Category Archives: Mind Uploading

Kildare/Wicklow indie-rock trio Ratios have released their new single, Wait Some Time. We asked them the BIG questions . . .

Ratios are lead singer Dan O'Shaughnessy, Liam Brady and Mike O'Sullivan. They began as a two-piece and released their first single Yellow Ribbon in March 2022.

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Speaking about Wait Some Time, they say, "The main guitar riff was written eight years ago but was never developed until recently. The song quickly came together quickly over two rehearsal sessions when the main riff was played, and ideas began to flourish.

"The song itself portrays a delusional state of mind and the struggle to break through a maze of uncertainty and indecisiveness. Whilst trying to break through barriers, waiting on oneself to do so seems like the only key.

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"The song is energy driven from start to finish. That was our aim from when we began to write it. We wanted to create something different that we feel stands out from others. We blended indie-rock elements and an energy driven punk chorus to portray an eclectic mixture of our creative influences."

Tell us three things about yourself . . .

We are fresh, hip and happening.

How would you describe your music?

Energetic with influences being drawn from punk, alternative rock and indie-rock. We like to play loud and aggressively and thrive during our live shows.

Who are your musical inspirations?

Tonnes. We all seem to come from different musical backgrounds and influences but we also all share a love for grunge, alt-rock, punk etc. Lately we have been listening to a lot of Gilla band, Wolf Alice, Viagra boys, QOTSA, Arctic Monkeys to name a few. Performance wise, we aspire to play loud energetic shows and are inspired by the lives shows from our favourite bands.

What was the first gig you ever went to?

Dan - Nickelback at the RDS Simmonscourt with support from Creed.

Liam - Green Day in 2009.

Mike - Avenged Sevenfold in 2014.

What was the first record you ever bought?

Dan - The Temptations' Greatest Hits.

Mike - Rage against the machines live album.

Liam - Iowa - Slipknot.

Whats your favourite song right now?

Dan - Sports - Viagra Boys.

Liam - At the moment, my favourite song is Tourettes by Nirvana.

Mike - Eight Fivers by Gilla band.

Favourite lyric of all time?

Dan - "Blame, whats to blame? Its an argument no one can win, 'Cause at best, we don't know, And its wearing us thin." Stare at The Sun by Mutemath. Its genius.

If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Dan - Sports - Viagra Boys. Its a real heavy hitter.

Liam - Birdie - The Scratch.

Mike - Kashmir - Led Zeppelin.

Where can people find your music/more information?

On Instagram at @ratiosband, on Facebook also. We are also on Spotify, Deezer and Apple Music. We just recently released our newest single, Wait Some Time, which can be streamed on all platforms. We also have an accompanying Music vid coming out on the 8 September. You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel and within the next few months we will be uploading more content there.

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Behind the music - Ratios - RTE.ie

Has the number 0010110 appeared to you viasocial media recently? If you've seen this number popping up, many are saying it'sno coincidence.

Seeing "code" 0010110 is said to be a sign that you are ready to exit the simulation, aka the matrix, along with 7% of the population.

All of this, according to TikTokers, will occur on August 27, 2022, when those who invoke the number will develop a special telepathic digital connection.

From "Westworld" to Elon Musk, there's no doubt that 0010110 is causing a frenzy of sorts.

Let's dive deep into what this code means, including the scientific concepts and pop culture associations found on Twitter, Reddit and TikTok.

RELATED:People Say These 'Divine' Quantum Codes Can Help You Heal Almost Anything

Apparently, 0010110 is the code to exit the Matrix.

According to TikTokers, the code comes to you "when you are ready," through internet algorithms across social media. You are then asked to type the code into a search engine, where several TikToks say, "The real game has started."

For those who haven't seen "The Matrix," the concept is that we live in a simulation, while in real life our bodies are being used to fuel the machines sort of like a battery.

The code supposedly acts as a password that will open the door, acting as a portal to leave the simulation... and it's all happening on August 27, 2022.

When translated into morse code, 0010110 means "Up in me it we u we," which can be written as "Up, in me, it we, u we," alluding to an awakening of sorts.

And though it may seem a bit strange, this code has actually shown up in science fiction before.

