15 FEB 2015 by ideonexus
AI View of AI, Scaling Wars
The artilects, as they have been conceived so far in this book, have been largely "nanoteched" creatures. But nanotechnology may be unnecessarily restrictive and far too large a scale to be suitable for advanced artilects. It may be possible that a "femtoteched" creature could be built. Such "femto-artilects" or "femtolects" as they will be called from now on, would be vastly superior to "nano-artilects" or "nanolects," thus setting the stage for a new "species dominance war" all over again.
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notes20 FEB 2014 by ideonexus
Defining "Uncertainty"
‘Uncertainty’ is a complex and multifaceted property, sometimes originating
in a lack of information, and at other times from quite fundamental
disagreements about what is known or even knowable (Moss
and Schneider, 2000). Furthermore, scientists often disagree about the
best or most appropriate way to characterize these uncertainties: some
can be quantified easily while others cannot. Moreover, appropriate
characterization is dependent on the intended use of the information
and the parti...Folksonomies: uncertainty definitions
Folksonomies: uncertainty definitions
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notesFrom the IPCC report. Interesting for including different definitions of terms in its description.
31 JUL 2013 by ideonexus
How Intuition Messed Up the Laws of Motion
A most fundamental problem, for thousands of years
wholly obscured by its complications, is that of motion.
All those motions we observe in nature that of a
stone thrown into the air, a ship sailing the sea, a cart
pushed along the street are in reality very intricate.
To understand these phenomena it is wise to begin
with the simplest possible cases, and proceed gradually
to the more complicated ones. Consider a body at rest,
where there is no motion at all. To change the position
o... 1 notes
notesAnd it took a Newton to determine what was really going on.
08 JAN 2013 by ideonexus
George Washington Promotes Science and Literature
Nor am I less persuaded, that you will agree with me in opinion, that there is nothing which can better deserve your patronage than the promotion of Science and Literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness. In one in which the measures of Government receive their impression so immediately from the sense of the Community as in ours it is proportionably essential. To the security of a free Constitution it contributes in various ways: By convincing those who are...
1 As the keys to happiness and to preserve liberty.
16 FEB 2012 by ideonexus
Copernicus on Gravity
I myself consider that gravity is merely a certain natural inclination with which parts are imbued by the architect of all things for gathering themselves together into a unity and completeness by assembling into the form of a globe. It is easy to believe that the Sun, Moon and other luminaries among the wandering stars have this tendency also, so that by its agency they retain the rounded shape in which they reveal themselves, but nevertheless go round their orbits in various ways. If then t... 1 notes
notesHe correctly surmises that the force pulls heavenly objects into spheres.
15 DEC 2011 by ideonexus
The Benefit of a Fearless Mother
I have from my childhood, in conformity with the precepts of a mother void of all imaginary fear, been in the constant habit of taking toads in my hand, and applying them to my nose and face as it may happen. My motive for doing this very frequently is to inculcate the opinion I have held, since I was told by my mother, that the toad is actually a harmless animal; and to whose manner of life man is certainly under some obligation as its food is chiefly those insects which devour his crops and... 1 notes
notesJoseph Banks' mother would put toads in his hand and apply them to his face to dismiss the superstition that they cause warts and argue that they are actually quite useful in keeping down pests.
18 MAY 2011 by ideonexus
Washington Promotes Science and Education
...there is nothing which can better deserve your patronage, than the promotion of science and literature. Knowledge is, in every country, the surest basis of public happiness. In one in which the measures of government receive their impression so immediately from the sense of the community as in ours, it is proportionably essential. To the security of a free constitution it contributes in various ways: by convincing those who are entrusted with the public administration, that every valuable ... 1 notes
notesIn order to ensure a strong democracy.
08 JAN 2011 by ideonexus
The Various Ways of Exterminating a Race
Now there are various ways of exterminating a race, and most of them are cruel. You may end it with fire and sword after the old Hebrew fashion; you may enslave it and work it to death, as the Spaniards did the Caribs; you may set it boundaries and then poison it slowly with deleterious commodities, as the Americans do with most of their Indians; you may incite it to wear clothing to which it is not accustomed and to live under new and strange conditions that will expose it to infectious dise... 1 notes
notesH.G. Wells gives a sad history of how various empires have extinguished other cultures.
