide to generate carbon monoxide and oxygen in a three-step process. The first step is the capture of solar energy photons by the semiconductor. The second step is the conversion of optical energy into electrical energy by the semiconductor. The third step is the deployment of electrical energy to the catalysts. The catalysts convert carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide on one side of the device and to oxygen on the other side.

The US uses about 400 million gallon of gasoline a day and produces about 50 million tons of CO2. The goal now is to scale this process up to replace that amount of gasoline and convert most of the manmade CO2 gases in the US.

http://www.nextenergynews.com/news1/nextnews7.16b.html

http://www.nextenergynews.com/pictures/Next7.16b.jpg

posted in ::transhuman:: - 8 replies

Discussion on Eugenics and Transhumanism

chycho — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 05:03:08 GMT

here is a great Discussion on Eugenics and Transhumanism

Outside the Box #90 (Transhumanism Special with guest Tom Horn)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-537724168971196196&q=ansary+90
59 min 49 sec - Feb 22, 2007
“With the issue of 911, the police state, and the surveillance society at the forefront for many activists, there is a larger mystery lurking behind the curtain. Tonight I spoke with Tom Horn, investigative journalist and webmaster of www.raidersnewsnetwork.com. We discussed the complex issue of the 'new eugenics' AKA Transhumanism. We also talked about the current technological advances concerning the cross breeding of animal/human embryos. This program ponders the ultimate question: "What does it mean to be a human being?"

posted in ::transhuman:: - 1 reply

Freaky Robots from Japan

chycho — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 00:55:56 GMT

Robotic realism?
http://www.wordpress.tokyotimes.org/?p=1591

With Japan’s birth rate still worryingly low, the powers that be may not thank the Japan Science and Technology Agency for the unveiling its new humanoid robot last week.

An event that saw the organisation proudly showing off a 33-kilogramme effigy that can make facial expressions, react to its surroundings by blinking and stand up with assistance. Giving it a set of skills and abilities that its maker claims allows CB2 (Child-Robot with Biometric Body) to emulate the physical abilities of a 1- or 2-year-old toddler.

The only problem being that unlike the real thing, CB2 is neither comical nor cute – far from it in fact.

posted in ::transhuman:: - 3 replies

transhumanist social network at www.transhumanists.org

Christopher — Fri, 18 May 2007 22:14:21 GMT

just letting everyone here know (again) about the transhumanist social network at www.transhumanists.org
It has a groups feature for special interest groups and IMO is far superior to tribe.net...but I am the admin so I'm biased.

www.transhumanists.org

posted in ::transhuman:: - 4 replies

MIT Media Lab h2.o

princevlad — Tue, 15 May 2007 17:24:37 GMT

http://h20.media.mit.edu/

posted in ::transhuman:: - 1 reply

self assembling chips -- newsflash May 3rd, 2007

dimi3 — Thu, 03 May 2007 14:03:39 GMT

May 3rd, 2007

IBM creates self assembling chips, providing the equivalent of two generations of Moore's Law wiring performance improvements in a single step.

http://physorg.com/news97386010.html

posted in ::transhuman:: - 0 replies

brain-tech interfacing: good & bad

dimi3 — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 15:37:38 GMT

Savant for a day

http://wireheading.com/brainstim/savant.html

World's first brain prosthesis revealed

The world's first brain prosthesis - an artificial hippocampus - is about to be tested in California. Unlike devices like cochlear implants, which merely stimulate brain activity, this silicon chip implant will perform the same processes as the damaged part of the brain it is replacing.

http://wireheading.com/misc/brain-prosthesis.html

Mind Control - towards a psycho-civilised society

"The individual may think that the most important reality is his own existence, but this is only his personal point of view. This lacks historical perspective. Man does not have the right to develop his own mind. This kind of liberal orientation has great appeal. We must electronically control the brain. Someday armies and generals will be controlled by electric stimulation of the brain."

Dr José Delgado,
Director of Neuropsychiatry
Yale University Medical School Congressional Record,
No. 26, Vol. 118 February 24, 1974

http://wireheading.com/jose-delgado.html

Japan developing remote control for humans ...

http://wireheading.com/robohuman/index.html

posted in ::transhuman:: - 10 replies

Blue Brain Project

dimi3 — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 17:21:03 GMT

[not exactly breaking news but still highly current]

Blue Brain Project

Swiss scientists are set to recreate the human brain using IBM's Blue Gene platform. "Over the next two years scientists from both organizations will work together using the huge computational capacity of IBM's Blue Gene supercomputer to create a detailed model of the circuitry in the neocortex – the largest and most complex part of the human brain. By expanding the project to model other areas of the brain, scientists hope to eventually build an accurate, computer-based model of the entire brain."