One such show is "Futurama," an animated show about a pizza delivery boy from the year 2000 getting cryogenically frozen and waking up in the year 3000.

The number can be found on the buttocks of one of the main characters in the show, Philip J. Fry. When accessed, it can be used to travel back in time, while simultaneously correcting any time-travel paradoxes.

It might sound ridiculous, but the writers of the show collectively have three PhDs, seven masters degrees, and more than 50 years at Harvard. Needless to say, they are no strangers to using science in their writing.

Many TikTok users say that to exit the matrix, you should type the code 0010110 into a search engine.

Here's what pops up when 0010110 is typed into various search engines:

RELATED:How TikToks Reality Shifting Trend Works & Why People Are Quantum Jumping Parallel Timelines

Code 0010110 may mean several things, but the common theme is breaking out of the matrix to start something new or meeting some resistance.

Initially, one member on a Quora thread stated that the code 0010110 is an "activation code" that can be "utilized as a way of changing the neural pathways using repetitive patterns."

The user continued by saying it helps "people shift conscious reality." The same user also stated that 0010110 can also be used as a mantra to help people focus on "the quantum-now (zero point) within the mind."

Overall, number 0010110 seems to pertain to "full enlightenment and liberation."

The Tesla and Space-X billionaire says he's apparently already uploaded his consciousness to the cloud and spoken to himself, achieving what is known as digital immortality or quantum immortality.

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According to World Scientific, "The first part of the paper assumes that mind-uploading is possible and will become quite commonplace in the near (21st century)..."

Musk has said before that he has proof we may be living in a simulation. But this time, Musk confirmed this strange concept on Twitter.

When asked, "If you could upload your brain to the cloud, and talk to a virtual version of yourself, would you be buddies?" Musk replied, "Already did it."

It's uncertain if this is actually something Musk has done, but until now, the concept was only known in sci-fi movies or television shows like "Caprica," "Westworld," and "Black Mirror."

Even stranger is that Nikola Tesla was interested in this concept of "uploading" a consciousness into digital form. As we know, Musk now owns Tesla.

Notably, Tesla was also the man behind the now highly popular 369 manifestation method, his stated belief on which was that "if you knew the magnificence of 3, 6 and 9, you would have a key to the universe.

RELATED:According To TikTok, Einstein Thought We're Already Dead And It May Be True

According to TikTokers, on August 27, 2022, people who have received the code should look for a man in a red coat... and aliens.

The man in a red coat will appear outside your window with a briefcase on August 27, 2022, they say. He will "scream the words of truth" to you, which are presumably instructions on how to exit the matrix, or inform you that you are in the matrix and what will come next.

When you see him, the TikToks advise you to be ready and "go with no fear" even though they also say "we must warn you that the dark entities are always watching us."

Others are claiming that aliens will come down on August 27, 2022 to collect the 7% of people who have found the code.

One book, "0010110 Breaking Free From The Matrix: Using Code 0010110 to Liberate Humanity from the Matrix," claims that "0010110 is a international movement with the goal to liberate humanity from the limitations of the past. Breaking Free from the Matrix is entirely Possible for Humanity. The Only thing Humanity needs to do is choose to break free from the matrix in order to overcome it."

The book is described as a document that has "a pattern of words designed with energetic significance, opening the door for humanity to see the tools available right now in the 21st century."

A second book, "CODE 0010110: Quantum Immortality," associates the 0010110 code with digital immortality, which relates to what Elon Musk has allegedly achieved.

This book is focused on reminding us that digital immortality is at the helm of humanity's future: "Code 0010110 represents the next chapter in human language; as the realization of the inherited dreams of this timeline manifest in real time, we are truly witnessing creation itself being dreamed into existence."

The book also claims to reveal "secrets" about the power of humanity, saying: "1. You can develop super human abilities simply by remembering them and remembering that they exist in your DNA; 2. The ideas and concepts explored by 0010110 patterns of consciousness uncover a hidden collective memory and ability previously known by ancient humans and now rediscovered for the next stage of human evolution alongside all of technology."

