Society must decide if it is willing to accept relationships between humans and robots before the machines become so sophisticated they start demanding rights, a legal expert has warned.
Rapid advances in technology mean cyborgs, or human-like robots, are no longer a vision of a distant future.
The machines have been made famous by films like Terminator and Blade Runner but real life is increasingly catching up with fiction.
Earlier this year researchers announced they had created robot ‘scientists’ – complete with the ability to think for themselves.
As the machines become more sophisticated, they will increasingly seem more like humans and could demand ‘human rights’, Anna Russel, from the University of San Diego warns.
One of the flashpoints could be over relationships, including sexual relationships, with humans, she claims.
In an article titled “Blurring the love lines” she warns: “While this humanoid is a giant leap forward technologically, if a self-aware, super-intelligent, thinking, feeling humanoid is developed, the legal system will be hard-pressed to distinguish this creature legally from human actors on grounds not stemming from a religious or moral prejudice.”
Lawyers have to start thinking now about what rights should be accorded to cyborgs, she argues.
Most societies will want to regulate such relationships but Russel claims they have to prepare themselves for how they would respond if the cyborgs clamoured for sexual freedoms.
As the technology improves “it will be inevitable that legal issues would be raised and the love lines blurred,” she warns.
“In what way would such sexual activities be regulated, however, and how regulation would work is not clear.”Society must decide if it is willing to accept relationships between humans and robots... more
"The past of human evolution is more and more coming to light as scientists uncover a trove of fossils and genetic knowledge. But where might the future of human evolution go?
An old cliché has the highly evolved humans of the future sporting large heads to hold their advanced enlarged brains, "but that's nonsense, whole nonsense," said paleontologist Peter Ward at the University of Washington at Seattle, author of "Future Evolution."
"If you've ever gone through a childbirth or witnessed one," Ward says, "we're already anatomically right on the edge of how big our heads can go — our big brains have already caused extreme problems in childbirth, and if we had bigger and bigger brains, that'd cause more mothers to die in childbirth, so evolution would select against that."
Another idea, suggested by evolutionary theorist Oliver Curry of the London School of Economics, seems like a retread of ideas from science fiction writer H.G. Well's classic "The Time Machine," with the human species split in two over time — an underclass of dim-witted, short goblins, and a genetic upper class of tall, slim, healthy, attractive, intelligent and creative superhumans that eventually are spoiled by technology that will do everything for them, resembling domesticated animals.
"That's crap," Ward said. "Why would that happen? Are we like blind cavefish? After we get Google, do we get stupider? Intelligence is coded on too many genes to just lose a trait like intelligence. That's not going to happen."
Ward suggests that, if left untouched, humans might converge in appearance as populations mix. "I kind of view us all as eventually having chocolate-covered hair and medium stature, getting rid of all extremes," he speculated. "Of course, the big elephant in the room, the change from the past that you cannot ignore when talking about the future of human evolution, is genetic engineering."
Humanity now has an unparalleled means by which to direct our evolution — genetic engineering. By using viruses and other techniques, we can in theory modify our genomes, and over time, scientists may uncover genes underlying intelligence, health, athletic prowess, longevity and other desirable traits, engineering what might seem like superhuman progeny. Genetic engineering is how Ward speculated new species of humans might emerge.
"I think taboos would arise which would prevent mating between populations — 'I don't want them anymore' or 'We want natural people,'" he said. "Of course this is all pure speculation, but this is the only way I can see new human species emerging — unless we get off the planet."
So much to think about...where do you think evolution will go? What does the future hold for humans?"The past of human evolution is more and more coming to light as scientists uncover a... more
Health-related costs per user are eight times higher for drinkers than they are for those who use cannabis, and are more than 40 times higher for tobacco smokers, according to a report published in the British Columbia Mental Health and Addictions Journal.
According to the report, “In terms of [health-related] costs per user: tobacco-related health costs are over $800 per user, alcohol-related health costs are much lower at $165 per user, and cannabis-related health costs are the lowest at $20 per user.”
