A visual trip through the 21st Century

Via Sentient Developments, here's a speculative montage of how the 21st century could play out. Personally, I think this is all very viable, given the way technology and society is developing. The possible caveat is, of course, that as humans we may screw it up through infighting, luddism, reactionary attitudes, and good old fashioned greed.

That being said, I really do hope we get there. I can't wait until 'most conscious entities do not have a permanent physical presence'. Hopefully I'll still be around to shed my skin (or what's left of it at that point) and join the singularity.

The Ten Dimensions, explained; and a glimmer of 2012.

From the promo website for the new book, Imagining the Tenth Dimension, comes this little Flash video explaining the nature of the ten dimensions (and you thought there were only four. HA! You're soooo twentieth century- the future's all about quantuum physics and string theory, baby!). Physicists tell us that the subatomic particles that make up our universe are created within ten spatial dimensions (plus an additional dimension of time) by the vibrations of exquisitely small "superstrings". The video explains this all relatively simply, in terms that most of us can understand.

Superstring theory is yet anther instance in which science fiction has anticipated science. The idea of parallel universes and dimensions is an old one, and you don't even have to be a hard-core sci-fi geek to have been exposed to it: a screening of the Back to the Future movies will suffice to get the gist of it. According to the video, it would actually be theoretically possible to travel between parallel dimensions, or alternate realities, if you will. The only caveat is that since we, as humans, are limited to experiencing our reality within the context of the first three and a half dimensions (length, width, depth, and duration/time, but we don't really see this one as a whole, we simply experience it in a limited way as we travel through it), we don't even percieve the rest of the 'higher' dimensions.

This concept gels nicely with the subject of the book I'm currently reading, 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl, by Daniel Pinchbeck. He postulates that humanity is on the verge of a quantum leap in consciousness, where the paradigm of our very existence will change dramatically to encompass ideas and concepts that until now have been relegated to the realm of the spiritual, arcane, mystical, and psychedelic by mainstream, physical science. He puts forth that there are other dimensions to reality, such as the noosphere, which are out of our range of perception for now, because we are not equipped to perceive them (sort of like how we can't see light in the infrared spectrum, but in a spiritual, or quantum state), but that soon, humanity will transcend our current paradigm of existence and evolve into a higher state of being. He sets the date for this singularity event at or around 2012, according to (among other markers) the date in the Mayan calendar that corresponds to the ending of the fifth -and current- age of mankind. Hence the title of the book, as Quetzalcoatl is a Mayan deity.

It's strange that I'm coming across all this related information at the same moment. Chalk one up to synchronicity (although Pinchbeck addresses this phenomenon, albeit from a very psychedelic and mystical perspective. I don't know if I subscribe to his interpretation, but it makes for interesting reading).

More signs that the Japanese are dead serious about playing Gundam + Robotech in real life

Masaaki Nagumo, an engineer at Japan's machinery maker Sakakibara Kikai, gets into a 3.4-metre tall, two-legged robot called Land Walker for a demonstration as part of an art exhibition. Looks like a prototype Star Wars "AT-ST Scout Walker" or some kind of small Mech.

All he needs is a medium-sized plasma cannon, a big ol' energy sword, some type of anti-Ewok-attack system, and we're good to go. And a jetpack. Must never forget the jetpack.

Oh, and this thing needs to transform into something. I don't care into what, as long as it transforms. It's just not a giant Japanese robot if it doesn't transform into something.

This thing is so sweet, I just had a nerdgasm. When are these gonna be available for purchase? Now that would be a hell of a morning commute.

Dawkins in the curriculum, hell yeah!

From The Guardian, it seems that the British school system is getting at least half the story right:

Teenagers will be asked to debate intelligent design (ID) in their religious education classes and read texts by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins under new government guidelines.

I'm pleased that kids will be exposed to Dawkins' writing within the context of a so-called 'religious education' class, and particularly going head-to-head with so-called Intelligent Design. It's high time that educators took a strong stance against the insidious encroaching of religious fundamentalist mystical bullshit into classrooms.

On a related note, scientists have apparently come to the conclusion that the tendency towards magical thinking in toddlers is replaced by the tendency towards faith as the child grows out of believing in faeries and goblins. From the article in the NYT:

Children exhibit a form of magical thinking by about 18 months, when they begin to create imaginary worlds while playing. By age 3, most know the difference between fantasy and reality, though they usually still believe (with adult encouragement) in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. By age 8, and sometimes earlier, they have mostly pruned away these beliefs, and the line between magic and reality is about as clear to them as it is for adults.

It is no coincidence, some social scientists believe, that youngsters begin learning about faith around the time they begin to give up on wishing. “The point at which the culture withdraws support for belief in Santa and the Tooth Fairy is about the same time it introduces children to prayer,” said Jacqueline Woolley, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas.

Hm, the psychological space reserved for Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy becomes the psychological space reserved for faith in gods. Coincidence? I think not. Religion -and deism in general- are the most infantile of human emotional responses, after all. Also of note is the assertion in the article that conditioning towards religious faith begins at about the same time that magical thinking is beginning to lose its hold on the youngster. In other words- once a child is ready to move on from emotional dependence on a fictional, super-natural entity, society comes in and shoves another pacifier into its face.

It's no wonder people find it so hard to think outside of the paradigm of Judeo-Christian (or deist in general, I suppose) thought. This religious drivel is hammered into each and every one of us relentlessly, and we're expected to take it as fact, on faith. Anyone who thinks or says otherwise is immediately marked as a pariah, worthy of 'virtuous' people's pity. I'm happy to see this slowly changing, as atheists like myself can be more open about our convictions without having to constantly defend against or be offended by the religious hordes.

When I read Dawkins' The God Delusion, one of the sections that I had the most trouble with were the chapters where he equates the indoctrination of religious faith at an early age to child abuse. While at the time of reading I found this a little hard to swallow, in the time since, I've come to realize that Dawkins is absolutely right. We need to teach our children that our world, here and now, is real. That the consequences of our actions are visited upon us in this life, not in some made-up, post-mortem castle in the sky. That to live by the rule of some disembodied, omniscient being is a cop-out, and that one should take responsability for one's own actions, using as guidelines our own sense of right and wrong founded upon the real world: the golden rule and non-zero-sum relationships.

I hadn't really thought much about it before, but as I write this, it occurs to me that if many of the world's problems stem from the general attitude of entitlement, arrogance, and nonchalance that is prevalent amongst most of us, it is safe to assume that many of those values come from the belief that there's an omniscient, benevolent higher power who will make everything 'right' for us in the end.

Like my friend Phil over at Antisavior says: "Stop killing man, start killing god."

One Step Closer. . .

. . . to the singularity. From NewScientist.com, Neural 'extension cord' developed for brain implants:

A "data cable" made from stretched nerve cells could someday help connect computers to the human nervous system. The modified cells should form better connections with human tissue than the metal electrodes currently used for purposes such as remotely controlling prosthetics. . . Connecting the chord to electrodes outside of the brain means the reaction of neurons to non-organic material can be controlled. In future, the cord could connect an amputee's nerves to a sophisticated prosthetic, he says, and might even offer a way to connect artificial eyes or ears to the brain.

Bring it on. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'll be the first in line to get a brain implant.