Download or read book Technological singularity a grandiose dream A would be glorious achievement for its proponents but an idea eliciting second thoughts from the sceptic written by Fritz Dufour, Linguist, MBA, DESS and published by Fritz Dufour. This book was released on 2017-06-08 with total page 6 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Technological singularity is a term that hasn’t sunk in yet. Ask the average person about it and you’ll likely get an answer that sounds like: “what’s that?”, “what do you mean?”. When I first heard the term, my first thought was: we will use just one technology for everything instead of a variety of them. I was far from thinking it’s will be something created by Mankind but that will spell the end of our own species. In other words, a self-inflicted wound. 2045 is an unrealistic date when we consider the implications of technological singularity. The information revolution started during World War II. In roughly 75 years, since the advent of Intranet of the US Department of Defense, the first computers (Colossus in Britain and ENIAC in the United States), and later the Internet followed by the democratization of personal computers, smartphones and other connected devices, our lifestyle has drastically changed. Overly optimistic scholars and visionaries have gone so far as to predict a potential takeover of the planet by homegrown machines. That idea or suggestion, although in line with current trends in technological advances, is flawed. It’s a big dream, a grandiose dream, and there is nothing wrong with dreaming big. But the end results of technological singularity, if the latter ever materializes, wouldn’t even qualify to be labeled a technological revolution, when compared to the agricultural, the writing, the printing, the industrial, and the information revolutions. Why is that?

Download or read book The Realities of Reality Part I It All Starts from Within written by Fritz Dufour, MBA, DESS and published by Fritz Dufour, MBA, DESS. This book was released on 2018-03-16 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is the first of a series that considers the many aspects of reality. I call it ‘It all starts from within’ because reality starts with each of us individually and independently. It starts from our inner self before evolving into what I would call the collective reality, meaning a generally agreed upon state in which groups of people, entire nations, or the whole world believe. That reality includes beliefs, cultures, ideologies, etc. As we change and adapt to our environment, our reality changes as well. New realities emerge… Chapter one is about perception and our senses. It demonstrates how perception is impossible without our senses. Whatever angle of reality that’s being analyzed, one or more of our senses plays a momentous role in its understanding… Chapter two considers the role of the brain in the making of reality. It delves into how the brain can make the mind behave a certain way under certain circumstances… Chapter three looks at the mind, which I call the ultimate maker of reality. This chapter describes the mind as that intangible component of the brain and where reality or all realities stem from after, of course, being picked up by the senses and the brain… Chapter four attempts to define reality itself after it’s perceived by our senses, analyzed by our brain, and processed by our mind…I consider five questions in my attempt to answer the question: what is reality? They are: what are things and why do they look different from one another? What is life and its origins? What is death? What is superstition? What is space and are we alone in the universe?

Download or read book Understanding What Makes a Person Unique A Multi pronged Approach written by Fritz Dufour, Linguist, MBA, DESS and published by Fritz Dufour. This book was released on with total page 22 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a look into the different parameters that make a human being unique and that prove there has never been someone like you before you were born and that there will never be someone like you after you leave this world. The article considers human uniqueness on two levels: Biology and Environment, which, when combined, make each of us a unique being among the more than 7 billion who currently live on the planet. From fertilization to somatic death, we are all different. The article shows the balance between biology and the forces of our environment such as culture, government, faith, and technology. This article also considers the future of human uniqueness based on technological progress.

