that the reason computers seem so slow at somethings like ai is because we are already inside a singularity, and that as entities inside the construct have no way to 'meet' the intelligence of our singular mind. to create a true singularity from within a true singularity would be akin to rewriting the whole thing and as the singularity we have no way to overwrite our existence except to die and rejoin it. assuming the developers designed it that way.
I think the first thing you should consider is the whereabouts of your shift key.
Third hand smoke and farts are legitimate concerns, but until manufacturers stop putting toxic fragrance chemicals in personal care and laundry products I will be keeping my own private, personal vehicle for health reasons. Any time I take public transit I get sick for days. In the future, maybe people will wake up and stop drenching themselves in poison.
Disruptive
How in the world do we come to the idea that just because something is disruptive it is a good thing? In most cases, I would argue the opposite.
"Disruptive" is the buzzword du jour for all the libertarian fruitbats who read Dystopian novels as aspirational lifestyle guides.
a noteworthy scholar had commented once that a hunter-gatherer from 100,000 BC lived better than the average man in 19th century London.
The average working man led a pretty horrible life in an industrialised 19th century city, so that is entirely possible.
However, the relevant comparison is with an average person in 21st century London. I know which lifestyle I'd prefer, and as a clue it's the one where I can walk into a supermarket and buy food for my kids.
How about we start with the fact that your senior MALE engineer doesn't disappear for several months (with pay) in the middle of a big crunch so he can be a daddy.
How about we start with the fact that without women inconveniencing business by having babies, there would be no fucking human race?
"Social justice warriors" and the people in media trying to push a particular narrative point of view.
Yes, there's no possibility that the largely male tech people in well paid, interesting jobs simply aren't interested in whether female warehouse staff earn less than male warehouse staff for doing the same job.
I'm fairly sure that here in the UK traffic lights are just on a set timing sequence.
Is it different in the US because you have a lot more infrequently used roads that require manual triggering?
That rather prompts the question of why you bother having lights at all at junctions where traffic is so infrequent.
Things have certainly moved on from when I was a kid, although quite how dangerous a school journey would have to be to necessitate bulletproof bike tyres I can't quite imagine.
A very fundamental question that no one has answered yet and few people even ask is this: does the brain produce consciousness/mind/spirit or is it the other way around?
This is not an interesting question. You are essentially asking if the universe is based on physics or mysticism. Idealism is absurd, Dualism leads to unanswerable questions and Materialism seems to be working out pretty well for us.
It's not quite as black and white as you make out. You don't have to believe in "mysticism" or "idealism" to know that consciousness exists. Cogito ergo sum still seems true to me.
Cartesian dualism might produce unhelpful consequences , but you can't handwave it away simply by saying there's no such thing as mind or consciousness.
If consciousness can't be explained by pure materialism, then pure materialism is an incomplete theory.
There doesn't have to be a magical explanation for something that we don't (yet) understand, but that doesn't mean we can simply write it off as imaginary.
This isn't like talking about the existence of gods or an immortal soul. I have no direct evidence for them, whereas I do for my self.
The arrogance of science is astounding in regard to the certainty of the conclusions. The current so-called scientists that are insulted at even the suggestion that there is still a debate are laughable.
Ah yes, the ever-popular "but evolution's only a theory" argument used by pro-Creationists with no understanding of the scientific method.
This just illustrates how ridiculous the current efforts to simulate a human brain in computers really are. Ancient humans would have stood a better chance of simulating a 747 had they put their minds to it. As far as the brain is concerned, we are still probably at a stage at which we do yet know the extent of our ignorance.
But, hey ho, we're still going to have Artificial Intelligence/the Singularity in the next twenty years, with perfect emulation of the brain, a virtual reality universe indistinguishable from the real one, and immortality. Ray Kurzweil says so.
I agree. The other thing, though, is that IT'S A CONTRACT. Read, read read! I don't know why people who don't read the contract try to get out of it later. I know it's not kosher to put things like this in the contact, but contracts are like that. They're usually one sided in favor of one party or another. The question is, whether this was illegal (extorting money for negative reviews). If it wasn't, then I don't see how one should be able to get out of it.
This was a simple retail transaction, not a commercial negotiation.
Luckily, I doubt that this hotel will be seeing many of the latter until they come to talk to their liquidators.
We don't need to magic up immortality tomorrow, we just need to increase lifespan by one year every year.
That's a bit like saying we don't need to magic up near light speed travel tomorrow, we just need to increase our capacity by 1% a year, and in 99 years we'll be at 99%.
well I am 6"6' and have done fencing for half my life as well as kick boxing, and yes I would happily remove your technology from you should you decide to use the highly invasion google glass around me.
Hint for internet tough guys: don't boast about your fencing skills unless you habitually wear a sword.
Even more pertinently, bouncers tend not to work alone. Your 1337 roofing skills may give you the edge over one guy, but it's less likely you will be able to "take out" three or four of them.
Slashdot Mirror
If mother nature can create human minds that function on a few sandwiches a day, I'm sure we'll be able to surpass that
This sort of feeble handwaving is why most AI advocates come across as drooling idiots.
there is a very important thing to consider.
that the reason computers seem so slow at somethings like ai is because we are already inside a singularity, and that as entities inside the construct have no way to 'meet' the intelligence of our singular mind. to create a true singularity from within a true singularity would be akin to rewriting the whole thing and as the singularity we have no way to overwrite our existence except to die and rejoin it. assuming the developers designed it that way.
