My random thoughts

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

Post by funkervogt »

Posthumans with superior senses of smell will not just be able to smell things in smaller concentrations; they will have improved knowledge of what the smells are of. For example, a posthuman would know what every plant's distinctive smell was, so it could walk through a forest while blindfolded and know which species of trees and plants were nearby, with high accuracy. Only a tiny number of highly trained humans can do this now.
Vakanai
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Re: My random thoughts

Post by Vakanai »

funkervogt wrote: Mon Jun 06, 2022 10:19 pm Posthumans with superior senses of smell will not just be able to smell things in smaller concentrations; they will have improved knowledge of what the smells are of. For example, a posthuman would know what every plant's distinctive smell was, so it could walk through a forest while blindfolded and know which species of trees and plants were nearby, with high accuracy. Only a tiny number of highly trained humans can do this now.
Would blindfolding a posthuman really matter? Posthumans would have senses like a bird's magnetoreception, a bat's echolocation, a ray's electrolocation, and more, whether through genetic engineering/organ engineering or purely mechanical/technological means. Never mind the eyes in their head would only be one of the sets of "eyes" they would use to see the world, since they'd have their own swarm of small drones they could look through to navigate as well. They would also innately have their GPS coordinates beamed to them, as well as download various maps of the area they find themselves in. Add these senses to the enhanced smelling you bring up and a posthuman should be able to navigate the forest blindfolded better than you or I could do with our vision unrestrained. The senses of a posthuman are an experience we can't truly imagine without experiencing them for ourselves.
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funkervogt
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Re: My random thoughts

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Vakanai wrote: Tue Jun 07, 2022 12:57 pm
funkervogt wrote: Mon Jun 06, 2022 10:19 pm Posthumans with superior senses of smell will not just be able to smell things in smaller concentrations; they will have improved knowledge of what the smells are of. For example, a posthuman would know what every plant's distinctive smell was, so it could walk through a forest while blindfolded and know which species of trees and plants were nearby, with high accuracy. Only a tiny number of highly trained humans can do this now.
Would blindfolding a posthuman really matter? Posthumans would have senses like a bird's magnetoreception, a bat's echolocation, a ray's electrolocation, and more, whether through genetic engineering/organ engineering or purely mechanical/technological means. Never mind the eyes in their head would only be one of the sets of "eyes" they would use to see the world, since they'd have their own swarm of small drones they could look through to navigate as well. They would also innately have their GPS coordinates beamed to them, as well as download various maps of the area they find themselves in. Add these senses to the enhanced smelling you bring up and a posthuman should be able to navigate the forest blindfolded better than you or I could do with our vision unrestrained. The senses of a posthuman are an experience we can't truly imagine without experiencing them for ourselves.
When I described the thought exercise, I wasn't implying that posthumans could use their sense of smell for navigation. I meant they could use it to identify nearby objects with high accuracy.
Vakanai
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Re: My random thoughts

Post by Vakanai »

funkervogt wrote: Tue Jun 07, 2022 2:39 pm
Vakanai wrote: Tue Jun 07, 2022 12:57 pm
funkervogt wrote: Mon Jun 06, 2022 10:19 pm Posthumans with superior senses of smell will not just be able to smell things in smaller concentrations; they will have improved knowledge of what the smells are of. For example, a posthuman would know what every plant's distinctive smell was, so it could walk through a forest while blindfolded and know which species of trees and plants were nearby, with high accuracy. Only a tiny number of highly trained humans can do this now.
Would blindfolding a posthuman really matter? Posthumans would have senses like a bird's magnetoreception, a bat's echolocation, a ray's electrolocation, and more, whether through genetic engineering/organ engineering or purely mechanical/technological means. Never mind the eyes in their head would only be one of the sets of "eyes" they would use to see the world, since they'd have their own swarm of small drones they could look through to navigate as well. They would also innately have their GPS coordinates beamed to them, as well as download various maps of the area they find themselves in. Add these senses to the enhanced smelling you bring up and a posthuman should be able to navigate the forest blindfolded better than you or I could do with our vision unrestrained. The senses of a posthuman are an experience we can't truly imagine without experiencing them for ourselves.
When I described the thought exercise, I wasn't implying that posthumans could use their sense of smell for navigation. I meant they could use it to identify nearby objects with high accuracy.
I know, I was mostly just kind of running with a thought I had when reading the bit about blindfolding a posthuman in a forest.
Although I remember reading recently about a nose prosthesis (not a prosthetic nose, but a prosthesis put in the nostrils) that would allow for directional smelling, telling which direction a scent came from, so using it for navigation is something a posthuman could probably do...

Edit: Found a link: https://spectrum.ieee.org/digital-nose- ... -in-stereo
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funkervogt
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Re: My random thoughts

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A few decades after machines take over Earth, all parts of it will equalize in terms of infrastructure, productivity and quality. Regional and nation-specific differences will disappear. For example, Africa will no longer be a poor continent, Italy will not be known for better food than anywhere else, and Germany won't be better at engineering than average (national borders might disappear, in fact).
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funkervogt
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Re: My random thoughts

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I'm having a small, outdoor staircase replaced at a house I bought. It seemed like a simple job, but once the handyman arrived and started work, he pointed out things I hadn't thought of when I did my initial planning for the project, and so I had to rush to Home Depot to buy more wood, screws and washers.

This makes me realize how much more efficiently projects like this will be under AGIs. An AGI could have looked at my backyard steps and the area around it, made a 1:1 3D model of it, and visualized exactly what materials would be needed to make a replacement set of steps, and in accordance with all building codes (part of my problem is I didn't know the codes). Not only that, the AGI would know the step-by-step construction and carpentry process for completing all the work.

A hyper-informed consumer like this AGI would be able to perfectly evaluate bids submitted by different handymen to do the work. Contractors who were overcharging would be made clear, as were those who were undercharging (which can also lead to problems, believe it or not). The competitive range would get narrower, and it would be much harder to trick consumers.

This efficiency improvement would of course extend beyond minor home renovation projects to every type of market transaction. Capitalism will only get more cutthroat.
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funkervogt
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Re: My random thoughts

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I remember when the peak of automatic writing assistance technology was "Clippy," and its advice was usually counterproductive, and it was the butt of many jokes. Today, the assistance program embedded in Gmail and Google Docs renders useful advice almost 100% of the time, and is instantaneous. Interesting how the sea change crept up on us.
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funkervogt
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Re: My random thoughts

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As another summer begins, cases have resumed of people dying in desert environments like Death Valley because their cars ran out of gas, they were forced to try hiking to safety, and they were overcome by the heat. Electric cars with solar panels integrated into their roofs would probably end this problem.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... n-gas.html
Nanotechandmorefuture
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Re: My random thoughts

Post by Nanotechandmorefuture »

funkervogt wrote: Fri Jun 17, 2022 6:41 pm As another summer begins, cases have resumed of people dying in desert environments like Death Valley because their cars ran out of gas, they were forced to try hiking to safety, and they were overcome by the heat. Electric cars with solar panels integrated into their roofs would probably end this problem.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... n-gas.html
Even with most of the tech possible to stay safe some will deliberately avoid helping themselves out. If the climate change focus for this era is any indication if the USA gets more barren the deaths may spike up in remote locations. I wonder what it was like before the internet trying to cruise the dangerous parts of America like Death Valley. Surely the death rate must have been worse.
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funkervogt
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Re: My random thoughts

Post by funkervogt »

Androids will be better than humans at ballet, plays, and all types of live dance shows since they'll be able to learn all the steps, notes and spoken lines instantly. Humans have to spend weeks rehearsing to get it right.
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