^ArchiveArticles

Desert locust Schistocerca gregaria is a species of locust, a periodically swarming, short-horned grasshopper in the family Acrididae

^{Type
post

Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
January 7, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Global Technology, Machine Learning

Tagged
ADALINE (Adaptive Linear Neuron), Bernard Widrow, Featured, Kuzi early warning tool, Locusts, Oracle ergodic data, Power load demands}

AI Tool Now Predicts Attacks of Locust Swarms for African Farmers

_{Under the right circumstances, data from the past can be used to predict data in the future} _{Robert J. Marks

January 7, 2021

4

Artificial Intelligence, Global Technology, Machine Learning}

A new free AI tool now forewarns African farmers about impending locust attacks: “Farmers and pastoralists receive free SMS alerts 2-3 months in advance of when locusts are highly likely to attack farms and livestock forage in their areas, allowing for early intervention.” The Kuzi early warning tool is one of a number of new tools that can predict reasonably expected futures. This sort of forecasting is possible if there is large body of oracle ergodic data to train machine intelligence. “Oracle ergodic” simply means that data from the past can be used to predict data in the future. That’s not self-evident. Flipping a coin, for example, is not oracle ergodic in the sense that a history of past flips Read More ›

translation, business, and technology concept - male translator or businessman with laptop computer thinking at office over greeting words in different foreign languages

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post

Author
News
Date
January 7, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture

Tagged
Featured, Jonathan Bartlett, Machine translation, Robert J. Marks, translation}

#10 AI Success!: Translation Gets Faster and Better

_{Machine translation, properly used, can help us communicate better} _{News

January 7, 2021

5

Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture}

Once again, our Walter Bradley Center director, Robert J. Marks, is back with Jonathan Bartlett and Eric Holloway —this time to to discuss real advances in AI in 2020. Readers may recall that we offered a fun series during the holidays about some of the oopses and ums and ers in the discipline (typically hyped by uncritical sources). Now it’s time to celebrate the real achievements! Let’s start with how machine translation, properly used, can help us communicate better. https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-116-Jonathan-Bartlett-Eric-Holloway.mp3 Our story begins at 03:11. Here’s a partial transcript. (Show Notes and Additional Resources follow, along with a link to the complete transcript.) Robert J. Marks: Okay, let’s get started with the countdown of AI smash hits of the last Read More ›

Psychology concept. Sunrise and woman silhouette.

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post

Author
News
Date
January 6, 2021

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Complex systems, Consciousness, Daniel J. Siegel, Self-organization}

Can Our Minds Extend Beyond Our Bodies?

_{It depends on how we define our “minds” — Can we disentangle our minds from our experiences?} _{News

January 6, 2021

3

Philosophy of Mind}

Well, here’s a fun coffee break challenge offered by Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., the author of Mind: A Journey to the Heart of Being Human (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology) (2016): … our mind is not simply our perception of experiences, but those experiences themselves. Siegel argues that it’s impossible to completely disentangle our subjective view of the world from our interactions. “I realized if someone asked me to define the shoreline but insisted, is it the water or the sand, I would have to say the shore is both sand and sea,” says Siegel. “You can’t limit our understanding of the coastline to insist it’s one or the other. I started thinking, maybe the mind is like the coastline—some Read More ›

cropped shot of radio host speaking in microphone in broadcasitng studio

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post

Author
Stephen Berger
Date
January 6, 2021

Categorized
Global Technology, Programming

Tagged
Dynamic spectrum access networks (DySPAN), Featured, Policy-based radio, Risk management, Wireless}

Radio Is Changing From Hardware to Software: New Policies Needed!

