Labyrinth of Dark Passages

Man has gone out to explore other worlds and other civilizations without having explored his own labyrinth of dark passages and secret chambers, and without finding what lies behind doorways that he himself has sealed. - Stanisław Lem, Solaris (1961)

Stanisław Lem on AI and Consciousness

We may not solve the riddle of consciousness in the coming millennium, but we may be able to imitate intelligence so perfectly that, surrounded by legions and swarms of imitations, we will come more and more closely under their protective tutelage. 

Nowadays we are offered veritable orchards of electronic apples of paradise, which will inevitably have both good and bad sides, because such is the ambivalent nature of things. 

Our greatest achievements, secondary or not secondary to biology, have served us to destroy the biosphere and to engage in vile war games, and finally, a great deal of what we have already managed to create on the way to the yet-to-be-achieved artificial intelligence often serves to foolishness, amusement, and eccentricities that are incomprehensible to me. 

I have read many works and books that absolutize the possibility of creating a non-human intelligence, as well as a no smaller collection of well-motivated justifications that are supposed to prove to the reader that this concept cannot and will never be realized. It is indeed difficult to rise above the crowd of such contradictory and expertly justified opinions. 

Without a multitude of dreams, attempts, disasters, there would be no aviation. Without constant assaults, artificial intelligence cannot appear. 

I am convinced that both the quantity and quality of these programs, directed especially at successive generations of computers working in parallel and at contaminating clusters of pseudo-neural networks, will achieve an expanding range of efficiency and thus will increasingly imitate the presence of an intelligent consciousness, and will even be taken by many people for a person or a personality embodied in a machine. In a sense, this will be a fraud practiced on people as interlocutors or collaborators of the machine, because imitators of this kind will not yet possess authentic, personally localized, conscious intelligence, called psychic life. 

The title of Carrel's old book "Man, the Unknown Creature" is still relevant. Not only do we not know ourselves, but we also do not know how we will behave in unforeseen situations. I do not know whether the insights that will eventually make it possible to create artificial intelligence will be good for our health. Let's hope so. 

From "The Blink of an Eye" by Stanisław Lem, (2000) 

AI image designed by Freepik. Website www.freepik.com

Modern Culture and It's Discontents

 Jean-Michel Basquiat - Self Portrait as a Heel, Part Two 1982

By Robert Beaudine

Most of my conservative friends are fighting political battles heroically, but they continue to ignore the cultural wars – which began over two hundred years ago, first over religion, then over education, then over the media, and much later over modern art.

Progressives knew if they won the cultural battles, they would eventually win the political front by default. During the 19th Century, conservatives were engaged in these cultural battles, but they kept losing ground. When they ultimately retreated from the battle over education, all was lost. Their progeny became less and less educated and lost interest in the cultural wars. 

Many decades later, during the 1950's and 1960's, a confused and apathetic generation of conservatives accepted our culture as a natural development and immersed themselves in the newest art forms including modern music, movies, and television – without a clue that these were progressive productions that influenced their thinking. Later, their progeny retreated from the political front and merely cast votes. 

Finally in 2008, a nation of slumbering conservatives awoke to the danger of our political situation and realized they better engage and fight back or else. But they lacked any understanding of history, which is vital to understand the modern day. Because of their government schooling, they didn't understand culture and never conceived that it was captured by progressives long ago. 

This is why political victories will not restore our Republic. We certainly need a paradigm shift in politics, but more importantly, we need a spiritual awakening. We must restore our cultural heritage based on Christianity – not today's watered down version, but its original Apostolic form.

***

By Dominique Allmon

Mr. Baudine has touched here such a vast and complex subject. Without education and knowledge there is no understanding of history and the processes that govern a civil society, its literature and art. 

"Progress" seems to be a natural quality to humanity, or we would still dwell in caves if this was not so. New technology opens new, undreamed of, possibilities and always makes an impression on the human mind. It creates, directly or indirectly, the need for new ways of aesthetic expression. Conventions are broken and new styles appear to meet the persistent need for self-expression, self-knowledge and discovery.