Download or read book The Realities of Reality Part III Impacts of Speed and Time Optimization on Reality written by Fritz Dufour, MBA, DESS and published by Fritz Dufour. This book was released on 2019-08-28 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The main theme of this book is the impacts of speed and time optimization on reality, or more precisely on our modern society. But first, it sets the background by exploring the physics behind the concepts of speed and time, how they came about, how we became aware of them, and how did the new world of speed emerge, and why does it seem to be inescapable? It explores the speed of light and the speed of sound by linking them to our environment. It introduces the notion of Arrow of time or entropy, which grows from the past to the present, is expected to keep growing in the future, and hypothesizes that this is perhaps why our craving for speed and time optimization is here to stay with no end in sight. An important point discussed is that because of memories and experiences, people may choose to live either in the past, present, or future, which leads to the notions of presentism and eternalism. The book argues that while for presentists only the present is real, for eternalists both the past, present, and future are equally real. The book makes the case about speed and time optimization as a legacy of modernity by laying out the differences between modernism, modernization, and modernity itself. It shows how modernity is all about the now or the present, rather than the past and, how, as such, it’s all about the new. So then, the changes that are now happening in our modern world can be traced back to a segment of history that dates back to the beginning of modernity, that is, which began with the Protestant Reformation and, is now rapidly approaching closure in the world of today’s extreme finance. It argues about the technological implications of speed and time in the 21st century. It shows how technology has become an integral part of human existence and that it is inconceivable one can even think of escaping it. This Part III of the series shows the link between high-speed trading and faster connectivity and faster computers. It shows how, thanks to the Internet, information became freely accessible and is spreading faster and faster. It shows how supercomputers not only allow people to address the biggest and most complex problems, they also allow people to solve problems faster, even those that could fit on servers or clusters of PCs. This rapid time to solution is critical in some aspects of emergency preparedness and national defense, where the solutions produced are only valuable if they can be acted on in a timely manner. Finally, the social and psychological implications of speed and time in the 21st century are also addressed by considering the upside and the downside of moving fast, meaning leading a fast-paced life. The argument presented in the book is based on the analysis and the importance of stress in our daily lives and also explains the notion of chronobiology. Our biological clocks drive our circadian rhythms. An interesting point is that blind people may not perceive time the same way as the non-blind. Furthermore, the book shows how we perceive time differently as we age compared to when we were young. It also makes the case for the perception of time in dreams and in real life. Speed and time optimization may be deceiving, according to this Part III of the series. This can be proven by questions such as, (1) Is going over the speed limit really worth it? and (2) Is the saying “Slow down to go faster” a paradox?

Download or read book Is The US Electoral College A Polite Fiction That Should Be Abolished written by Fritz Dufour, Linguist, MBA, DESS and published by Fritz Dufour. This book was released on 2017-12-04 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This article is an argument against the US electoral college as a concept. It looks at the policies and failures of the five electoral college-elected presidents – three of them in the 19th century and the other two in the 21st century. It explores the electoral college’s modus operandi and its hindrance to American democracy to deduct its irrelevance. Mr. Dufour looks at people’s expectations from democracy in the 21st century as well as the meaning of American democracy, which is linked to the American dream to infer the polite fiction nature of the electoral college. The merit of the article lies within the facts it explores and considers as irrefutable evidence against any kind of compatibility between the electoral college and progressivism.

Download or read book The South China Sea A Look into China s Modern Times Maritime Silk Road and Its Geopolitical Implications written by Fritz Dufour, Linguist, MBA, DESS and published by Fritz Dufour. This book was released on 2017-07-08 with total page 12 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Westward expansion has always been more important to China than eastward expansion because except for the Korean peninsula and Japan, China is looking at the vast Pacific Ocean. The west has always been and continues to be China’s lifeline. China has come a long way. Civilizations rise and fall. They come and go. But the Chinese civilization is one of the oldest and most stable. The Chinese engaged in world trade way before America was even discovered. They did that thanks to the Silk Road, which was an ancient caravan route linking Xi'an in central China with the eastern Mediterranean. It was established during the period of Roman rule in Europe, and took its name from the silk which was brought to the west from China . Although trading with the West was quintessential, China has always sought to retain their own economic model. When the four leading powers of the West – England, France, Spain, and Portugal - decided to build their politico-economic empires on triangular trade or face failure, China was thriving, as it had been for millennia. But World War II dealt a serious blow to China’s economy as the United states emerged as the only superpower on both the political and economic levels and put shortly after a policy of containment towards China. That, along with past failures, exacerbated if not China’s resentment at least its mistrust towards the West and, especially towards the United States.

Download or read book The Costs and Implications of Our Demand for Energy A Comparative and Comprehensive Analysis of the Available Energy Resources written by Fritz Dufour, MBA, DESS and published by Fritz Dufour, MBA, DESS. This book was released on 2018-06-03 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is an in-depth analysis of the dynamics of energy in the 21st century. It looks at the risks presented by non-renewable energy sources such as fossil fuels by giving a special consideration to their single most implication: climate change and by considering some fundamental yet important aspects of energy such as its forms, conservation, measure, and distribution. In it, Fritz Dufour also dives deep into the economics of energy by analyzing important concepts such as energy efficiency and the behavioral gap, energy security and its quantification, and the costs and policies of energy programs. Each type of energy – from the non-renewable category of energies (coal, petroleum, and natural gaz) – to the renewable category of energies (solar, wind, hydro, biomass, and geothermal energies) – is analyzed in terms of its discovery, extraction, storage, distribution, use, and pros and cons. A strong argument is presented in favor of being proactive by prioritizing energy-efficient technologies in order to fortify the bleak future of energy, as the world’s population is set to double by the end of the century and as each energy source has its strengths and weaknesses. Finally, the book stresses the dilemma that we face: no known single renewable source of energy can yet make up for or effectively replace the fossil fuels that have been making our world turn and upon which every single human being is directly or indirectly dependent.

