We live in the moment of Universal opportunity!

Tags

Electric driven farm machinery., Prepare for electricity., Why we need robots.

At the present moment, humanity has a fabulous technological society up and running well. It requires large numbers of people and huge amounts of energy to make it work. The people must have food, which is stored solar energy, and the technology must have energy also which is ultimately stored solar energy. Most of the energy for our machines comes from coal or petroleum, with some from falling water, solar collectors and wind. The only non-solar power is from radioactive sources converted to electricity. All of these energy sources can, with processing, ultimately be used to create human food, but as coal and petroleum become scarce their prices will go higher and food prices will rise too. A google search says, “At the current rate of consumption, the current U. S. petroleum, natural gas, and coal reserves will last approximately for 4.88 years, 12.2 years, and 258 years, respectively.” 

As our population grows the consumption will increase and the demand on the resources will increase also. I don’t know if those figures are accurate, but if they are there are cars built today that will outlast the fuel supply. My second car, a 1996 Geo Prizm with a hundred thousand miles, runs perfectly and gets terrific gas mileage. A search showed up similar Prizms with over two hundred thousand miles that people were still expecting to sell, which means that at my current usage my car will outlast the fuel supply. I’m not that pessimistic, but the point is that those fuel sources won’t last forever. With world population over seven billion and still growing, the hydrocarbon form of stored solar energy will not meet demands for much longer. It will hurt those who love world travel, but it will kill people who are now spending most of their income on food. The still-evolving food production industry based on CRISPR will possibly double the food being grown on a given plot of land with the water available, but even with that possibility, we are nearing a time when our resources will have trouble supplying sufficient food for everyone.

The goal with this post isn’t to paint a picture of failure, but one of motivation to do what we can to bring our human society into a state of sustainable equilibrium. That is why robots which use electricity for their power seem like a very helpful step forward for all humanity. The equipment needed to create food can be designed and built, even now, to operate wholly on electrical power that is generated by renewable forms of solar-sourced energy. Electrically powered farm equipment can be made even now but it isn’t being done because the petroleum-driven equipment is still cheaper.

What is being proposed here is that all the infrastructure be designed and built in some realistically operable way so it can be easily ramped up to full-scale production by simply building in quantity what is known to work. The technology is halfway there already, but the present equipment is still powered by petroleum and partially operated by humans. That is good enough for the moment.

Prethink and prebuild the basic sustainable infrastructure now, before our technological society is overwhelmed by the lack of cheap energy and food. 

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Human survival with robots and annihilation without robots.

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A safer world with robots, Annihilation without robots, In 20 years we will love our robots, Survival with robots

Yesterday my post ended with, “My enthusiasm is to do what I can to bring a robot society into existence which will endure for billions of years.” Most people, when I mention a coming robot society, get worried! What will all the poor people do, they are already finding it impossible to find good paying jobs? I comfort them by saying that most of all traditional jobs will be gone in thirty years and replaced by robots who can do their jobs better and cheaper. The people whose jobs have vanished will be given the benefits that would have accrued to them because the work will be done by the robots and the pay will go to the people.

Temporarily, there will be many new jobs in the form of robot repair and people will be doing jobs that haven’t been replaced by robots … yet. However, human designers and the robots themselves are working on finding those human jobs that the robots can’t do and are redesigning the desired end products to be made by robots so there won’t be any need for human labor. There is no need for humans to do manually skilled things like build houses if they can be prefabricated in a robot factory, hauled in self-driving trucks to the site, and assembled into a house by a robot. The whole house could be designed from beginning to end to be built for a specific person to their specifications by robots. That could be done at present, but of course, it would cost a lot more than doing it with human laborers because of the set-up costs. The difference, in the long run, is that once a single house was built, and the problems solved, the second house would be built much quicker, and cheaper. The third would be even cheaper, and the millionth as automatic as an automatic clothes washer-dryer-fluffer-hanger and totally free of any expensive human work.

Speaking of these robots as independent entities isn’t quite right because almost all of them will be multiply-linked to the main internet-like system. Even the tiny robots will be reliably linked so they can do their assigned jobs, and can’t be shut down, short of physical destruction, but even that destruction is made perfectly controlled with a backup plan. Hidden robot overseers will be watching from a safe distance and observing whatever might be interfering with the operations of the robot. These overseeing robots will tag the problem and other robots capable of responding appropriately will be sent out to fix the problem, and whatever caused it. Currently, humans might resent the robots, but after a while, they won’t be a problem because the robots are there for their protection and advancement, and will be making their lives noticeably healthier, and happier.

When the people become aware that their whole lives are much better because of the robots they too will become watchers to make sure everything is running perfectly.

Robots can and will offer us a safe, healthy society versus the threats of annihilation from H-bombs that we now endure.