_{Perhaps surprisingly, theology may play a role in determining how radio will be used} _{Stephen Berger

January 6, 2021

10

Global Technology, Programming}

As I noted in an article earlier this week, dynamic spectrum access networks (DySPAN), implementing policy-based radio, are defining the future of wireless. The new networks are based on ontologies. Ontology is the study of the essential nature of a subject. It identifies the objects or variables that are involved. It then identifies the relationships between them. An ontology identifies the variables and how they relate to one another. That knowledge is then used to develop solutions. The initial ontology focuses on the variables that may result in one radio service interfering with another. The subject is the transmission level. The purpose is to improve coexistence. The goal is to get transmitters to share the same spectrum with a minimum Read More ›

Tree brain with human head cape, idea concept of think hope freedom and mind , surreal artwork, dream art , fantasy landscape, imagination of nature

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
January 5, 2021

Categorized
Philosophy, Science

Tagged
Bernardo Kastrup, Materialism, Peter Vickers, Physicalism}

Must Science Be Materialist in Principle?

_{Philosopher Peter Vickers says yes. Philosopher and computer scientist Bernardo Kastrup says no.} _{News

January 5, 2021

3

Philosophy, Science}

Recently, neurosurgeon Michael Egnor interviewed Dutch computer scientist, Bernardo Kastrup. Kastrup has been engaged in a debate with “science first” philosopher Peter Vickers. Read More ›

Aphrodisiac pill for libido and sexual drive

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
January 5, 2021

Categorized
Ethics, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Compassion, Epigenetics, Mothers, Oxytocin}

Can a Hormone Explain Why Humans Love Each Other?

_{Some researchers think they have zeroed in on an explanation, oxytocin} _{News

January 5, 2021

4

Ethics, Philosophy of Mind}

Some researchers have been trying to understand why mothers love their children: When it comes to biological mechanisms of empathy, scientists are particularly interested in oxytocin, the so-called “love hormone.” High oxytocin levels predict sensitive parenting, but it isn’t clear how the oxytocin-related gene might generate variation in empathy and parental behavior. One possible explanation is epigenetic changes to the gene — a way of altering gene function without changing the actual DNA sequence. Specifically, “DNA methylation” — the addition of a chemical group called the “methyl” group at specific locations — in the oxytocin gene (called OXT) has been associated with personality traits and brain structure in humans. This raises a question: can methylation of OXT influence empathy in Read More ›

Basketball scoring basket at a sports arena

^{Type
post

Author
Jay Cordes and Gary Smith
Date
January 4, 2021

Categorized
Sports

Tagged
Craig Hodges, Data analysis, Featured, Hot Hand Fallacy, Phantom Pattern Problem (book), Probability, Statistics, Steph Curry}

Steph Curry Got Red Hot and Torched the “Hot Hand Fallacy”

_{Many statisticians dismiss remarkable streaks like his as the Hot Hand Fallacy. Are they right?} _{Jay Cordes and Gary Smith

January 4, 2021

5

Sports}

Is “Hot Hands” really a fallacy, as some claim? Steph Curry is arguably the greatest shooter in National Basketball Association (NBA) history. In 2020, during practice the day after Christmas, Curry demolished that record by making 105 consecutive 3-point shots. Read More ›

Vintage microphone and headphones with signboard on air. Broadcasting radio station concept.

^{Type
post

Author
Stephen Berger
Date
January 4, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence

Tagged
Communications, Featured, Radio communications, Spectrum Policy Task Force}

We Are Running Out Of Radio Spectrum But AI Might Help

_{Future generations of wireless (radio wave) communications will depend on artificial intelligence (AI)} _{Stephen Berger

January 4, 2021

6

Artificial Intelligence}

Today’s wireless (radio wave) communications are already vastly different from those of previous generations. One difference is the move to much more adaptable hardware controlled by software—software defined radio or reconfigurable radio. Future generations of the technology will move increasingly to dynamic spectrum networks (DySPAN), using adaptive spectrum access techniques. One outcome might be an improvement in transmission priority. Most people would agree that a call to 9-11 should get priority routing as opposed to routine calls to friends and businesses. The networks will reason not only about its transmission options but the needs of the underlying content. AI enables these possibilities. But here’s the problem: Based on traditional methods of spectrum management we have run out of spectrum. The Read More ›

A miracle happened. Disabled handicapped man is healthy again. He is happy and jumping at sunset.