The review, authored by researchers from the Centre for Addictions Research of British Columbia at the University of Victoria and the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse at the University of Ottawa, stated: “Alcohol is used by a very large number of people with the vast majority of these using in low- or moderate-risk ways. Conversely, cannabis and tobacco are used by far fewer people. The majority of cannabis use is low- and moderate-risk, however, while the majority of tobacco is high-risk.”
The study reported that social costs applicable to marijuana are primarily “enforcement-related.”
The authors concluded: “The harms, risks and social costs of alcohol, cannabis and tobacco vary greatly. A lot has to do with how the substances are handled legally. Alcohol and tobacco are legal substances, which explains their low enforcement costs relative to cannabis. On the other hand, the health costs per user of tobacco and alcohol are much higher than for cannabis. This may indicate that cannabis use involves fewer health risks than alcohol or tobacco.
“These variations in risk, harms and cost need to be taken into account as we think about further efforts to deal with the use of these three substances. … Efforts to reduce social costs related to cannabis, for example, will likely involve shifting its legal status by decriminalizing casual use, to reduce the high enforcement costs. Such a shift may be warranted given the apparent lower health risk associated with most cannabis use.”
According to a recent Rasmussen national poll of 1,000 likely voters, Americans believe by more than two to one that alcohol is “more dangerous” than marijuana.
Cootchie-coo behavior used to be reserved for private moments in the home. But now, with the Internet’s help, people feel free to wallow in cuteness en masse, in the company of strangers. The serious political blog Daily Kos, for instance, is awash in cute pictures of kittens and panda bears. The Web site Cute Overload, which gets 100,000 visits a day, is all photographs and videos of puppies (“puppehs” in the site’s own particular argot), kittens (“kittehs”), and baby rabbits (“bun-buns”), who are said to go nom-nom-nom as they munch their little meals.
“It’s part of our DNA to react to cute things,” says Meg Frost, who founded Cute Overload in 2005. “What makes me post certain pictures is if I have an audible reaction—a squeal—when I see the picture. I’m kind of annoyed at myself for having no control over thinking these things are so cute. It’s like ‘Oh, why don’t you just kill us with your fur?’”
The popularity of Cute Overload (and the more than 150 other cute-animal sites catalogued by the recommendation engine StumbleUpon, including Stuff on My Cat, Cute Things Falling Asleep, Kittenwar, and I Can Has Cheezburger) reflects a growing self-infantilization that is also in evidence at the social-networking site Facebook, where countless subscribers have posted photos of themselves as babies on their profile.Cootchie-coo behavior used to be reserved for private moments in the home. But now,... more
"Ruppert recounts his career as a radical thinker and spells out the crises he sees ahead. He draws upon the same news reports and data available to any Internet user, but he applies a unique interpretation. He is especially passionate over the issue of “peak oil,” the concern raised by scientists since the 1970s that the world will eventually run out of fossil fuel. While other experts debate this issue in measured tones, Ruppert doesn’t hold back at sounding an alarm.
He portrays a future that resembles apocalyptic science fiction. Listening to his rapid flow of opinions, the viewer is likely to question some of the rhetoric as paranoid or deluded; and to sway back and forth on what to make of the extremism. Smith lets viewers form their own judgments." http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/collapse/
I give credit to "writa" a community member that posted about this doc., but sadly got three views including mine and deserves much more attention than that.
This looks like a very important documentary, it encompasses politics,economy,environmental issues, society and government.
Are Black People Less Intelligent Than Other Races?
Can genetics (race) can be used explicitly to measure capacity for intelligence?
I bet that got your attention, now didn't it?
I wonder how this never ended up being posted here at Current...
This is related to recent show on NBC Oct 27, 2009:
"Race and Intelligence – Science’s Last Taboo"
"In 2007, Nobel Prize winning US scientist James Watson was quoted referring to research suggesting that black people were less intelligent than other races. His comments caused a storm of controversy, Watson was condemned."
