tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post674915311901243992..comments2024-03-27T23:12:08.917-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: The new face of science -- and attacking "citizen science."David Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger78125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-11666317011830451072017-12-27T16:03:50.876-08:002017-12-27T16:03:50.876-08:00onward
onward
onward<br /><br />onward<br /><br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-15953389148908273202017-12-27T06:41:19.549-08:002017-12-27T06:41:19.549-08:00Steven Hammond:
"Going backwards". at l...Steven Hammond:<br /><i><br />"Going backwards". at least socially is what the current American president offers, but repressing or eliminating scientific knowledge and going backwards in that fashion is much more difficult than going back to older cultural norms. It can be done, but the first example that pops to mine is the time after the Romans pulled out of England--the dark ages. <br /></i><br /><br />The closest plausible analogue I can imagine is if something were to permanently disable the internet, and humans had to go back to living in an unconnected world.<br /><br />Even then, though, it would not be "going back", as the humans living in that situation would have already been touched by what they've experienced and learned today. As a line from the musical "Ragtime" has it, <i>"You can never go back to before."</i> For the same reason you can't "go home again" to your childhood bedroom, or fallen mankind can never return to the innocence of the Garden of Eden. Because time and tide wait for no man, the moving finger writes, and you can't unscramble an egg.<br />LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-20163340665680601532017-12-26T23:14:45.038-08:002017-12-26T23:14:45.038-08:00Amanda Palmer recently made a brave video.
and a ...Amanda Palmer recently made <a href="http://amandapalmer.net/mother/" rel="nofollow">a brave video</a>.<br /><br />and a woman now controls the most powerful spacecraft in the Universe<br />...when she can get back on board!<br /><br />Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-60605644155512312592017-12-26T21:16:01.785-08:002017-12-26T21:16:01.785-08:00Re empowerment of women… this wish fantasy of magi...Re empowerment of women… this wish fantasy of magical power of vengeance is climbing the best-seller charts.<br />https://www.npr.org/2017/12/26/573507226/in-the-power-women-develop-a-weapon-that-changes-everythingDavid Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-56929270880384554602017-12-26T18:34:41.994-08:002017-12-26T18:34:41.994-08:00Addendum: So today is St Stephen's day I just ...Addendum: So today is St Stephen's day I just realized. Was seeing the hawk in my back-yard, something I was hoping for, merely coincidence? Likely it was, but who knows. It's not unreasonable to leave room in your philosophy (IMO) for "Something Else". :)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18162963685411928666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-39688306924339994172017-12-26T17:33:30.068-08:002017-12-26T17:33:30.068-08:00@ Twominds:
I had a wonderful Christmas and it...@ Twominds:<br /><br />I had a wonderful Christmas and it's very kind of you to ask, so thanks! Glad yours was good. Mine was with my wife and four kids ranging from 16 to 24 and I enjoyed it very much. If Christmas didn't exist for religious reasons, someone would have to invent it. <br /><br />The highlight today was seeing an accipiter (Sharp shinned hawk most likely) dive-bomb the sparrows at my new bird-feeder and then perch in the tree above it--about 3 meters from the window I'm watching from. I'm in the old part of our town of 100,000, so this is very much an example of urban wildlife and all that means. <b>@ Larryhart</b> I will definitely have to watch Over the Hedge.<br /><br /><b>@ Cari D Burstein:</b> who said:<br /><i>As a woman, even thinking about of having been born in my mother's generation makes me shudder. I think I can say I was raised in the first generation (born in the mid 70s) where girls were not raised to feel they couldn't grow up to be whatever they liked. Without major advances like birth control I don't think we'd have really gotten there. I worry quite a bit about the effects of climate change and potential abuses of science and technology, <b>but I would not go backwards to any point in time or remove the knowledge we have to prevent those concerns.