Download or read book How Translational Medicine Is Progressively Redefining Healthcare written by Fritz Dufour, MBA, DESS and published by Fritz Dufour. This book was released on 2017-12-19 with total page 23 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The preliminary idea behind translational medicine, conducting biological research to treat diseases, is not a new concept. But, scientists have been serious about placing the patient at all levels of the research process – right at the basic science level phase and all the way to the bedside – since only the 1990s. Today, translational research is a scientific field, although multidisciplinary. That innovation stemmed from the discoveries of new diseases and new technologies that allow healthcare professionals to have new perspectives on how to better and more efficiently treat patients. Translational medicine is viable, and it has already proved itself in many areas. Normally, every great discovery or innovation comes with both rewards and challenges, and continuous improvement is what keeps it alive. Translational research, an innovative concept, is not impervious to that rule. This paper examines the antecedents of translational medicine and how it came about. It considers the importance of incorporating basic science, applied science or clinical research, and the patient at every turn of the processes by analyzing the importance of translational research and its direct applications. On the other hand, this paper considers the challenges faced by translational medicine in an age where healthcare costs are skyrocketing, and suggests what can be done to circumvent the downsides. Finally, because the field is relatively new and promising, the discussion that follows also considers the outlook for translational medicine, and how important it is for scientists – artificial intelligence experts, computer, or bioengineers, healthcare professionals and healthcare management professionals – to lay right now the groundwork for future generations.

Download or read book Opportunities and Challenges for Environmental Sustainability A Socioeconomic and Political Analysis written by Fritz Dufour and published by Fritz Dufour. This book was released on 2019-05-26 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report is a socioeconomic and political analysis of environmental sustainability in terms of the present state of the environment, what we can do to reverse the negative trends, and what the current and potential barriers are. First, it offers a background of the issue through a historical perspective. How we got here has a lot to do with how previous generations behaved towards the environment. Similarly, how we behave will determine the kind of environment future generations will have to contend with. It looks at the dynamics likely to impact the balance of nature. Also, because understanding what is biodiversity and why is it important are essential in order to grasp the concept of sustainability, this report looks at the types of ecosystems that form the biosphere and brings an answer to this important question, “Is the Maximum sustainable yield (MSY) concept a fallacy?” Moreover, the importance of cities is a key factor in environmental sustainability. So, the report shows the pros and cons of cities in both the preservation of the environment and the conservation of its biodiversity. The social, economic, and political analyses use the latest data and views from experts, scientists, and scholars alike and also the views of the common people. The result is that all three levels have positives and negatives and so, none of them should be individually prioritized over the other two. To tackle this dilemma, the report offers an alternative: an inclusive, pluralistic, and global approach which aims at motivating all stakeholders – from rich and poor countries – and people from all walks of life to work together towards a common goal and common interests. Such an approach, says the report should be bottom-up instead of top-down, that is, the needs of local populations, especially those closer to biodiversity, must come first before those of large corporations. However, while in the present and short terms, this approach may be successful, in the long term or a distant future, there are reasons to be skeptical for the environment is constantly changing and generations are different from one another. And that is very important because what constitutes the cornerstone of environmental sustainability is this: the present use of natural resources should not be harmful to future generations. Therefore, the report looks into the future. While acknowledging that, in terms of environmental sustainability, predicting the future is a daunting task – because it is better to think that the future is now – the report shows how we can prepare a soft landing for our great grand-children by laying the groundwork for them. We can accomplish this last task because we still have time.