"In this documentary, part of the season Race: Science's Last Taboo, Rageh Omaar sets out to find out the truth...."
Or does he?
My four (4) questions to you are:
1) What are your thoughts on how the film is being bashed?
2) What are your thoughts on modern science's use of IQ as a litmus test for intelligence?
3) Do you think only science holds the key to higher understanding?
4) What is the answer to racism in the face of so-called "science"?
And help us out here, many like myself have missed it and are unable to view the film on the net.
And if my questions fall short, please pose some better ones.
===================================================
##KEY ISSUES##
So I hear about this video, and how this presumably liberal fellow is portending to take on this subject in an open but comprehensive manner, while striking most reviewers (I could find) as actually being bias, and only furthering partisanism (not to mention ignorance)...
See these 2 examples (and by all means post some of your own)-->>
-------------------
A REVIEW HERE -- but its the **COMMENTS SECTION** you Need to check out http://channelhopping.onthebox.com/2009/10/25/race-and-intelligence-sciences-last-taboo-review/
"According to the research in question, the East Asian race comes out on top in the IQ stakes, followed by white Europeans and finally black Americans and Africans"
(Note that almost all literature reports that Jews measure highest in IQ scores across the board)
"In 2007, Nobel Prize winning US scientist James Watson was quoted referring to research suggesting that black people were less intelligent than other races. His comments caused a storm of controversy, Watson was condemned."
"Although he apologised for the offence he caused, his public engagements were cancelled and he left his British speaking tour in disgrace.
Meanwhile, right wing websites hailed him as the new Galileo - a martyr to political correctness that was concealing the fact that there is indeed evidence that shows different races score differently in IQ tests. But are the tests biased? Is race really a scientific category at all?
In this documentary, part of the season Race: Science's Last Taboo, Rageh Omaar sets out to find out the truth, meeting scientists who believe the research supports the view that races can be differentiated as well as those who vehemently oppose this view. By daring to ask the difficult questions, Omaar is able to explode the myths about race and IQ and reveal what he thinks are important lessons for society."
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I/we would love to hear your reflections on that video.Are Black People Less Intelligent Than Other Races?
Can genetics (race) can be used... more
A clear, concise and comprehensive case for socialism, written by Albert Einstein in 1949. He discusses our nature as both solitary and social beings, simultaneously conditioned by biological and cultural constitutions, and what this means for the individual's role in society. He then asks "how the structure of society and the cultural attitude of man should be changed in order to make human life as satisfying as possible." The final passages prove particularly poignant in presaging the greatest atrocities committed by Soviet tyranny. The challenge: How is it possible, in view of the far-reaching centralization of political and economic power, to prevent bureaucracy from becoming all-powerful and overweening? How can the rights of the individual be protected and therewith a democratic counterweight to the power of bureaucracy be assured?
Part of the answer may reside in bypassing the power of large bureaucracies through a decentralized system of democratic planning directed by workers' and consumers' councils. Moreover, with today's information communication technology, the capacity for mass collaboration and self-government/self-management has never been more viable and effective. Your thoughts?
An Excerpt:
"The individual has become more conscious than ever of his dependence upon society. But he does not experience this dependence as a positive asset, as an organic tie, as a protective force, but rather as a threat to his natural rights, or even to his economic existence. Moreover, his position in society is such that the egotistical drives of his make-up are constantly being accentuated, while his social drives, which are by nature weaker, progressively deteriorate. All human beings, whatever their position in society, are suffering from this process of deterioration. Unknowingly prisoners of their own egotism, they feel insecure, lonely, and deprived of the naive, simple, and unsophisticated enjoyment of life. Man can find meaning in life, short and perilous as it is, only through devoting himself to society.
The economic anarchy of capitalist society as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of the evil. We see before us a huge community of producers the members of which are unceasingly striving to deprive each other of the fruits of their collective labor—not by force, but on the whole in faithful compliance with legally established rules. In this respect, it is important to realize that the means of production—that is to say, the entire productive capacity that is needed for producing consumer goods as well as additional capital goods—may legally be, and for the most part are, the private property of individuals...
