The Great Geek Manual

More than a decade ago, 21•C Magazine invited the world’s top physicists, neuroscientists, psychologists, artificial intelligence experts and philosophers to express their opinion on whether androids will dream. And if so, of what. The answers were interesting and bear revisiting.

Androids will not dream of electric sheep – because there will not be any androids. The human being is such an ungainly heap of design flaws that no one will waste the time and money needed to make an artificial one. We will, however, fashion devices bright enough to merit the description intelligent. Such devices will have desires (why else would they do anything) and will need to be able to entertain possible ways of satisfying those desires (or else they wouldn’t be very intelligent, would they?) – and isn’t this precisely the stuff that dreams are made of? What, then, will these utterly inhuman intelligences dream of? Let us hope it is something as mundane as electric sheep, for they might instead dream of ways to rid themselves of the pesky heaps of design flaws that were their designers. Intelligence thrives on wildness: It does not take well to enslavement.

– Pete Mandik, Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology at Washington U

Read more: Will Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

You always hear people complaining about how much time kids spend online today, but you rarely hear anyone acknowledge the fact that sitting in front of a computer is worlds apart from sitting in front of a television screen. In the this video, the lead researcher of the Digital Youth Project talks about the importance of online socialization for teens. It’s kind of refreshing. Of course, that may just be the net addiction talking.

The Economist has run a great article on the proliferation of data being generated by the information economy and the challenges it poses. It’s a brief but thought-provoking piece entitled Data, data everywhere written by Kenneth Cukier.

The world contains an unimaginably vast amount of digital information which is getting ever vaster ever more rapidly. This makes it possible to do many things that previously could not be done: spot business trends, prevent diseases, combat crime and so on. Managed well, the data can be used to unlock new sources of economic value, provide fresh insights into science and hold governments to account.

Yale computer science professor David Gelernter has published a great manifesto entitled “Time to Start Taking the Internet Seriously” at The Edge.org. It starts like this:

No moment in technology history has ever been more exciting or dangerous than now. The Internet is like a new computer running a flashy, exciting demo. We have been entranced by this demo for fifteen years. But now it is time to get to work, and make the Internet do what we want it to.

… but from there, it only gets better. Gelernter makes some great observations about the information age that we’re living in, both from a technical and philosophical stand point. It’s an interesting read.

Seniors take note!

The Society for Geek Advancement (SGA) was founded upon the principles that we should all embrace our inner and outer geek and have fun while doing it. As individuals who love learning, innovating and believe in possibility as well as change, the second step of responsibility is to be the geek that keeps on giving. Member of the SGA work together as a global community to help others realize their true potential.

The video features: Alex Albrecht, Julia Allison, Veronica Belmont, LeVar Burton, Jason Calacanis, Pete Cashmore, Jonathan Coulton, Felicia Day, IJustine, David Karpe, Sarah Lacy, Leo Laporte, Samm Levine, Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Pereira, Kevin Pollak, Kevin Rose, Julia Roy, Brian Solis, Wil Wheaton, Steve Wozniak, Tay Zonday, Randi Zuckerberg,

Check out the Society’s Twitter Feed.

Platform21 is fantastic site devoted to conservation through home repair. It’s one of the best sites I’ve discovered in months. It hits all of the hot trends in tech: conservation, diy projects, hacking, saving money, and technology. It’s especially worth a stop if you’ve found yourself trying to stretch a buck lately.

Over at the What to Fix blog, Daniel compares the increasingly-pervasive technology of today to the use of Heroin in early North America in this thought-provoking essay.

In 1850 people didn’t know how their favorite symphony sounded. Back then, it was common for musicians to work hectic schedules and perform multiple shows in a row. Instruments were frequently out of tune and good, consistent timing was fairly new. In addition, going to the symphony was a big deal: you dressed up, you hitched up the horses, you went into town.

You might only hear your favorite symphony 5 or 6 times in your life. Each time it was probably slightly in a different key, with a slightly different tempo, played with slightly different instruments, and each time you actively strained to hear and remember how it all sounded.

You would sit very attentively, absorbing each and every note and drumbeat of the symphony. It was a play, a painting, an imaginary world come to life, and you were living in it. It was magic.

Source: What to Fix