</b></i> (my emphasis)<br /><br />I agree, as do millions (billions) of women --and men that lives are better now than in your mother's generation and especially before. Going backward is not an option. Period. Panora's box has been opened and we humans are Masters of the Earth--if not the universe. We can't go back, but we can go--"onward?" ;) <br /><br />Science and technology is not only the cause of a potential EOTWAWKI, but (and it's a long shot) --potentially the solution. <br /><br />We've gained so much from the use of science and technology as <b>@ Cari </b> mentioned, but at a significant cost due to so many factors. "Going backwards". at least socially is what the current American president offers, but repressing or eliminating scientific knowledge and going backwards in that fashion is much more difficult than going back to older cultural norms. It can be done, but the first example that pops to mine is the time after the Romans pulled out of England--the dark ages. <br /><br />Can we, as a species, be smart enough to think holistically, to use the prefrontal lobes of the wisest among us to not only reverse or halt the harm done by previous generations, but to prevent the harm from even more powerful technologies in the future? Look, there's a lot of talk about the benefit and risk of AI, but right now, in the present, in the world we actually live in, It's humans who are making the monumental decisions and acting based on those decisions. <br /><br />We need humans to prevent (if possible) a very likely catastrophe--which is all our own doing. I wonder if <b>@Erin Schramm</b> and other citizen scientists like her could be the best resource for fighting this danger? <br /><br />I'm starting to sound like an excerpt from a Marvel film, so I'll stop. ;)<br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18162963685411928666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-14191194704594523202017-12-26T15:46:42.652-08:002017-12-26T15:46:42.652-08:00Neither me, nor my brother or sister have children...Neither me, nor my brother or sister have children, so there's no way to know if they'd have been amused or embarrassed by the sight of four 40-50 year old people dancing to Wham, Matt Bianco and other disco. Who knows, they might have joined in!<br /><br />Twomindsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-34158262691925613842017-12-26T15:31:49.026-08:002017-12-26T15:31:49.026-08:00Twominds:
By the way, how was your Christmas? Min...Twominds:<br /><i><br />By the way, how was your Christmas? Mine was very good, with a family gathering, good food, wine and lots of fun and laughter.<br /></i><br /><br />Sounds a lot like mine. No, I'm not Christian, but my in-laws are, and we do Christmas with them. My sister-in-law is the Alex P. Keaton of the family, so we purposely lay off of politics unless she brings something up. She and I complement each other perfectly to do crossword puzzles together.<br /><br />My poor teenage daughter had to endure a family of old people. She'd rather be with her friends, but Christmas pretty much means her friends are all with their own families anyway, so what is one to do? At least they can all text each other as if they're in the same room. What an age we live in!<br />LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1163098022932572102017-12-26T14:56:04.326-08:002017-12-26T14:56:04.326-08:00Oh, yeah, just the picture and the headline were e...Oh, yeah, just the picture and the headline were enough to bring Existence to mind!<br /><br />But the comparison to your trillionaire-boy thrillseeker isn't perfect...Twomindsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-53700558055549484212017-12-26T14:51:47.326-08:002017-12-26T14:51:47.326-08:00He should offer some very small country its own sp...He should offer some very small country its own space program, in exchange for transportation, ideally at the other side of the flat earth.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-47800848041891162172017-12-26T14:50:52.074-08:002017-12-26T14:50:52.074-08:00" He originally was going to do it on public ..." He originally was going to do it on public lands..." See one of my first chapters in EXISTENCE!David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-68424929117041105792017-12-26T14:50:36.144-08:002017-12-26T14:50:36.144-08:00Far as I can tell, he's only espousing this &q...Far as I can tell, he's only espousing this "flat earth" stuff because he really, really wants to build his own rocket, and nobody else will give him money to essentially commit suicide (because he doesn't actually know anything about rocketry, and will likely blow himself up in the attempt). The altitude he wants to reach won't be enough to prove anything either way - he's aiming at around 10k feet, as I recall, or about 1/3 of aircraft cruising altitude.Jon S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13585842845661267920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-42114107992269912262017-12-26T14:49:18.720-08:002017-12-26T14:49:18.720-08:00Erin very interesting. Louis you say “intelligent...Erin very interesting. Louis you say “intelligentsia” I say “interlligent-Sciance!”<br />Susan that’s very disturbing. Though I wouldn’t have offered specifics on that site. We have a guy or two here who might tune in on that. Alas,<br />Yeah, Twominds, I heard of that publicity seeker.<br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-76170107527923321912017-12-26T14:46:49.949-08:002017-12-26T14:46:49.949-08:00David S:
The articles I read mentioned private la...David S:<br /><br />The articles I read mentioned private land in or near Amboy, so he found a workaround that he couldn't launch from federal land. I got the impression that he 'converted' to Flat Earth belief after getting negative responses to his plans. A contrarian! And a very strange person, it seems.<br /><br />Oh, and I meant Michael Shellenberger, not Schermberger.Twomindsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-17479943186560391062017-12-26T14:15:22.156-08:002017-12-26T14:15:22.156-08:00Twominds, the last I heard he was looking for a pl...Twominds, the last I heard he was looking for a place to do the launch. He originally was going to do it on public lands, but he hadn't thought about getting a permit first. When this went viral, the bureau of land management heard what he intended and told him that he'd need another location. The FAA has also denied his attempt. Mike Hughes' rocket is steam powered. <br /><br />My prediction: He is either going to get a Noble prize or a Darwin award.<br />David Snoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-74976127795092776162017-12-26T13:15:22.103-08:002017-12-26T13:15:22.103-08:00To add: I can't find how that rocket launch we...To add: I can't find how that rocket launch went, so I guess it was cancelled or postponed?Twomindsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1171482914469069172017-12-26T13:13:58.950-08:002017-12-26T13:13:58.950-08:00Some aimless browsing brought me this gem:
Flat-E...Some aimless browsing brought me this gem:<br /><br /><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/self-taught-rocket-scientist-will-launch-over-california-town-weekend-180967303/" rel="nofollow">Flat-Earther, Rocket Builder</a>.<br /><br />Short version of the story: Mike Hughes built his homemade rocket in an effort to “prove” the Earth is flat. He also plans to run for governor.<br /><br />I keep getting surprised, I wouldn't have thought I'd see the words "flat earth" and "rocket launch" in the same sentence. <br /><br />And plans for running for governor of California? Good luck taking up against Michael Schermberger!<br /><br />By the way, how was your Christmas? Mine was very good, with a family gathering, good food, wine and lots of fun and laughter.Twomindsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-29762924275097223252017-12-26T11:29:19.126-08:002017-12-26T11:29:19.126-08:00@Susan Watson,
I don't do Facebook, but my ta...@Susan Watson,<br /><br />I don't do Facebook, but my take is that computers can barely make correct suggestions for spelling and grammar (witness the sometimes-hilarious typos on this list which have obviously been generated by a helpful spell-checker). I'd never rely on their suggestions for news or entertainment.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-69280597046231763792017-12-26T10:09:04.930-08:002017-12-26T10:09:04.930-08:00Re Facebook's suicide 'proactive detection...Re Facebook's suicide 'proactive detection' <br />It may be a response to what they have already been doing for some time. Here was one little nudge they gave in the opposite direction: <br /><br />My July 15, 2016 Facebook post:<br />I'm having a sad, sad day.<br />The little girl who was missing in Calgary is dead.<br />84 people were killed last night in Nice at the place pictured at the top of my Facebook page; one of my favourite places in the world. More wounded may die.<br /><br />a bit later that same day, my next post was:<br />Shit. Facebook just 'recommended for me' an 'art' page showing women being murdered. ... I noticed it had more than 800,000 'likes'.<br />Susan Watsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11833534213203846430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-25192166821552789982017-12-26T10:06:04.517-08:002017-12-26T10:06:04.517-08:00Re monkey/banana example
Monkeys in exactly the sa...Re monkey/banana example<br />Monkeys in exactly the same situation were faced with exactly the same choice. That was by design. It was an experiment.<br /><br />Real life is more complex. Circumstances vary and people are not always called upon to make simple clean choices.<br /><br />Justice is an attempt to link the cause and effect of personal choices and hold people responsible. Justice cuts both ways: By your acts you might earn either reward or punishment.<br /><br />But when we acknowledge that the many contributing reasons for an act includes systematic factors beyond individual control we employ not just mercy or pity, we are being realistic.<br /><br />Our choices are limited by our situation. It is only just that a society demanding compliance with its norms also work to ameliorate systematic elements pushing in the opposite direction, especially Ignorance and Want. That, too, is justice.<br />Susan Watsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11833534213203846430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-651125656857170982017-12-26T08:02:03.861-08:002017-12-26T08:02:03.861-08:00It should be spelled 'intelligentsia', but...It should be spelled 'intelligentsia', but other than that, in interesting articleLouis Shalakohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17535102837963410061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-31802334446053061022017-12-26T07:01:12.976-08:002017-12-26T07:01:12.976-08:00One of my ambitions now that I am retired is to be...One of my ambitions now that I am retired is to become a citizen scientist, more precisely, a citizen researcher in data science. Flare-ups of my disabilities rob me of time, but I still have my skills.