Sentient Organizations: A Cryptozoological Approach. First of all, let go of the possibility that I might at all be speaking metaphorically or figuratively. I think it is possible — probable, even — that some organizations, be they businesses or churches or street gangs or what have you, are literally alive. Alive to the point that studies should be made to classify them taxonomically as a new branch on the tree of life. Alive to the point that many of them are aware and self-aware.
And I’m going to say the word “literally” again just so you get the point. I first broached this topic in a serious fashion when I was researching and writing my portion of the presentation for Stan Woodard’s Atlanta Zombie Symposium in September of 2009. I understand that for some of you this isn’t going to be anything like a gosh-wow concept. And that’s a good thing. While I am definitely speaking literally, I will resort to metaphors to paint the picture.
And yes, I am working on the assumption that evolutionary mechanisms are a fact. Ask any demon. How much would legal marijuana cost? A new book says it would be nearly free. Photograph by Alfredo Estrella/AFP/Getty Images. It continues to be totally off the radar of prominent politicians, but polls indicate that large and growing numbers of Americans are open to the idea of legalizing marijuana. Gallup broke ground last fall with the first-ever poll showing 50 percent of respondents nationwide wanting to legalize, and a more precisely worded poll from Rasmussen in May had 56 percent in favor of “legalizing marijuana and regulating it in a similar manner to the way alcohol and tobacco cigarettes are regulated today.” Thus far those polls are outliers, and most surveys show more voter skepticism than that. But as elderly voters are more pot-phobic than the young, legalization’s support is likely to increase over time and surely it will work its way onto the national agenda sooner or later.
There’s been relatively little analysis of what a legal marijuana industry might look like. How cheaply could pot be grown with advanced farming techniques? World Economic Forum lists top 10 emerging technologies for 2012. The World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Emerging Technologies has drawn up a list of the top 10 emerging technologies for 2012 (Image: Shutterstock) Our goal here at Gizmag is to cover innovation and emerging technologies in all fields of human endeavor, and while almost all of the ideas that grace our pages have the potential to enhance some of our lives in one way or another, at the core are those technologies that will have profound implications for everyone on the planet.
For those looking to shape political, business, and academic agendas, predicting how and when these types of technologies will effect us all is critical. Recognizing this, the World Economic Forum's (WEF's) Global Agenda Council on Emerging Technologies has compiled a list of the top 10 emerging technologies it believes will have the greatest impact on the state of the world in 2012. 1. Source: World Economic Forum Blog About the Author Post a CommentRelated Articles. The Lost Art of Thinking Before You Act | Postcards from Žižek.
What's the Big Idea? Philosopher Slavoj Žižek is fundamentally anti-capitalist, and yet, the man who describes himself as a “complicated Marxist” also expresses palpable irritation at the idea that capitalists are nothing more than egomaniacal psychopaths. In a recent interview with Big Think, he told us that although he’s highly critical of capitalism in his work, when asked about it in public, he’s tempted to detail all the things that are great about it. Watch the interview: Political critiques that don’t account for the passion of the individual capitalist are flawed, he says, because capitalism is as much an ethical as it is an economic system. "It’s not true when people attack capitalists as egotists. ‘They don’t care.’ The guiding principle of free market economic theorists is that people are motivated purely by the pursuit of their own rational self-interests. So is he still sympathetic to the Occupy Wall Street movement?
The contradictions are intentional. The Turing Test. First published Wed Apr 9, 2003; substantive revision Wed Jan 26, 2011 The phrase “The Turing Test” is most properly used to refer to a proposal made by Turing (1950) as a way of dealing with the question whether machines can think. According to Turing, the question whether machines can think is itself “too meaningless” to deserve discussion (442). However, if we consider the more precise—and somehow related—question whether a digital computer can do well in a certain kind of game that Turing describes (“The Imitation Game”), then—at least in Turing's eyes—we do have a question that admits of precise discussion.
Moreover, as we shall see, Turing himself thought that it would not be too long before we did have digital computers that could “do well” in the Imitation Game. The phrase “The Turing Test” is sometimes used more generally to refer to some kinds of behavioural tests for the presence of mind, or thought, or intelligence in putatively minded entities. 1. 2. Majorana fermions – the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything? Physicists at the Delft University of Technology, Netherlands, have achieved a milestone that might soon revolutionize the world of quantum computing, quantum physics, and perhaps shed new light on the mystery of the dark matter in our universe.
Experimenting with nanoelectronics, a group led by Prof. Leo Kouwenhoven has succeeded in detecting the elusive Majorana fermion in the laboratory, without the need for a particle accelerator. View all The find is the culmination of decades of research. First theorized by Italian physicist Ettore Majorana in 1937 by building on the work of Erwin Schrödinger and Paul Dirac, the Majorana fermion emitted too weak a signal to be spotted within most materials.
