Aye, my net connection feels like sucking tar through a straw!
I'm not complaining. We have great weather, delicious seafood and fine wine.
It just feels so arcane, when googling a reference isn't instantaneous.
Yesterday I tried to explain this to Stella and Luke. They wanted to watch
the newest movie trailers. I couldn't deliver. They were inconsolable. To them
the notion of wires, modems and limited bandwidth is as alien as a summer
without ice cream.
Here are some comments on the books I've been reading:
-
Richard Feynman - A Life in Science
by John and Mary Gribbin is the most interesting Feynman biography I've read so far. Such a nice book about a brilliant man. Highly recommended!
-
The Truth Machine by James L. Halperin is a scary book. Sometime in the not too distant future, we will
be able to build a
Truth Machine.
Halperin believes it will save the
world. I don't buy it. The powers that be will not hesitate to
use it as a tool of oppression. Democracies will be transformed into
police states and freedom of thought will die. His believe, that a (world) government using the
Truth Machine
will make this world a better and safer place is utterly wrong. If anything we need less government and less
control over the individual.
/iLife |
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(6 writeback)
- posted by
Chris Capel
- 2004/6/23 20:07:17
"Sometime in the not too distant future, we will be able to build a Truth Machine."
Really? Or you mean just in the book?
Futurology - posted by
Markus Fix
- 2004/6/23 22:11:25
Unfortunately I'm quite confident about the feasibility of a
"Truth Machine". So it's just a matter of time. If you're interested in this topic check out www.futurepundit.com
Hmm. Point. - posted by
Chris Capel
- 2004/6/23 23:34:54
MRI's used to detect areas of the brain that are always active when the person is in a certain state of mind--recognizing a face, being hungry, and possibly lying. Eww. I agree that the political implications are terrible. However, I'm hoping that we reach Singularity before that happens. http://www.singinst.org/
Truth machine & oppression: how? - posted by
Larry Clapp
- 2004/6/23 23:56:13
I've read The Truth Machine, and found it reasonably plausible. The key lies in *forcing our "leaders" to use it, too*. How would any dictator ever reach power if, at every step, he had to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth about his goals?
We fear oppression because we don't trust our leaders/rulers. If we make them incapable of lying to us (or each other, or even themselves), that makes it a lot easier to trust them. The same for business leaders, the same for law enforcement, the same for lawyers (oh boy), the same for people on the witness stand, the same for religious leaders, etc, etc.
Also remember that in that book, the US basically weeded out the vast majority of its criminal element by killing anyone that committed a violent crime. So human nature had two enormous kicks in the pants to encourage change.
- posted by
Duncan
- 2004/6/25 16:55:56
"Marlons'll"
What about delusional types who lie to themselves? What is the truth anyway?
"Also remember that in that book, the US basically weeded out the vast majority of its criminal element by killing anyone that committed a violent crime."
How's about those who killed those people, even though they did it legally. What about their violence?
?}:-/
Delusional types - posted by
Larry Clapp
- 2004/6/25 22:33:26
re: Delusional types: what about 'em? In the book, the machine could detect them. re: "what is truth?" Well, that's the problem, isn't it? :) Re: "come and see the violence inherent in the system!" What about 'em? We were discussing oppression, not the psychology of violence.
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