Tag: science fiction blogs
The Nature of REALity
FROM: Pharnygula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
The Nature of Existence
Posted on: February 3, 2011 9:40 AM, by PZ Myers
I forgot to mention that I did attend the local screening of The Nature of Existence, the new movie from Roger Nygard in which he traveled the world asking various people grand questions about the meaning of life, etc. It was entertaining, and it is subtly subversive of religious views, so I will recommend it. But I do have a few reservations that I was also able to bring up in the Q&A after the movie.
One thing that was alarmingly obvious when watching it is that almost all the gurus and authorities and religious figures that he interviewed were male. There were exceptions — the 12 year old daughter of his neighbor (who was an unrepentant atheist, and I thought the most sensible voice in the whole movie), a lesbian priest, the wife of a pastor — but otherwise, this show is one long sausage-fest. When I pointed this out, Nygard was apologetic and recognized that this is a significant omission, but explained that he simply hadn’t noticed when he was filming the material. Isn’t that the whole problem, that we’re oblivious to these omissions of half the population of the planet? Article: http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/02/the_nature_of_existence.php
Posted on: February 3, 2011 9:40 AM, by PZ Myers
DaVinci Surgical Robot Plays ‘Operation’ Board Game, Saves Cardboard Life (Video)
FROM: SINGULARITY HUB
by Aaron Saenz April 7th, 2011
Modern life teaches us funny lessons like: if you can’t win at a child’s board game, use a multimillion dollar robot to cheat. PhD students at John Hopkins University’s Lab for Computational Sensing and Robotics (LCSR) ran into some trouble playing the classic board game Operation which requires you to remove tiny plastic organs from ‘Cavity Sam’ without triggering his electric alarm system and killing him. Their failure is a little daunting considering these guys are the next generation of surgical innovators. To overcome their limitations, those students hooked ‘Sam’ up to the da Vinci robot system from Intuitive Surgical. The video below shows the results. While this was all just a good natured joke, I’m glad the da Vinci robot and LCSR are getting some decent publicity from it. These robots, and the surgeons who use them, are saving thousands of lives each year and pushing us towards the future of medicine.
Transhumanism for Children
FROM SINGULARITY
by Nikki Olson on March 31, 2011
It is often pointed out that Transhumanism shares many features with religion. It answers questions regarding the nature of the world and humanity’s place in it, it offers guidance on how to live, and inspires hope. However, there are a number of important things distinguishing it from a religion, such as the lack of belief in a Deity and its emphasis on the empirical method and reason. Another distinguishing feature relates to the obstacles associated with teaching Transhumanism to children.
Although being religious as an adult entails contemplation of many of life’s more difficult questions, following a religion can and does occur at very young ages. Children are able to contemplate God to some extent, usually via the anthropomorphized metaphor of ‘the father’, they are able to associate simple moral behaviors with ideas of reward and punishment, and they become enthralled in the ‘magic like’ elements of religious miracle.
Are children capable of contemplating Transhumanism?
Article: http://singularityblog.singularitysymposium.com/transhumanism-for-children/
Oneironautics ~A Field Guide to Lucid Dreaming~
Researcher claims virtual reality games can predict the future
From DIGITAL JOURNAL:
Mar 27, 2010 by Stephenie Deering
Sociologist William Sims Bainbridge uses the game World of Warcraft to gain insights into human behaviour. It is not a new idea, but it is a growing field of study.
People have used cards, sticks, coins, bones, and heavenly bodies for hundreds of years trying to divine the future. Many of these past-times, such as the Chinese I Ching, the Tarot and astrology live on. People are almost obsessed with knowing the outcome of the future, both in the short term and in the long term, and this includes scientists. Sociologist William Bainbridge uses a non-traditional method of divining the future. He studies human behaviour in on-line virtual reality games, such as World of Warcraft, to look at societal belief systems and to forecast the future of human beliefs. Bainbridge notes alternative reality games like World of Warcraft can answer real-life questions through play because the game deals with current real-life issues.
In an interview with New Scientist reporter, Samantha Murphy, Bainbridge likened World of Warcraft to Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings, saying
“… Tolkien believed that all good people could come together on the same side. This is one of the biggest questions that humanity faces: can we have a world consensus by which we’re all partners in finding a solution? Or, like the Hoarde vs Alliance situation in WoW, are we doomed to be in separate factions competing ultimately to the death? It touches on very serious issues but in a playful way.”
Dr. Jane McGonigal has taken questions like these and created an alternate reality game that aims to change the real world. Evoke is a short-term game in which creators hope to impart skill sets on players — real skills that can be applied in the real world. Evoke takes gamers through ten weeks of set goals to achieve, and at the end of the game, players will have viable business ideas and will be matched up with mentors — all with the idea of changing the real world. The game got underway earlier this month.
Most video games ask little else of players than to dedicate 10 hours or so of their time to save a virtual princess or prevent the world’s destruction.
But what if a game challenged players in real life and required them to develop and utilize skills beyond button-mashing or Wii-mote waving? (Very cute) Game designer Jane McGonigal and the team behind upcoming alternate reality game (or ARG) “EVOKE” wants to find out.
We got in touch with McGonigal to find out just what “EVOKE” actually is, and why people should be paying attention.
To hear exactly what “EVOKE” entails is to immediately be struck by the scope of the venture. It’s at once a pie-in-the-sky project based around empowering people to make positive changes to the world around them, but based around social gaming conventions to lure in people familiar with online games. “EVOKE” is like “World of Warcraft,” but instead of vanquishing orcs you’re fighting hunger; instead of raiding dark dungeons, groups band together to solve the energy crisis. If it sounds like a game with an agenda, that’s because it is.
http://www.asylum.com/2010/02/26/jane-mcgonigal-mmorpg-urgent-evoke-uses-gamers-to-change-the-world/
marjorie kaye's Babylon Dreams 