We Are Living In Exponential Times

Dookiebutt · 04-08-2008, 08:25 PM

This should amaze you . . .

YouTube - Did You Know; Shift Happens -...

Coeloptera · 04-09-2008, 08:31 PM

Eh.

I'm neither amazed nor surprised by most of this, frankly.

For instance, while China and India may have huge populations there are also huge areas that are little better than third-world crapholes. Huge swaths of these countries don't even have functional electrical grids. I think even our dumber schoolkids might be considered "higher achievers" than rural peasants with medieval beliefs.

As for MySpace, who cares? I have an empty MySpace page so people can contact me who I do not want to have my email address. It literally has no information on it. Also, how many of those 30 views are porn-spam programs crawling for targets? Oh yes, you get porn-spam from bot-made profiles on MySpace. Second Life claims to have 2 million registered users, yet I don't know a single person who actually plays it.

And the 2.7 billion Google searches? To whom were they addressed before? Well, I don't think a lot of people asked other human beings where they could find "Underage Furry Nun Pics". Those questions didn't exist before something that, to many people, is just another liesure timewaster.

3,000 new books published daily? So...think they're any good? I have my doubts.

I wonder how they categorize the week's worth of NY Times info? It may be a lot of information, but it's also very narrow in focus. Technically, noise is information as much as signal is.

1.5 new exabytes of info this year? So how much of that is likely to be bad goth poetry pages and more porn?

And as for the obsolete technical degree stuff...unless the basic laws or physics and mathematics change mid-semester, or the nature of logic and human thought is totally revamped, not much of what they learn the first year will be outdated by year 3. Frankly, this claim is about the most nonsensical in the whole video.

E-paper huh? Anyone actually using that yet? People hate the stuff so far. Most don't like looking at it for a prolonged period.

The 2013 supercomputer that exceeds the computational capacity (what do they specifically mean by that?) of the human brain isn't a big deal, either. We have machines right now that are leagues faster than we could ever hope to be. But computers still aren't very good at adapting to situations outside existing parameters. Even neural nets and fuzzy-logic processors are sort of sadly stumbling along. We don't even understand how our own brains and consciousness work, replicating it is well beyond our ability until we do.

Exceed the capabilities of the human brain...in what way? Raw processing power maybe. Statistical calculations? Sure. Judgment and decision-making? Laughable.

Like I said. Eh. Little more than technical rah-rahing with a lot of factual errors and deliberate obfuscations.

The only futurist who was ever worth a damn so far has been Jules Verne. Now he got it down awfully well when he was writing.

Of course, the music did make me think of the most awesome film, Last of the Mohicans.

When technological hyperbole dies, Magua will eat its heart.

- Coeloptera

ArkansasHunter · 04-09-2008, 08:46 PM

I found it interesting and thought it was cool ! Thank you Dookiebutt LOL

Dookiebutt I don't know you personaly but every time I see your name it makes me laugh. That's got to be the coolest name at Gun and Game Dookiebutt LOL

troy2000 · 04-09-2008, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coeloptera

Eh.

I'm neither amazed nor surprised by most of this, frankly.

When technological hyperbole dies, Magua will eat its heart.

- Coeloptera

Oh, lighten up, Coel.

I happen to think we're living in amazing times, when I can hit Google or Yahoo and find information on everything from whether to leave the skin on when cleaning pigeons to what kind of weaponry the Scythians preferred.

My grandfather started out sharecropping behind a mule, and riding it over to spark my grandmother in the evenings, and lived to watch live coverage of the first men on the moon. And there's going to be even a bigger spread in my lifetime...

Coeloptera · 04-09-2008, 10:48 PM

I am proudly cynical.

Remember though, 90% of anything is crap. We were given the greatest communications tool in human history. And have you seen what's on it?

Guess most people really don't have much interesting to say.

And "spark" your grandmother? Do I wanna know?

- Coeloptera

04-09-2008, 08:31 PM	#2
Coeloptera Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 1,408 Trader Rating: (0)	Eh. I'm neither amazed nor surprised by most of this, frankly. For instance, while China and India may have huge populations there are also huge areas that are little better than third-world crapholes. Huge swaths of these countries don't even have functional electrical grids. I think even our dumber schoolkids might be considered "higher achievers" than rural peasants with medieval beliefs. As for MySpace, who cares? I have an empty MySpace page so people can contact me who I do not want to have my email address. It literally has no information on it. Also, how many of those 30 views are porn-spam programs crawling for targets? Oh yes, you get porn-spam from bot-made profiles on MySpace. Second Life claims to have 2 million registered users, yet I don't know a single person who actually plays it. And the 2.7 billion Google searches? To whom were they addressed before? Well, I don't think a lot of people asked other human beings where they could find "Underage Furry Nun Pics". Those questions didn't exist before something that, to many people, is just another liesure timewaster. 3,000 new books published daily? So...think they're any good? I have my doubts. I wonder how they categorize the week's worth of NY Times info? It may be a lot of information, but it's also very narrow in focus. Technically, noise is information as much as signal is. 1.5 new exabytes of info this year? So how much of that is likely to be bad goth poetry pages and more porn? And as for the obsolete technical degree stuff...unless the basic laws or physics and mathematics change mid-semester, or the nature of logic and human thought is totally revamped, not much of what they learn the first year will be outdated by year 3. Frankly, this claim is about the most nonsensical in the whole video. E-paper huh? Anyone actually using that yet? People hate the stuff so far. Most don't like looking at it for a prolonged period. The 2013 supercomputer that exceeds the computational capacity (what do they specifically mean by that?) of the human brain isn't a big deal, either. We have machines right now that are leagues faster than we could ever hope to be. But computers still aren't very good at adapting to situations outside existing parameters. Even neural nets and fuzzy-logic processors are sort of sadly stumbling along. We don't even understand how our own brains and consciousness work, replicating it is well beyond our ability until we do. Exceed the capabilities of the human brain...in what way? Raw processing power maybe. Statistical calculations? Sure. Judgment and decision-making? Laughable. Like I said. Eh. Little more than technical rah-rahing with a lot of factual errors and deliberate obfuscations. The only futurist who was ever worth a damn so far has been Jules Verne. Now he got it down awfully well when he was writing. Of course, the music did make me think of the most awesome film, Last of the Mohicans. When technological hyperbole dies, Magua will eat its heart. - Coeloptera Last edited by Coeloptera; 04-09-2008 at 08:38 PM.

04-09-2008, 08:46 PM	#3
ArkansasHunter Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: South Arkansas Posts: 10,466 Trader Rating: (0)	I found it interesting and thought it was cool ! Thank you Dookiebutt LOL Dookiebutt I don't know you personaly but every time I see your name it makes me laugh. That's got to be the coolest name at Gun and Game Dookiebutt LOL

04-09-2008, 10:48 PM	#5
Coeloptera Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 1,408 Trader Rating: (0)	I am proudly cynical. Remember though, 90% of anything is crap. We were given the greatest communications tool in human history. And have you seen what's on it? Guess most people really don't have much interesting to say. And "spark" your grandmother? Do I wanna know? - Coeloptera