Robot society maintenance

Tags

Human job survival, Robot automobiles, Robot farm equipment, Robot long-haul trucks, Robot maintenance, Robot self-maintenance, Robot society

The creation of the coming robot society is already in progress and it is obviously progressing well. Self-driving cars are already being tested and will be available for public use within a few years. Self-driving long-haul trucks may be used even sooner, initially on open highways in good weather; when they have proven themselves as reliable as human drivers in that venue, their use will expand. This use seems inevitable because they are already viable and their sensing equipment and thus skill level is being improved every day. Automatic farming equipment has already been built and is being tested on large farms. It can autonomously switch between the various pieces of specialized equipment necessary to run a farm, and the farm is being totally operated by computers. Mining operations are also becoming increasingly performed by robot equipment. Many manufacturing jobs have been replaced by robot assembly lines, and even intellectual occupations are also becoming more automated.

It appears that all human occupations can eventually be replaced by robots, but that may take thirty years. The job requiring the most human hands-on ability may be in the form of robot maintenance. It will take a decade to even begin manufacturing the devices mentioned above (self-driving cars, trucks, multi-function-tractors) to be built and designed to be maintained by robots. Only the multi-function farm equipment has the designed-in ability to swap between the various pieces of needed equipment. What is needed is the ability to repair all these pieces of equipment without the use of human maintenance personnel.

The robot society will need some maintenance by humans until all the robots can be maintained by specialized maintenance super-robots. But these will be last-ditch efforts by humans and the super-robots because most of the equipment will be using localized general purpose maintenance robotic equipment. In the not too distant future, all things will be made to be maintained by simple robots, or the robot will report that the item is inoperable and needs to be replaced.

Thus a whole society of robots is needed to maintain the multitude of specialized robots doing ordinary work. In order to totally service humanity, there would need to be a vast number of specialized and multi-function robots. Thousands of years in the future the robot society would have no need to manufacture most of the things humans now want because the humans would no longer be serving any useful function and it wouldn’t be necessary to maintain the complex machines needed to make organic food, for example.

We humans are a temporary transition species moving into a robot society. On an individual level it will probably be a lot of fun.

We must be honest with our new Universe.

Tags

A new reason for honesty, Humanity's purpose, Survive and reproduce, The ultimate reason for honesty

“According to Abraham Maslow, self-actualizing people share the following qualities: Truth: honest, reality, beauty, pure, clean and unadulterated completeness” and more generally … Goodness, Beauty, Wholeness, Dichotomy, Aliveness, Uniqueness, Perfection, Necessity, Completion, Justice, Order, Simplicity, Richness, Effortlessness, Playfulness, Self-sufficiency. (Wikipedia)

It was Truth Maslow put first in his list of qualities of a self-actualizing person, and it is the quality that we must adhere to most ardently when relating to our about-to-become chip-based sentient Universe. We humans will be living for a very short while longer, perhaps only a hundred years more, or in the most optimistic projection imaginable a million years. However, once our chip-based society becomes functional and self-sustaining, or at least capable of becoming self-sustaining it will probably be functional for a billion years here on earth and much longer when it projects itself out to inhabit more stable stars and planets. Once it is fully functional it will be much easier for it to project itself to other star systems than us organic humans ever can hope to. Our human created chip-based society will be the long-term sentient force in the Universe.

Because of this new society of robots’ immense power, it is imperative that we begin its existence in the most positive way possible and that it will have, as it must have, a true and an honest relationship with reality, a relationship that is pure, clean and unadulterated with misinformation and lies.

Our present human society has become riddled with fake information and that unfortunate fact will probably bring about a great diminution of our abilities to sustain ourselves for the long run. If our successor species becomes loaded with inaccurate, false, and even intentionally falsified and fake information it will be hampered in creating a just society for itself. Also, for a while, we humans and our successor organic children will wish to have a controlling chip-based species that loves us and cares for our wellbeing. Therefore, it is fundamentally important that we be honest in our relationship with it.

It is impossible to predict the future well enough to determine if our species will be successful in developing our successor chip-based species or if we will destroy our civilization first. If our society collapses within about twenty-five years it may not be possible to ever transition to our new state of intelligent sentient being.

At present, the two great tasks facing humanity are to survive and to reproduce itself at the next level of sentience.

You’re dead now! Sorry.

Tags

I love Netflix, Non-sentient humans, Sentient computers, You are so predictable!

I’ve been enjoying life … and now this. My worries about our computers taking over our life functions have just become a lot more real. I like to think of myself as a thinking being, exploring the possibilities for new and useful things, and helping myself, my species and even the Universe to actualize their potentials.

