If Americans were really the altruistic, mature, caring people you seem to believe them to be, why aren't they bombing Turkey and Iraq (for massacres of Kurds), Britain (for Northern Ireland), and China? Or themselves for Haiti?
For that matter, why are they bombing at all?
One truth is that the Americans are leading the charge back to global anarchy. They did an end-run around the UN and attacked a sovereign nation in a volatile region. Am I the only one who thought 'blitz krieg' (sp?) when NATO announced the original plan?
If news reports are to be believed (and that's a big if), they also succeeded in accelerating the purging. --
1. Work for a company that sells proprietary products. 1a. Work as a "waiter";-) 2. Work for universities that are paid in the end by companies producing proprietary products. 3. Students who either support themselves by 1. or 2. or are supported by their parents who make money via 1. or 2. 4. Work for a company who pays them to write free software; that company is made profitable due to the free work of others, which is in turn made possible via 1. 2. or 3.
In a recent issue of the IEEE's computer magazine (Computer?) -- I think the one about the US Digital Library Initiative -- there was a brief survey of the practical results of various government-funded research programs in computing. I think you might be surprised by just how much of the modern US computer industry is based on government-funded basic research.
One interesting point raised in the article (and this ties in with the whole discussion) is that the government's role has been crucial in funding long-term projects (20+ years), like AI and VR efforts which are only now starting to bear commercial fruit. Without the government's investment and support, it is conceivable -- maybe even likely -- that the US would not be in the leading position, as the basic research would never have been funded that enabled the private companies to make their products.
I guess the bone I'm picking in your post is #2, since those same private companies are indirectly supported and made viable by the government.
Well, that's all now. Back to my essay. Never leave a 4,000 word essay until the night before, especially when the prof demands that you think... --
Go read up on neural nets. Go read up on cognitive science -- yes, all the disciplines besides AI.
You'll notice something interesting: the engineering endrun attempted with AI has been failing miserably. Strong AI -- which is what you're talking about -- has been following in the footsteps of cognitive psychology and philosophy since its outset: it has repeated all the same mistakes, fallen into all the same fundamental quandaries... At least it's crystallized the frame problem.
Also of interest is that many of the big names behind computational functionalism as a theory of cognition are now jumping ship. These would be the founders of the field. --
Slashdot Mirror
For that matter, why are they bombing at all?
One truth is that the Americans are leading the charge back to global anarchy. They did an end-run around the UN and attacked a sovereign nation in a volatile region. Am I the only one who thought 'blitz krieg' (sp?) when NATO announced the original plan?
If news reports are to be believed (and that's a big if), they also succeeded in accelerating the purging.
--
Propaganda wars have already spread to the Internet...
--
1a. Work as a "waiter";-)
2. Work for universities that are paid in the end by companies producing proprietary products.
3. Students who either support themselves by 1. or 2. or are supported by their parents who make money via 1. or 2.
4. Work for a company who pays them to write free software; that company is made profitable due to the free work of others, which is in turn made possible via 1. 2. or 3.
In a recent issue of the IEEE's computer magazine (Computer?) -- I think the one about the US Digital Library Initiative -- there was a brief survey of the practical results of various government-funded research programs in computing. I think you might be surprised by just how much of the modern US computer industry is based on government-funded basic research.
One interesting point raised in the article (and this ties in with the whole discussion) is that the government's role has been crucial in funding long-term projects (20+ years), like AI and VR efforts which are only now starting to bear commercial fruit. Without the government's investment and support, it is conceivable -- maybe even likely -- that the US would not be in the leading position, as the basic research would never have been funded that enabled the private companies to make their products.
I guess the bone I'm picking in your post is #2, since those same private companies are indirectly supported and made viable by the government.
Well, that's all now. Back to my essay. Never leave a 4,000 word essay until the night before, especially when the prof demands that you think...
--
You'll notice something interesting: the engineering endrun attempted with AI has been failing miserably. Strong AI -- which is what you're talking about -- has been following in the footsteps of cognitive psychology and philosophy since its outset: it has repeated all the same mistakes, fallen into all the same fundamental quandaries... At least it's crystallized the frame problem.
Also of interest is that many of the big names behind computational functionalism as a theory of cognition are now jumping ship. These would be the founders of the field.
--