Steampunk laptop and keyboard...

Very inspired works of art...

Here's the steampunk-inspired laptop:

http://www.datamancer.net/steampunklaptop/steampunklaptop.htm

Here's the keyboard...

I want one! :D

Artificial intelligence interrupted...

I was just thinking about how great it would be to actually just try my hand at programming a very simple AI. I was thinking of using VB (apparently there are lots of procedural algorithms used to do AI programming) but Java seemed to be the more logical choice (as it is supposedly easier to model the "real-world" using this language). But then I came to realize after reading some more articles about AI that what's really important is not the programming language used but the "method" by which one tries to emulate how humans think or try to solve problems. So i'm back to studying various AI algorithms... Ok, you can stop here now if you find yourself totally bored. But then again, blogging this stuff is more for my personal satisfaction and serves as "theraphy". To be honest, I have too many things going on in my mind at the same time that I have problems focusing. Sometimes I try to focus on one thing but it has a negative effect sometimes. I tend to block out everything else going on around me... I think my son got this trait from me as well... It usually drives the people around us crazy sometimes, but what can we do? :D

Anyhow, I think that trying to analyze how I think would be like climbing Mount Everest without having the benefit of survival training. In the field of AI, a lot of experts have already devoted a great portion of their lives in trying to solve how the human mind works. And from what I've read so far, none of them have come close to figuring out how the human mind works when solving problems. I think it's better to do a lot more research before I try climbing Mount Everest... Who knows? I might even come up with an AI that can be used in a game (like a next-generation SIMS maybe?) :D

Artificial Intelligence...

I'm going to write something about this soon... I've been reading a lot of interesting articles about this recently... What's AI to you anyway? Does it bring images of a cybernetic Arnold Schwarzenneger to your mind's eye? :D

Are we at an evolutionary dead-end?

I'm a Heroes addict. There! I said it. I love reading comics too. Superhero stuff and anything sci-fi easily gets my attention and scratches that mental itch for things beyond the realm of the ordinary. Why? I suppose I'm one of those nutjobs that think humans haven't reached an evolutionary dead end yet. However, i'm also open-minded enough to admit that the exact opposite may just as well be true.

I'm going to try to give some (hopefully) valid and reasonable arguments for each side. Hopefully, that should give my brain a decent work-out while I'm blogging... :)

Ok, I'm now one of the "homo sapiens has reached an evolutionary dead-end" theorists. Here goes...

Some think that we have already reached a point where we physically can't evolve anymore. Our brains have reached a point that we now have the natural ability (keyword = "imagination") to create and invent things we need. To illustrate, if you can't reach that fruit hanging on the branch, you don't have to wait for your body to evolve longer limbs or for you to sprout wings. Just get a ladder (or wooden pole with a hook at one end) and there you go! If we believe that "necessity is the mother of invention", physical evolution of our species is no longer necessary since we can invent what we need to survive. Our creativity has given us the means to change our environment to suit our needs instead of the other way around. We can now thrive in the most inhospitable places on earth due of our marvelous brains. Take the Eskimos for example: They have shown how man can live at extreme temperatures without the need for any physical evolution. Eskimos wear fur to keep warm. They built igloos for shelter and built fires with whatever dry wood they could find to keep warm.

The only way we would probably evolve physically is if we were forced to live without our marvelous technology (WHAT!?! no celfones? no computers? no i-pods? Aaarrrggghh!).

Ok, enough about that for now. Now i'll tell you what I think about the possibility of further human evolution.

I once saw a show that featured a girl that was obviously an amazing rock climber. Boy, was she FAST! Lean, mean and all that! She competed in indoor rock climbing competitions and won a lot of awards. She was obviously gifted at climbing. The curious thing about her story was that she apparently grew up with monkeys as playmates. Of course she had friends like we all do but the fact that as a child, she liked to climb up trees with her simian playmates played an important factor in her physical development. She had very strong fingers (also a bit longer than usual) and a very lean and flexible body. In fact she could lift her full body weight using just two of her fingers. Imagine what skills she would have developed if she grew up living with seals. Would she have developed gills? fins? Not likely, but she would have been an exceptional swimmer who could stay underwater longer than most people could. Think of what would happen if she also settled down with a man who was equally gifted like her and they continued living near bodies of water which served as their second natural habitat and source of food. Their children would obviously be much better swimmers than they are. Who knows? Maybe after several (dozen or hundered?) generations, they may even become a new branch of humanity that can live underwater just as well as they live on land (homo-mermanus anyone)? This would certainly put the theory of evolution to the test.

