Comments for H+ Magazine http://hplusmagazine.com Covering technological, scientific, and cultural trends that are changing--and will change--human beings in fundamental ways. Thu, 24 May 2012 06:13:46 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Comment on The Three-Fold Path of Virtual Reality by Armand http://hplusmagazine.com/2012/05/23/the-three-fold-path-of-virtual-reality/#comment-26483 Armand Thu, 24 May 2012 06:13:46 +0000 http://hplusmagazine.com/?p=6420#comment-26483 I am very sceptical about the nanite scenario you described. Even if we had sufficiently advanced neuroscience to know how to stimulate the brain to produce hyper-realistic hallucinations (I'm sure that every brain varies significantly in this regard) or the ability to coordinate a swarm of billions of nanites to provide this stimuli (nanites don't even exist yet), such stimulation would be fatal. The cells in the brain (not just neurons, but all the cells) are densely packed with only minute spaces between them. There simply isn't enough room for nanites to casually fly around the brain. They would need to hack their way through like it was a dense jungle, and in so doing cause a massive amount of damage. Even if this technology worked as described, you completely ignore its potential for abuse. Someone could use this technology to turn you into a meat puppet, or keep you in a hallucination against your will for mind control or torture. Over at my blog, http://sanctumofvespertine.blogspot.ca, I wrote a post last October entitled "Just some dude", explaining why I think it is unlikely people will be adopting brain jacks in the near future. Check it out if you want. My scepticism towards nanites also makes me think that it's highly unlikely that we will have Santa Claus machines in the foreseeable future. They're call Santa Claus machines for a reason; they would have to be magic. As far as I'm concerned, a holographic TV is the only plausible innovation on this post. I do however share your desire for self driving cars. Since Google already has a prototype of such a car, it seems likely they will be commercially available before 2030. Hopefully that will ease your disappointment over the complete lack of neuro-hacking nanites. I am very sceptical about the nanite scenario you described. Even if we had sufficiently advanced neuroscience to know how to stimulate the brain to produce hyper-realistic hallucinations (I’m sure that every brain varies significantly in this regard) or the ability to coordinate a swarm of billions of nanites to provide this stimuli (nanites don’t even exist yet), such stimulation would be fatal. The cells in the brain (not just neurons, but all the cells) are densely packed with only minute spaces between them. There simply isn’t enough room for nanites to casually fly around the brain. They would need to hack their way through like it was a dense jungle, and in so doing cause a massive amount of damage.

Even if this technology worked as described, you completely ignore its potential for abuse. Someone could use this technology to turn you into a meat puppet, or keep you in a hallucination against your will for mind control or torture.

Over at my blog, http://sanctumofvespertine.blogspot.ca, I wrote a post last October entitled “Just some dude”, explaining why I think it is unlikely people will be adopting brain jacks in the near future. Check it out if you want.

My scepticism towards nanites also makes me think that it’s highly unlikely that we will have Santa Claus machines in the foreseeable future. They’re call Santa Claus machines for a reason; they would have to be magic.

As far as I’m concerned, a holographic TV is the only plausible innovation on this post. I do however share your desire for self driving cars. Since Google already has a prototype of such a car, it seems likely they will be commercially available before 2030. Hopefully that will ease your disappointment over the complete lack of neuro-hacking nanites.

]]> Comment on A Cautionary Tale: Our Search for Intelligent Life in the Universe by Hplus http://hplusmagazine.com/2012/05/14/a-cautionary-tale-our-search-for-intelligent-life-in-the-universe/#comment-26480 Hplus Wed, 23 May 2012 18:34:36 +0000 http://hplusmagazine.com/?p=6271#comment-26480 "The core of EFT is to stimulate the acupunctural meridians, get rid of the energy blockages in the body and in this way you get rid of the physical or psychological problems you have. " Yes, rationalists have a term for that too. It's called "The Placebo Effect." Get back to me when it allows you to fly, regrows a limb, or works better than even in a double-blind test. “The core of EFT is to stimulate the acupunctural meridians, get rid of the energy blockages in the body and in this way you get rid of the physical or psychological problems you have. ”

Yes, rationalists have a term for that too. It’s called “The Placebo Effect.”

