Given advances in computing power and genetic engineering, humanity as we know it today is destined to become obsolete. I'm not going to put a solid date on exactly *when* this will happen. Who knows? AI is still undeveloped, genetic engineering is still primitive, etc. But I would guess that sometime within the next two centuries genetic engineering will become accepted and then required. Similarly, computational implants (if available) would become required equipment. And eventually the human form itself will become unnecessary. "Horror!" you say? No. Calm down. It's just evolution taken to the next level.
I recently sat down with my professor\science ficition author Joe Haldeman and asked him his thoughts on the future of the human race. His response: "You'd have to be insane to if you think that humans 1000 years from now will be even remotely recognizable to humans today."
Incidentally, the code names are taken from a Canadian ski resort about 4-5 hours drive north of the MS campus. So if you ever go to Whistler mountain, look out for the blackcomb resort and longhorn saloon.
Your experiment seems biased. One of the eye's primary functions is to detect differences (motion) from one scene to the next. Motion detection is one of the lowest level functions subconsciously performed by the eye. So if you have an experiment where one scene is flat black and the next is an image, you aren't testing in a situation that is on par with reality. Instead, you'll need to run a test \w fluid images, then your wife's fingers, then more fluid images. So try editing a movie reel and inserting images randomly into the photo cells. If you run the film through a projector faster than 24fps, the average human eye will not detect inserted images. Instead, your eye will try to blend the oddball image into the two surrounding images.
Pardon me if I got any of the neuroscience wrong on that description, but I think the general idea is correct.
This article kind of got me thinking. Initially I thought it would be a great idea to send these guys some money for their hard work (and take a little tax deduction for myself on the side:) ). But then I saw some troll post about how he was glad that there was charity that didn't involve "starving black children."
That got me thinking: could the money be better used elsewhere? A $10 donation to a PERL hacker will buy him a six pack and some chips. $10 to the right humanitarian organization will literally save people's lives. But I guess that with donating to the PERL guys, you'll actually get to see some results from your charity. With most humanitarian groups you never know where the money goes.
MIT has a class called 6.002 (circuits and electronics). During the first lecture I attended, the speaker is talking about the high and low voltage for a transistor. He's standing under a projected image of a transitor and spreads his arms wide. He says "I want you to grok this! It has got to meld with the essense of your being." Half the class groaned, the other half just looked utterly confused. Not a bad response, surpised me at any rate.
I have to give you credit, this was the funniest thing I've read all day. Tragically, it can be applied to most modern fantasy. Can you imagine if they tried to make the Wheel of Time series into a movie? Ugh. I'll take the lethal injection instead.
I can't really blame the guy for doing the history incorrectly (if not horribly). Has anyone *ever* read a history of gaming article that correctly captured all the facets of gaming history? I know I haven't. Most of the people who write these articles are using their personal experiences as a primary source (it doesn't help that they are probably 16 year olds with insufficient background in the topic). Personal experience is often not enough. For example, while one person may see SubSpace or CyberStrike as the birth of massive multiplayer online gaming because he had hundreds of hours of playtime, another may say it was Ultima Online for similar reasons. Further, the person arguing for UO would have an advantage because even though his game was released later, it was far more popular.
So in summary, no one gets the history right. As a professors of mine once said, "History tends to raise up the peaks and lets all else fall by the wayside."
That demo is *unbelieavable*. My jaw nearly hit the floor when it got to the 3d studio max section wherein the actor makes a 3d model racoon in about 15 seconds using nothing but hand motions. This device already looks like a must-have, but imagine if they combined it with some sort of force feedback technology?
One of the main issures that nagged me while watching The One:
Jet Li's power increases because he kills the Jet Lis from other dimensions. Eventually there will be only one Jet Li left and he is supposed to have god-like power. But why is this so special? Unless all the copies of a person in all the dufferent universes simultaneously die, there will be exactly one copy at some point. Natural\accidental\other types of death will pick off the copies one by one. So, there should be god-like people popping up all over the place. /end nitpick
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I recently sat down with my professor\science ficition author Joe Haldeman and asked him his thoughts on the future of the human race. His response: "You'd have to be insane to if you think that humans 1000 years from now will be even remotely recognizable to humans today."
Incidentally, the code names are taken from a Canadian ski resort about 4-5 hours drive north of the MS campus. So if you ever go to Whistler mountain, look out for the blackcomb resort and longhorn saloon.
$5M in sponsorship for the "smart potholder"? Screw that. Throw some funding at the the "silent jackhammer."
Pardon me if I got any of the neuroscience wrong on that description, but I think the general idea is correct.
Cheers
That got me thinking: could the money be better used elsewhere? A $10 donation to a PERL hacker will buy him a six pack and some chips. $10 to the right humanitarian organization will literally save people's lives. But I guess that with donating to the PERL guys, you'll actually get to see some results from your charity. With most humanitarian groups you never know where the money goes.
MIT has a class called 6.002 (circuits and electronics). During the first lecture I attended, the speaker is talking about the high and low voltage for a transistor. He's standing under a projected image of a transitor and spreads his arms wide. He says "I want you to grok this! It has got to meld with the essense of your being." Half the class groaned, the other half just looked utterly confused. Not a bad response, surpised me at any rate.
I have to give you credit, this was the funniest thing I've read all day. Tragically, it can be applied to most modern fantasy. Can you imagine if they tried to make the Wheel of Time series into a movie? Ugh. I'll take the lethal injection instead.
Why not a "passionate moaning" car alarm? Screaming might make some people run the other way, but no man could resist a pr0n alarm.
So in summary, no one gets the history right. As a professors of mine once said, "History tends to raise up the peaks and lets all else fall by the wayside."
I though the first version was on the NES? I remember playing it when it was first released.
Most impressive.
Some quotes:
"What's this?! It's a little boy's face! Oh, don't worry, little boy, I'll free you from this block of wood!"
"You know, Little Wooden Boy, the worst sin in the world is disloyalty. You wouldn't lie to me, would you, Little Wooden Boy?"
This guy likes him even more than me! *shudder*
One of the main issures that nagged me while watching The One:
/end nitpick
Jet Li's power increases because he kills the Jet Lis from other dimensions. Eventually there will be only one Jet Li left and he is supposed to have god-like power. But why is this so special? Unless all the copies of a person in all the dufferent universes simultaneously die, there will be exactly one copy at some point. Natural\accidental\other types of death will pick off the copies one by one. So, there should be god-like people popping up all over the place.