With each generation, societies became more "permissive" and "daring." For an artist to break with the past became a way of life somewhere around 1870s when the old masters and their schools were finally relegated to the dark rooms of art history and made space for the new, daring, light-caring, scandalizing, "image-distorting" Impressionists. 

When Impressionism appeared on the cultural scene the society was also in a state of turmoil. And yet, for the most part, despite their divorce from the tyranny of artistic conventions of the past, Impressionists created masterpieces of such beauty that we cannot even imagine that some of the artists died in poverty. 

Things changed drastically, for the worse, in the beginning of the 20th century, especially after the incredibly bloody revolution in Russia. I remember a whole semester of the early 20th century European art and literature with the Soviets and the French leading the trends. Poets employed onomatopoeia to bring the sound of machinery; painters broke with the past completely and either deconstructed the human image or glorified the machine. Destroy the old, create the new! Movements such as Dadaism sprung in Europe like mushrooms after the rain. 

Soviet revolution not only uprooted wealthy tyrants, it destroyed their Christian values and their "decadent" love for beauty. A so called "Soviet Person" was created and this, of course, found reflection in artistic expression and literature. By force if necessary. Soviet censors made sure that art, literature, and film propagated their idea of the world. 

Elsewhere, intellectuals insisted that their was the desired way of life and broke off with ancient conventions. In 1950s France, for instance, the cool "cafe society" glorified the Soviet tyranny. Intellectuals such as Jean-Paul Sartre were infatuated with Marxism and communism while at the same time countless people suffered unimaginable horrors in Russian gulags and Chinese re-education camps.

When we look back, the technology of the early 20th opened the doors to mass media. The whole process actually started much earlier, in France and Prussia even before the Industrial Revolution, but was perfected later to the point that the Y generation of today resembles spineless, ignorant zombies. 

We are at a turning point, but the future looks rather bleak. Art, music, cinema, and literature became incredibly permissive and allow for violence and ugliness of unheard proportions. If you do not understand or do not appreciate depravity you are not sophisticated enough. But is a butter stain on the wall or a crucifix immersed in the artist's urine really an art? It definitely is an artistic expression of the "rebellious" artist, but has little aesthetic value to a disturbed human soul constantly seeking solace in the urban jungle. Social alienation, depravity, mental illness, substance abuse and addiction are often the unexpected consequences of modern society. We are definitely free to do as we please, but often also completely alone in our struggle for sanity in the ever more complex world. Art, literature, and the media are not helping, unless we consider self-destruction to be the ultimate goal.  

So much more can be said and written on this subject, but I will end here and leave you, dear reader, to your own reflection. Change is inevitable, but how much of it we allow depends on our "capital" of knowledge. Unfortunately, when the educational system is distorted and schools are dominated by Fabian social engineers, our future is more than uncertain.

By Dominique Allmon
 

Dominique Allmon©2016

Resource-Based Economy

The term and meaning of a Resource-Based Economy was originated by Jacque Fresco. It is a system in which all goods and services are available without the use of money, credits, barter or any other system of debt or servitude. All resources become the common heritage of all of the inhabitants, not just a select few. The premise upon which this system is based is that the Earth is abundant with plentiful resource; our practice of rationing resources through monetary methods is irrelevant and counter productive to our survival. 

Modern society has access to highly advanced technology and can make available food, clothing, housing and medical care; update our educational system; and develop a limitless supply of renewable, non-contaminating energy. By supplying an efficiently designed economy, everyone can enjoy a very high standard of living with all of the amenities of a high technological society.

A resource-based economy would utilize existing resources from the land and sea, physical equipment, industrial plants, etc. to enhance the lives of the total population. In an economy based on resources rather than money, we could easily produce all of the necessities of life and provide a high standard of living for all. 

Consider the following examples: At the beginning of World War II the US had a mere 600 or so first-class fighting aircraft. We rapidly overcame this short supply by turning out more than 90,000 planes a year. The question at the start of World War II was: Do we have enough funds to produce the required implements of war? The answer was No, we did not have enough money, nor did we have enough gold; but we did have more than enough resources. It was the available resources that enabled the US to achieve the high production and efficiency required to win the war. Unfortunately this is only considered in times of war.

