There is no doubt in my mind that we will all shortly by ruled by machines in some variation or the other. I am not talking about robo-cops and terminators (just yet), but rather about technology-powered governments with increasing, omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience over their subjects - building and enforcing some form of a WIFI curtain … Continue reading The WIFI Curtain: Dystopia Now? – The Future of Digital Dictatorships and Totalitarian Technocracies
Category: observations
A trending idea that’s caught my attention
A Slip of The Keyboard
It's no secret, Terry Pratchett is my all-time favourite author, and has been since I was an 11-year-old girl-child, told by my English teacher to "go read this book [Lords and Ladies] at the back of the classroom. You're too smart for what I'm about to teach the rest of them." (true story). Although dismissed … Continue reading A Slip of The Keyboard
Thinking Fast and Slow
"Appraising the book by the peak-end rule, I overconfidently urge everyone to buy and read it." ~ Jim Holt, New York Times I concur with the quote. Daniel Kahneman's seminal work on behavioral economics and decision making, Thinking Fast and Slow, is one of the world's least-read best sellers. This puts the book in good company, also on the … Continue reading Thinking Fast and Slow
Artificial Art
Creativity is a sign of intelligence, and artificial intelligence is getting creative. In 2016, a novel authored by an algorithm nearly won a prestigious Japanese literary prize. (The novel was, creatively, titled The Day a Computer Writes a Novel.) AI has only got more creative (although, perhaps, not more talented depending on your definition of artistic … Continue reading Artificial Art
Senicide and other such things
I have already written about the inherent conflict between past, present and future generations for earthly resources. I thought, while I was at it, it was worth taking a few minutes to explore the future euthanasia and the great grey area mess of ethics around this concept. First, some definitions: Euthanasia is the practice of intentionally … Continue reading Senicide and other such things
Sophia the Robot’s getting upstaged by a younger hotter fembot (just like a real woman)
Shame. It looks like Sophia the Robot's five minutes of fame as the world's favourite fembot drawing to a close, as a younger, sexier, humanoid fembot, who goes by the name of Ms. Erica Aoi, takes center stage. Erica, who is fully humanoid, just landed a plum job as a news anchor at Nippon Television Network … Continue reading Sophia the Robot’s getting upstaged by a younger hotter fembot (just like a real woman)
Live Long and Prosper
Transhumanism is the quest for longevity (or more accurately, amortality), perfect health, and ultimate happiness - a total end to suffering. What could go wrong? Well, quite simply, what could go wrong is that we achieve transhumanism for a select few, through genetic engineering (i.e. in-vitro intelligent design), body hacking (i.e. cyborg enhancements and bio-organic replacement body … Continue reading Live Long and Prosper
The Library to Rebuild Civilisation
"The goal of our Manual for Civilization project: to identify books that will resonate with those living in the distant future. What information won’t expire in a century? What literature will still speak to our descendants across a millennium? What ideas can carry forward and be useful tools as Plato, Lao Tzu, Homer, continue … Continue reading The Library to Rebuild Civilisation
Everybody Lies
This book by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz covers the lies we tell ourselves, our employers, our families and our countries; and about how the data crumb-trail we leave behind us all over the Internet through our search history and our social media likes and posts reveal who we really are. The case studies in this book cover … Continue reading Everybody Lies
The Overton Window is Snapping Shut
Mind your fingers. While Google and Facebook pander to the crowd, serving us ever more polarising content, for ever more clicks, the Overton Window is snapping shut. The already narrow band of socially acceptable ideas is growing narrower, still. It is getting increasingly difficult to find any common ground at all between left and right, … Continue reading The Overton Window is Snapping Shut