Gilina: "I can't believe you're not Sebacean."
John: "Human. It's kinda like Sebacean, but we haven't conquered other worlds yet, so we just kick the crap out of each other."
I am a trekkie (watched every ep of tng and voy several times, front row center on trek movie premieres, lacking the uniform though) and I've watched Quantum Leap, B5, SG-1, SAAB and other SF shows, so I thought I knew what good SF show is like. Soon after Voyager ended, I saw a.sig right here that said something like "Farscape - the best antidote to ST:Voyager". As I found myself with free evenings due to lack of trek, I got me a few eps, started watching it and - was blown away.
I've been pretty jaded with Trek for a while lately. True, most episodes were cool and some were great, but the script format has practically never changed (twist the story as much as you can in the first few minutes, wait, and in the last five minutes put everything back together (X never really died, planet Y is saved, Voyager defeats attackers, the Borg unexpectedly retreat, the crew are resurrected due to lucky timetravel stunt).
I found myself.. wanting more. And more I got.
Farscape has an atypical human hero, smart and witty dialogue, great stories and guts to go where Viacom dares not thread - whether it's a bare behind of a female cast member or an alien farting helium, main hero popping magic mushrooms or lead lady looking at a woman and exclaiming: "She gives me a woody!"
I still like Trek, don't get me wrong. But if i had to choose only one set of DVD's to keep me company on a lonely starship, I know what I'll take.
Oh, and many thanks to the guy/gal with the Farscape.sig. You changed my opinion of SF on TV and provided me with many hours of enjoyment (although not at the end of 3x15).
Yan
Gilina: "I can't believe you're not Sebacean."
John: "Human. It's kinda like Sebacean, but we haven't conquered other worlds yet, so we just kick the crap out of each other."
I recommend to every one Robert Zubrin's excellent book, The Case for Mars.
while we're at the recommendation stage - I heartily recommend Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy which combines scientific fact (yes, it answers the water/pressure/ice question) with an excellent story.
Gilina: "I can't believe you're not Sebacean."
John: "Human. It's kinda like Sebacean, but we haven't conquered other worlds yet, so we just kick the crap out of each other."
Humans do NOT need science. The modern form of science has not been around for more than 600 years. We as a species have quite well survived our own stupidity for far longer.
Yes, and what a great job we did. Childbirth death rate 90%, average lifespan 20-25 years.
I find the fact that you communicated the sentence above using about 50 different scientific breakthrus amusing. Sure, _now_ we can diss science as our lives are already comfortable.
btw, Science never has proven or disproven the existence of a soul. Never will either.
Absolutely correct. Of course, as 'soul' is defined as "something unprovable by science", that is not really a surprise.
Yan
Gilina: "I can't believe you're not Sebacean."
John: "Human. It's kinda like Sebacean, but we haven't conquered other worlds yet, so we just kick the crap out of each other."
A method for inducing cats to exercise consists of directing a beam of invisible light produced by a hand-held laser apparatus onto the floor or wall or other opaque surface in the vicinity of the cat, then moving the laser so as to cause the bright pattern of light to move in an irregular way fascinating to cats, and to any other animal with a chase instinct.
You need to learn a bit more about Godwin's Law before you're allowed to play. I have to compare somebody or something to Hitler.
Wrong!
Goodwin's Law of Usenet
Professor Goodwin, U of I, in 1981 made the observation that Usenet discussions gravitate downhill.
He postulated that as the length of a discussion thread grows, the probability approaches one (1) that one participant will introduce the terms "Hitler" or "Nazi".
The custom has evolved that the first party to utter "Hitler" or "Nazi" has lost the discussion, and the thread terminates.
"Never" is a big word. It might not produce an AI that would adhere to your definition of AI, but it might produce something. Piling knowledge and rules about interpreting that knowledge sounds like a good approach to me. Not the only one, to be sure, but nevertheless good. After all, hasn't our own consciusness (sp?) supposedly developed that way?
Definitions of AI vary. For me, a good AI should also have a survival instinct. In my version of the Turing test, the contestant proto-AI's would be equipped with cameras and the examiner would approach them with a large hammer. I'd give the award to the first one to print "Not me! Hit the one next to me!"
Slashdot Mirror
Yan
Gilina: "I can't believe you're not Sebacean."