In a resource-based economy all of the world's resources are held as the common heritage of all of Earth's people, thus eventually outgrowing the need for the artificial boundaries that separate people. This is the unifying imperative.

We must emphasize that this approach to global governance has nothing whatever in common with the present aims of an elite to form a world government with themselves and large corporations at the helm, and the vast majority of the world's population subservient to them. Our vision of globalization empowers each and every person on the planet to be the best they can be, not to live in abject subjugation to a corporate governing body.

Our proposals would not only add to the well being of people, but they would also provide the necessary information that would enable them to participate in any area of their competence. The measure of success would be based on the fulfillment of one's individual pursuits rather than the acquisition of wealth, property and power.

At present, we have enough material resources to provide a very high standard of living for all of Earth's inhabitants. Only when population exceeds the carrying capacity of the land do many problems such as greed, crime and violence emerge. By overcoming scarcity, most of the crimes and even the prisons of today's society would no longer be necessary.

A resource-based economy would make it possible to use technology to overcome scarce resources by applying renewable sources of energy, computerizing and automating manufacturing and inventory, designing safe energy-efficient cities and advanced transportation systems, providing universal health care and more relevant education, and most of all by generating a new incentive system based on human and environmental concern.

Many people believe that there is too much technology in the world today, and that technology is the major cause of our environmental pollution. This is not the case. It is the abuse and misuse of technology that should be our major concern. In a more humane civilization, instead of machines displacing people they would shorten the workday, increase the availability of goods and services, and lengthen vacation time. If we utilize new technology to raise the standard of living for all people, then the infusion of machine technology would no longer be a threat.

A resource-based world economy would also involve all-out efforts to develop new, clean, and renewable sources of energy: geothermal; controlled fusion; solar; photovoltaic; wind, wave, and tidal power; and even fuel from the oceans. We would eventually be able to have energy in unlimited quantity that could propel civilization for thousands of years. A resource-based economy must also be committed to the redesign of our cities, transportation systems, and industrial plants, allowing them to be energy efficient, clean, and conveniently serve the needs of all people.

What else would a resource-based economy mean? Technology intelligently and efficiently applied, conserves energy, reduces waste, and provides more leisure time. With automated inventory on a global scale, we can maintain a balance between production and distribution. Only nutritious and healthy food would be available and planned obsolescence would be unnecessary and non-existent in a resource-based economy.

As we outgrow the need for professions based on the monetary system, for instance lawyers, bankers, insurance agents, marketing and advertising personnel, salespersons, and stockbrokers, a considerable amount of waste will be eliminated. Considerable amounts of energy would also be saved by eliminating the duplication of competitive products such as tools, eating utensils, pots, pans and vacuum cleaners. Choice is good. But instead of hundreds of different manufacturing plants and all the paperwork and personnel required to turn out similar products, only a few of the highest quality would be needed to serve the entire population. Our only shortage is the lack of creative thought and intelligence in ourselves and our elected leaders to solve these problems. The most valuable, untapped resource today is human ingenuity.

With the elimination of debt, the fear of losing one's job will no longer be a threat This assurance, combined with education on how to relate to one another in a much more meaningful way, could considerably reduce both mental and physical stress and leave us free to explore and develop our abilities.

If the thought of eliminating money still troubles you, consider this: If a group of people with gold, diamonds and money were stranded on an island that had no resources such as food, clean air and water, their wealth would be irrelevant to their survival. It is only when resources are scarce that money can be used to control their distribution. One could not, for example, sell the air we breathe or water abundantly flowing down from a mountain stream. Although air and water are valuable, in abundance they cannot be sold.

Money is only important in a society when certain resources for survival must be rationed and the people accept money as an exchange medium for the scarce resources. Money is a social convention, an agreement if you will. It is neither a natural resource nor does it represent one. It is not necessary for survival unless we have been conditioned to accept it as such.

