My random thoughts

Anything that doesn't quite fit in elsewhere...
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funkervogt
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Re: My random thoughts

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The movie Small Soldiers was on last night, so I watched it. The plot involves robotic toy soldiers that are gifted with intelligence thanks to having advanced microchips. There are technical inaccuracies in the film, but I think the concept will become a reality around the middle of this century. Robotic toys like the ones in the film could be built at low cost, though they would have almost no onboard data processing abilities. Instead, the toys would be like today's drones, and would be remote controlled by AIs hosted on powerful servers elsewhere. A 5G connection would be needed to transfer sensory data from the toys to the server, and intelligent commands back to the toys.

Batteries will be more energy-dense by then, meaning robot toys could engage in several hours of activity per day. They will probably use wireless recharging.
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funkervogt
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Re: My random thoughts

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After so many millennial of destroying species, it would be wonderful if humankind redeemed itself by creating new ones. The resurrection of extinct species for which we have DNA samples is a first step. A second step would be the synthesis of entirely novel species.

This essay is a useful primer for grasping what is possible:
A “periodic table” of existing life forms graphed on a matrix of physical characters would reveal blank white spaces lacking organisms that “could be.” Such “could be” life forms that obey the constraints of matter – because we see the same form in other taxon — include a mammalian snake, a dinosaur mole, a flying spider, or a terrestrial squid. In fact, some of these could still evolve on earth, if we left the current flora and fauna alone long enough. (See Dougal Dixon’s magical “Zoology of the Future” in “After Man”) These speculative creatures are entirely plausible because they are convergent, recycling (but remixing) morphological forms that repeat throughout the biosphere.
https://kk.org/thetechnium/ordained-becomi/
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funkervogt
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Re: My random thoughts

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Maybe recumbent bikes will become popular in the posthuman era since everyone will be much safer drivers due to better reflexes and senses, and because posthumans will be more resistant to injury.

Recumbent bikes are more energy-efficient than upright bikes.
https://www.quora.com/How-much-more-eff ... ional-ones
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funkervogt
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Re: My random thoughts

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When I watch action movies and see the heroes doing combat stunts and acrobatics that only Olympians can do under certain conditions, I remember that someday, those things will be easy for posthumans and intelligent machines.

And then I think about how fat and clumsy most American adults are, and I realize how hard we're going to lose a Machine War if it comes to that.
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funkervogt
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Re: My random thoughts

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I watched Nomadland, which is an award-winning film about an aging, widowed woman who lives in a camper van and drives around the western U.S. doing different seasonal jobs. It's a sad, and at times moving film that depicts the reality of life (lower standard of living, job insecurity, problems in social life) for a growing number of Americans. Putting on my Futurist Cap, I have the following observations about the movie:

-There's a scene where the main character's life is upended because her van needs an expensive repair. Electric vehicles will make the "nomad" lifestyle easier since they need less maintenance and repair than gas-powered vehicles, and can get "fuel" from solar panels on their roofs.
-Future technologies will also make the gig economy work better since algorithms will be better at matching people with jobs they are qualified for. Being mobile would be beneficial since you could cast a wider net when searching for available jobs.
-Even when these improvements, the nomadic, low-wage gig lifestyle is probably unsustainable since machines will ultimately take over those types of jobs (and eventually all others?). Tellingly, the main character spends some time working in an Amazon warehouse, and I'm sure Jeff Bezos is spending billions of dollars to figure out how to automate them. The symbiosis between low-wage temp workers and trillion dollar companies like Amazon will end someday. Putting everyone on welfare will someday be the only humane option.
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funkervogt
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Re: My random thoughts

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A great thing about being a posthuman with a perfect memory is you'll be able to quote lines from Shakespeare, classic poems, and the King James Bible at opportune moments.
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funkervogt
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Re: My random thoughts

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If a business is fully staffed by machines, would there be any justification forcing it to reduce its hours or close for the day to honor religious holidays or to let employees "spend time with their families"?
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Lurking
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Re: My random thoughts

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Dumb thought: Vampires would become irrelevant with the rise of posthumans.
Internet used to be an escape from the real world.
Now the real world is an escape from internet.
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funkervogt
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Re: My random thoughts

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Lurking wrote: Sun Dec 26, 2021 1:25 am Dumb thought: Vampires would become irrelevant with the rise of posthumans.
Why do you say that?
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funkervogt
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Re: My random thoughts

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If the Singularity happens, you won't need to spend hundreds of years living in other countries to understand what life and culture are like in all of them. If a mere 1% of humanity merged minds with a central computer, you could also merge with it and effectively understand the entire human experience. (Note: It doesn't need to be 100% because there's a lot of redundancy)
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