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2017/11/17 11:50:53
Subject: Mankind continues to learn nothing from science fiction
Humanity is fethed. I can't even do several of those standing leaps, and screw that backflip.
"By this point I'm convinced 100% that every single race in the 40k universe have somehow tapped into the ork ability to just have their tech work because they think it should."
2017/11/19 16:01:15
Subject: Mankind continues to learn nothing from science fiction
While many love to speculate about the sheer number of jobs that robots and artificial intelligence are going to replace in the near future, no one seems to be coming up with any solid alternatives.
One forward-thinking Dutch startup, however, believes humans should start using their bodies to produce capital… but not in the way you’re imagining.
Founded in 2015, the Institute of Human Obsolescence (IoHO) is based in The Hague and presents itself as an organization devoted to exploring how individuals can capitalize on biological, and data production labor through art and research projects.
One of IoHO’s most impressive research projects and art installations to date is their body suit that harvests excess human body heat to mine cryptocurrency. Yes, you read that correctly. IoHO created a body suit that uses thermoelectric generators to store body heat — and converts that heat into usable electricity.
This electricity was then used to mine crypto, with IoHO choosing to mine newly created currencies on the basis that they have a higher potential to grow in value. 37 workers were responsible for 212 hours of work between them, harvesting a total of 127,210 milliwatts of electricity, and mining 16,954 coins. 80 percent of the earnings went to the workers, while the rest went to the institute.
“I think art is able to explain abstract things and through art, you are also able to trigger something. With this project I want to generate questions or sparks,” explained IoHO’s founder, Manuel Beltrán.
Another unconventional art and research project initiated by IoHO is one that intends to launch a discussion about how big corporations currently capitalize on the massive amount of data we generate.
Corporations such as Google and Facebook use our data to make huge amounts of money, but IoHO imagines a world where we, the “data workers,” have the ability to earn some cash. The institution believes that all wealth created from data should be distributed equally.
Every swipe, scroll, post, click, and text reveals many things about our personality and behavior and in turn, generates value. So Beltrán posits: “Now we give our data voluntarily and free to companies such as Facebook and Google, why not benefit from it?”
To do this, IoHO proposes a distribution system they’ve termed the ‘Data Basic Income’. In this system, every participant receives the same amount of money in return for their data. Rather than harvesting the information participants create, IoHO collects people’s unique finger movements with a movement sensor, a choreography, or labor worth money.
How exactly those movements turn into money remains unclear to me, but luckily the artists themselves were also still asking that question: “We ask ourselves throughout this session where the moment is that our automated habits become choreography and when this choreography becomes a form of labor.” Here’s to hoping they find out.
Artist, activist, researcher, and founder of IoHO, Manuel Beltrán, initiates projects like the above to get people thinking about the scenario of robots and algorithms replacing the human labor force. As he explained:
“I met a lot of people who have pessimistic feelings about the future. Politics are out of control and we have no say. We are ruled by algorithms which we don’t even understand. We don’t know whom to fight and how we feel. Maybe art can help us to imagine and to start the fight.”
The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
2017/12/16 13:36:01
Subject: Mankind continues to learn nothing from science fiction
And we're one step closer to the Matrix XD Seemingly with a complete lack of purposeful irony...
Honestly these guys seem like a special brand of idiot. The kind that's really really smart, but so caught up in the science that they start acting really stupid XD
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/12/16 13:37:51
.. Black Mirror seems more and more realistic every day.
The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
2018/02/04 16:25:31
Subject: Mankind continues to learn nothing from science fiction
Harvesting human body heat to mine cryptocurrency wouldn't generate enough income to offset even a fraction of the cost to support the person. The cost of the suit alone wouldn't be recouped for decades, long after it's worn to pieces.
Possible =/= practical. This is just artists being artists.
The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
2018/02/13 09:12:37
Subject: Re:Mankind continues to learn nothing from science fiction
Saw that interview of Erica, the japanese robot. It's both fascinating...and frightening. And I'm not just talking about the perspective of robots taking human jobs and all the consequences it will have in this age of capitalism.
I mean, talking about replacing robots or reprogramming them...and how they can "live" that. Everyone knows it always ends well when the self-aware robot suddenly decides it doesn't want to be "replaced" or "shut down".
It's been made a while ago, so who knows how much more advancements they've made.
2018/02/14 00:40:40
Subject: Mankind continues to learn nothing from science fiction
I was listening to Eric Weinstein yesterday and he has this idea that what we have to worry about is not some distinctly identifiable rogue AI that is separate from us, but something that is able to covertly use and manipulate us to serve its goals and propagate itself without us being aware.
2018/02/14 10:28:09
Subject: Mankind continues to learn nothing from science fiction
I think we are a very long way from an AI that has a theory of mind and can actually consider humans as inteliigent minds and try to manipulate us in that way, by empathising what we think and creating scenarios to take advantage.
However I think there are other ways that AIs can manipulate us unconsciously, and these are already happening in some cases. But this is more a problem of bad human design, or else it could be a problem like bacteria, which don't actually go around thinking they would like to infect and kill people but it happens because that is how they work.
I'm off to stock up on bottled water and medications.
The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
2018/02/25 12:59:18
Subject: Re:Mankind continues to learn nothing from science fiction
The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
2018/03/13 19:06:47
Subject: Re:Mankind continues to learn nothing from science fiction
.. doesn't sound too great but can you go wrong with a 100% guarantee ?!
,,,,,,, thinking about it though...
.. makes a great gift for that special someone maybe eh ?
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/03/13 19:07:31
The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
2018/03/14 01:23:07
Subject: Re:Mankind continues to learn nothing from science fiction
Kind of an impossible to prove long-shot, though, predicated on us knowing near-magic in the future.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/03/14 01:23:38
"By this point I'm convinced 100% that every single race in the 40k universe have somehow tapped into the ork ability to just have their tech work because they think it should."