Article source here
Image source here 

 

Quote of the Day

What if we stopped there?
George White's Ornithopter, 1928

Every few hundred years in Western history there occurs a sharp transformation. Within a few short decades, society - its world view, its basic values, its social and political structures, its arts, its key institutions - rearranges itself. And the people born then cannot even imagine a world in which their grandparents lived and into which their own parents were born. We are currently living through such a transformation. - Peter Drucker

The Dreams of Yesterday

The dreams of yesterday are the realizations of today. We live in an age of mechanical, electrical, chemical, and psychical wonder. On every hand the human mind is reaching out to solve the problems of nature. In those solutions are hidden the mysteries and revelations of all things. While the dreamer may dream, it is the practical man of affairs, with a touch of the imaginative in his nature, who materializes and commercializes new forces and new conceptions. Step by step these men lead in the vanguard of progress. What is their conception of the needs of the world? Toward what is their imagination reaching? What in their viewpoint, is the world waiting for? What are the immediate needs of the world in practical, scientific conception and invention?

Quoted from a New York Times article from November 22, 1908!

A Willingness to Try

Betterment is possible. It does not take a genius. It takes diligence. It takes moral clarity. It takes ingenuity. And above all, it takes a willingness to try. - Atul Gawande

When I first saw that image, I had to laugh. What a clever business idea! It reminded me of the ingenuity of countless immigrants who came to America penniless but determined to make it. Many would try their luck in business. Some would peddle snake oil, others would try to sell you the Brooklyn bridge. There were many crooks and the mafia, but also many decent people who would come up with business ideas so unique that the whole world would sigh in admiration and then quickly set out to copy the example. Fortunes would be made and lost like nowhere else. This was the America in the making, always striving for the superlative.

The unique desire to succeed shaped the face of America from the very beginning of its existence. Capitalism in its most aggressive form was responsible for unsurpassed economic growth. But America did not exist in vacuum. Just like any other country it was touched by the globally occurring events. World War I, the Great Depression and World War II brought hardship and poverty to many, but at the same time, mobilized others to utmost creativity and diligence. In only few decades American economy recovered. American  Dream was the new motivating force. Prosperity was attainable once again.

People worked hard to achieve high living standard that was propagated by the cheerful Hollywood productions of the era. As always, some people made it, others were left behind. But one could always start all over. Americans were well known for their resilience. They were industrious and willing to take risks. And no one was blamed if things did not turn out well. There was no vicious envy for those who succeeded. Instead, people admired those who made it and wanted to emulate their success. This is how things always were in America. Until the Vietnam war, that is. 

The Vietnam war incited violent social and racial unrest. The suburban ideal crumbled when youth rebelled against everything that was sacred to their parents and grandparents. Things were never to be the same again. The conservative values of the previous generations were replaced by so called progressive thinking and a desire to create a new society which was to be modeled after the collectivist totalitarian societies of China and the Soviet Union. The acid-laced (LSD) vision of the American "revolutionaries" comfortably omitted the atrocities perpetrated by the communist regimes. They ignored the plight of the people living the communist hell on Earth behind the Iron Curtain.

America needed change but thankfully, the "red" rebellion did not succeed and things returned to normal. More or less. The disenchanted students went back to school and graduated. Some of them went to teach in schools and universities, others went into politics. Some, however, decided to embrace capitalism and became successful entrepreneurs. 

The late 70s brought the energy crisis, stagflation and the escalation of the Cold War. In 1981 Ronald Reagan became the president of the United States and once again America gradually recovered from the economic crisis. People prospered as the country experienced new wave of upward mobility. Everyone had the same chance to succeed, although Black and women still experience some discrimination.

Now, four decades later, the Vietnam era protest movement experienced its revival as the wave of protests spread across America. Once again, students took to the streets with demands for change. Ironically, many of them were indoctrinated by their own teachers - the very people whose rebellion died without success in the sixties - the Flower Power and the pot smoking hippies. This were the many "colorful" grown ups you could see among the Occupy Wall Street protesters.

