Clipmarks | wildcat's clips

Consciousness as Integrated Information

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 10:52:52 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

If the level of consciousness has to do with how much integrated information a conscious entity generates, it is essential that we determine to what extent different neural architectures can generate integrated information. The integrated-information theory of consciousness, or IIT, is an attempt to do so, and to approach consciousness from first principles.

IIT introduces a measure of integrated information, represented by the symbol Φ and given in bits, that quantifies the reduction of uncertainty (that is, the information generated when a system enters a particular state through causal interactions among its parts) This measure is above and beyond the information generated independently within the parts themselves. The parts should be chosen in such a way that they can account for as much nonintegrated (independent) information as possible.

Tags: mind, consciousness, information

Poetry Comes from Our Tree-Climbing Ancestors

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 10:37:53 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: blog.wired.com

Poetry Comes from Our Tree-Climbing Ancestors, Neuroscientist Says

Some people hear colors, see flavors and are generally prone to a mixing-and-matching of typically disparate perceptual domains.

Those people are called synesthetes, and were the topic of a World Science Festival talk delivered last night by neuroscientist extraordinaire V.S. Ramachandran.

Where does synesthesia come from? Maybe synesthetes are just lying. Perhaps they're under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs -- many research subjects are college kids, after all -- or happened as children to play with colored alphabet blocks. Or maybe they're simply good with metaphors.

To Ramachandran, the latter answer gets at the truth -- but he stressed that what appears as metaphor is a literal sensory experience for synesthetes. That may explain, he said, why synesthesia is eight times more common among poets, artists and novelists than the general population.

Tags: neuroscience, poetry, evolution

Waiting for the Rapture

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 09:42:42 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.spectrum.ieee.org

Technological convergence will change our lives but won't make them indenfinitely long

Across cultures, classes, and aeons, people have yearned to transcend death.

Bear that history in mind as you consider the creed of the singularitarians. Many of them fervently believe that in the next several decades we’ll have computers into which you’ll be able to upload your consciousness—the mysterious thing that makes you you. Then, with your consciousness able to go from mechanical body to mechanical body, or virtual paradise to virtual paradise, you’ll never need to face death, illness, bad food, or poor cellphone reception.

Now you know why the singularity has also been called the rapture of the geeks.

The singularity is supposed to begin shortly after engineers build the first computer with greater-than-human intelligence.

Tags: singularity, rapture

Tech Luminaries Address Singularity

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 09:29:17 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.spectrum.ieee.org

Douglas Hofstadter

SINGULARITY WILL OCCUR Someday in the distant future

MACHINE CONSCIOUSNESS WILL OCCUR Yes

MOORE'S LAW WILL CONTINUE FOR 20 more years

Jeff Hawkins

SINGULARITY WILL OCCUR “If you define the singularity as a point in time when intelligent machines are designing intelligent machines in such a way that machines get extremely intelligent in a short period of time—an exponential increase in intelligence—then it will never happen. Intelligence is largely defined by experience and training, not just by brain size or algorithms. It isn't a matter of writing software. Intelligent machines, like humans, will need to be trained in particular domains of expertise. This takes time and deliberate attention to the kind of knowledge you want the machine to have.”

John Casti

T.J. Rodgers

SINGULARITY WILL OCCUR Never

Eric Hahn

Gordon Bell

Steven Pinker

Gordon E. Moore

Jim Fruchterman

Esther Dyson

Tags: singularity, opinions, tech luminaries

Signs of the Singularity

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 08:49:49 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: By Vernor Vinge
First Published June 2008

Clip Source: www.spectrum.ieee.org

Hints of the singularity's approach can be found in the arguments of its critics

I think it's likely that with technology we can in the fairly near future create or become creatures of more than human intelligence. Such a technological singularity would revolutionize our world, ushering in a posthuman epoch. If it were to happen a million years from now, no big deal. So what do I mean by “fairly near” future? In my 1993 essay, “The Coming Technological Singularity,” I said I'd be surprised if the singularity had not happened by 2030. I'll stand by that claim, assuming we avoid the showstopping catastrophes—things like nuclear war, superplagues, climate crash—that we properly spend our anxiety upon.

The AI Scenario: We create superhuman artificial intelligence (AI) in computers.

The IA Scenario: We enhance human intelligence through human-to-computer interfaces—that is, we achieve intelligence amplification (IA).

Tags: vernor vinge, singularity

Coming soon? or not?

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 08:19:24 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.softmachines.org

Are we imminently facing The Singularity? This is the hypothesised moment of technological transcendence, in the concept introduced by mathematician and science fiction writer Vernor Vinge, when accelerating technological change leads to a recursively self-improving artificial intelligence of superhuman capabilities, with literally unknowable and ineffable consequences. The most vocal proponent of this eschatology is Ray Kurzweil, whose promotion of the idea takes to the big screen this year with the forthcoming release of the film The Singularity is Near.

Kurzweil describes the run-up to The Singularity: “Within a quarter century, nonbiological intelligence will match the range and subtlety of human intelligence. It will then soar past it … Intelligent nanorobots will be deeply integrated in our bodies, our brains, and our environment, overcoming pollution and poverty, providing vastly extended longevity … and vastly enhanced human intelligence.

Tags: singularity, ray kurzweil, technological transcendence

Fat Finding Reveals Why Diets Don't Work

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 08:15:57 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

Want to get rid of some fat cells as you age? Fat chance.

You're stuck with the number of fat cells you have acquired by about age 20, a new study finds.

Researchers have known that people gain and lose weight at least in part by changing how much fat is in their fat cells. The new finding is particularly important for obese people, who the researchers say can have twice as many fat cells as their lean counterparts.

The finding also suggests that obesity in adulthood is at least partly determined by diet and exercise in childhood.

Strange study

To determine the age of fat cells in 35 subjects, researchers focused on a marker found in fat cells — radioactive carbon from above-ground nuclear bomb tests in the 1950s and 60s. More of a naturally occurring but rare type of carbon, called carbon-14, was produced during the testing.

Tags: fat, diet, cells, obesity

Intelligent Computers See Your Human Traits

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 08:10:34 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: physorg.com

Today’s computers can do a lot as far as computation goes, but they tend to do it in an impersonal, stand-offish way, so to speak. However, computer engineers are busy changing that, as they try to give computers a bit of a personal touch to make human-computer interaction more natural and friendly.

For instance, two studies from a recent issue of IEEE Transactions on Multimedia have investigated enabling computers to recognize users’ emotional states and ages. The researchers hope that tomorrow’s computers will be able to “look” at a human face and extract this type of information, much like humans do with each other.

Emotional Detection

By combining audio and visual data, Yongjin Wang from the University of Toronto and Ling Guan from Ryerson University in Toronto have developed a system that recognizes six human emotional states: happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, and disgust.

Tags: computers, recognition, humans, traits