(The) crippling of individuals I consider the worst evil of capitalism. Our whole educational system suffers from this evil. An exaggerated competitive attitude is inculcated into the student, who is trained to worship acquisitive success as a preparation for his future career.
I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals. In such an economy, the means of production are owned by society itself and are utilized in a planned fashion. A planned economy, which adjusts production to the needs of the community, would distribute the work to be done among all those able to work and would guarantee a livelihood to every man, woman, and child. The education of the individual, in addition to promoting his own innate abilities, would attempt to develop in him a sense of responsibility for his fellow men in place of the glorification of power and success in our present society."A clear, concise and comprehensive case for socialism, written by Albert Einstein in... more
My dad sent this out to me. I really appreciated the article, thought you might, too.
Updated, the one I originally posted was modified. I think this is the full version.
Quote: "It has become my personal endeavor to make the nurses and young enlisted medics aware of these amazing individuals when I encounter them in our Emergency Dept. Their response to these particular citizens has made me think that perhaps all is not lost in the next generation."Where is my mind ...Veteran's day coming up...
My dad sent this out to me. I... more
This is a very intelligent speech about the herd mentality, "the sheeple" and how people are being manipulated by a few in this world.
I know it's old but I have never seen this at Current, and his concepts refer to today society.
He talks about the pyramid structure adopted in every big and small company/organization and how this brings only tiny knowledge, if anything none to the ones at the bottom and the few on top control everything. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6334005121196324215#
Excerpt from the link:
"Exposing the real story behind global events, which shape the future of human existence and the world we leave our children. The veil lifts on an astonishing web of interconnected manipulation to reveal that the same few people, secret societies and organizations control the daily direction of our lives, & how the same people on apparently different sides of politics are actually connected to the same elite organizations. These organizations have the same proven agenda of a world government, a world central bank, a world army, a world currency, and some say a micro-chipped population. "OPPO-SAMES" These apparent opposites in politics are there to persuade us that we are not living in a prison, that we have a choice. Yet these persons are not opposites at all but are part of a one-party state."
"The discovery of an early human fossil in southern China may challenge the commonly held idea that modern humans originated out of Africa.
Jin Changzhu and colleagues of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing, announced to Chinese media last week that they have uncovered a 110,000 year old putative Homo sapiens mandible from a cave in southern China's Guangxi province.
The mandible has a protruding chin like that of Homo sapiens, but the thickness of the jaw is indicative of more primitive hominins, suggesting that the fossil could derive from interbreeding.
If confirmed, the finding would lend support to the"multiregional hypothesis". This says that modern humans descend from Homo sapiens coming out of Africa who then interbred with more primitive humans on other continents. In contrast, the prevailing "Out of Africa" hypothesis holds that modern humans are the direct descendents of people who spread out of Africa to other continents around 100,000 years ago.
The study will appear in Chinese Science Bulletin later this month.""The discovery of an early human fossil in southern China may challenge the commonly... more
America's Next Top Model, aired on Wednesday, featured models with painted faces to resemble bi-racial women. Such as, "Russian-Moroccan," "Native American-East Indian," and "Botswanan-Polynesian. Tyra Banks was the photographer and seemed to have good intentions with the photos. However, some people disagree.
Making these girls portray and look like different races, was it in bad taste or celebrating diversity?America's Next Top Model, aired on Wednesday, featured models with painted faces to... more
If you were to judge the success rate of monogamy by the sex lives of public figures, perhaps couples should change their marriage vows to say, "Till a tempting new partner do us part."
Talk-show host David Letterman recently joined former presidential candidate John Edwards, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford and former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer on a long list of politicians and entertainers (think Jude Law) who have admitted having sex outside their marriage or committed relationship.
But do they just illustrate the realities of modern life?
In the age of hookups, friends with benefits and online dating, and as human life expectancy grows, is it still reasonable to expect people to pair up and stay monogamous until death do them part?
