27 JUL 2018 by ideonexus
The Great Lifespan Escape
At the time when the lines begin, in the mid-18th century, life expectancy in Europe and the Americas was around 35, where it had been parked for the 225 previous years for which we have data.3 Life expectancy for the world as a whole was 29. These numbers are in the range of expected life spans for most of human history. The life expectancy of hunter-gatherers is around 32.5, and it probably decreased among the peoples who first took up farming because of their starchy diet and the diseases ... 1 
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notes15 FEB 2015 by ideonexus
Cosmists VS Terrans
I believe that the 21st century will be dominated by the question as to whether humanity should or should not build artilects, i.e. machines of godlike intelligence, trillions of trillions of times above the human level. I see humanity splitting into two major political groups, which in time will become increasingly bitterly opposed, as the artilect issue becomes more real and less science fiction like.
The human group in favor of building artilects, I label the “Cosmists,” based on the ... 1 notes
notes06 FEB 2015 by ideonexus
A Worm's Mind in a Lego Robot Body
The nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) is tiny and only has 302 neurons. These have been completely mapped and the OpenWorm project is working to build a complete simulation of the worm in software. One of the founders of the OpenWorm project, Timothy Busbice, has taken the connectome and implemented an object oriented neuron program.
The model is accurate in its connections and makes use of UDP packets to fire neurons. If two neurons have three synaptic connections then when ... 1 notes
notes28 MAY 2013 by ideonexus
Actuarial Escape Velocity
actuarial escape velocity is defined as occurring when a year of medical research adds more than a year’s worth of longevity to the total population. Nothing even close to this has ever been achieved, and emerging signs of an asymptotic curve in progress suggest this velocity may never
1 A medical concept, when medical research extends lifespans at a rate of more than one year per one year of research.
03 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Vernor Vinges' Zones
You could study your whole life, and not know. How long must a fish study to understand human motivation? It’s not a good analogy, but it’s the only safe one; we are like dumb animals to the Powers of the Transcend. Think of all the different things people do to animals—ingenious, sadistic, charitable, genocidal—each has a million elaborations in the Transcend. The Zones are a natural protection; without them, human-equivalent intelligence would probably not exist.” She waved at the... 1 notes
notesWe are like fish in an aquarium attempting to understand the godlike intelligences in the Transcend, whose motives are beyond us and whose perspective on us is impossible to fathom.
03 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Recipies Become Sentient in the Transcend
In the Transcend, truly sophisticated equipment can operate devices substantially smarter than anyone down here. Of course, almost any economic or military competition can be won by the side with superior computing resources. Such can be had at the Top of the Beyond and in the Transcend. Races are always migrating there, hoping to build their utopias. But what do you do when your new creations may be smarter than you are? It happens that there are limitless possibilities for disaster, even if...Folksonomies: singularity otherness
Folksonomies: singularity otherness
1 notes
notesA realm of super-intelligence, where the computers you create may be smarter than you are.
03 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
The "Powers" in Vernor Vinges' Universe
Marketing calls our current visitor ‘Old One.’” He smiled. “That’s something of a joke, but true even so. We’ve known it for eleven years.” No one really knew how long Transcendent beings lived, but it was a rare Power that stayed communicative for more than five or ten years. They lost interest, or grew into something different—or really did die. There were a million explanations, thousands that were allegedly from the Powers firsthand. Ravna guessed that the true explanation...Folksonomies: singularity otherness
Folksonomies: singularity otherness
1 notes
notesThey have transcended our kind of existence, but they disappear after just a few years... possibly for the flexibility of their intelligence and ability to rapidly transform themselves, much like Kurtzweil's singularity.