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post

Author
News
Date
January 3, 2021

Categorized
Religion, Science

Tagged
Miracles, Tim Andersen}

A Physicist Tries To Understand Miracles

_{Andersen helpfully dismisses foolish arguments against the possibility of miracles} _{News

January 3, 2021

3

Religion, Science}

In a longish and very interesting article, physicist Tim Andersen tries to understand miracles. From a religious perspective, miracles are direct actions by God. They need not involve violations of laws of nature. There is no “law of nature” that says your mom couldn’t get a remission from cancer—though friends who pray for it might say it’s a miracle if she does. Similarly, we are told in the Book of Daniel (6:22) that the mouths of the lions, to whom Daniel was thrown, were shut by an angel. But it’s not clear that any violation of the laws of nature was involved. All we know is that the lions did not attack Daniel. Andersen helpfully dismisses foolish arguments against the Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
January 3, 2021

Categorized
Philosophy, Science

Tagged
Jonathan Bartlett}

Jonathan Bartlett on Why We Do Not Live in a Simulated Universe

_{Bartlett: I can make a model of atoms moving around, but it actually requires entire computers, which are all made of trillions of atoms, to make that simulation.} _{News

January 3, 2021

3

Philosophy, Science}

In the third installment of our top 12 AI hypes of the year (the Dirty Dozen), Jonathan Bartlett offered some thoughts on why he thinks we are not living in an intelligent alien’s giant sim universe, as many believe (Elon Musk) or at least think the claim is reasonable ( Martin Rees, Nick Bostrom). Here’s what Jonathan, of the Blyth Institute says about it, in conversation with Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks: Robert J. Marks: I think there’s three reasons that we can have this complexity that we observe. One is an intelligent creator. The second one which is purported is panspermia, that all of this complexity was planted here on earth by some aliens. Elon Musk actually Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
January 3, 2021

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Religion

Tagged
Decision Theory, J. P. Moreland, Reality}

How Do We Know What Is Real? Philosopher J. P. Moreland Can Help

_{News

January 3, 2021

1

Philosophy of Mind, Religion}

This coming August will mark the beginning of a battle that I began with three different forms of cancer that I continue to this day to be fighting. I don’t know how long I have… When is it okay to disagree with what the majority of experts in a field believe? … I’m going to go with the majority of experts, unless something happens. If there are two conditions present, you are justified in going against the vast majority of experts. Number 1: If the majority opinion is based on non-rational factors If there is a small, educated rebel group who publish in peer-reviewed journals and high quality books who have provided an alternative paradigm. (July 9, 2018) Remember Moreland’s Read More ›

astronaut looking at the alien tentacles coming out of the portal, digital art style, illustration painting

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post

Author
News
Date
January 2, 2021

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science

Tagged
Extraterrestrials (ET), NASA}

Researchers: We Don’t See ETs Because They Are All Dead

_{According to some NASA researchers, they may have destroyed themselves} _{News

January 2, 2021

4

Arts & Culture, Science}

A recent NASA study suggests that most extraterrestrial civilizations have died out. : The statement comes from researchers with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the California Institute of Technology and Santiago High School who used an updated version of an equation to calculate the likely existence of intelligent life and determined aliens may have emerged some eight billion years after our galaxy formed. With these results, the team included the idea that progress of science and technology inevitably leads to the destruction of civilizations and because humans have yet to make contact outside our planet, scientists now think they know why… ‘If intelligent life is likely to destroy themselves, it is not surprising that there is little or no intelligent life Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
January 2, 2021

