Just ran across this great short overview of accelerating technology (featuring Ray Kurzweil) at Wall Street Journal. Nice overview.
Advanced degrees
In the last couple of months Isaac has taken a renewed interest in cooking with me in the kitchen. It occurred to me the other day that it might be possible to enroll him into some kids' cooking schools or something similar, just to see if he likes it. It could end up being something he loves and sticks with and becomes a chef at age 17, or it could be just another thing to try. Who knows.
Anyway, today I ran across a site that sells robotic training kits, and I thought this would be another cool thing for him to try and see if he likes. What a step beyond my old Capsela sets! It's surprising to me sometimes how easily kids can adopt technologies, but on the other hand, they are largely encountering things that just work; we had to go through the growing pains of our first computers, our first VCRs, etc. so we have an inherent memory of these things failing. We also understand the complexity behind them better, which makes me wonder: when you stand on the shoulders of giants, how important is it that you know how the giants got there?
Anyway, today I ran across a site that sells robotic training kits, and I thought this would be another cool thing for him to try and see if he likes. What a step beyond my old Capsela sets! It's surprising to me sometimes how easily kids can adopt technologies, but on the other hand, they are largely encountering things that just work; we had to go through the growing pains of our first computers, our first VCRs, etc. so we have an inherent memory of these things failing. We also understand the complexity behind them better, which makes me wonder: when you stand on the shoulders of giants, how important is it that you know how the giants got there?
Nobody Likes the Smart People: Accelerated Thought and the Uncanny Valley
In my recent essay on hubpages.com, I look at the phenomenon of the "uncanny valley" and how it may apply as we approach a time when technological augmentation will begin to differentiate us (humans) at some pretty fundamental levels. I focus on differences in thought because to me, changing the way we think and behave is more potentially disruptive to our social nature than, say, super-strong arms or even amazing hearing abilities, which seem like more like parlor tricks. Give it a read -- I'll be glad to hear what you think!
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