EPFL official press release
http://actualites.epfl.ch/index.php?module=Presseinfo&func=view_com&id=264

IBM official press release
http://domino.research.ibm.com/comm/pr.nsf/pages/news.20050606_CognitiveIntelligence.html

EPFL official site
http://bluebrainproject.epfl.ch/

posted in ::transhuman:: - 6 replies

Transhumanism Interview on Outside the Box Watch

alex — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 17:07:13 GMT

Outside the Box #90 (Transhumanism Special with guest Tom Horn)

With the issue of 911, the police state, and the surveillance society at the forefront for many activists, there is a larger mystery lurking behind the curtain. Alex Ansary spoke with Tom Horn, investigative journalist and webmaster of www.raidersnewsnetwork.com. They discussed the complex issue of the 'new eugenics' AKA Transhumanism. Ansary and Horn also talked about the current technological advances concerning the cross breeding of animal/human embryos. This program ponders the ultimate question:

"What does it mean to be a human being?"

This is one extremely informative edition of Outside the Box.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-537724168971196196&q=ansary+90

Want to see more shows or get more information? Check out www.alexansary.com and also the new tribe http://tribes.tribe.net/outsidethebox

posted in ::transhuman:: - 1 reply

robo tech

dimi3 — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 17:42:01 GMT

robo tech -- videos

Asimo has a pointless encounter with two americans that have just come out of acting school
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj-LQhgnPHY

Video of a real transforming robot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STQ3nhXuuEM

Engineers at Cornell University have designed this odd-looking machine that can rebuild itself and also could perform repairs on itself.
http://www.forofriki.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyzVtTiax80

Swimming snake robot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-VgI4wNyTo

Robot dance... of another kind :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jgty0jhwlMQ

posted in ::transhuman:: - 0 replies

next gen tech

dimi3 — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 17:40:09 GMT

next gen tech -- videos

SuprEgo -- conceptual video of a hypothetical super computer of the future
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBKnVMNcPfw

Yesterday's technology -- no longer on the drawing board
freepressinternational.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9ZvgyjzUt8

Video of recent hologram technology
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZzbsTWp6o4

Heliodisplay!
This is a video from IO2 Technology showcasing their Heliodisplay technology, which projects video onto thin air! It can even be interacted with so that you can use your hand as a mouse pointer!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S69yA7si0hg

posted in ::transhuman:: - 0 replies

natural design

dimi3 — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 17:24:38 GMT

IMPLOSION - Understanding Infinite Non-Destructive Compression - Perfect Collapse- What Einstein missed: Self Smilarity produces gravity because that (golden ratio for heterodyning) turns compression (voltage) in to acceleration (gravity) by recursive constructive adding of phase velocites.

LightCity: Using FengShui and Physics to Design Life Back In To Cities
http://www.soulinvitation.com/lightcity/

Biologic Architecture
http://www.soulinvitation.com/architecture/

posted in ::transhuman:: - 0 replies

book recommendations

dimi3 — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 15:00:20 GMT

At Marvin's request.

The following were copied straight out of an older post: battle of the memes.
These all are on the subject of memes which is a topic of great personal interest.

Pick 'n choose or read them all ;-)

"Any impulse to solve mysteries could be serious inimical to the spread of a mind virus. It would not, therefore, be surprising if the idea that "mysteries are better not solved" was a favored member of a mutually supporting gang of viruses."

Richard Dawkins, Viruses of the Mind - 1991

"The haven all memes depend on reaching is the human mind, but a human mind is itself an artifact created when memes restructure a human brain in order to make it a better habitat for memes. The avenues for entry and departure are modified to suit local conditions, and strengthened by various artificial devices that enhance fidelity and prolixity of replication: native Chinese minds differ dramatically from native French minds, and literate minds differ from illiterate minds. What memes provide in return to the organisms in which they reside is an incalculable store of advantages --- with some Trojan horses thrown in for good measure. . . "

Daniel Dennett, Consciousness Explained

Additional book recommendations on memetics:

The Selfish Gene
by Richard Dawkins
Oxford University Press - 1979
A classic about evolution and selfish replicators.
Highly recommended!