"It's realistic that some people can mate for life in the same sense that some people can play the Beethoven violin concerto or other people can ice-skate beautifully or learn a new language," said psychiatrist Judith Eve Lipton.
Added evolutionary biologist David Barash, "It's within the realm of human potential, but it's not easy."
Lipton and Barash, who have been married 32 years and are the co-authors of "Strange Bedfellows" and "The Myth of Monogamy," said serial monogamy may be more realistic -- a model in which people move from one committed long-term relationship to another and choose partners for different reasons at different stages of their life.If you were to judge the success rate of monogamy by the sex lives of public figures,... more
Crime scene investigator is one career which is not cut out of for everyone, but remains one which captures many peoples’ imaginations.Crime scene investigator is one career which is not cut out of for everyone, but... more
This fascinating piece, from This American Life (animated by Chris Ware), tells the story of an elementary school where a couple of kids made a TV camera out of cardboard and tempera paint. Soon, the cardboard camera craze went viral and it seemed like every kid was either a camera operator, an anchor, or some other faux TV production person. Then things went positively post-modern.This fascinating piece, from This American Life (animated by Chris Ware), tells the... more
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Facebook as a clever guise; truly, the genius marketing ploy of the 21st century if not of all time.
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facebook is as it would lead you to believe, "a social networking site," as we have seen this has potential to be really very misleading (http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/02/18/facebook.reversal/index.html). although, as well as allowing you to keep in touch with your friends, however, they collect information deemed valuable and sell it to third party companies which in turn proceed to advertise and solicit products to you, the individual–a target audience of one. whereas we would normally be organized into a few target audiences for corporations to pursue, instead facebook provides a platform for corporations to "pigeonhole" the individual into "niche markets" at the same time to maximize profit while reducing ad placement campaign failures losses and expenditures.
these arguments, including but not limited to the previous, are shallow and vacuous in light of what is really going on, i.e. the willingness in participation of individuals to voluntarily submit private information that can be recorded and stored for later use in favor of the interested parties. whether it be primarily third party small business groups and corporations or ultimately the government (as all of our average time spent and position of mouse clicks are also documented and can be viewed by D.A.R.P.A. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DARPA) holding anything you say or do can be used against you in the court of law (see also: http://current.com/items/91135668_facebook-poke-leads-to-woman-s-arrest.htm) as well as digitally documenting a paper trail tied to your name local access point, address, mail, e-mail, phone number banking account and credit cards etc.
we've most definitely entered an age of accountability, where the individual is responsible for their transactions and/ or interactions as well as whatever else may transpire on the internet. where upon certain occasions it has caused certain individuals to lose their jobs or otherwise prevented them from getting one. pending the abolition of the net neutrality act(source available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_neutrality), the internet is more or less a democratic medium in that it can either be used for or against the private individual whom so ever over indulges themselves in it.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------... more
The opposite of what we usually expect from the financial elite: a conglomeration of wealthy German citizens are organizing to lobby Chancellor Angela Merkel to increase taxes on the wealthy to pay for public services.
Sounds like a good idea to me.The opposite of what we usually expect from the financial elite: a conglomeration of... more
1 in 6 adults and almost 1 in 10 children suffer from a diagnosable mental illness. Yet, for many, the stigma associated with the illness, can be as great a challenge as the disease itself. This is where the misconceptions stop. This is where bias comes to an end. This is where we change lives. Because this is where we Bring Change 2 Mind.
More than 48 million people in this country have some form of mental illness. Yet only around half of those people get treatment.
Why?
For many, the stigma associated with mental illness creates and/or compounds feelings of shame, isolation and fear of exposure.
You see, stigma is caused by either the wrong information (misperception), or no information at all (ignorance). Either one of which can cause a tremendous amount of fear, which is really what stigma is. Stigma = fear.
The good news is - stigma can be conquered. How? By those with a mental illness sharing their stories. And by those without an illness - listening and learning.1 in 6 adults and almost 1 in 10 children suffer from a diagnosable mental illness.... more