The protesting crowds were by no means homogeneous. Most of the protesters were young. Many of them were college graduates who could not find jobs with their degrees. But there were of course others. There were the union thugs, the agitators, the neglected veterans, the homeless, the long-term unemployed, but also others who claimed that they quit their jobs in order to participate in the protests. 

And just like in the sixties, the demands for change were made, most importantly, the demand to abolish capitalism and create a just society were the wealth would be redistributed and marijuana legalized. Once again America witnessed the revival of the Maoist and Stalinist thought. And this only twenty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union!

Their demand for equality is irrational and perilous! We all need an equal opportunities, but some of us are more talented than others. Some of us are more diligent or more determined. Some of us decide to work hard while others prefer to waste their lives away. And yet, demands are being made to share the wealth equally. These demands are reinforced by President Obama who believes that the rich are not paying their fair share.

The Wall Street protesters are backed, among others, by President Obama, by the Unions, by the American Communist Party, by the American Nazi Party, by the Vatican, and by Soros and his movement. There is no valid statistics, it appears that most of the demonstrating students have degrees in humanities. Very few of them understand how the economy works. They do not understand capitalism. And something is wrong with their math. They claim that they represent the 99%. They don't! 

Many of the the demonstrators do not really want to take responsibility for their own lives. Instead, they demand that things be given to them. Meritocracy is gradually being replaced by mediocrity, complacency and laziness. They abhor capitalism, but are comfortable with its products. Could they imagine a world without iPhones, Lewis jeans and Starbucks lattes? Probably not. And if you asked them whether they would agree to "redistribute" their good grades so that those who did not work hard could also graduate, you would hear an uproar. Grades are different! Grades cannot be compared to money and wealth! Why not?

There is no doubt that things must change in America. Cronyism and corruption must be eradicated. Entitlement programs must be reformed. Some oversight of financial institutions must be introduced, but the ridiculous business-stifling regulations must go. Conditions must be created for businesses to invest in America again. School system has to be reformed, infrastructure modernized. Tax code has to be simplified. It is scandalous that those who make money with money pay so much less taxes than those who create jobs and work hard to keep their family businesses afloat. And when a corporation pays less taxes than a teacher, something is fundamentally wrong.

Economy is in a downturn again and many people have very few reasons to feel optimistic. And yet, there still is much talent and much ingenuity in America. Some people give up too quickly, but others are always willing to try. 

By Dominique Teng

 
Post scriptum

Do not get me wrong! I do not suggest in this article that you have to senselessly toil for the rest of your life to amass a fortune that you wouldn't be able to spend in five lifetimes. This article is not that much about making money, as it is about dignity, self-realization, creativity, and ingenuity. 

Great fortunes were made by greedy sociopaths and much too many people suffered and died in poverty never being able to realize their own humanity. But our beliefs and values evolved over time and today we understand that some people are simply unable to fend for themselves. This is why social programs were created in many capitalist countries. Unfortunately, these systems are prone to fraud and abuse. Some are nothing but cleverly designed Ponzi schemes. They create dependence and lethargy. And they definitely buy votes. 

Just think. It is not about "justice". It is about motivation, self-reliance, self-determination and self-worth. It is about the individual mindset because people who resign themselves to handouts not only give up their independence, they also  forfeit a chance of genuine fulfillment. 

Image source unknown but greatly appreciated

A Willingness to Try by Dominique Teng is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

The Myth of Innovation

"For centuries before Google, MIT, and IDEO, modern hotbeds of innovation, we struggled to explain any kind of creation, from the universe itself to the multitudes of ideas around us. While we can make atomic bombs, and dry-clean silk ties, we still don’t have satisfying answers for simple questions like: Where do songs come from? Are there an infinite variety of possible kinds of cheese? How did Shakespeare and Stephen King invent so much, while we’re satisfied watching sitcom reruns? Our popular answers have been unconvincing, enabling misleading, fantasy-laden myths to grow strong." - Scott Berkun

How do we know if a hot new technology will succeed or fail? Most of us, even experts, get it wrong all the time. We depend more than we realize on wishful thinking and romanticized ideas of history.

