ESSAYS
Artificial Intelligence, Neurotechnology, and the Final Kingdom
In history, we are reminded that all is in flux. America is likened to Rome. China today is likened to the Tang Dynasty many centuries ago. Europe was pure barbarity, then Europe was the leader of technology and economic development. Empires and kingdoms rise - and...
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Japan is the Canary in the Coal Mine – The Great Virtual Escape
Rich in tradition and material wealth, Japan's reclusive youths are often completely uninterested in sex, relationships, or work. The country's youth - especially men - are seeking escape from the job and romance market. Video game addiction and shut-in adults (almost...
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Thinkers Who I Like – In the Form of Drake Memes
Pardon the esoteric-ness of this post. I'm afraid it'll neither be humorous or relevant for those who haven't read these thinkers, or for those who aren't familiar with their work. David Pearce Ralph Waldo Emerson Michel de Montaigne Nayef Al-Rodhan Andres Gomez...
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Yuanming Yuan – China, Artificial Intelligence, and the Present Weakness of America
During the Second Opium War, in 1860, a combined force of French and British troops trampled Old Summer Palace (known in Chinese as Yuanming Yuan 圆明园; 圓明園) on their way to Beijing. The relatively primitive military forces of the then Qing dynasty could do little to...
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Two Questions – All That Humanity Ultimately Should be Concerned With
The human race has two critical questions to answer in the 21st century: 1. What is a beneficial transition beyond humanity? 2. How do we get there from here without destroying ourselves? These questions presuppose the following hypotheses: Humanity will likely...
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Sugar Cubes – Mind Uploads and the Final Form of Humanity
"Sugar cubes" - Refers to the tiny hypothetical form that human mind uploads might take when they are condensed and stored. These small cubes of computational substrate would likely contain more than our human senses, memories, and consciousness - but would permit for...
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AI Value Alignment isn’t a Problem if We Don’t Coexist
The AI value alignment argument goes something like this: As artificial intelligence will continue to approach human-level intelligence Artificial intelligence will generally be driven by a reward function, by a kind of abstract goal Any such goal could have...
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Universal Basic Happiness (Not Income) – The Result of AI and Abundance
Many renown technology pundits, entrepreneurs, and inventors have posited a similar vision of an artificial intelligence-enabled future: Artificial intelligence and other future technologies will amass tremendous wealth in the hands of a few powerful, dominant...
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Exploration Post-Human Consciousness States – The Value of Psychedelics
Nick Bostrom’s 2007 TED presentation (titled: Humanity's biggest problems aren't what you think they are) involved an illustration that I liked so much that I modeled it - and credited Bostrom - in my first TEDx back in late 2014. I present a modified version of...
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The Most Important Questions That AGI Might Help Us Explore
What matters most? If we have a reasonable chance of building conscious AI and/or post-human intelligence in the next 60 years, it makes sense for us to consider where we’re headed. If we presume we have any control over our fate at all - where will we point the...
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