Whatever 0010110 and August 27, 2022 bring is yet to be determined. In the meantime, the TikToks claims you those who have already found the code will continue to learn more about what will happen in their dreams.

Let's just hope whatever it is brings us all some growth.

RELATED: This Alternate Reality Theory Claims The World Really Ended In 2012

Deauna Nunes is an associate editor who covers pop culture, lifestyle, zodiac, love and relationship topics for YourTango. She's been published by Emerson College's literary magazine Generic. Follow her on Twitter and on Instagram.

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According To Believers, 7% Of Us Will Find Code 0010110 And Exit The Matrix On August 27 - YourTango

Imagine you are the wealthiest person in the world and you think having one of you is not enough for the world. Elon Musk seems to think two of his brains are better than having just one, but this goes into a deep philosophical question we all have. Can consciousness be transferred to a machine? Musk has the technology and the means to at least give it a shot but we still had no idea if he has done it until today.

Musk just responded to a Twitter question where he confirms he has already uploaded his brain to a cloud on the Internet. He wasn't specific about it but the question was pretty specific. A Twitter account that goes by @BillyM2k asked: "If you could upload your brain to the cloud, and talk to a virtual version of yourself, would you be buddies?" Musk quickly responded: 'Already did it," withuot offering any type of explanation.

The mere concept of the mind is already a puzzling one, humans have been trying to explain it for millennia. To this day, there are many different interpretations and nobody can come up with a scientific definition of what the mind is. So, Elon Musk confirmed he uploaded his brain to the cloud but he didn't specify whether his other self has similar trades or if it's just the mathematical knowledge he uploaded.

Also, uploading his braing to a cloud and talking to himself probably means he is getting closer to solving Artificial Intelligence. Certainly, we all would like a better explanation about this rather than a short answer. WIll Elon Musk find time to explain exactly how he uploaded his brain to the cloud and what the conversation with himself was all about? We still have so many questions about this.

Read this article:

Elon Musk confirms he already uploaded his brain to a cloud, he spoke to himself - Marca

Gizmodo is 20 years old! In the summer of 2002, The Gadgets Weblog officially launched to cover all of your gadget weblogging needs. The last two decades have been a wild ride in technology, so were taking this opportunity to look back at some of the most significant ways our lives have been thrown for a loop by our digital tools. Weve come a long way since the days of TiVo, Napster, and Palm Pilots. Unfortunately, were still not old enough to drink.

Like so many others after 9/11, I felt spiritually and existentially lost. Its hard to believe now, but I was a regular churchgoer at the time. Watching those planes smash into the World Trade Centre woke me from my extended cerebral slumber and I havent set foot in a church since, aside from the occasional wedding or baptism.

I didnt realise it at the time, but that godawful day triggered an intrapersonal renaissance in which my passion for science and philosophy was resuscitated. My marriage didnt survive this mental reboot and return to form, but it did lead me to some very positive places, resulting in my adoption of secular Buddhism, meditation, and a decade-long stint with vegetarianism. It also led me to futurism, and in particular a brand of futurism known as transhumanism.

Transhumanism made a lot of sense to me, as it seemed to represent the logical next step in our evolution, albeit an evolution guided by humans and not Darwinian selection. As a cultural and intellectual movement, transhumanism seeks to improve the human condition by developing, promoting, and disseminating technologies that significantly augment our cognitive, physical, and psychological capabilities. When I first stumbled upon the movement, the technological enablers of transhumanism were starting to come into focus: genomics, cybernetics, artificial intelligence, and nanotechnology. These tools carried the potential to radically transform our species, leading to humans with augmented intelligence and memory, unlimited lifespans, and entirely new physical and cognitive capabilities. And as a nascent Buddhist, it meant a lot to me that transhumanism held the potential to alleviate a considerable amount of suffering through the elimination of disease, infirmary, mental disorders, and the ravages of ageing.

The idea that humans would transition to a posthuman state seemed both inevitable and desirable, but, having an apparently functional brain, I immediately recognised the potential for tremendous harm. Wanting to avoid a Brave New World dystopia (perhaps vaingloriously), I decided to get directly involved in the transhumanist movement in hopes of steering it in the right direction. To that end, I launched my blog, Sentient Developments, joined the World Transhumanist Association (now Humanity+), co-founded the now-defunct Toronto Transhumanist Association, and served as the deputy editor of the transhumanist e-zine Betterhumans, also defunct. I also participated in the founding of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET), on which I continue to serve as chairman of the board.

