[alicebot-aiethics] hawking deserves the best AI or new body we can
give him
Robby Garner
alicebot-aiethics@list.alicebot.org
Sun, 09 Sep 2001 11:20:56 -0400
I agree that it'd be nice to outfit Hawking with bionics or something.
But I'd like to point out that until quite recently, in the scheme of
history, people only lived into their 30's!
The Vikings settled in Greenland and other seemingly inhospitable
places, lived to procreate and do farming, and then died in their mid
30's.
The great historian Barbara Tuchman wrote about how she had often
pondered why the aristocracy of europe, centuries ago, behaved so
impetuously, making such rash decisions and such, and then it dawned on
her. The net population of Europe, including it's rulers, were mere
teenagers! They were not fully mature as we have come to know the term.
There have been people througout history that lived longer, perhaps due
to better diet and living conditions, perhaps partly due to genetics,
partly due to luck. But only in this century have so many people, even
those striken with horrible diseases, lived into their 70's, 80's, even
longer.
So to me, that is a quantum leap in brain power that has yeilded some
fantastic results. People now can continue to grow their minds much
longer than was normally possible before.
We are just dust in the cosmic winds of time, and our feeble bags of
mostly water contain our NI (natural intelligence) like a vehicle bound
to the gravity of this tiny planet, in a galaxy which has a huge black
hole at the center. (see update from NASA following this...)
You may lick water, and you may lick dirt, but time will get you in the
end. Nature is crooked. There are no right angles in nature.
Cheers,
Robby
----- Original Message -----
From: <NASANews@hq.nasa.gov>
To: <undisclosed-recipients:>
Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2001 1:10 PM
Subject: CHANDRA CATCHES MILKY WAY MONSTER SNACKING
> Dolores Beasley
> Headquarters, Washington Sept. 5, 2001
> (Phone: 202/358-1753)
>
> Steve Roy
> Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
> (Phone: 256/544-6535)
>
> Megan Watzke
> Chandra X-ray Observatory Center, Cambridge, Mass.
> (Phone: 617/496-7998)
>
> RELEASE: 01-179
>
> CHANDRA CATCHES MILKY WAY MONSTER SNACKING
>
> For the first time astronomers have detected material
> being consumed by the supermassive black hole in our own
> backyard. A violent, rapid X-ray flare, captured by NASA's
> Chandra X-ray Observatory, has been observed from the
> direction of the supermassive black hole that resides at the
> center of our Milky Way Galaxy.
>
> A team of scientists, led by Fredrick K. Baganoff of the
> Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge,
> detected a sudden X-ray flare while observing Sagittarius A*,
> a source of radio emission believed to be associated with the
> black hole at the center of our Galaxy.
>
> "This is extremely exciting because it's the first time we
> have seen our own neighborhood supermassive black hole devour
> a chunk of material," Baganoff said. "It's as if the material
> there sent us a postcard before it fell in."
>
> In a few minutes, the source brightened dramatically,
> eventually reaching a level 45 times brighter than before the
> flare. After about three hours, the X-ray intensity rapidly
> declined to the pre-flare level. "The rapid rise and fall of
> the X-rays from this outburst are compelling evidence that
> the X-ray emission is coming from matter falling into a
> supermassive black hole, confirming that it is powered by the
> same accretion process as quasars and other active galactic
> nuclei," said Baganoff.
>
> Baganoff added that the data also provide the best look yet
> at the area just outside this event horizon, the surface of
> "no return" for matter or light falling into a black hole.
>
> Studies of the central region of our Milky Way Galaxy in the
> infrared and radio wavebands indicate the presence of a
> large, dark object, presumably a supermassive black hole,
> having the mass of about 3 million suns. The faintness of
> Sagittarius A* at all wavelengths, especially in X-rays, has
> puzzled scientists who expected that the infalling matter
> should shine more brightly on its way in, and this has left
> some room for doubt.
>
> The latest precise Chandra observations of the crowded
> galactic center region have dispelled that doubt. Given the
> extremely accurate position, it is highly unlikely that the
> flare is due to an unrelated contaminating source such as an
> X-ray binary system.
>
> "The rapidity of the variations in X-ray intensity indicate
> that we are observing material that is as close to the black
> hole as the Earth is to the Sun," said Gordon Garmire of
> Pennsylvania State University, University Park, principal
> investigator of the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS),
> which was used in these observations.
>
> "It's truly remarkable that we could identify and track this
> flare in such a crowded region of space," said Mark Bautz of
> MIT. "This discovery would not have been possible without the
> resolution and sensitivity of Chandra and the ACIS
> instrument."
>
> Other members of the team Include: Niel Brandt, George
> Chartas, Eric Feigelson and Leisa Townsley, all from Penn
> State; Yoshitomo Maeda, Institute of Space and Astronautical
> Science, Japan; Mark Morris, UCLA; George Ricker, MIT; and
> Fabian Walker, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena.
>
> The team first observed Sagittarius A* with ACIS on Sept. 21,
> 1999, and again on Oct. 26-27, 2000. The X-ray flare was
> detected in the second observation.
>
> The ACIS instrument was developed for NASA by Penn State and
> MIT under the leadership of Gordon Garmire. NASA's Marshall
> Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages the Chandra
> program, and TRW, Inc., Redondo Beach, Calif., is the prime
> contractor for the spacecraft. The Smithsonian's Chandra X-
> ray Center controls science and flight operations from
> Cambridge, Mass.
>
> Images associated with this release are available on the
> Internet at:
>
> http://chandra.harvard.edu
>
> http://chandra.nasa.gov
>
> -end-
>
> * * *
>
> NASA press releases and other information are available automatically
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>
Tamara Thompson wrote:
>
> Haven't had a chance to see the article you reference. But IMHO, I think we
> oughta give Hawking the best AI or artificial body we can come up with--I don't
> want to lose him. :)
>
> Every now and then I get a massage for a pain in my back I've had lately.
> Being kind of a spartan with regard to these 'pleasures' , I always wonder
> about Hawking, how his body feels, if he needs a massage.
>
> But loving learning and communication, I even more strongly often think that
> someday, we will just have to be able to give people strong and healthy units
> to communicate from. New bodies or some platform from which they can speak
> freely.
>
> dunno, I just think about this topic alot. All in all it would be simpler to
> dna fix or enhance existing bodies. possibly. I'm not sure IQ is even the
> issue there---maybe just simply be able to com ideas...
>
> Tamara
>
> Christian Droßmann wrote:
>
> > Todd Hester wrote:
> >
> > Here is a very interesting article:
> >
> > Stephen Hawking: Humans will fall behind AI
> > Renowned British scientist Stephen Hawking has claimed that humans should be
> > genetically engineered if they are to compete with the phenomenal growth of
> > artificial intelligence.
> >
> > Well, actually I am a bit disappointed that even Stephen Hawking has joined
> > the club of technophobics...
> > There might be a chance that AI will outsmart the human race in a very
> > distant future, but whether this will be to our disadvantage or even a
> > danger to us is questionable in my opinion...and I also would not consider
> > engineering the human DNA to increase our IQ a valid solution, if it is a
> > solution at all...
> >
> > christian
> >
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