Get back to me when it allows you to fly, regrows a limb, or works better than even in a double-blind test.

]]> Comment on The Three-Fold Path of Virtual Reality by Arthur T. Murray http://hplusmagazine.com/2012/05/23/the-three-fold-path-of-virtual-reality/#comment-26477 Arthur T. Murray Wed, 23 May 2012 13:19:11 +0000 http://hplusmagazine.com/?p=6420#comment-26477 Thank you for the provocative ideas which I shall endeavor to incorporate non-plagiaristically into my upcoming AISF e-book which will be categorized as belonging to the High Tech Thriller genre and to the Neuroscience genre. Thank you for the provocative ideas which I shall endeavor to incorporate non-plagiaristically into my upcoming AISF e-book which will be categorized as belonging to the High Tech Thriller genre and to the Neuroscience genre.

]]> Comment on Call me Ishmael…or Not: The Identity “Crisis” and Transhumanism by Citizen110 http://hplusmagazine.com/2012/05/10/call-me-ishmael-or-not-the-identity-crisis-and-transhumanism/#comment-26471 Citizen110 Wed, 23 May 2012 01:29:33 +0000 http://hplusmagazine.com/?p=6140#comment-26471 Thank you for a very thought provoking article, Mr. Storiguard! It seems to me that as societies and technologies have advanced over the years, the importance of individual identity has taken on new dimensions—some that could be considered unimaginable in the era in which it was conceived and established. Along with the adoption of concepts of heraldry, inheritance, monarchical and governmental powers, the use of money, right up to the entire ownership society that exists today, came an exponential rise in the importance of individual identity in societies. As long as people strive for and seek to maintain the status quo, and technological innovation continues to take its course—individual identity will take on even more dimensions of importance. Andy Warhol said, "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for fifteen minutes." Everyone must exist as a recognizable individual for all that to come true. Or, look at it in a more practical way. Do you have a credit card? Do you have bills to pay? Sure you do. So do I! Those are two reasons why individual identity will continue to be important for the rest of our lives. Thank you for a very thought provoking article, Mr. Storiguard! It seems to me that as societies and technologies have advanced over the years, the importance of individual identity has taken on new dimensions—some that could be considered unimaginable in the era in which it was conceived and established. Along with the adoption of concepts of heraldry, inheritance, monarchical and governmental powers, the use of money, right up to the entire ownership society that exists today, came an exponential rise in the importance of individual identity in societies. As long as people strive for and seek to maintain the status quo, and technological innovation continues to take its course—individual identity will take on even more dimensions of importance. Andy Warhol said, “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for fifteen minutes.” Everyone must exist as a recognizable individual for all that to come true. Or, look at it in a more practical way. Do you have a credit card? Do you have bills to pay? Sure you do. So do I! Those are two reasons why individual identity will continue to be important for the rest of our lives.

]]> Comment on Whatever Happened to Virtual Reality? – RU Sirius Interviews VR Developer Jaron Lanier by Cyberculture History: William Gibson on 90s Cyberculture | Technoccult http://hplusmagazine.com/2012/05/22/whatever-happened-to-virtual-reality/#comment-26468 Cyberculture History: William Gibson on 90s Cyberculture | Technoccult Tue, 22 May 2012 22:02:10 +0000 http://hplusmagazine.com/?p=6394#comment-26468 [...] Whatever Happened to Virtual Reality? – Virtual reality pioneer Jaron Lanier interviewed by R.U. back in 2002. [...] [...] Whatever Happened to Virtual Reality? – Virtual reality pioneer Jaron Lanier interviewed by R.U. back in 2002. [...]