Download or read book The Realities of Reality Part II Making Sense of Why Modern Science Advances Volume 1 written by Fritz Dufour, MBA, DESS and published by Fritz Dufour. This book was released on 2018-09-19 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Volume 1 of Part II considers the factors that make science progress. It lays out the differences between normal science and pseudoscience by showing the importance of the scientific method in the advancement of science. It introduces the concept of Truth in science by raising the point that even though truth is based on the scientific method, can science be true? Can it depict reality? The author focuses on modern science, which, he thinks, was born thanks to the Scientific Revolution which started with Galileo Galilei and led to the Industrial Revolution. The impacts of the latter is analyzed in light modernism, modernization, and modernity, all three linked to scientific progress. The book also talks about the Newtonian scientific leap – by analyzing particularly the then social and political fabrics of England – and Albert Einstein by showing how he changed history. According to the author, our very physical world can help us understand scientific progress. So, he explains, among other things, the structure of atoms and molecules, the role of physics in the understanding of our universe, Quantum Mechanics, and the importance of Higgs-Boson. On the other hand, the book is a stunning revelation of how important information is to scientific progress. To make his point, the author, first, talks about John Vincent Atanasoff as the Father of computer thanks to the invention of his ABC computer and then, Alan Turing as the Father of modern computer thanks to his Turing Test and his views on Artificial Intelligence. Both men played a momentous role in the Digital Revolution and in the Information Age, according to the book. Finally, the author talks about nanotechnology, which explores the world of small, meaning at the atomic and the molecular levels and is an inescapable tool in the molecular biology revolution which, itself, is an important factor in scientific progress and in transhumanism or human enhancement defined as the ideology according to which man can surpass his present state by improving his genetic material.

Download or read book Exploring the Possibilities for the Emergence of a Single and Global Native Language written by Fritz Dufour, Linguist, MBA, DESS and published by Fritz Dufour. This book was released on 2017-11-09 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a look into the possibilities for the emergence of a single and universal native language by taking into consideration the common denominator that characterizes all spoken languages: sounds. This book describes the acquisition of language in terms of speech, its use, and its development or evolution. The hypothesis of a monolingual world is supported by strong arguments, facts, and theories. This is both a descriptive and a prescriptive approach in the sens that not only Mr. Dufour portrays the current linguistic status quo as it is, but also, he prescribes a way to go about making our planet monolingual through a detailed awareness campaign plan and practical views likely to help us achieve that goal if followed properly. His approach is a novel one and is commendable. This is a reference book, definitely one to read, whether you're a linguist or not.

Download or read book Reflections and Observations on Mark Twain s The Gilded Age A Tale of Today written by Fritz Dufour and published by Fritz Dufour. This book was released on 2021-02-27 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Gilded Age: a Tale of Today is a depiction of those crimes committed in the United States in the late 19th Century which so frequently went unpunished and of the casualties which ought to be called crimes. The description severely winds up with the satirical verdict “No one to blame.” The project of Colonel Sellers for raising mules for the Southern markets is a satire upon the fraudulency and soap-bubble speculation of capitalists. The work is full of hints and descriptions that take their rise from the frauds and outrages under which the country had plagued for so many years. Family, social and national questions are all cleverly satirized. The monument erected to the memory of the Father of his country – a monument begun, but, of course, never completed – calls forth some strokes of bitter but not unjust humor. The means by which preferment is obtained in Washington are amply satirized. There are two views of this book: favorable and unfavorable. This essay considers both. For instance, while some critics think that it is incoherent, others suggests that the narrative departs from the traditional methods of concluding and is thereby more natural than most novels because every chapter of the book bears the marks of both writers and is therefore a novelty in its way. In this essay I argue that The Gilded Age is essentially a satire and should always be accepted as such. Of course, other good contemporary books did not make it to our time in terms of popularity and legacy. The Gilded Age did. We talk, write, and read about it to this day. Evidently, it is an integral part of the annals of American literature and fully contributes to Mark Twain’s reputation, legacy, and lasting influence.

Download or read book The Technological Singularity written by Victor Callaghan and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-05-22 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume contains a selection of authoritative essays exploring the central questions raised by the conjectured technological singularity. In informed yet jargon-free contributions written by active research scientists, philosophers and sociologists, it goes beyond philosophical discussion to provide a detailed account of the risks that the singularity poses to human society and, perhaps most usefully, the possible actions that society and technologists can take to manage the journey to any singularity in a way that ensures a positive rather than a negative impact on society. The discussions provide perspectives that cover technological, political and business issues. The aim is to bring clarity and rigor to the debate in a way that will inform and stimulate both experts and interested general readers.