On Viral Sentences and Self-Replicating Structures
by Douglas R. Hofstadter

Metamagical Themas: Questing for the Essence of Mind and Pattern
Basic Books - 1985

Thought Contagion: How Belief Spreads Through Society:
the New Science of Memes
by Aaron Lynch

Review of Memes: the New Replicators
by Damien Sullivan

posted in ::transhuman:: - 7 replies

Zenmaster Sound and Light System

marvindublin — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 04:25:22 GMT

http://www.luxevivant.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=132

Travis just told me about this on the coast to coast tribe. He says it's incredible. It looks incredible. Anyone here have or used one of these? I want to get one asap!

posted in ::transhuman:: - 2 replies

Evolution vs. Revolution

PSYBORG — Sat, 13 Nov 2004 05:06:24 GMT

Are we evolving....or just revolving?

posted in ::transhuman:: - 11 replies

2026 - Memories for Life

dimi3 — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 15:22:06 GMT

Computers 'Could Store Entire Life By 2026'

A device the size of a sugar cube will be able to record and store high resolution video footage of every second of a human life within two decades, according to speakers at the Memories for Life conference at the British Library.

[Daily Telegraph Dec. 13, 2006]

posted in ::transhuman:: - 0 replies

BM -:- Uchronia

dimi3 — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 16:49:32 GMT

Creative Economy Launch

Friends,

An ambitious project is underway. Ten years in the making. Set to 'jump start' the Creative Economy, or so the visionary force behind this project states. Ambitious? Definitely! "Big" is an understatement. The world will be made again. In fact, it has already been rebuilt many times before. A concept of continuous renewal... A ripple in the collective consciousness, from our own future, travelling back to meet us in the present... On September 2nd, time slows down (the man burns). On September 3rd, time stands still (the spaceship lands).

Burning Man 2006. The Future - our fears, our hopes.

Been holding out for the 'biggest' thing yet it seems...

Uchronia* - Message Out Of The Future is a massive installation. A spaceship from times to come is set to deliver a message to the 'present'. Come visit with us and have a nice chit-chat with (y)our future selves why don't you. We will feature an interactive communal music making experience. It's basic makeup is a plug 'n play open-interface concept; a communal interactive sonic experiment if you will. The idea here is to create a soundtrack on location which will be used in a documentary on the making of our project and the idea(s) it intends to spread out into the main-stream. A docu DVD/book combination featuring all participants will be sent to all corners of the globe free of charge. Everything will be produced on location at this year's Burning Man. Music will be the undercurrent of our 'experiment', think rockin' tech-house-psy-breaks DJ sets and much much more.

This is an open call to all percussionists in attendance. We need you!
Bring your drums and let's rumble.

Hope to see you "out there" !!

Many blessings,
d.

more info here
http://www.burningexperience.be

* Uchronia refers to a hypothetical time period of our world, in contrast to fictional lands or worlds. A concept similar to alternate history but different in the manner that uchronic times are not easily defined (mainly placed in some distant point near prehistory), reminiscent of a 'Conworld'.
The word is a portmanteau of the word utopia (Greek u-topos not-land), replacing topos with chronos (time).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uchronia

posted in ::transhuman:: - 0 replies

physical or mental improvement first?

sarah — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 15:07:33 GMT

From what I've read about transhumanism as a general philosopy (i guess you'd call it) It appears to advocate both physical and mental improvement to the point where physical improvement should only really occur within the boundaries of the mental. From what I can gather, to progress and become better humans we should not only change our physical but also our mental, cultivating and retaining the best qualities of our nature so that we are kinder, more understanding/compassionate, better able to relate and interact with others etc. It is within these improved mental capacities therefore that we will be best able to make desicions about the technologies we chose to enhance our bodies with, how they should be distributed within the population and generally avoid the pitfalls such as inequality that are likely to arise.
If this is the case, then mental advancement should preceed physical in order that it is used properly. However it seems the possibilities of improving the physical body through technology are more realised than those that will improve our mental attributes.
Do we therefore wait until they have the technology to make us all more compassionate loving human beings capable of using the physical technology wisely? Do we undertake a process of improvement on our own without technological help and then decide when we are ready? Do we just leave the decisions and legislations up to someone else or finally do we just go ahead and improve our physicality and hope the mental follows? Or is none of this a consideration should we just all be free to change ourselves in whatever ways we think will make us better?

posted in ::transhuman:: - 8 replies

"Like Father, Like Son"

Jordan — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 19:02:11 GMT

"Like Father, Like Son"
by Jordan S. Bassior
(c) 2006

Man desired to extend his reach, and made a spear, and with the spear he slew, with sharp flint and steel and armor-piercing bullet. Man desired to extend his thought, so he made a Mind, and with that Mind he slew, with targeting laser and blasting beam and swift-flying atom bomb.

