Do you truly feel shitty about the oily pelicans in the Gulf? Do you want to throw a shoe in the face of the OPEC nations? When you gaze in the mirror do you want to see a lean green clean machine?
If yes, Yes, YES is your answer... it's time to stroke your conscience and dreams by buying an EV (electric vehicle) now!
2010-2011 is a crucial moment in history as over a dozen EVs arrive on the market. Will you buy one? Are you cutting edge cool or a foul fossil Luddite? You can vote immediately for a superior future with your wallet, or hesitate awkwardly like an impacted bowel.
Nothing surprises us; fat, wall-eyed robots clothing themselves in glandular carpets, wishy-washy sexualities, ears on mice... artificial life. We do now live in "the future", no matter how much we winge about the fact that jetpacks weren't waiting when we got here. So it behooves us, before we're washed out to drift forever in cynicism and jadedness, to look at the foundations for some of this transhumanism business. Not the leeward and courseward zig-zag of discoveries and engineering so much, but the ideologies that allow for an understanding of what this stuff is all about.
From implants and brain-computer communication to genetic therapies to brain enhancement, Ramez Naam’s 2005 book, More Than Human: Embracing the Promise of Biological Enhancement was one of the most lucid and accessible tours of the then-latest developments in transhumanist related sciences and technologies. I interviewed him after the publication of that book for the (deceased) NeoFiles website and much of what he said to me has remained with me since. It seemed like it was time to catch up. What’s his perspective on more than humanism seven years hence?
Ecology should be an honorable profession, but its leadership is flawed when they distort data, denigrate human existence, foment hysteria to sell apocalyptic screeds, and reject technological solutions. Civilization is presently over-ripe with idiotic environmental activists. Here’s my list of the worst, with quotes from their misanthropic ideology.
There is a common perception that, although computers may be able to perform calculations faster than us, they will never be able to "think" or be "truly creative". Even among those who reject this perception, there is a commonly held belief that it will take "hundreds" or "thousands" of years for computers to match the brain's abilities. Supporters of this view often cite the failed AI projects of the 1970s and 1980s — concluding that, like nuclear fusion, AI is the technology of the future and always will be.
However, unlike nuclear fusion, AI technologies have already become a part of our daily lives. Thirty years ago, if you wanted to read some papers written in another language, your only real options were to find a friend who knew it, or hire a translator. Nowadays, Google Translate, an AI technology, provides us with instant, free, automatic translation of any web page or document, between more than two thousand language pairs. The technology is, of course, not perfect, but citing imperfections in a wonder of the modern age as a reason why "computers can't really think" brings to mind those who said that "this 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication".
I used to be a big believer in the enormous potential of genomics, and each of my two previous books, Fantastic Voyage and TRANSCEND: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever,had chapters devoted to this topic. The relevant chapter in the earlier book, Fantastic Voyage, published in 2004, was titled “The Promise of Genomics.” My co-author in these books, Ray Kurzweil, is widely regarded as one of the world’s foremost inventors and futurists, and he has made predictions for what is likely to occur in the future in the field of genomics . Yet, these days I find that I am feeling far less confident at least for the near term about the near term prospects for this “promise.”
“The Promise of Genomics” chapter in Fantastic Voyage contains a sidebar titled "Life as a Game of Cards” and in my public lectures on the topic, I would often display a slide showing playing cards from the gambling game of blackjack to emphasize this message. “Until quite recently you have been forced to play this card game of life almost completely in the dark, unable to look at the cards you've been dealt… almost no one has ever had access to precise information regarding his or her own specific genetic code.” We made the case that knowing one’s genetic makeup — what genes you carry — would allow an individual to make better lifestyle choices so that you can override your “bad genes” and emphasize the expression of “good genes."
In the future, security guards won't be chubby failed cops getting minimum wage. Instead, they'll be metal death machines that can spray 900 bullets per minute if you're intruding without proper ID.
Robotic sentries are presently patrolling Israel's 70-kilometer Gaza border, and South Korea's 250-kilometer DMZ. Russia has developed a remarkably lethal beast — the MRK-27-BT — touted as superior to the USA's SWORDS in Iraq, and Australia shot into the market with its ferociously-named "Redback Metal Storm."
Border protection is just the beginning job for these brutal 'bots. Additional employment will be found at airports, banks, and all facilities critical to a nation's security: nuclear power plants, oil platforms, military installations, desalination plants, dams, harbors, etc.
6:00: I wake up euphoric after a wonderful night of programmed dreams. After climbing out of my deprivation pod, I challenge my synthetic heart with 350 pushups — the recommended workout for a 114-year old. Next I gaze out the window of my 153rd floor home at the other Farmpartments, all energy self-sufficient and covered with dwarf fruit that the robo-monkeys pick for us in the night. What should I do first? Get my e-democracy voting over with, or loosen up with my Sexbot? I chose the latter. As I grunt happily with my Margaret Sanger model, I hear my wife in the next room doing the same thing with her love-droid. Ha, ha. These were great 80th Anniversary presents for each other.
6:30: Now I’m voting. What a chore. With representative democracy, instead of the every-two-year ballot box, I now vote on numerous issues every single day. My phone shows me myriad ways that the budget can be balanced. I check “b” and move on to the propositions.
If Iran's recently announced Surena 2 robot had its speech and vision modules in place, it would surely speak Farsi — Iranian Persian. Looking somewhat like Honda's ASIMO, Iranian state television claims the Surena 2 robot weighs 99 pounds (45 kg) and is 4.76 feet (145 cm) tall. It was developed by more than 20 robotics experts at Tehran University.
6:00: I wake up euphoric after a wonderful night of programmed dreams. After climbing out of my deprivation pod, I challenge my synthetic heart with 350 pushups — the recommended workout for a 114-year old. Next I gaze out the window of my 153rd floor home at the other Farmpartments, all energy self-sufficient and covered with dwarf fruit that the robo-monkeys pick for us in the night. What should I do first? Get my e-democracy voting over with, or loosen up with my 
By the way, know what? I said the whole "risk to being reduced to pets" was an idle question, but if you want me to play at this game, I will...
Don't want to hijack this thread in a Randian apologia direction, especially since I do find her elitism more than a bit off-putting (though I do...
>If we can't define intelligence then the project of attempting to create it will always be incoheren
No, we can't define exactly...
Have you actually read anything Rand ever wrote? Or did you get that idea purely from other people who also haven't read anything Rand ever wrote...