7/29/10

Are We Living Inside a Black Hole

Are We Living Inside a Black Hole?

By Rebecca Boyle Posted 07.23.2010 at 11:53 am 43 Comments

http://www.popsci.com/comment/reply/47345


Scientists trying to explain the universe’s accelerating expansion usually point to dark energy, which seems to be pushing everything apart.

But an Indiana University professor has a new theory, reports New Scientist: We’re inside a black hole that exists in another universe. Specifically, a black hole that rebounded, somewhat like a spring.

Some fairly mind-blowing physics is involved here, but the gist is that Nikodem Poplawski of IU-Bloomington used a modified version of Einstein’s general relativity equation set that takes particle spin into account.

Baruch Atta's comments

We know that black holes lose mass/energy due to Hawkins Radiation.
Would there be a way to use this to signal any intellegent life that is outside our blackhole slash universe?
Are there any intelegences inside of existing black holes that are signaling us in this manner?

7/15/10

Continuing the thoughts on "Singularity" or Pipe Dream

My prediction in my previous post regarding the "Singularity" was that before any machine is capable of self-awareness, we will have machines that can, in effect, reproduce themselves. We already have factories with robots. It is not such a strech to increase the use of robots in factories, to the extent that entire factories are run automatically, robotically. So, everything from mining, smelting, and producing will be robotic. Then, make a robot factory with robots operating, and even robots to build robot building factories. So, I predict that robots will be capable of self reproduction, in a sense, long before they are capable of self-awareness, a much higher achievement and much harder to obtain.

This said, I think that we need to come to terms on just how the Robot explosion will happen, and who will be in control.

With robots capable of self reproduction, then two concerns arise. One, how to limit (if at all) the process. And two, who will own the self-reproduced robots. The latter is of special concern. Because if robots self-reproduce in robot built factories, then the only limit is the energy needed to run the show, and time. And with robots producing solar panels, the energy would be mostly free. And with time, the original owner of the first factory would become expontinally rich. While the rest of humanity sinks in deeper poverty; made reduntant by cheap robots.

Therefore I would propose the following. Self-reproduced robots should be considered not owned by the owners of the first robots, but should be considered property common to humanity. Follow me here on this idea.

Consider Antartica and the Moon. These places have been declared as owned by all mankind, and no private or state ownership is allowed. International Ownership Treaties: Antarctic Treaty System, Law of the Sea, Outer Space Treaty, Moon Treaty, International waters, Extraterrestrial real estate (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_Treaty_System)

These places have been declared "non private" because of the unavailability or distance. If they were available, people would claim and exploit.

In a similar way, I would like to see a similar agreement today for generated robots, that is robots created automatically by other robots, and without (much) human intervention.

Dr. Albert Einstein told us that the most powerful force in the universe is "compound interest". Generated robots would be not just compound interest, but even geometric interest. Thus the owner of the first completely automated robot factory would enjoy unlimited expansion. The result would be the rich get richer, and the poor are disposed with, because the robots would do the work formerly done by the poor.

So I would like to see a universal agreement, all nations, that what I will call "generated robots" to be somehow without owner. Or, generated robots to be considered publicly owned, and any future profits or production to be held in common, in some way.

Mr. Sony or Mr. Bill Gates or Mr. Steve Jobs would not own all the robots. The generated robots would go to everyone. So everyone, all six billion or ten billion of us would own and control several robots, and the energy to run them. More robots would be available, billions, for all of the useful productive work, such as farming or manufacturing.

Without such a universal agreement, Sony, Gates and Jobs (or some other individuals) would own all the robots, factories and of course, all of us. Not a future that I would look forward to.

On the subject of population, all (currently) six billion of us, I would like to predict that if everyone's every need were provided for by generated, unlimited robots, then popluation would shrink, especially in third-world countries. In the third-world, people have many children as their retirement investment, among other reasons. If everyone was confident that all their retirement needs would be provided for, then fewer children would be born. The population growth has virtually stopped or retracted in first-world, relatively wealthy countries. This negative population growth would repeat in any place that was wealthy and confident. Other improvements would follow, education, creativity, and life quality would rise. And with the fall in population, concerns such as greenhouse gas emissions, polution, and such, would be reduced. If population goes down from six billion to 600 million, then the energy needs and polution created would also be reduced a similar ninety percent, without any reduction in personal level of use.

7/7/10

The Singularity and the robotic pipe dream

To pj.connolly@eweek.com, a response to http://www.tinyurl.com/34xn74r

Dear P.J.

You mention the "singularity" in your last column. You describe it as "machine based intelligence taking over...".

And then you mention the class warfare/competition of the haves and the have-nots.

Well, I think that things will work out in a slightly different way.

Long before there is a "singularity" there will be a robotic multiarity. Let me explain. Before the creation of an artificial intelligence that would think for itself (and maybe spell correctly) we will have dumb (by comparison) artificial intelligence (on the level of dogs, say) that can and work for us. And couple that dog level intelligence with robots, and you will have robots that can take over just about any job. Consider: truck driving, mining, factory work, house construction, house cleaning, integrated circuit manufacture, and so on, jobs done by robots that even Chinese working for one dollar a day could not compete with. And did I mention robots that manufacture robots? This is the main point. Robots will get to the point where everything in their manufacture, from mining, smelting, fabrication, and polishing - will be done automatically by robots. No human interference required. At that point, only energy will be the limiting factor, because robots are mostly silicon and aluminum, two of the most common elements on the planet.

As for energy, when robots will be manufacturing solar panels, (or more robots to manufacture solar panels) then even the solar panels will be nearly free, and thus energy will be nearly free.

Now remember, at this stage, the robots will be too stupid to think or control things. I think.

What does this mean to us humans? Well, at this point, anyone on earth could have (theoretically) anything that he or she would want. No one would do labor that the minions of robots would do, unless he or she wanted to. No one would farm, farming by robot would be much more efficient. Maybe I am short sighted, but road construction would be robotic, and all roads would be perfect. I could go on and on with this topic, but you could do too.

One possible outcome of the robotic age could be the reduction of the population explosion. After all the main reason that poor people have lots of kids is to guarantee that they will be provided for in old age. But in the robot age, even poor people would have anything they want and need, and robots to care for them. So as population growth has leveled off in developed rich countries, so population growth would level off in poor countries. And regarding population, how many people do we need? Add up all the scientist, artisans, engineers, and other creative types, add entertainers, doctors, and other (non robotic) service workers, and what would be the total today? That would be the ideal world population. I would not give a number, but it certainly would be less than six billion. Even less than a hundred million, for the human race to continue to progress in every field. Now I am not proposing that people be forced to not have children, and of course I am not proposing that people be selectively killed to achieve the lower world population. But I think that the world population would be greatly reduced in the robot age, for the reasons given.

And if the world population would be reduced by ten times or even a hundred times, then global warming, fossil fuels, carbon dioxide and such would be moot. And food would be plenty and of course, free. Housing free. Clothing, free. Transport, free. Education, nearly free.

So, this is my "pipe dream". This is the direction that we could and should be going, as long as we don't blow ourselves up in the process. World peace through total plenty through robots. It is possible. Should we do it?