Stealing time

Theft is generally considered an immoral act but if I could I would steal time from the universe. The longer I am here the clearer it becomes to me that the amount of time in a typical human lifespan will not be enough to satisfy me. I have not yet had time to learn to fly planes. I haven’t had the gathered the time or money to design and build my underground home. I’m still not a guitar player. I don’t even have my master’s degree yet. Everything feels rushed.

If I knew I’d have 500 years to figure out what I want to be when I grow up how would that change my outlook? How would it rearrange my life plans? What things would I do differently?

The more I think about time, the more I resent those who steal mine. Filling out forms, waiting in lines and being forced into activities that involve wait cycles or completely avoidable repetitive tasks irritate me in the extreme. I want my time for myself. I want to spend it doing the things I dream about. We should live longer than we do and reach higher than we do. Why is it so hard for humans to spend their time well? Perhaps because we do not teach the right things.

I want to become a time thief. I want a longer life.

House passes 1,200 page energy bill

The House of Representatives is meddling again. Admittedly, this is their appointed job.  This time, Congress is occupying itself making adjustments the types and quantities of energy available to Americans.

The big-money piece of the bill is a proposal to require companies to buy permits to emit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that scientists have linked to changes in the earth’s climate, causing such phenomena as melting polar ice caps. The bill would put caps on those emissions, with the goal of reducing overall U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 17% from 2005 levels by the year 2020, and 83% by mid-century.

In a series of deals meant to ease the impact on businesses and their customers, Democratic leaders agreed to give away to the business community more than 60% of pollution permits in the early years of the program.

Supporters say the bill will have a modest impact on electricity ratepayers, and in many cases will save them money. That is because the legislation directs state regulators to make sure electricity-producing utilities that receive free pollution permits pass along the savings.

If the legislation passes the Senate intact, it will likely benefit the company I work for greatly because we own a wind energy division are are looking at forming a solar division as well. While I like the idea of encouraging my climate friendly energy generation I don’t like the idea that Congress should be in charge of regulating energy. Government has a way of ensuring a median of mediocrity.

Let’s see what happens to this bill in the Senate. I look forward to my free wind turbine being installed shortly so I can live the green lifestyle.

Bandit’s silent world

My dog Bandit died yesterday. He was about 10 or 11 years old. Bandit died of cancer, opened up on an operating table. We didn’t know anything was wrong with him until he stopped eating a few days ago.

My wife and I tried to give him a good life. Bandit was a border collie, a breed called the Blue Merle. He was born deaf and I’m told that made him unpalatable to the kind of people that want Blue Merle border collies. That made him palatable to my wife and I – we collect losers no one else wants.

What made Bandit special? Many things. Among dogs, he was a loner. The other dogs have a pecking order that is constantly being tested. Bandit really wasn’t into the pack mentality. He just wanted to herd the other dogs, especially little Sparky. Hours and hours would pass while Bandit carefully watched Sparky through the gate that kept him on his side and she on hers. She had little interest in him but he was absolutely fascinated by her. That was his nature and his breeding.

Bandit was smart. He knew sign language – two thumbs up meant good boy and would get his tail wagging. Punching a thumb and index finger together meant NO and would result in a downward head motion – Bandit knew he was being chastised. Since he was deaf, I had to stomp on the floor to get his attention sometimes. Outside at night, we had to flick the lights on the back porch to let him know it was time to come inside and go to bed. Bandit loved to lay outside in the rain during thunderstorms. That among everything else made him unique – most of our collection loser pack has an almost neurotic fear of thunderstorms.

Some of our dogs have issues related to their past lives. Abuse can make a dog afraid of strange things. A rough life and starvation can make a dog demanding when it comes to attention from his or her humans. Years on a chain can make a dog “just a little off.” Bandit had none of these traits (or character flaws, depending how you see the world). When he wanted love he would come over and nudge one of us. A few strokes and a pat on the head were often enough to solicit some of his oddly vocalized sounds of content. If you’ve ever heard human born deaf speaking, you know what I mean. Bandit’s dog sounds were goofy. He barked like a deaf person speaks, and made groans and moans when you rubbed his ears that weren’t quite right. His odd sounds amused me to no end and I used to talk to him in a special voice. I don’t know why because he couldn’t hear me at all.

Bandit’s silent world is finished now. He is not only deaf, he is dumb and blind as well. Good-bye my friend. I will miss your strange bark. When feeding time comes, I will remember the strange little piles of food you used to make and then guard from the other dogs. Every time I hear a crash of thunder, I will remember you laying contendedly in the rain. You were a good dog and I’m glad I was able to know you and share in your existence. For almost a decade, you made my life just a little richer.

The cannibal bird

Hawks are vicious creatures. They are also cannibals. A hawk has been hanging around the four story office building where I work. The building is designed to keep birds from hanging off its ledges. Wires have been strung on every ledge on the theory that birds don’t land on really thin metal wires. The hawk sits on these wires and watches birds.