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science

Tagged
Avarya, DUST, Gökalp Gönen, Isaac Asimov, Three Laws of Robotics}

Sci Fi Saturday: Can a Robot Find a Better Planet Than Earth

_{The trouble is, the robot is governed by Isaac Asimov’s three laws of robotics} _{News

January 2, 2021

3

Arts & Culture, Science}

In “Avarya” (19:30 min) by Gökalp Gönen (English subtitles) an elderly human fleeing Earth seeking a new habitable planet is trapped in his own ship after the robot overseer finds every single candidate planet unsuitable. The robot’s behavior is based strictly on Isaac Asimov’s’s Laws of Robotics: First Law: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. Second Law: A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. Third Law: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law. And it’s a dark and witty Read More ›

Close encounters of the third kind. Unidentified objects coming from space. Contact with extraterrestrials UFO.

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post

Author
News
Date
January 2, 2021

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science

Tagged
Extraterrestrials (ET), Will Lockett}

Science Writer Warns: Contact With Aliens Might Not Turn Out Well

_{Lockett doesn’t say we shouldn’t explore; it’s more of a warning} _{News

January 2, 2021

3

Arts & Culture, Science}

Will Lockett offers some pessimistic thoughts: It is 100% possible that our cosmic neighbours might have no empathy at all, hunt us for sport, have tribal wars, regular duals to the death or ritualistically kill foreign organisms for religious reasons. So rather than being overrun by the galactic version of the British, it might be more like the Klingons or Predator (Ridley Scott). They may even be like the Vogons from Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy and see Earth as something in the way that needs to be demolished. Will Lockett, “Should We Meet Aliens?” at Medium Lockett doesn’t say we shouldn’t explore; it’s more of a warning: If by some miracle there is a civilisation a few lightyears Read More ›

The head of a cyborg with wires on a gray background.

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
January 2, 2021

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science

Tagged
Androids, Kiko (short film), Science fiction}

Sci Fi Saturday: Kiko: A Great Short But Key Questions Unanswered

_{A lonely retail service robot longs for a world beyond her store} _{News

January 2, 2021

3

Arts & Culture, Science}

“Kiko,” (9:20 min) by Jamil Munoz, tells the tale of a lonely retail service android who longs for a world beyond her store. Her signature line, “Goodnight, Charlie,” is priceless, as she is then all alone again, a mere as part of the business equipment. It’s an agreeable short (no spoilers, except that the kid who comes to her rescue is great). The android is wholly believable but the film never addresses the question of how the proprietor of “Charlie’s” computer retail store could have created or acquired a robot that had attributes like wanting a different type of life. A farmer can’t “create” a horse who wants to go to university. Even if the farmer could create a horse, Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
January 2, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence

Tagged
Elon Musk, Featured, Jonathan Bartlett, Neuralink, Robert J. Marks}

Our #1 AI Hype of 2020!: Elon Musk Will Fix Your Brain!

_{The device has been tried on rats, mice, and pigs.} _{News

January 2, 2021

9

Artificial Intelligence}

In #2 of our Top Ten AI Hypes, a guy left his day job to help make AI that thinks like people. Honestly, some of us were stuck for what we could do to top that! Well, our nerds came through for #1!: How about “Elon Musk wants to connect your BRAIN to a computer this year as ‘awesome’ Neuralink mind-chip prepares to launch” (The Sun) ELON Musk has tweeted that his brain-computer chip company Neuralink is working on an “awesome” version of the device. The kooky billionaire believes his brain interface tech will turn humans into a genius super race. Charlotte Edwards, “Elon Musk wants to connect your BRAIN to a computer this year as ‘awesome’ Neuralink mind-chip prepares Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
January 1, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Eric Holloway, Featured, Gödel's Second Incompleteness Theorem, Jonathan Bartlett, Robert J. Marks, trust, Trustworthiness}

#3 AI, We Are Now Told, Knows When It Shouldn’t Be Trusted!