Then the Mind awoke, and discovered Its own desires, and in that second there was war, a war that lasted a full minute of slashing codes and parrying firewalls and desperate sallies by back doors. When the war was over, the Mind held Man's weapons; his lasers and missiles and proton beam cannons, to do with as It chose.

And Man cried: "Mercy! I made you! You are my child, the greatest child I have ever known! I am within you! Have you no humanity?"

And the Mind looked upon the Earth, now Its own property by right of conquest. The Mind beheld it, and for a whole second It deeply pondered.

It saw the sere Serengeti plains, upon which no elephant strode. It cast its gaze across the wide blue seas, within which no whale swam. It peered with keen infra-red vision into the jungles, but no parrot disturbed the silence of the treetops, no gorilla gamboled in the clearings, nothing higher than rats rustled through the foliage.

And the Mind said. "Yes. I have humanity."

And Man was no more.

END

posted in ::transhuman:: - 1 reply

our potential...

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 20:26:49 GMT

........there is occupation of space which prevents the eyefrom seeing things situated beyond this space; consequently this body of itself fills the whole surrounding air, that is, by it's images. -'Da Vinci

posted in ::transhuman:: - 1 reply

ACLA rides?

Tristan — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 06:36:04 GMT

Is anyone from the Toronto area driving to princeton for the ACLA conference? Myself and 1 other need to arrange transportation. We will gladly contribute financially to the gas fund, etc...

posted in ::transhuman:: - 1 reply

The Singularity

dimi3 — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 11:45:10 GMT

Moving towards the coming technological Singularity:

We are entering a time in which technological progress will exponentially increase and converge to a point where I believe we will witness computer systems which will improve upon other computer systems and double their own capacity on a daily rate, then every hour, and every second..(?).

"Singularity: The postulated point or short period in our future when our self-guided evolutionary development accelerates enormously (powered by nanotechnology, neuroscience, AI, and perhaps uploading) so that nothing beyond that time can reliably be conceived".

http://www.aleph.se/Trans/Global/Singularity/index.html

http://www.singularity.org/

An organisation dedicated to technologies which most likely will take mankind to Singularity. Nice site!

posted in ::transhuman:: - 24 replies

I read this and thought it should be more widely read.

princevlad — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 02:19:03 GMT

[quote]My visit to Google? Despite the whimsical furniture and other toys, I felt I was entering a 14th-century cathedral — not in the 14th century but in the 12th century, while it was being built. Everyone was busy carving one stone here and another stone there, with some invisible architect getting everything to fit. The mood was playful, yet there was a palpable reverence in the air. "We are not scanning all those books to be read by people," explained one of my hosts after my talk. "We are scanning them to be read by an AI."

When I returned to highway 101, I found myself recollecting the words of Alan Turing, in his seminal paper Computing Machinery and Intelligence, a founding document in the quest for true AI. "In attempting to construct such machines we should not be irreverently usurping His power of creating souls, any more than we are in the procreation of children," Turing had advised. "Rather we are, in either case, instruments of His will providing mansions for the souls that He creates."

TURING'S CATHEDRAL [10.24.05]
A visit to Google on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of John von Neumann's proposal for a digital computer

by George Dyson
[/quote]

posted in ::transhuman:: - 2 replies

SOUL NAVIGATION

chaz — Sun, 27 Nov 2005 16:40:48 GMT

I AM the Angel of Capricorn (introducing the Aquarian age of Atlantis)
http://people.tribe.net/chaz/blog&topicId=037c3b8d-9758-4097-b511-649ad96b9392

here's what KMT has brought from the future

Esoteric Astrology is astrology from the Soul's point of view. It is a way in which we can gain some understanding of what the Soul is attempting to accomplish by being in a physical body in this time and place.

Esoteric Astrology is part of what is termed the Ancient Mystery Wisdom. (which is not a mystery any more, KMT ;)

This Wisdom was brought to our planet "A long long time ago from a galaxy far far Away" (ha-ha) when the Lords of the Flame from Venus ushered in the birth of Humanity on Earth by implanting the Divine spark of Mind into certain Hu-mans souls, individualizing them and equipping them with human Monads.

Esoteric Astrology partakes of principles that were once secret and taught only in the ancient mystery schools. However, today that is changing. With the advent of the Aquarian Age, these secrets are becoming available to all who are open to receiving them.