]]> Comment on The Genetic in Cultural Evolution by SHaGGGz http://hplusmagazine.com/2012/05/21/genetic-cultural-evolution/#comment-26460 SHaGGGz Tue, 22 May 2012 07:55:54 +0000 http://hplusmagazine.com/?p=6290#comment-26460 Yep. The fitness of psychopathy will largely depend on the extent to which we embrace p2p/networking technologies and the prosperity they have to unleash. Those with psychopathic genetic predispositions will merely be on the more dickish end of the spectrum, and poorer in the whuffie economy. On the other hand, the legacy infrastructure we are still immersed in is far from obsolete, and the secrecy and hierarchy it depends on is very conducive to psychopathic domination, as evidenced by the huge proportion of them in the upper echelons of plutocracy, particularly finance. I lean slightly towards optimism, but am quite unsettled by the Orwellian potential the incipient technological explosion will unleash, especially once the potential for revolution is permanently snuffed out by an AI police class that can no longer be appealed to... Yep. The fitness of psychopathy will largely depend on the extent to which we embrace p2p/networking technologies and the prosperity they have to unleash. Those with psychopathic genetic predispositions will merely be on the more dickish end of the spectrum, and poorer in the whuffie economy. On the other hand, the legacy infrastructure we are still immersed in is far from obsolete, and the secrecy and hierarchy it depends on is very conducive to psychopathic domination, as evidenced by the huge proportion of them in the upper echelons of plutocracy, particularly finance. I lean slightly towards optimism, but am quite unsettled by the Orwellian potential the incipient technological explosion will unleash, especially once the potential for revolution is permanently snuffed out by an AI police class that can no longer be appealed to…

]]> Comment on May is Virtual Reality Month at H+ Magazine by Rachel Marone http://hplusmagazine.com/2012/05/16/may-is-virtual-reality-month-at-h-magazine/#comment-26459 Rachel Marone Tue, 22 May 2012 06:37:00 +0000 http://hplusmagazine.com/?p=6226#comment-26459 We are no longer a physical magazine. You can subscribe through RSS though. We are no longer a physical magazine. You can subscribe through RSS though.

]]> Comment on May is Virtual Reality Month at H+ Magazine by Steve Cogan http://hplusmagazine.com/2012/05/16/may-is-virtual-reality-month-at-h-magazine/#comment-26455 Steve Cogan Mon, 21 May 2012 17:26:14 +0000 http://hplusmagazine.com/?p=6226#comment-26455 I would like to subscribe to H+Mag - but how? I would like to subscribe to H+Mag – but how?

]]> Comment on What are the Benefits of Mind Uploading? by On The Amazing Benefits Of Mind Uploading « http://hplusmagazine.com/2012/04/13/what-are-the-benefits-of-mind-uploading/#comment-26454 On The Amazing Benefits Of Mind Uploading « Mon, 21 May 2012 16:04:23 +0000 http://hplusmagazine.com/?p=5474#comment-26454 [...] next. How can we stop abusing the environment, give ourselves superintelligence, and live forever? H+ Magazine on the inevitable necessity of switching from spongy flesh brains to uploaded [...] [...] next. How can we stop abusing the environment, give ourselves superintelligence, and live forever? H+ Magazine on the inevitable necessity of switching from spongy flesh brains to uploaded [...]

]]> Comment on Brain-Computer Interfacing: From Prosthetic Limbs to Telepathy Chips by Carol Anne Buckley http://hplusmagazine.com/2009/07/13/brain-computer-interfacing-prosthetic-limbs-telepathy-chips/#comment-26453 Carol Anne Buckley Mon, 21 May 2012 15:38:35 +0000 #comment-26453 Forget my privacy--just so long as the BCI doesn't tweet or FB post me stuff I don't want to be bothered knowing. Before these tools, it was bad enough to get the annual holiday letters. Now I learn what everyone just ate, where they are, how they feel. Could I have a TMI filter on my BCI implant, please? Forget my privacy–just so long as the BCI doesn’t tweet or FB post me stuff I don’t want to be bothered knowing. Before these tools, it was bad enough to get the annual holiday letters. Now I learn what everyone just ate, where they are, how they feel. Could I have a TMI filter on my BCI implant, please?

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