In his fascinating book The Myth of Innovation the bestselling author Scott Berkun pulls the best lessons from the history of innovation, including the recent software and web age, to reveal powerful and surprising truths about how ideas become successful innovations - truths people can easily apply to the challenges of today.

Through his entertaining and insightful explanations of the inherent patterns in how Einstein’s discovered E=mc2 or Tim Berner Lee’s developed the idea of the world wide web, you will see how to develop existing knowledge into new innovations.

Each entertaining chapter centers on breaking apart a powerful myth, popular in the business world despite it's lack of substance. Through Berkun's extensive research into the truth about innovations in technology, business and science, you’ll learn lessons from the expensive failures and dramatic successes of innovations past, and understand how innovators achieved what they did - and what you need to do to be an innovator yourself.

You will discover:

• Why problems are more important than solutions
• How the good innovation is the enemy of the great
• Why children are more creative than your co-workers
• Why epiphanies and breakthroughs always take time
• How all stories of innovations are distorted by the history effect
• How to overcome people’s resistance to new ideas
• Why the best idea doesn’t often win

About the author:

Scott Berkun is the best selling author of Making Things Happen, The Myths of Innovation and Confessions of a Public Speaker. His work has appeared in the The Washington Post, The New York Times, Wired Magazine, Fast Company, The Economist, Forbes Magazine, and other media. He has taught creative thinking at the University of Washington and has been a regular commentator on CNBC, MSNBC and National Public Radio. His many popular essays and entertaining lectures can be found for free on his blog at www.scottberkun.com.

Happy Birthday Nikola Tesla

 Nikola Tesla (July 10, 1856 – January 7, 1943) reading while a Tesla coil discharged millions of volts, 1899

Nicola Tesla was an American scientist and inventor of Serbian origin. He was probably one of the most enigmatic personalities and without doubt, one of the greatest minds of the 20th century. He not only discovered the rotating magnetic field, but was a pioneer in the field of robotics, computers, and the missile technology. 

Tesla was a dreamer and a visionary with a poetic touch and almost unbound creativity and talent. Admired by some and despised by others, Tesla allowed himself only a few close friends. Among them were the writers Robert Underwood Johnson, Mark Twain, and Francis Marion Crawford. He was quite impractical in financial matters and an eccentric, driven by compulsions and a progressive germ phobia. But in spite of that, he had a way of intuitively sensing hidden scientific secrets and employing his inventive talent to prove his hypotheses. 

Tesla was a perfect subject for reporters who sought sensational copy, but a problem to editors who were uncertain how seriously his futuristic prophecies should be regarded. Caustic criticism greeted his speculations concerning communication with other planets, his assertions that he could split the Earth like an apple, and his claim of having invented a death ray capable of destroying 10,000 airplanes at a distance of 250 miles (400 kilometers). 

After Tesla's death, a custodian of alien property impounded his coffers, which contained Tesla's scientific papers, his diplomas and other honors, his personal correspondence, and the laboratory notes. 

Three Nobel Prize recipients attributed their scientific success to "one of the most outstanding intellects of the world who paved the way for many of the technological developments of modern times." 

Craddle to Craddle Ecological Home

Cradle 2 Cradle Home by Coates Design Architects

Roanoke, Virginia

The C2C Home takes "green" literally.

When Matthew Coates and Tim Meldrum won the 2005 C2C Home competition (judged by William McDonough, Daniel Libeskind, among others), they hoped to see their renderings develop into an actual residence. But three years later, the team is waiting for technology, and funding, to catch up to their vision of a home that is off-the-grid, thanks to the help of Popeye’s power: spinach. 

The C2C design reinterprets an age-old concept: the hearth. Made from concrete and steel, the 1,600-square-foot L-shaped home is topped with a tapered whirling chimney-like core that extends high above the roof plane. This core serves as a louvered skylight and temperature-stabilizing heat sink for the one-story home, and could one day support its revolutionary cladding: a conductive material that produces photosynthetic energy generated from spinach protein. 