Our cubicle zombies have speculated that the hawk is a scaredy hawk because they have observed other birds complaining about his presence and doing dive bombing runs. I’ve explained that it is the hawk dominating these conversations and not the legions of caterwauling complainer birds. My explanation proved correct today.

The hawk caught a smaller bird and ripped its head off. It left the pieces of the dead bird on a window ledge for all of us to ponder on.

I want to believe (in the Singularity)

We all want to believe in something bigger than ourselves. At least I think we do. We need purpose. Our feet get sore as we move forward through life and we need something just around the bend or over the hill to keep us going. There are tens of thousands of causes you can choose to champion in life. They come in all shapes and sizes and cost anywhere from nothing to everything. And then there are the singulatarians, an offshoot of the transhumanists. I am a transhumanist and a singulartarian because both ideas make sense to me.

What is a transhumanist?

Transhumanism is an international intellectual and cultural movement supporting the use of science and technology to improve human mental and physical characteristics and capacities. The movement regards aspects of the human condition, such as disability, suffering, disease, aging, and involuntary death as unnecessary and undesirable. Transhumanists look to biotechnologies and other emerging technologies for these purposes. Dangers, as well as benefits, are also of concern to the transhumanist movement.

What is a singulatarian?

Singularitarianism is a moral philosophy based upon the belief that a technological singularity — a theoretical future point that takes place during a period of accelerating change sometime after the creation of a superintelligence — is possible, and advocating deliberate action to bring such an entity into effect and ensure its safety.

While many futurists and transhumanists speculate on the possibility and nature of this technological development (often referred to as “the Singularity”), Singularitarians believe it is not only possible, but desirable if, and only if, guided safely. Accordingly, they might sometimes “dedicate their lives” to acting in ways they believe will contribute to its safe implementation.

There are many interesting aspects of both transhumanism and singulartarianism worth discussing seriously. Morally, ethically and sociologically these two worldviews represent change. Change is very scary. Change is very upsetting. Change can destabilize systems. Some people fight change as a matter of course because they are comfortable with who they are, with where they live, with how things are. The people are doomed because the only constant in the universe is change.

I fail to understand why someone who thinks of him or herself as a rationalist or an intellectual would start a conversation by labeling a non-religious movement a cult. That’s how John Horgan views us. In two posts, Science Cult and Is the Singularity a Cult, Horgan concludes that “the last thing humanity needs right now is an apocalyptic cult masquerading as science.” Pardon me, sir, but what are you talking about?

Transhumanist and their cousins singularists, as I like to call them, are not a cult. We just want to believe. Please – don’t associate us with religious kooks.

This stuff is true, if you also mention that soon to Kurzweil doesn’t mean soon to all of us and that time is relative and human beings are capable of seeing it on different scales:

Singularitarians such as Kurzweil insist that scientists will soon “reverse-engineer” the brain so that they understand exactly how it works. Many neuroscientists assume that, just as computers operate according to a machine code, so the brain’s performance must depend on a “neural code”; this is the set of rules, syntax or algorithms that transforms electrical impulses emitted by brain cells into perceptions, memories, meanings, intentions. Researchers are trying to decode the brain by probing it with ever-more-powerful technologies, such as magnetic-resonance imaging, positron-emission tomography and microelectrodes.

Cracking the neural code should yield all sorts of benefits. First, the brain’s programming tricks could be transferred to computers to make them smarter. Moreover, given the right interface, our brains and computers could communicate as readily as Macs and PCs. Eventually, our personal software could be extracted from our bodies for uploading into computers.

If a neural code exists, however, neuroscientists still have no idea what it is. Far from converging on a solution, scientists cannot agree whether information is represented primarily by signals from individual neurons, or brain cells, by oscillations of many neurons firing in tandem, by even higher-level waves of chaotic electrical activity sweeping through the brain or all of the above.

But, dear sir, where did the chip on your shoulder come from?

Also it pisses me off when you and your ilk–including Kurzweil–accuse me of “fearing” the Singularity or of merely dismissing it as “weird.” That’s bullshit. Sure, I make fun of you guys, because I’m trying to entertain people. But in my Spectrum article and even that crappy little Newsweek piece I also present specific counterarguments to the wild extrapolation upon which the Singularity is based. My first two books also have a detailed critique of the fields you think will produce the Singularity, including AI, neuroscience, genetics and so on. You Singularitarians, for all your vaunted cleverness,display an extraordinary and I can only assume willful ignorance of the complexities of biology, including how the genetic code produces bodies and how the neural code produces minds. When someone draws your attention to these issues, you respond with what you accuse critics of, ad hominem attacks. There’s the cult-like insularity and arrogance I talked about before. And that’s why you don’t deserve to be taken seriously.

Galileo Galilei wasn’t taken seriously but it turns out he was right. Ray Kurzweil may or may not be proved correct in time. If he is you lose nothing or everything. In the mean time, all you’ve done is a disservice to people who want to believe in something that might be bigger and better than remaining trapped on a planet full of pretty small amazingly petty minds. There is a universe out there to explore.