Homo-sapiens can still physically evolve several ways. The most common of which are:
1) Natural Selection (Darwin's theory of evolution) - we evolve physically because of our environment (see preceding paragraph). Evolution through climate changes (not far from reality). We may even change through mutation (exposure to radiation is said to be the common cause of mutations). Right now, we're supposedly at the top of the food chain. But who knows? Some other species just might emerge and give us a run for our money (hopefully not!). But if you ask me what animal would survive a nuclear holocaust? I'd place my bet on the common cockroach. They'd probably outlast homo-sapiens (if we're not careful)...
2) Genetic manipulation - we know have the power to make genetic modifications to anything that has DNA. It is now possible to practically custom-tailor our offspring! The only thing that keeps us from creating a "master race" is because of the fact that we are held back by our "morals" (which is a very subjective and delicate subject unto itself). Tampering with DNA is considered by many as "playing God". To quote Hiro Nakamura's father (Kaito): "We have the power of Gods, but it does not give us the right to play God". I totally agree with this just to be clear. However, we cannot dismiss that man has always been too arrogant for his own good. We may even witness within our own lifetime the emergence of a form of "Master Chief" (Halo) or "Space Marine" (Warhammer 40K), courtesy of the military-industrial complex. Military applications of genetic engineering has never been far off from their radar.
3) Another possible aspect of human evolution would be "Brain" evolution. We could possibly evolve "better" brains! Faster thought processes, psychic abilities (mind-reading, mind-over-matter (telekenisis), maybe even a "spidey-sense"!).

For those of you who think that becoming a cyborg (or BORG for that matter) is another avenue for evolution. I'm not inclined to agree with you there. Fusing human tissue with cybernetic implants isn't my idea of advancing the human species (we'd actually cease to be human, if you ask me). But then again, feel free to express your opinion on this if you disagree. I'd be more than happy to find out what your reasons are...

Well, I think that's enough mental stimulation for now. I suddenly have an itch to watch Star Trek: Enterprise. :D

P.S. Don't use Gamma radiation if you want to evolve. You might end up like the HULK! :P

The real-world effects of getting three wishes from a genie

I just had an interesting conversation with one of my children. My son asked me what would I wish for if a genie gave me three wishes?

Now that is something that has been probably asked for ever since the idea of magical genies were conjured up in the minds of man.

So what would be the real-world implications be if we treated this question as a thought experiment?

Since wishes would differ from person to person depending on their innermost desires or immediate needs, let's confine our discussion with the most common wishes and analyze their real-world effects:

1) No more war / Peace on Earth

2) No more disease or sickness

3) No more death

4) No more famine or food shortages

5) No more poverty / equal distribution of wealth

6) No more discrimination / equality regardless of race, gender, etc.

I didn't include "I wanna have super powers" because the real-world effects will depend on what type of super power was desired. We'd be better off watching Heroes instead. :D

Another common wish I didn't include is to have another 3 wishes or unlimited wishes. This is more of a "cheat" and not really that relevant to the discussion anyway. So let's get the ball rolling and analyze the wishes one by one:

No more war / Peace on Earth - this is a very noble wish indeed. I mean, who wouldn't want to have a world without war and suffering? But let's try to look at the effects objectively without labeling anything good or bad:

Definitely, all the worlds' arms dealers would be out of business. They'd have to find another means of making a living wouldn't they? Companies and factories that produce weapons would be severely affected as well. Armies would be a thing of the past. Industries that depend on military spending will be affected as well. There would be a domino effect on various economies of the world.

At the risk of sounding like a pessimist, I believe man is a creature in conflict with itself. He always finds something to rebel against. A child/teen eventually rebels against his parents. People rebel against laws that were created for his own good. People revolt against government. Man rebels against himself because he harbors both good and evil within. He is constantly at war with himself every waking minute of his life.

Anyway, if wars all over the world ended one way or another, the world's population would increase at an alarming rate. Like it or not, war is a big factor in managing the world's population (births vs deaths). Remember, man is not the only creature to wage war (just look at the animal kingdom, Ants regularly wage war over territory and food). The likely effect of the elimination of war? Too many people, not enough food, jobs, shelter, etc.