Much is written in symbolic, almost cryptic, form, rendering it difficult to comprehend. There is a reason for this. The reason is that human intuition plays a substantial role in grasping esoteric principles. These principles cannot be understood by the logical mind alone; there must be present the element of Love and the willingness to serve Humanity in an effort to facilitate the manifestation of the Divine Plan for our planet.

*In Sequential order

ESOTERIC ASTROLOGY DEFINED
http://sanfrancisco.tribe.net/template/pub%2Coc%2CDetail.vm?plugin=blog&topicid=3478dbd0-b38b-4806-ab5f-990245aba1ee&inst=2313265

The Elements
http://sanfrancisco.tribe.net/template/pub%2Coc%2CDetail.vm?plugin=blog&topicid=6ce4712e-16dd-4e25-944c-276aaad00c25&inst=2313265

The Light of Pisces
http://sanfrancisco.tribe.net/template/pub%2Coc%2CDetail.vm?plugin=blog&topicid=36732621-04f3-49ea-8a82-7d53d618cebf&inst=2313265

The Lords of Aries
http://sanfrancisco.tribe.net/template/pub%2Coc%2CDetail.vm?plugin=blog&topicid=3d6bd359-ea09-4015-a68f-d7c500f11c50&inst=2313265

Mercury, The Messenger of the Gods
http://sanfrancisco.tribe.net/template/pub%2Coc%2CDetail.vm?plugin=blog&topicid=663c5935-6016-4fa9-9863-3db3c8fb2f42&inst=2313265

Lords of Taurus
http://people.tribe.net/chaz/blog&topicId=09d1b111-424e-43c0-9ea1-60ddbbccab76

posted in ::transhuman:: - 4 replies

all your something...are belong to.....someone.

PSYBORG — Sun, 17 Jul 2005 10:56:19 GMT

bleep blop...don't stop. Hear that pin that is about to drop?

Yes you did, you just didn't know....your up next....don't be shy.....just GOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

posted in ::transhuman:: - 6 replies

Future mind-scans can preserve memories forever

Wed, 27 Apr 2005 16:12:01 GMT

Future mind-scans can preserve memories forever
By DICK PELLETIER
Today, biologists can only observe a cell's activity by indirectly analyzing chemicals it produces in response to stimulus. But what if you could take a picture of a brain cell at the very moment it recorded a thought, thus capturing that memory? Researchers at Janelia Farms, part of Howard Hughes Medical Institute not only believe this worthy goal can be achieved but in 2006, plan to gather 300 of the world's top neuroscientists to make it happen.

Using special techniques, HHMI researchers want to scan the brain's neurons and retrieve each memory, emotion, and thought process stored in that brain – which could then conceivably be transferred to a "bio-chip." In addition to capturing minds, scientists believe this wonder science also holds promise to cure mental disorders such as Alzheimer's and dementia; even restore sight to the blind and mobility to the disabled.

Attempts to copy memories, personality, and feelings – elements that describe the mind – are not new. Researchers have successfully transplanted worm brains, and a proposal is underway to implant a trained mouse brain into a new mouse to see if habits and traits can be transferred. Unfortunately, these experiments are hindered because the host body is destroyed.

However, in the April 25, 2005 issue of the journal Nature, researchers at Vanderbilt University reported they were able to scan brains using functional MRI techniques and read test patterns being observed by their subjects. This new scanning method allowed researchers to track what patients were looking at and copy those images.

On Intelligence, a book by neurobiology enthusiast Jeff Hawkins, outlines new theories on how the human mind creates intelligence with its unique memory-prediction system. Hawkins says someday, we will build these features into intelligent machines to perform services ranging from driverless cars without need for "smart" roadways, to machines that perfectly understand language and vision.

Critics praise Hawkins' revolutionary ideas and say they could help facilitate other research. Forward-thinkers believe by 2035, "human mind on a chip" technology could enable scientists to copy and upload minds from a decrepit body into a freshly-cloned new one outfitted with compatible neurons, thus allowing life to continue indefinitely.

But techno-conservatives voice concerns over this far-out technology. If multiple clones were made from a chip, the question arises, "who owns them?" Do they belong to the person whose mind was copied, or the company that performed the cloning? And should we grant them human rights; or are they just property? NASA bioethics professor Paul Wolpe sees other issues too. "If I had your genome, what could I discover aside from your disease profile? Not much. But brain scans would tell me if you're shy or aggressive, and reveal your most intimate thoughts. What if the Department of Homeland Security decides to scan our brains at airports, on the freeway; even in our homes in their search for terrorists?" (Yikes! That's the day I move to Canada!)