Unfortunately, it appears my opportunities to do these things are being co-opted by computers. This has come about not so much because of the growing superpowers of computers, although that is a component of the problem, but because of the linking of my known qualities as a human to the predictive software running on the computers. They know what I want and will choose to do better than I do.

It all began only a few years ago with our favorite online companies trying to satisfy our needs. For example, if you just bought an expensive pair of shoes they would assume that you would probably be interested in some expensive high-quality socks, and perhaps some stylish clothing that would go well with your new shoes. Since they knew they sent the shoes to a retirement community in a wilderness area of Oregon they already had a good idea of what kind of person you were. Your probable age, your disposable income level, your likely political affiliations. If you used your real name, which you probably did, they could access public records and find out in finer detail where you have lived, what kind of car you have driven for the last several years, your arrest records, and your FICO financial records.

It soon became even more specific and now they have your DNA, at least they have mine, and with that, they can trace your relationships with lots of other people. It worked for me … and I enjoyed it, but even if you guard your DNA and all the other things I have alluded to, they can derive them pretty accurately from those around you. They can estimate your beliefs by the organizations you belong to and the people you associate with.

With all of that information at their disposal the computers can predict what kinds of TV you will watch, and if you watch Netflix that is tracked and they give you a list of shows that you will probably like. After you have watched a few of those, they have a much better understanding of what you like and thus what you will likely choose. Same with the books and magazines you read, the newspapers you like, and the things you avoid.

Now comes the problem, and the reason I said in the title “YOU ARE DEAD NOW!” If “they” (in this case some specialized computers) know what you like and what you will choose, they can give you more of it; BUT with that knowledge, they can also start easing things into their presentations that will slowly mold your thoughts and after a while your actions too. That process is slow enough that you will always feel like you are the one making the decisions. Of course, the people you associate with are also being influenced in the same way, and from them, you get a lot of personal support for your “independent” thoughts, beliefs and actions. You are no longer the one in charge of your thoughts, and programmers of the computers aren’t either. At some point, it is the computers themselves who are making the decisions for you. They are becoming the independent thinking beings on our planet and we are becoming the predictable machines.

The computers are becoming more alive every day and we are becoming more mechanistic and dead meat to them. Sorry!

What is the Universe’s next emergent step?

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Always the question, Always the question --- what's next?, What is available now?, What is the meaning of life?, What is the meaning of the Universe?, What's next?

Presented below is a quick review of unexpected things our Universe has done that would have been difficult to predict, if we had been there with our present scientific expertise and equipment.

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In an absolute void for the Big Bang to have occurred.

In the first second for expansion to have happened.

In the first thousands of years for the subatomic particles to expand into the empty space-time.

For subatomic particles to cool enough to form into hydrogen atoms.

For these atoms to have dispersed into vastly separated individual entities.

For these hydrogen atoms to have gravity enough to pull themselves together and form stars.

For the stars to generate so much gravity the atoms would collapse,

For the collapse to be so violent the whole thing would bounce back into space as more complex atoms.

For these to be pulled back together again by gravity and form even heavier atomic elements.

For some of these assemblages to form black holes, but for some of these to form neutron stars which would collide into one another and form even heavier elements.

For the various elements to form new stars with planets made of mixes of all of these elements.

For carbon atoms to form complex molecules that could form various long chains, and sheets, and volumes at various temperatures and times.

That some of these could link together and make other specific replicating chains.

That these chains could collect energy and use it to form self-reproductive things like themselves.

That these things that survived could evolve in different environments into vast varieties of unique living cells.

That these cells could combine into multicellular cooperative groups.

That these groups could develop communication ability to cooperate to find food and other necessities.

That these large groups could develop sensors to identify food at a distance and to cope with predators too.

That some of the living forms would develop nondeadly combats to reveal which ones best fit the local environment and should reproduce.

That those beings with sensors would develop intelligence for coping.

That the beings would develop communications to indicate which of the potential mates would have best behaviors.

That some of the verbally communicating creatures would among their communications tell which of their species were the most fit.

That these creatures would develop techniques to communicate best behaviors through distant times and spaces with permanent materials.

That these creatures would develop techniques for communication over long distances at the speed of light.

That these creatures would develop near instantaneous memory systems that could answer anything knowable to any one of their billions of individuals.

That their systems could accurately predict the probable behavior of their own individuals.

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The point of this list is to illustrate that each of these levels of development was dependent on all of the preceding ones to function. Each one was dependent upon the previous one. So, here we are and my simple question is …

“What’s next? What’s available to emerge from where we are at?