Indeed, it was also around this time in the early- to mid-2000s that I developed a passion for bioethics. This newfound fascination, along with my interest in futurist studies and outreach, gave rise to a dizzying number of opportunities. I gave talks at academic conferences, appeared regularly on radio and television, participated in public debates, and organised transhumanist-themed conferences, including TransVision 2004, which featured talks by Australian performance artist Stelarc, Canadian inventor and cyborg Steve Mann, and anti-ageing expert Aubrey de Grey.

The transhumanist movement had permeated nearly every aspect of my life, and I thought of little else. It also introduced me to an intriguing (and at times problematic) cast of characters, many of whom remain my colleagues and friends. The movement gathered steady momentum into the late 2000s and early 2010s, acquiring many new supporters and a healthy dose of detractors. Transhumanist memes, such as mind uploading, genetically modified babies, human cloning, and radical life extension, flirted with the mainstream. At least for a while.

The term transhumanism popped into existence during the 20th century, but the idea has been around for a lot longer than that.

The quest for immortality has always been a part of our history, and it probably always will be. The Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh is the earliest written example, while the Fountain of Youth the literal Fountain of Youth was the obsession of Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Len.

Notions that humans could somehow be modified or enhanced appeared during the European Enlightenment of the 18th century, with French philosopher Denis Diderot arguing that humans might someday redesign themselves into a multitude of types whose future and final organic structure its impossible to predict, as he wrote in DAlemberts Dream. Diderot also thought it possible to revive the dead and imbue animals and machines with intelligence. Another French philosopher, Marquis de Condorcet, thought along similar lines, contemplating utopian societies, human perfectibility, and life extension.

The Russian cosmists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries foreshadowed modern transhumanism, as they ruminated on space travel, physical rejuvenation, immortality, and the possibility of bringing the dead back to life, the latter being a portend to cryonics a staple of modern transhumanist thinking. From the 1920s through to the 1950s, thinkers such as British biologist J. B. S. Haldane, Irish scientist J. D. Bernal, and British biologist Julian Huxley (who popularised the term transhumanism in a 1957 essay) were openly advocating for such things as artificial wombs, human clones, cybernetic implants, biological enhancements, and space exploration.

It wasnt until the 1990s, however, that a cohesive transhumanist movement emerged, a development largely brought about by you guessed it the internet.

As with many small subcultures, the internet allowed transhumanists around the world to start communicating on email lists, and then websites and blogs, James Hughes, a bioethicist, sociologist, and the executive director of the IEET, told me. Almost all transhumanist culture takes place online. The 1990s and early 2000s were also relatively prosperous, at least for the Western countries where transhumanism grew, so the techno-optimism of transhumanism seemed more plausible.

The internet most certainly gave rise to the vibrant transhumanist subculture, but the emergence of tantalising, impactful scientific and technological concepts is what gave the movement its substance. Dolly the sheep, the worlds first cloned animal, was born in 1996, and in the following year Garry Kasparov became the first chess grandmaster to lose to a supercomputer. The Human Genome Project finally released a complete human genome sequence in 2003, in a project that took 13 years to complete. The internet itself gave birth to a host of futuristic concepts, including online virtual worlds and the prospect of uploading ones consciousness into a computer, but it also suggested a possible substrate for the Nosphere a kind of global mind envisioned by the French Jesuit philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.

