10 MAR 2019 by ideonexus
Asimov Story on Computation
■ N 1958, American science fiction legend Isaac Asimov wrote a very short story called "The Feeling of Power." In it, lowly technician MyI ron Aub discovers that he is capable of duplicating the work of his computer by multiplying two numbers together on a piece of paper. Amazing! This miraculous discovery makes its way up the chain of command, where the generals and politicians are stunned by Aub's black magic. The top general is intrigued by the possibility that human calculations could g... 1 
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notes16 JUL 2013 by ideonexus
Accountability in the Surveillance State
Where power intervenes, transparency fails to provide
accountability. This is the main fact that the residents
of the Planetary Consortium and their ilk must grasp.
Public-accessible cameras and citizen sousveillance of
police is not enough. To truly hold the people at the
top accountable, publicams should be placed inside
police stations, interrogation rooms, jails, security
checkpoints, congressional chambers, and anywhere
government officials meet with lobbyists, make
decisions, and otherw...Folksonomies: technology surveillance
Folksonomies: technology surveillance
1 notes
notesCameras must be everywhere, in politician's offices, interrogation rooms, everyone must watch everyone.
13 MAY 2013 by ideonexus
Public Policy Shouldn't Bet on Science
You ask whether, given a choice, I would put more resources into space or AI. My answer is that either choice would be stupid. Politicians always want to make such choices too soon, because they imagine they can pick winners. Usually they pick losers. The only way to improve the chances for finding winners is to keep all the choices open and try them all. That is particularly true for space and AI, which are not really competing with each other. They are done by different kinds of people in d...
1 It will always bet wrong. All science should be open, free, and supported.
07 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
The Language of Science is Universal
The language of science is universal, and perhaps scientists have been the most international of all professions in their outlook... Every time you scientists make a major invention, we politicians have to invent a new institution to cope with it—and almost invariably, these days, it must be an international institution. 1 notes
notesThus scientific institutions must be international.
28 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Every Region is the Scientist's Fatherland
And when statesmen or others worry him [the scientist] too much, then he should leave with his possessions. With a firm and steadfast mind one should hold under all conditions, that everywhere the earth is below and the sky above and to the energetic man, every region is his fatherland.Folksonomies: politics science culture
Folksonomies: politics science culture
1 notes
notesA quote from Tycho Brahe urging scientists to move away when politicians or other authorities pressure them.
03 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Creating Online Fictions of Ourselves
The most effective young Facebook users, however—the ones who will probably be winners if Facebook turns out to be a model of the future they will inhabit as adults—are the ones who create successful online fictions about themselves.
They tend their doppelgängers fastidiously. They must manage offhand remarks and track candid snapshots at parties as carefully as a politician. Insincerity is rewarded, while sincerity creates a lifelong taint. Certainly, some version of this principle exi...Lanier suggests that the most effective users of Facebook will manage their profiles like politicians, constructing a narrative that may have no baring on their real persona.
03 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
The Bible was Like Wikipedia
The Bible can serve as a prototypical example. Like Wikipedia, the Bible’s authorship was shared, largely anonymous, and cumulative, and the obscurity of the individual authors served to create an oracle-like ambience for the document as “the literal word of God.” If we take a nonmetaphysical view of the Bible, it serves as a link to our ancestors, a window into human nature and our cultural origins, and can be used as a source of solace and inspiration. Someone who believes in a person... 1 notes
notesWritten anonymously by many authors, which produced an oracle quality about it that allow it to become a tool for manipulation.
14 SEP 2011 by ideonexus
Science Cannot be Celebrated With Poetry
The true men of action in our time, those who transform the world, are not the politicians and statesmen, but the scientists. Unfortunately poetry cannot celebrate them because their deeds are concerned with things, not persons, and are, therefore, speechless. When I find myself in the company of scientists, I feel like a shabby curate who has strayed by mistake into a drawing room full of dukes.Because science deals with things and not persons.
01 JUL 2011 by ideonexus
A 1985 View of Science and Technology in Year 2000
The glib words of years past from our politicians are hollow
nightmares indeed when we are confronted with the staggering
realities of what has to be done. But the key is there--technology,
using it-and we hardly do now. The future may be unpredictable,
but we can make a few well-aimed guesses about what life will
be like in the year 2000. We’ll fly on supersonic transports, or
more likely hypersonic transports, for which the ground work (or
should I call it air work) has already been laid ...Folksonomies: futurism
Folksonomies: futurism
Prescient with the qualifier that these things will only happen if America puts emphasis on science and technology education.
17 JUN 2011 by ideonexus
Jesus Used Political Language
Is there anything, for example, more dexterous than the manner in which he treated the subject of the woman taken in adultery? (St. John, c. viii.) The Jews having asked if they should stone this unfortunate, instead of replying definitely, yes or no, by which he would fall in the trap set by his enemies: the negative being directly against the law, and the affirmative proving him severe and cruel, which would have alienated the saints. Instead of replying as any ordinary person but him would... 1 notes
notesHe avoided controversy by speaking in parables and not answering directly, just as politicians do today.