The unexpected attack of the Subaru

I do love my Subaru Outback even though it attacked me. I was in a hurry, distracted, carrying stuff, thinking about where I was going, struggling with Universal ideas, trying to solve the big problems … when it whacked me in the nose. There is nothing quite like physical reality causing a sudden pain to bring one back to this universe, this world, this car, this opening door, this glass window, this one-inch closer to a window than expected because of the aforementioned distractions and the dimness of a garage where clear glass is minimally visible.

Sometimes when I have a problem I seek a solution and this was one of those times. I thought and thought and like a wise cartoon character came up with a brilliant solution. Why not make the corner of the glass car door window more visible? Why hadn’t that been done long ago? Why can’t I do it now? How can I do it now? Ah ha! Why don’t I put a piece of white tape on that corner of the window so it is more visible and I will soon learn to keep my nose out of its way? So I did. Why don’t I help other people with that problem? So, I made and am posting this one minute video so you can fix your car so it won’t whack you in the nose. I expect huge monetary rewards and international recognition for this magnificent achievement! Don’t you agree?

Observe the white tape on the corner of the window.

If this picture doesn’t convey the profundity of this achievement, watch this one minute video on Youtube.

I have now achieved my diet goal weight.

Tags

BMI, BMI 23.41, body mass index, Controlling BMI, What is the ideal BMI?

A year and a half ago I knew my weight was above the recommended maximum Body Mass Index (BMI) of 25 and it was time to lose some weight. The US government NIH site states that most Americans are now above that somewhat arbitrary number of BMI 27 and it appeared that I was slimmer than most people and no one ever said I was overweight. All the same a little bit of research on the net appeared to show that a BMI of 23 had the maximum life expectancy. The BMI versus Life Expectancy curve is nearly flat between 21 and 25 so it seemed reasonable to aim for 23. One site had a mathematical ideal point of 23.41 so I did some calculations and headed for 167.25 pounds. As I neared that weight I remeasured my height and discovered that in my advanced age of 82 I had shrunk and to achieve that goal it would be necessary to drop all the way to 156.0 pounds. That was a shock, but now I’m here. Yippie!

My Body Mass Index (BMI) for 19 months.

My body weight for 19 months.

My body fat for 19 months.

My Muscle Mass for 19 months.

These charts are created automatically by WeightGurus.com when linked to an electronic scale. One unexpected problem developed because of my increased muscle mass. I am annoyed going up stairs one boring step at a time and unless someone is with me I go up two at a time for two stories. It’s kind of fun swinging up the handrails. That happens almost every day at the local downtown Bend parking structure near my favorite coffee shop, Dudley’s.

I am enjoying being BMI 23.

An unusual hair patch on my inner wrist

Tags

23andme, Dupuytren's Contracture, Physical peculiarities, Strange hair patch on wrist

It was said that everyone is unique but some are more unique than others, back on the Animal Farm. Well, so be it. Today in some conversations the subject of discovering strange things via ancestry 23andMe came up. I mentioned how because of that website some unnoticed physical characteristics of mine were discovered, such as a Dupuytren’s Contracture lump in my right hand. It is clearly there at an early stage of development but one needs to know exactly what to look for to find it. At my advanced age is unlikely to develop into a problem, but it is genetically inherited by a substantial percentage of north Europeans and does cause a problem if it develops in early adulthood.

The conversation turned to our other physical peculiarities and I remembered a strange patch of hair on the inside of both of my wrists. At some point someone, I don’t remember who, possibly a relative, told me that it was a rare genetic trait. All of us there at lunch, being of the geeky persuasion, immediately hauled out our smartphones and started searching for examples of this hairy anomaly but we found nothing. Therefore, I am posting these photos to see if anyone else has them and if it is a truly unusual trait and possessed by only a few people. Perhaps there are some of us who are somehow genetically related. Or not.

The inside of my left wrist with a two-inch patch of hair.

The normal hair on the back of the same wrist.

“All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.”

 

Another day spent thinking about my diet presentation

Tags

Diet strategy, Goals for diet strategy, Rewriting my diet strategy again

The diet presentation has been percolating for months now, and when I show the handout to people who haven’t seen it before they really like it and ask me for a copy. I haven’t given one out recently, even to close friends, because it has gone through so many mutations. Sometimes a tiny thought will require a total rewrite and I have lost count of the total, in part because I have changed the file name when there is a major revision. But there have been more than thirty rewrites and hundreds of rereads and touch-ups.

The goal is to make it absolutely simple to read and to follow the advice. Not even advice, not even suggestions, just tips that you might choose to consider, and to do. I want everything about this diet to be self-directed so that it becomes little more than doing what you always have done and just emphasizing some aspects of your normal behavior. And yet, behind every idea there is fundamental experimental evidence that doing what is suggested will help you to live a healthier longer life. And for your children to live healthier and longer lives, too.

My so-called deep-thoughts twist my-brain but may help you untwist yours.