Recently, however, theoretical physicists have suggested that some exotic materials might circumvent defects and impurities found elsewhere and allow for the detection of this elusive particle. Conceptual close-up of the Majorana nano-device Leo Kouwenhoven and his team in the lab. Dr. Who's sonic screwdriver a step closer to reality? A University of Dundee research team led by Prof. Mike MacDonald has demonstrated that both levitation and twisting forces can be applied to an object by application of ultrasonic beams. This latest breakthrough is part of a wide-ranging U.K. research effort to develop a device not unlike the "sonic screwdriver" made famous by the TV series Doctor Who. The sonic screwdriver has been a favored tool of ten Doctors at this point in time (it was introduced by the second Doctor). It has evolved from a simple screwdriver and lock-pick to include such functions as repairing electronics, remotely controlling the Tardis, amplifying X-rays, and even converting a cellphone to truly universal roaming.
Without the screwdriver, Earth would have fallen countless times to Daleks, Cybermen or Silurians. Back here on Earth, ultrasonic beams have primarily been used for imaging within opaque objects and to shake objects – the ultrasonic medical scanner and ultrasonic cleaner are the prime examples. What is unacceptable speech? A Muslim clearly expresses his opinion about the Muhammad cartoons in a demonstration in Oslo. (Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / Scanpix) Good democratic debate depends upon our ability to tolerate criticism of our speech, our beliefs and our culture. At the same time, the debate must be inclusive, and not just governed by the majority's premises.
That is how PhD candidate Jonas Jakobsen responds when we ask what is considered acceptable speech in a democratic society. According to him, the rationality of a debate is damaged when we repeatedly are told that for example most terrorists are Muslims, because this statement is a direct lie. “Lying is like poison to a democratic debate. Criticism and freedom of speech The public debate in Norway after the terror attacks in July 2011 has focused to some extent on what kinds of speech and offensive remarks we must allow and tolerate.
First came requests for a more measured approach to criticisms of Islam. Western Europe - A global minority. Horgan, Hayden, and the Last Word on Warfare. In 2008, I published a book about the evolutionary origins and cultural development of warfare throughout human history. John Horgan, about as distinguished a science writer as one is likely to find, graciously invited me to share my thoughts on war’s deep past and possible futures on a web video show he hosted. It was an extremely pleasant experience, but that, apparently, was just because John is polite. It turns out he disagrees with me utterly about a key conclusion of Sex and War, namely that … oh, but why give it away? We decded to continue the conversation here at LWON, and to help keep the discussion of war from coming to virtual blows, we asked the very peaceable Ann Finkbeiner to referee.
A very lightly edited version of the resulting virtual chat unspools below: More of the latter than the former in here, saddly Tom: Ann, you’re poking the hornet’s nest right off the bat! John: Trying to disarm me with your kind words, eh Tom? Anyway, why do we say it’s ancestral? Pondering a universe without purpose. The illusion of purpose and design is perhaps the most pervasive illusion about nature that science has to confront on a daily basis. Everywhere we look, it appears that the world was designed so that we could flourish. The position of the Earth around the sun, the presence of organic materials and water and a warm climate — all make life on our planet possible.
Yet, with perhaps 100 billion solar systems in our galaxy alone, with ubiquitous water, carbon and hydrogen, it isn't surprising that these conditions would arise somewhere. And as to the diversity of life on Earth — as Darwin described more than 150 years ago and experiments ever since have validated — natural selection in evolving life forms can establish both diversity and order without any governing plan. But science has taught us to think the unthinkable. Because when nature is the guide — rather than a priori prejudices, hopes, fears or desires — we are forced out of our comfort zone. And so we continue to be surprised.
Meritocracy and measurement myths. Michael Young’s 1959 satire The Rise of the Meritocracy begins in 2034 with a puzzled member of the commanding elite of the future wondering why in the world various discontented factions of the meritocratic society could be contemplating a general strike. What justification could they possibly have for being angry, given that everyone is systematically is afforded a fair opportunity to thrive through rigorous and ceaseless testing. I imagine that some view the Occupy unrest in this light; our culture’s well-groomed and highly educated elite could be looking out from corner offices in bank buildings down at Zuccotti Park, reanimated with what must seem like pointless strife, and think to themselves, What’s with those people? They could work harder, achieve more, take advantage of the systems designed by human-resource agents to capture talent and reward it instead of griping about it. That’s a classic patronizing conservative defense of existing privilege.
The ‘Tacocopter’ Would Deliver Tacos Via An Unmanned Drone. Richard Dawkins & Neil deGrasse Tyson Talk About Science Together … FOR AN HOUR! (Video) McEwan on Darwin, Einstein, and Priority | Cosmic Variance. In the Guardian, Ian McEwan writes beautifully, as always, about the passion involved in scientific discovery, and the drive to establish priority.
While it is a refrain among scientists that they are only interested in the work, and gaining a better understanding of nature, it would be hard to believe that, on a personal level, we don’t care deeply about the recognition of our own contributions. McEwan illustrates this with two of the most revered and successful scientists – Darwin and Einstein. On realizing, surprisingly, his fear of being scooped by Wallace, Darwin wrote “I always thought it very possible that I might be forestalled, but I fancied that I had a grand enough soul not to care.” and after Hilbert submitted his formulation of the mathematics of General Relativity, Einstein wrote “In my personal experience I have hardly come to know the wretchedness of mankind better.” “On the other hand, as Steven Pinker has pointed out, the ramifications of natural selection are multiple.