Key cheerleaders contributed to the proliferation of far-flung futurist-minded ideas. Eric Drexlers seminal book Engines of Creation (1986) demonstrated the startling potential for (and peril of) molecular nanotechnology, while the work of Hans Moravec and Kevin Warwick did the same for robotics and cybernetics, respectively. Futurist Ray Kurzweil, through his law of accelerating returns and fetishization of Moores Law, convinced many that a radical future was at hand; in his popular books, The Age of Spiritual Machines (1999) and The Singularity is Near (2005), Kurzweil predicted that human intelligence was on the cusp of merging with its technology. In his telling, this meant that we could expect a Technological Singularity (the emergence of greater-than-human artificial intelligence) by the mid-point of the 21st century (as an idea, the Singularity another transhumanist staple has been around since the 1960s and was formalized in a 1993 essay by futurist and sci-fi author Vernor Vinge). In 2006, an NSF-funded report, titled Managing Nano-Bio-Info-Cogno Innovations: Converging Technologies in Society, showed that the U.S. government was starting to pay attention to transhumanist ideas.

A vibrant grassroots transhumanist movement developed at the turn of the millennium. The Extropy Institute, founded by futurist Max More, and the World Transhumanist Association (WTA), along with its international charter groups, gave structure to what was, and still is, a wildly divergent set of ideas. A number of specialty groups with related interests also emerged, including: the Methuselah Foundation, the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence (now the Machine Intelligence Research Institute), the Centre for Responsible Nanotechnology, the Foresight Institute, the Lifeboat Foundation, and many others. Interest in cryonics increased as well, with the Alcor Life Extension Foundation and the Cryonics Institute receiving more attention than usual.

Society and culture got cyberpunked in a hurry, which naturally led people to think increasingly about the future. And with the Apollo era firmly in the rear view mirror, the publics interest in space exploration waned. Bored of the space-centric 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Wars, we increasingly turned our attention to movies about AI, cybernetics, and supercomputers, including Blade Runner, Akira, and The Matrix, many of which had a distinctive dystopian tinge.

With the transhumanist movement in full flight, the howls of outrage became louder from critics within the conservative religious right through to those on the anti-technological left. Political scientist Francis Fukuyama declared transhumanism to be the worlds most dangerous idea, while bioethicist Leon Kass, a vocal critic of transhumanism, headed-up President George W. Bushs bioethics council, which explicitly addressed medical interventions meant to enhance human capabilities and appearance. The bioethical battle lines of the 21st century, it appeared, were being drawn before our eyes.

It was a golden era for transhumanism. Within a seemingly impossible short time, our ideas went from obscurity to tickling the zeitgeist. The moment that really did it for me was seeing the cover of TIMEs February 21, 2011, issue, featuring the headline, 2045: The Year Man Becomes Immortal, and cover art depicting a brain-jacked human head.

By 2012, my own efforts in this area had landed me a job as a contributing editor for Gizmodo, which served to expand my interest in science, futurism, and philosophy even further. I presented a talk at Moogfest in 2014 and had some futurist side hustles, serving as the advisor for National Geographics 2017 documentary-drama series, Year Million. Transhumanist themes permeated much of my work back then, whether at Gizmodo or later with Gizmodo, but less so with each passing year. These days I barely write about transhumanism, and my involvement in the movement barely registers. My focus has been on spaceflight and the ongoing commercialization of space, which continues to scratch my futurist itch.

What was once a piercing roar has retreated to barely discernible background noise. Or at least thats how it currently appears to me. For reasons that are both obvious and not obvious, explicit discussions of transhumanism and transhumanists have fallen by the wayside.

The reason we dont talk about transhumanism as much as we used to is that much of it has become a bit normal at least as far as the technology goes, as Anders Sandberg, a senior research fellow from the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford, told me.

We live lives online using wearable devices (smartphones), aided by AI and intelligence augmentation, virtual reality is back again, gene therapy and RNA vaccines are a thing, massive satellite constellations are happening, drones are becoming important in warfare, trans[gender] rights are a big issue, and so on, he said, adding: We are living in a partially transhuman world. At the same time, however, the transhumanist idea to deliberately embrace the change and try to aim for such a future has not become mainstream, Sandberg said.

His point about transhumanism having a connection to trans-rights may come as a surprise, but the futurist linkage to LGBTQ+ issues goes far back, whether it be sci-fi novelist Octavia Butler envisioning queer families and greater gender fluidity or feminist Donna Haraway yearning to be a cyborg rather than a goddess. Transhumanists have long advocated for a broadening of sexual and gender diversity, along with the associated rights to bodily autonomy and the means to invoke that autonomy. In 2011, Martine Rothblatt, the billionaire transhumanist and transgender rights advocate, took it a step further when she said, we cannot be surprised that transhumanism arises from the groins of transgenderism, and that we must welcome this further transcendence of arbitrary biology.