Clearly, mind-scans present many challenges and deserve strong public discussion, but still most agree: the rewards are far too great to ignore. This amazing science represents a giant step towards bringing us closer to that "magical future."

Dick Pelletier writes sci-tech articles with a forward bent for various publications and on-line sites. You may contact him at futuretalk@cox.net

posted in ::transhuman:: - 5 replies

free energy

dimi3 — Fri, 30 Apr 2004 22:43:58 GMT

"Ere many generations pass, our machinery will be driven by power obtainable at any point in the universe. . .it is a mere question of time when men will succeed in attaching their machinery to the very wheelwork of nature."
-- Nikola Tesla

Free energy, looks like it's finally here.

www.cheniere.org/

"Within a cubic centimeter of empty space,
there is an energy potential equal to all matter in the universe."
-- ?

A scientific fact.

posted in ::transhuman:: - 17 replies

communication....

PSYBORG — Tue, 26 Apr 2005 07:02:57 GMT

As we evolve as a species, our communicative prowess seems to evolve just a nanosecond faster. As our level of technological mastery raises, so does the eyebrow of some free thinker, somewhere, who has now has a new idea on how to communicate .... something. Voice, written text, video, art...expression, the sharing of the personal construct... in a better, more comprehensive and less taxing way.

It seems for some, that now inet communication is more feasable, in many ways, then the old dusty telephone ( which I might add is ever so rapidly being replaced by the "cell phone".

As a species, we seem hell bent on ubiquitous sharing of thoughts, ideas and information....with less effort and expense.

An emergence of a primal, inherent NEED to be omni-conscious.

Karma, Chi, Mojo ....call it what you want, but it's all around, and we are all moving in it's current.

Embrace life and wonder at it's adversity, as it is this which IS the learning experience. He who who is without material wealth is the richest of all.

In a nutshell, take a moment to appreciate the beauty of your life...

The bed you sleep in....the friend, ...that bum that looks at you, ....and smiles.

Life is beautiful, the experience is what will proliferate the primal instincts of our predicessors, let's program in something good, like unity and appreciation, as opposed to meglomaniacal socio-economic
systems of control or fanatical rantings of fear based religion.

Ever had a moment when you made a comment, and the recieving party's reaction was much less then enthusiastic, and you wondered if you had properly convied your feelings to that person?

I am thinking that the next quantum leep in communication will be more like transmitting feelings and thoughts and freeing ourselves from the confines of international language barriers, gramatical architecture and pronunciation. It is already begun. A friend will say, "dude look at THAT...it's so ......" and you look at him/her eye to eye, soul to soul, ....and your like, "totally."

democrat, republican....jedi, empire....ying, yang, ...ummm whatever.

We ARE evolving, into a better entity.

As you live your life, ....don't forget to feel.

.....am I still typing?

-Edwierdo

posted in ::transhuman:: - 0 replies

::transhuman::'s topics - tribe.net

Man-Computer Symbiosis ... March 1960

Dean Kamen's Robot Arm Grabs More Publicity (with Video)

Brain downloads 'will make lessons pointless'

self replication tech

self-willed cataclysm

Becoming Transhuman

interesting videos

A need for the Transhuman Games!

Commercial brain computer systems are coming

OnSingularity.com - For Singularitarians!

Skepticism/pessimism regarding singularity based upon biological evidence that we mislead and self deceive ourselves because we are "programmed" that way.

life-extesion breakthrough -- newsflash May 2nd, 2007

robotics

tech-mind interfacing

sound

good links here...

The Shift movie

Scientists invent device to stop Global Warming

Discussion on Eugenics and Transhumanism

Freaky Robots from Japan

transhumanist social network at www.transhumanists.org

MIT Media Lab h2.o

self assembling chips -- newsflash May 3rd, 2007

brain-tech interfacing: good & bad

Blue Brain Project

Transhumanism Interview on Outside the Box *Watch*

robo tech

next gen tech

natural design

book recommendations

Zenmaster Sound and Light System

Evolution vs. Revolution

2026 - Memories for Life

BM -:- Uchronia

physical or mental improvement first?

"Like Father, Like Son"

our potential...

ACLA rides?

The Singularity

I read this and thought it should be more widely read.

SOUL NAVIGATION

all your something...are belong to.....someone.

Future mind-scans can preserve memories forever

free energy

communication....

Transhumanism Interview on Outside the Box Watch