John: "Human. It's kinda like Sebacean, but we haven't conquered other worlds yet, so we just kick the crap out of each other."
Farscape, PK Tech Girl
I am a trekkie (watched every ep of tng and voy several times, front row center on trek movie premieres, lacking the uniform though) and I've watched Quantum Leap, B5, SG-1, SAAB and other SF shows, so I thought I knew what good SF show is like. Soon after Voyager ended, I saw a .sig right here that said something like "Farscape - the best antidote to ST:Voyager". As I found myself with free evenings due to lack of trek, I got me a few eps, started watching it and - was blown away.
I've been pretty jaded with Trek for a while lately. True, most episodes were cool and some were great, but the script format has practically never changed (twist the story as much as you can in the first few minutes, wait, and in the last five minutes put everything back together (X never really died, planet Y is saved, Voyager defeats attackers, the Borg unexpectedly retreat, the crew are resurrected due to lucky timetravel stunt).
I found myself.. wanting more. And more I got.
Farscape has an atypical human hero, smart and witty dialogue, great stories and guts to go where Viacom dares not thread - whether it's a bare behind of a female cast member or an alien farting helium, main hero popping magic mushrooms or lead lady looking at a woman and exclaiming: "She gives me a woody!"
I still like Trek, don't get me wrong. But if i had to choose only one set of DVD's to keep me company on a lonely starship, I know what I'll take.
Oh, and many thanks to the guy/gal with the Farscape .sig. You changed my opinion of SF on TV and provided me with many hours of enjoyment (although not at the end of 3x15).
Yan
Gilina: "I can't believe you're not Sebacean."
John: "Human. It's kinda like Sebacean, but we haven't conquered other worlds yet, so we just kick the crap out of each other."
Farscape, PK Tech Girl
I recommend to every one Robert Zubrin's excellent book, The Case for Mars.
while we're at the recommendation stage - I heartily recommend Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy which combines scientific fact (yes, it answers the water/pressure/ice question) with an excellent story.
Red Mars at Amazon
(the other two books are Green Mars and Blue Mars)
Yan
Gilina: "I can't believe you're not Sebacean."
John: "Human. It's kinda like Sebacean, but we haven't conquered other worlds yet, so we just kick the crap out of each other."
Farscape, PK Tech Girl
Humans do NOT need science. The modern form of science has not been around for more than 600 years. We as a species have quite well survived our own stupidity for far longer.
Yes, and what a great job we did. Childbirth death rate 90%, average lifespan 20-25 years. I find the fact that you communicated the sentence above using about 50 different scientific breakthrus amusing. Sure, _now_ we can diss science as our lives are already comfortable.
btw, Science never has proven or disproven the existence of a soul. Never will either.
Absolutely correct. Of course, as 'soul' is defined as "something unprovable by science", that is not really a surprise.
Yan
Gilina: "I can't believe you're not Sebacean."
John: "Human. It's kinda like Sebacean, but we haven't conquered other worlds yet, so we just kick the crap out of each other."
Farscape, PK Tech Girl
A method for inducing cats to exercise consists of directing a beam of invisible light produced by a hand-held laser apparatus onto the floor or wall or other opaque surface in the vicinity of the cat, then moving the laser so as to cause the bright pattern of light to move in an irregular way fascinating to cats, and to any other animal with a chase instinct.
Yan
Wrong!
Goodwin's Law of Usenet
Professor Goodwin, U of I, in 1981 made the observation that Usenet discussions gravitate downhill.
He postulated that as the length of a discussion thread grows, the probability approaches one (1) that one participant will introduce the terms "Hitler" or "Nazi".
The custom has evolved that the first party to utter "Hitler" or "Nazi" has lost the discussion, and the thread terminates.
Yan
"Never" is a big word. It might not produce an AI that would adhere to your definition of AI, but it might produce something. Piling knowledge and rules about interpreting that knowledge sounds like a good approach to me. Not the only one, to be sure, but nevertheless good. After all, hasn't our own consciusness (sp?) supposedly developed that way?
Definitions of AI vary. For me, a good AI should also have a survival instinct. In my version of the Turing test, the contestant proto-AI's would be equipped with cameras and the examiner would approach them with a large hammer. I'd give the award to the first one to print "Not me! Hit the one next to me!"
Yan