Natasha Vita-More, executive director of Humanity+ and an active transhumanist since the early 1980s, says ideas that were foreign to non-transhumanists 20 years ago have been integrated into our regular vocabulary. These days, transhumanist-minded thinkers often reference concepts such as cryonics, mind uploading, and memory transfer, but without having to invoke transhumanism, she said.

Is it good that we dont reference transhumanism as much anymore? No, I dont think so, but I also think it is part of the growth and evolution of social understanding in that we dont need to focus on philosophy or movements over technological or scientific advances that are changing the world, Vita-More told me. Moreover, people today are far more knowledgeable about technology than they were 20 years ago and are more adept at considering the pros and cons of change rather than just the cons or potential bad effects, she added.

PJ Manney, futurist consultant and author of the transhumanist-themed sci-fi Phoenix Horizon trilogy, says all the positive and optimistic visions of future humanity are being tempered or outright dashed as we see humans taking new tools and doing what humans do: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Indeed, were a lot more cynical and wary of technology than we were 20 years ago, and for good reasons. The Cambridge Analytica data scandal, Edward Snowdens revelations about government spying, and the emergence of racist policing software were among an alarming batch of reproachable developments that demonstrated technologys potential to turn sour.

We dont talk about transhumanism that much any more because so much of it is in the culture already, Manney, who serves with me on the IEET board of directors, continued, but we exist in profound future shock and with cultural and social stresses all around us. Manney referenced the retrograde SCOTUS reversals and how U.S. states are removing human rights from acknowledged humans. She suggests that we secure human rights for humans before we consider our silicon simulacrums.

Nigel Cameron, an outspoken critic of transhumanism, said the futurist movement lost much of its appeal because the naive framing of the enormous changes and advances under discussion got less interesting as the distinct challenges of privacy, automation, and genetic manipulation (e.g. CRISPR) began to emerge. In the early 2000s, Cameron led a project on the ethics of emerging technologies at the Illinois Institute of Technology and is now a Senior Fellow at the University of Ottawas Institute on Science, Society and Policy.

Sandberg, a longstanding transhumanist organiser and scholar, said the War on Terror and other emerging conflicts of the 2000s caused people to turn to here-and-now geopolitics, while climate change, the rise of China, and the 2008 financial crisis led to the pessimism seen during the 2010s. Today we are having a serious problem with cynicism and pessimism paralyzing people from trying to fix and build things, Sandberg said. We need optimism!

Some of the transhumanist groups that emerged in the 1990s and 2000s still exist or evolved into new forms, and while a strong pro-transhumanist subculture remains, the larger public seems detached and largely disinterested. But thats not to say that these groups, or the transhumanist movement in general, didnt have an impact.

The various transhumanist movements led to many interesting conversations, including some bringing together conservatives and progressives into a common critique, said Cameron.

I think the movements had mainly an impact as intellectual salons where blue-sky discussions made people find important issues they later dug into professionally, said Sandberg. He pointed to Oxford University philosopher and transhumanist Nick Bostrom, who discovered the importance of existential risk for thinking about the long-term future, which resulted in an entirely new research direction. The Centre for the Study of Existential Risk at the University of Cambridge and the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford are the direct results of Bostroms work. Sandberg also cited artificial intelligence theorist Eliezer Yudkowsky, who refined thinking about AI that led to the AI safety community forming, and also the transhumanist cryptoanarchists who did the groundwork for the cryptocurrency world, he added. Indeed, Vitalik Buterin, a co-founder of Ethereum, subscribes to transhumanist thinking, and his father, Dmitry, used to attend our meetings at the Toronto Transhumanist Association.