I think the first thing you should consider is the whereabouts of your shift key.
Third hand smoke and farts are legitimate concerns, but until manufacturers stop putting toxic fragrance chemicals in personal care and laundry products I will be keeping my own private, personal vehicle for health reasons. Any time I take public transit I get sick for days. In the future, maybe people will wake up and stop drenching themselves in poison.
You're like a little ray of sunshine.
Disruptive
How in the world do we come to the idea that just because something is disruptive it is a good thing? In most cases, I would argue the opposite.
"Disruptive" is the buzzword du jour for all the libertarian fruitbats who read Dystopian novels as aspirational lifestyle guides.
a noteworthy scholar had commented once that a hunter-gatherer from 100,000 BC lived better than the average man in 19th century London.
The average working man led a pretty horrible life in an industrialised 19th century city, so that is entirely possible.
However, the relevant comparison is with an average person in 21st century London. I know which lifestyle I'd prefer, and as a clue it's the one where I can walk into a supermarket and buy food for my kids.
No doubt you and Mark Fuckerberg would disagree.
How about we start with the fact that your senior MALE engineer doesn't disappear for several months (with pay) in the middle of a big crunch so he can be a daddy.
How about we start with the fact that without women inconveniencing business by having babies, there would be no fucking human race?
Yes, and we should rename the site "SATAdot" just to make it clear what sort of people we want here.
"Social justice warriors" and the people in media trying to push a particular narrative point of view.
Yes, there's no possibility that the largely male tech people in well paid, interesting jobs simply aren't interested in whether female warehouse staff earn less than male warehouse staff for doing the same job.
We have come so far since feminism began, but then stuff like this still happens... How could anyone, in 2014, have thought this was acceptable?
I would imagine at least half of slashdot's readers, to judge from the general level of misogyny displayed here.
So your question to Mr G could be summarised as: why don't you just fuck off?
Is it different in the US because you have a lot more infrequently used roads that require manual triggering?
That rather prompts the question of why you bother having lights at all at junctions where traffic is so infrequent.
No, I am the real Benetton Hasselblad. My contributions are more frequent by far.
kevlar tires are a big win
Things have certainly moved on from when I was a kid, although quite how dangerous a school journey would have to be to necessitate bulletproof bike tyres I can't quite imagine.
I would just let the girl do whatever she is interested in.
No, as a parent you need to keep some sort of balance in kids' lives.
Otherwise, they will just sit around eating junk food and watching a screen all day, and yes I know this is slashdot.
So how should people deal with video games that take 75 minutes just to get to the first save point, like Majora's Mask?
Is that seriously a problem for most 9 year olds?
I think the only thing my kids ever did at that age for 75 minutes without a break is sleep.
It's not quite as black and white as you make out. You don't have to believe in "mysticism" or "idealism" to know that consciousness exists. Cogito ergo sum still seems true to me.
Cartesian dualism might produce unhelpful consequences , but you can't handwave it away simply by saying there's no such thing as mind or consciousness.
If consciousness can't be explained by pure materialism, then pure materialism is an incomplete theory.
There doesn't have to be a magical explanation for something that we don't (yet) understand, but that doesn't mean we can simply write it off as imaginary.
This isn't like talking about the existence of gods or an immortal soul. I have no direct evidence for them, whereas I do for my self.
The arrogance of science is astounding in regard to the certainty of the conclusions. The current so-called scientists that are insulted at even the suggestion that there is still a debate are laughable.
Ah yes, the ever-popular "but evolution's only a theory" argument used by pro-Creationists with no understanding of the scientific method.
This just illustrates how ridiculous the current efforts to simulate a human brain in computers really are. Ancient humans would have stood a better chance of simulating a 747 had they put their minds to it. As far as the brain is concerned, we are still probably at a stage at which we do yet know the extent of our ignorance.
But, hey ho, we're still going to have Artificial Intelligence/the Singularity in the next twenty years, with perfect emulation of the brain, a virtual reality universe indistinguishable from the real one, and immortality. Ray Kurzweil says so.
Hey, at least it wasn't Bennet Haselton telling us about it.
Little known fact: Bennet Haselton is a regular contributor.
I agree. The other thing, though, is that IT'S A CONTRACT. Read, read read! I don't know why people who don't read the contract try to get out of it later. I know it's not kosher to put things like this in the contact, but contracts are like that. They're usually one sided in favor of one party or another. The question is, whether this was illegal (extorting money for negative reviews). If it wasn't, then I don't see how one should be able to get out of it.
This was a simple retail transaction, not a commercial negotiation.
Luckily, I doubt that this hotel will be seeing many of the latter until they come to talk to their liquidators.
We don't need to magic up immortality tomorrow, we just need to increase lifespan by one year every year.
That's a bit like saying we don't need to magic up near light speed travel tomorrow, we just need to increase our capacity by 1% a year, and in 99 years we'll be at 99%.
well I am 6"6' and have done fencing for half my life as well as kick boxing, and yes I would happily remove your technology from you should you decide to use the highly invasion google glass around me.
Hint for internet tough guys: don't boast about your fencing skills unless you habitually wear a sword.
Even more pertinently, bouncers tend not to work alone. Your 1337 roofing skills may give you the edge over one guy, but it's less likely you will be able to "take out" three or four of them.
the fact that I'm 6'3 and have done roofing,
I read that as "63" (as in years) and couldn't for the life of me work out why it was supposed to sound tough.
"I'm 85 and used to play football, so don't mess with me, young man".