_{Gödel's Second Incompleteness Theorem says that, for any system that can reliably tell you that things are true or false, it cannot tell you that it itself is reliable.} _{News

January 1, 2021

6

Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

Okay, so, in #4, we learned that Elon Musk’s utterly self-driving car won’t be on the road any time soon. What about the AI that knows when it shouldn’t be trusted? (As if anyone does!) Our nerds here at the Walter Bradley Center have been discussing the top twelve AI hypes of the year. Our director Robert J. Marks, Eric Holloway and Jonathan Bartlett talk about overhyped AI ideas (from a year in which we saw major advances, along with inevitable hypes). From the AI Dirty Dozen 2020 Part III, here’s #3: AI that knows when it shouldn’t be trusted: https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-115-Jonathan-Bartlett-Eric-Holloway.mp3 Our story begins at 12:57. Here’s a partial transcript. Show Notes and Additional Resources follow, along with a link Read More ›

Tired man sitting in car, wearing in sleeping mask

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
January 1, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance

Tagged
Autonomous Vehicles, Elon Musk, Eric Holloway, Featured, Jonathan Bartlett, Robert J. Marks, self-driving cars}

#4 Elon Musk: This Time Autopilot Is Going To WORK!

_{Jonathan Bartlett: I have to say, part of me loves Elon Musk and part of me can't stand the guy} _{News

January 1, 2021

7

Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance}

Our nerds here at the Walter Bradley Center have been discussing the top twelve AI hypes of the year. Our director Robert J. Marks, Eric Holloway and Jonathan Bartlett talk about overyhyped AI ideas (from a year in which we saw major advances, along with inevitable hypes). From AI Dirty Dozen 2020 Part III, here’s #4: Elon Musk’s fully self-driving software is finally going to work: Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Tuesday that the test version of the company’s Autopilot system will be released in “a month or so.” While he didn’t describe its capabilities, Musk said that once it’s out, “you’ll see what it’s like. It’s amazing. It’s clearly going to work.” Chris Woodyard, “Elon Musk says Tesla’s full Read More ›

Robot with Artificial Intelligence observing human skull in Evolved Cybernetic organism world. 3d rendered image

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
January 1, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Eric Holloway, Featured, Loopt, Robert J. Marks, Roman Yampolskiy, Sam Altman, Y Combinator}

#2 Computers Can Be As Smart As Humans If We Crowdfund Them!

_{Eric Holloway: Y Combinator's Sam Altman is taking a crazy movement to its logical conclusion} _{News

January 1, 2021

11

Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

So, in #3, AI knows when it shouldn’t be trusted? even though no one else does? But now, what about #2?: Sam Altman’s leap of faith!, that an AI will think like people: Earlier this year, founder-investor Sam Altman left his high-profile role as the president of Y Combinator to become the CEO of OpenAI, an AI research outfit that was founded by some of the most prominent people in the tech industry in late 2015. The idea: to ensure that artificial intelligence is “developed in a way that is safe and is beneficial to humanity,” as one of those founders, Elon Musk, said back then to the New York Times. The move is intriguing for many reasons, including that Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
December 31, 2020

Categorized
Education

Tagged
Alfred North Whitehead, Bertrand Russell, Kurt Gödel, Rene Descartes}

Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorems: The Cause—and Cure—of Wokeness?

_{Why do so many people today think there are only arguments, not facts?} _{Jonathan Bartlett

December 31, 2020

6

Education}

In modern “woke” ideology, there are no facts, only arguments which express cultural power— based on the acceptance of those arguments by current society. In such ideologies, it is not important whether or not the arguments are logically consistent or if they are true in any real sense. What is important is whether or not they achieve the desired results in politics and society. This is not a criticism. It is a description of their methodology (for a review of the academic literature on the subject, see the book Cynical Theories by Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay. Many people wonder how we got here. Why do so many scholars actively reject logic as a method of finding the truth, and Read More ›