Based on emerging technology and scientific research, spinach protein cells sandwiched between glass may have the potential to generate energy. This living facade would not only be photosynthetic, but phototropic too. It would grow to follow the path of the sun, generating electricity.  

c2c house interior

The facade is not the only green element of this home. Glass and metal panels insulated with soy foam comprise the exterior walls. A green roof absorbs and filters storm water through vegetation and soil while two large openings in the roof funnel rain to the building core. There, the rain is stored to serve for plumbing, flushing toilets, and other household needs. A bio-filtration system naturally breaks down and separates solid human waste from black water and then filters the black water under and alongside the house through a series of subsurface gravels and soils, from coarse to fine. Thus, the house does not require connection to a sewer or septic tank.  

Image and article source here & here

Architect Information:

Coates Design Architects
921 Hildebrand Lane
Suite 210
Bainbridge Island WA 98110 

A Robot in Every Home

Band of Brothers by Chris Wren

oil on canvas

Although the article below appeared in Scientific American January 2007 issue, it did not lose its actuality. 

By Bill Gates

Imagine being present at the birth of a new industry. It is an industry based on groundbreaking new technologies, wherein a handful of well-established corporations sell highly specialized devices for business use and a fast-growing number of start-up companies produce innovative toys, gadgets for hobbyists and other interesting niche products. But it is also a highly fragmented industry with few common standards or platforms. Projects are complex, progress is slow, and practical applications are relatively rare. In fact, for all the excitement and promise, no one can say with any certainty when - or even if - this industry will achieve critical mass. If it does, though, it may well change the world. 

Of course, the paragraph above could be a description of the computer industry during the mid-1970s, around the time that Paul Allen and I launched Microsoft. Back then, big, expensive mainframe computers ran the back-office operations for major companies, governmental departments and other institutions. Researchers at leading universities and industrial laboratories were creating the basic building blocks that would make the information age possible. Intel had just introduced the 8080 microprocessor, and Atari was selling the popular electronic game Pong. At homegrown computer clubs, enthusiasts struggled to figure out exactly what this new technology was good for. 

But what I really have in mind is something much more contemporary: the emergence of the robotics industry, which is developing in much the same way that the computer business did 30 years ago. Think of the manufacturing robots currently used on automobile assembly lines as the equivalent of yesterday’s mainframes. The industry’s niche products include robotic arms that perform surgery, surveillance robots deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan that dispose of roadside bombs, and domestic robots that vacuum the floor. Electronics companies have made robotic toys that can imitate people or dogs or dinosaurs, and hobbyists are anxious to get their hands on the latest version of the Lego robotics system.

Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics

Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics are one of the earliest examples of proposed safety measures for Artificial Intelligence. The laws are intended to prevent artificially intelligent robots from harming humans.

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Later, Asimov added the Zeroth Law: "A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm".  The remaining laws were modified sequentially to acknowledge this addition.

Image credit here

Cities of the Future

In the future "it would be far easier and would require less energy to build new, efficient cities than to attempt to update and solve the problems of the old ones. The Venus Project proposes a Research City that would use the most sophisticated available resources and construction techniques. Its geometrically elegant and efficient circular arrangement will be surrounded by, and incorporated into the city design, parks and lovely gardens. This city will be designed to operate with the minimum expenditure of energy using the cleanest technology available, which will be in harmony with nature to obtain the highest possible standard of living for everyone. This system facilitates efficient transportation for city residents, eliminating the need for automobiles...

Skyscrapers would be constructed of reinforced and pre-stressed concrete, steel and glass. They will be stabilized against earthquakes and high winds by three massive, elongated, tapered columns. These support structures will surround the cylindrical central tower, which is 150 feet wide and almost a mile high. This tripod-like structure is reinforced to diminish compression, tension, and torsion stresses. These super-size skyscrapers will assure that more land will be available for parks and wilderness preserves, while concurrently helping to eliminate urban sprawl. Each one of these towers will be a total enclosure system containing a shopping center, as well as childcare, educational, health, and recreational facilities. This will help alleviate the need to travel to outside facilities."

These excerpts come from a longer article published on a wonderfully visionary and futuristic website The Venus Project

Image: Architectural project by Zaha Hadid