No more disease or sickness - Effects are very similar to the absence of war. Too many people, not enough food, jobs, shelter, etc.

Since everybody will have a healing factor like Wolverine, the health care industry will collapse. No more hospitals and clinics. Insurance companies will also be adversely affected as a great number of people will suddenly terminate their insurance policies under the false belief that they will live forever (you can still die if someone chops your head off, burns you to a crisp, drops you in a vat of acid, rips your heart out, feeds you to a lion... You get the idea). People in these industries and businesses will suddenly be out of work. Unemployment will skyrocket.

We also cannot ignore that since more people will be alive longer, generational gaps will likely develop and fracture society. Imagine living a large portion of your life with that nagging wife or mother-in-law. What would people probably do in such a situation? Partners or families separate or cut their ties is the most likely answer.

No more death - Lets say that everybody stops aging when they reach as certain age (like 40 or 50 years old). Everybody is immortal. No one dies anymore. You get to see all your descendants (not bad unless you have relatives that nag you all the time). What else happens? People start thinking of themselves as gods or superheroes (I can't die whatever I do, I am the Highlander! Bring me my battle axe!). Religions worldwide are significantly affected (if no one dies anymore, how will we get to see heaven?). Overpopulation becomes an immediate worldwide problem. Technologies to improve food production becomes imperative (progress and innovation here). Colonization of the oceans (above and below) as well as outer space becomes the next great challenge. Wars become pointless because no one will win in a perpetual conflict where no one dies (boring to any gamer on god mode). On a positive note, the search for enlightenment and knowledge will possibly become more important for people (think Star Trek). On the other hand, others may suddenly find life too boring since everybody can just take their time doing anything. This will certainly lead to complacency, laziness and indifference. Life moves at a snail's pace. Society will deteriorate and progress on all fronts will eventually come to a grinding halt. We ultimately become the proverbial couch potato (a really fat potato if you find eating to your hearts content the entertainment of your life, or a really thin one if you find eating unnecessary due to your immortality). Unless we all find a significant or profound purpose in life (like making mother earth beautiful again, saving all endangered species, making warp travel a reality, making time travel possible, etc...). If you come to think of it, because we are a finite species, we have actually achieved more in such as short period of time. The fact that we know we will not last forever actually makes us excel and want to achieve our dreams. We strive so hard because we want to see the fruits of our labor while there is still time.

No more famine or food shortages - definitely an altruisitic wish. Who wouldn't want to end famine or hunger in many parts of the world? Seeing a starving child is heartbreaking. But what happens if we find a way to eliminate food shortages? Good effects would likely be increased productivity and prosperity for all countries since the population will become healthy. Bad effects might be in the form of power being centered among those where food production is concentrated. Food control becomes a means of gaining power over others. Inequality results.

No more poverty / equal distribution of wealth - I don't really want to dwell too long on this. This was already tried by the Communists. Look at what happened to them (obviously, it didn't go too well for the people it was supposed to benefit). However, making everyone equal in terms of wealth would still not negate some men's need for more wealth (not to mention power). Competition and envy still will play a factor in how man deals with this development. Looking at it one way, no matter how hard you work, you always had the same amount of money, so why work at all? Man has an inborn need to prove his self worth. Hopefully, this may be manifested through trying to improve oneself not through the accumulation of wealth, but by other aspects such as talents (such as music / arts or sports). Maybe we all will strive for laurel crowns and Nobel prizes instead of cash. The improvement of one's self through skills and talents. Wouldn't that be something?

No more discrimination / equality regardless of race, gender - this is another nice wish. We've all seen discrimination in one form or another. One positive effect would be people will start to have a healthy amount of respect for each other. Another would be businesses will become more productive since people will be hired solely based on their ability to do a certain job. Downsides? Countries that do not develop their manpower and focus on improving the quality of education for their work force may be on the losing end economically speaking. Local workers may start losing job opportunities if foreigners who are more qualified get the lion's share of the available jobs. This is already prevalent within the US and other countries that are heavily outsourcing jobs.

There! This was my longest post so far. I hope you had a good read. As the old saying goes: "Be careful what you wish for"...