<br /><br />Steven Hammond said,<br /><i>Dr Brin mentions how much of the research on and use of AI is done by secretive corporations and nations for their own (shortsighted) goals which is, frankly, a chilling thought. What should be our approach to minimize the damage science and technology can bring? I suspect Dr Brin has an article somewhere addressing this in a global way, but I'm pretty new here, so a link would be helpful....</i><br /><br />Two years ago on <a href="http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2015/12/smart-tech-and-how-to-allocate-your.html" rel="nofollow">December 5, 2015,</a> David Brin discussed John Danaher's thoughts on algocracy, algorithms making our decisions for us, and in the comments said that competition could weed out bad algorithms. Cathy O'Neil points out in her book, <b>Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy</b>, that we have already delegated some decision-making to algorithms, puny algorithms far below artificial intelligence that mimic the prejudices in the human-created training data. And some of those bad decisions won't be noticed, because prejudices pass up good opportunities, such as hiring a hard-working black person, and we never see how the good opportunity would have turned out. Nevertheless, competition can weed out companies that rely on bad algorithms, even if the algorithms are not individually tested.<br /><br />If academic AI researchers and citizen scientists provide basic building blocks for reliable algorithms to the public, we could have competitive alternatives to AI created by secretive organizations. Victoria Stodden, currently at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is developing data-management standards to verify and replicate data science and computational findings.<br /><br />My views on AI and machine learning grew out of working for an office that wrote programs that automated analytic techniques our customers were already using. We moved on to expanding those techniques to work with big data, but a human was always in the loop. Thus, I am interested in collaborative machine learning, where man and machine learn together. The AI needs to explain itself to humans and needs to listen to humans, too. Perhaps its prejudices will be evident in its explanations.Erin Schramhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12376510919659209734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-16383073309349475012017-12-26T05:46:53.851-08:002017-12-26T05:46:53.851-08:00 LarryHart, thanks for that reminder, sounds like... LarryHart, thanks for that reminder, sounds like someone read their Dickens recently.Tim H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-43178431472733725732017-12-25T05:59:31.056-08:002017-12-25T05:59:31.056-08:00On that note:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/24/...On that note:<br /><br />https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/24/opinion/christians-christmas-faith-politics.html<br /><i><br />...<br />What Christians need is a new right-to-life movement, one in which we agree to disagree about contentious issues of sexuality and focus instead on what we share, on what we all believe. Jesus had nothing to say about birth control or abortion or homosexuality. He did have quite a lot to say about the poor and the vulnerable, and maybe that’s a good place to start.<br /><br />Surely Christians across the political spectrum believe we’re called to feed the hungry, heal the sick, protect the weak and welcome the stranger. If we can agree on that much, and if we can keep our shrieking differences from wrecking the quiet conviction of shared belief, we could create a culture of life that has a chance of transcending the sex wars. I find myself hoping for a day when conservative Christian voters can elect conservative representatives for whom feeding the hungry and caring for the sick and welcoming refugees aren’t political issues at all.<br />...<br />The other day, I found a toddler’s sippy cup lodged between the seats in the third row of my minivan. Our youngest child is 19, and we have no grandchildren. I held it, puzzled, until finally it dawned on me: My husband had taken his shift at Room in the Inn the night before, and this cup must belong to one of the homeless families he drove to our church.<br /><br />Homeless babies. The very thought is enough to make a person weep.<br /><br />It’s Christmas, the day Christians celebrate a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger because there was no room for his family at the inn. We owe it to that infant to do better by the babies here among us. To do better by their parents, trying so hard to keep them fed and clothed and healthy. We owe it to him to throw open our arms and the doors of our inns. “You who are hungry and hurting and alone and afraid, come inside,” we will say. “You belong here.”<br /></i>LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-74046042498147280512017-12-24T22:21:41.429-08:002017-12-24T22:21:41.429-08:00Wow, Zepp! Apropos, indeed.
And may I wish upo...Wow, Zepp! Apropos, indeed. <br /><br />And may I wish upon all of you who heed the "red-letter" teachings like the Sermon on the Mount -- in preference over the later, violently unlikely apocrypha --<br /><br />-- a very Merry Christmas filled with meaning, love, family, joy and a rising sense of hope.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.com