Download or read book The Technological Singularity written by Murray Shanahan and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2015-08-07 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The idea of technological singularity, and what it would mean if ordinary human intelligence were enhanced or overtaken by artificial intelligence. The idea that human history is approaching a “singularity”—that ordinary humans will someday be overtaken by artificially intelligent machines or cognitively enhanced biological intelligence, or both—has moved from the realm of science fiction to serious debate. Some singularity theorists predict that if the field of artificial intelligence (AI) continues to develop at its current dizzying rate, the singularity could come about in the middle of the present century. Murray Shanahan offers an introduction to the idea of the singularity and considers the ramifications of such a potentially seismic event. Shanahan's aim is not to make predictions but rather to investigate a range of scenarios. Whether we believe that singularity is near or far, likely or impossible, apocalypse or utopia, the very idea raises crucial philosophical and pragmatic questions, forcing us to think seriously about what we want as a species. Shanahan describes technological advances in AI, both biologically inspired and engineered from scratch. Once human-level AI—theoretically possible, but difficult to accomplish—has been achieved, he explains, the transition to superintelligent AI could be very rapid. Shanahan considers what the existence of superintelligent machines could mean for such matters as personhood, responsibility, rights, and identity. Some superhuman AI agents might be created to benefit humankind; some might go rogue. (Is Siri the template, or HAL?) The singularity presents both an existential threat to humanity and an existential opportunity for humanity to transcend its limitations. Shanahan makes it clear that we need to imagine both possibilities if we want to bring about the better outcome.

Download or read book Resisting Reduction written by Nicky Case and published by Mit Press. This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provocative, hopeful essays imagine a future that is not reduced to algorithms. When Joi Ito published an essay, "Resisting Reduction: A Manifesto," about human flourishing in an age of machine intelligence, his argument against industrial optimizations in the pursuit of growth and for the importance of natural complexity and resilience received such an impassioned response that he invited writers to develop full-length essays continuing the conversation. Resisting Reduction is the result: Ito's manifesto and nine equally provocative responses, all imagining a future that is not limited by a worldview defined by algorithm. Rather than await our inevitable domination by machines, Ito and his respondents argue, we should work toward a future of interconnected complex systems. Ito blames Silicon Valley's "groupthink" and "cult of technology" for claiming that narrow technical solutions can resolve the world's complex problems. More computing power does not make us more "intelligent," he tells us, only more computationally powerful. In their responses, the other writers offer persuasive and compelling variations on Ito's argument. Among other things, they call for a "Human+AI Centaur" as the best way to augment intelligence; draw on indigenous epistemology to argue for an extended "circle of relationships" that includes the nonhuman and robotic; debunk the myth of the lone pioneer and propose instead a model of adaptive interconnectivity; cast "Snow White" as a tale of AI featuring a "smart mirror"; point out the "cisnormativity" of security protocol algorithms; and consider the limits of moral mathematics. Contributors Noelani Arista, Nicky Case, Sasha Costanza-Chock, Vafa Ghazavi, Kat Holmes, Joi Ito, Suzanne aka Kite, Cathryn Klusmeier, Jason Edward Lewis, Molly McCue, Archer Pechawis, Jaclyn Sawyer, Gary Zhexi Zhang, Snoweria Zhang

Download or read book The Technological Society written by Jacques Ellul and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2021-07-27 with total page 531 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As insightful and wise today as it was when originally published in 1954, Jacques Ellul's The Technological Society has become a classic in its field, laying the groundwork for all other studies of technology and society that have followed. Ellul offers a penetrating analysis of our technological civilization, showing how technology—which began innocuously enough as a servant of humankind—threatens to overthrow humanity itself in its ongoing creation of an environment that meets its own ends. No conversation about the dangers of technology and its unavoidable effects on society can begin without a careful reading of this book. "A magnificent book . . . He goes through one human activity after another and shows how it has been technicized, rendered efficient, and diminished in the process.”—Harper's “One of the most important books of the second half of the twentieth-century. In it, Jacques Ellul convincingly demonstrates that technology, which we continue to conceptualize as the servant of man, will overthrow everything that prevents the internal logic of its development, including humanity itself—unless we take necessary steps to move human society out of the environment that 'technique' is creating to meet its own needs.”—The Nation “A description of the way in which technology has become completely autonomous and is in the process of taking over the traditional values of every society without exception, subverting and suppressing these values to produce at last a monolithic world culture in which all non-technological difference and variety are mere appearance.”—Los Angeles Free Press

Download or read book The Next Digital Decade written by Berin Szoka and published by TechFreedom. This book was released on 2011-06-10 with total page 578 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: