On another list, there have been a couple of very interesting postings on co-ops and bottom-up development structures. Perhaps smartphones might play a pivotal role in enabling this to happen more broadly. In a sense, it is the very people who most need co-ops who are using the smartphone technology,as you are suggesting Keith.
A Co-op formation and management app? Cheers, Lawry On Aug 16, 2010, at 2:16 PM, Keith Hudson wrote: > At 09:11 16/08/2010 -0700, Michael Gurstein wrote: >> From another list... (albeit of deep techno-enthusiasts... >> M >> -----Original Message----- >> Sent: Monday, August 16, 2010 7:53 AM >> Subject: Re: People questioning the intelligence of the global communication >> network > > The Smartphone part of this article that really interests me. There can never > have been such a rapid take-up of a consumer good as the smartphone by the > young. At the same time there are very clear signs (at least in the UK so > far) that structural unemployment is steadily growing among the young. Until > the last couple of years, this was largely confined to the school drop-outs > and the NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training) but last year, and > this year, there'll be many thousands of graduates joining them (particularly > as many retired people are now returning to the job market). I'm fascinated > to ponder whether the smart phone is going to have any sort of catalytic > effect on this growing sub-population with time on their hands. I'm not so > much thinking about the ability to raise mass demonstrations in the streets > nor any sort of concerted anger, but of the tremendous potential for the > dissemination of new ideas and the formation of specialized groups. I'm > thinking of new forms of sustainable life styles and quite new forms of > business -- new sorts of monastic orders (though without celibacy > presumably). > > Keith > >> Thanks, , >> >> I'd like to reiterate a point I made earlier on the list and make a small >> update to the list in regards to smartphones. >> >> The point was, roughly, that should a global brain or accelerating >> artificial intelligence be clearly visible and provable, or most >> dramatically able to communicate with us, the stage is set for religious >> feelings, the formation of churches, and other very significant worship >> behavior of the new life form(s). >> >> Notably, the original article by Jaron Lanier is titled the First Church of >> Robotics and the discussion you highlighted below revolves around proving >> Global Brain ideas. Lanier is a vocal critic of these ideas and I disagree >> with the attention he receives as a kind of new-world dreadlocked mystic of >> technology. In this article, he writes (in regards to the behavior of >> reposting content on Twitter): >> >> " That is, people perform machine-like activity, copying and relaying >> information; the Internet, as a whole, is claimed to perform the creative >> thinking, the problem solving, the connection making. This is a devaluation >> of human thought." >> >> Basically, Lanier is a hardcore humanist who is in love with technology. No >> matter that millions of humans around the world discover fascinating things >> as a result of following other human activity on Twitter, largely from >> reposting behavior. According to Lanier, Twitter is not intelligent and the >> internet is soulless and possibly evil. I have to say, it kind of creeps me >> out to hear someone stating that we should " keep our religious ideas out of >> (the work of scientists and engineers)" and at the same time profess a deep >> unshakable belief in the human soul, obviously a thing never to be surpassed >> or obtained by a machine. >> >> What this article is about is the two sides that are apparent in Global >> Brain and AI research today. One side believes that only humans can have >> souls and computers can never be truly aware; the other believes that it's >> not clear if souls exist or have a specific humanistic definition and that >> perhaps intelligence/awareness is bigger than humans. Or you could say >> those who believe that intelligence requires soul and those who don't. >> >> Nonetheless, should a "new mind" awaken in some measurable form, look out! >> Will Lanier and his anthropocentric ilk call for it's summary execution as >> an abomination and try to pull the plug? Will Kuzweil and his followers >> raise it on high and try to plug in? >> >> UPDATE ON SMARTPHONES: >> >> The smartphone explosion is significant. "On the ground" as a consultant, I >> have helped many fellow citizens upgrade from small form factor devices and >> less touchscreen-oriented machines like Blackberries into the rapidly >> expanding world of Androids and iPhones. People who obtain these new >> smartphones immediately wonder, "what do I do with it now?" and start >> searching for applications and asking me what applications they should be >> installing. And, I believe, a new kind of emotional connection is born. >> >> Very recently, there has been quite a passionate drama played out in the >> world of smartphone owners. People are realizing they can "jailbreak" their >> iPhones and emerge from the Jobsian cleanroom to enter the free world of the >> internet and install whatever they want. People are realizing that some new >> Android phones (already a lot more liberated in regards to applications) >> come with a special chip that prevents complete "root" control of their >> device, but within two weeks of it's entrance into the world, a very real >> digital hero emerged on forums and blogs who had conquered the chip and >> granted Power to the People to be who they want to be - and the primary >> force driving root control was the ability to turn the Android device into >> an open WiFi hotspot, which the mobile network providers want to stop. >> >> These are no longer phones, they are extension of ourselves, our desires, >> our "souls" if you will. Lanier fears " we think of people more and more as >> computers, just as we think of computers as people." I believe our new >> small computer smartphone technologies are more than trusted friends or >> separate simulacrums, they are part of us. Do you believe they are draining >> or expanding our souls? If you believe in such a thing as a soul... if not, >> perhaps replace "soul" with "intelligence." >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Futurework mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > Keith Hudson, Saltford, England > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
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