According to Manney, various transhumanist-driven efforts inspired a vocabulary and creative impulse for many, including myself, to wrestle with the philosophical, technological and artistic implications that naturally arise. Sci-fi grapples with transhumanism now more than ever, whether people realise it or not, she said. Fair point. Shows like Humans, Orphan Black, Westworld, Black Mirror, and Upload are jam-packed with transhumanist themes and issues, though the term itself is rarely if ever uttered. That said, these shows are mostly dystopian in nature, which suggests transhumanism is mostly seen through grey-coloured glasses. To be fair, super-uplifting portrayals of the future rarely work as Hollywood blockbusters or hit TV shows, but its worth pointing out that San Junipero is rated as among the best Black Mirror episodes for its positive portrayal of uploading as a means to escape death.

For the most part, however, transhuman-flavored technologies are understandably scary and relatively easy to cast in a negative light. Uncritical and starry-eyed transhumanists, of which there are many, werent of much help. Manney contends that transhumanism itself could use an upgrade. The lack of consideration for consequences and follow-on effects, as well as the narcissistic demands common to transhumanism, have always been the downfall of the movement, she told me. Be careful what you wish for you may get it. Drone warfare, surveillance societies, deepfakes, and the potential for hackable bioprostheses and brain chips have made transhumanist ideas less interesting, according to Manney.

Like so many other marginal social movements, transhumanism has had an indirect influence by widening the Overton window [also known as the window of discourse] in policy and academic debates about human enhancement, Hughes explained. In the 2020s, transhumanism still has its critics, but it is better recognised as a legitimate intellectual position, providing some cover for more moderate bioliberals to argue for liberalized enhancement policies.

Sandberg brought up a very good point: Nothing gets older faster than future visions. Indeed, many transhumanist ideas from the 1990s now look quaint, he said, pointing to wearable computers, smart drinks, imminent life extension, and all that internet utopianism. That said, Sandberg thinks the fundamental vision of transhumanism remains intact, saying the human condition can be questioned and changed, and we are getting better at it. These days, we talk more about CRISPR (a gene-editing tool that came into existence in 2012) than we do nanotechnology, but transhumanism naturally upgrades itself as new possibilities and arguments show up, he said.

Vita-More says the transhumanist vision is still desirable and probably even more so because it has started to make sense for many. Augmented humans are everywhere, she said, from implants, smart devices that we use daily, human integration with computational systems that we use daily, to the hope that one day we will be able to slow down memory loss and store or back-up our neurological function in case of memory loss or diseases of dementia and Alzheimers.

The observation that transhumanism has started to make sense for many is a good one. Take Neuralink, for example. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk based the startup on two very transhumanistic principles that interfaces between the brain and computers are possible and that artificial superintelligence is coming. Musk, in his typical fashion, claims a philanthropic motive for wanting to build neural interface devices, as he believes boosted brains will protect us from malign machine intelligence (I personally think hes wrong, but thats another story).

For Cameron, transhumanism looks as frightening as ever, and he honed in on a notion he refers to as the hollowing out of the human, the idea that all that matters in Homo sapiens can be uploaded as a paradigm for our desiderata. In the past, Cameron has argued that if machine intelligence is the model for human excellence and gets to enhance and take over, then we face a new feudalism, as control of finance and the power that goes with it will be at the core of technological human enhancement, and democracywill be dead in the water.

That being said, and despite these concerns, Manny believes theres still a need for a transhumanist movement, but one that addresses complexity and change for all humanity.

Likewise, Vita-More says a transhumanist movement is still needed because it serves to facilitate change and support choices based on personal needs that look beyond binary thinking, while also supporting diversity for good.

There is always a need for think tanks. While there are numerous futurist groups that contemplate the future, they are largely focused on energy, green energy, risks, and ethics, said Vita-More. Few of these groups are a reliable source of knowledge or information about the future of humanity other than a postmodernist stance, which is more focused on feminist studies, diversity, and cultural problems. Vita-More currently serves as the executive director of Humanity+.

Hughes says that transhumanists fell into a number of political, technological, and even religious camps when they tried to define what they actually wanted. The IEET describes its brand of transhumanism as technoprogressivism an attempt to define and promote a social democratic vision of an enhanced future, as Hughes defines it. As a concept, technoprogressivism provides a more tangible foundation for organising than transhumanism, says Hughes, so I think we are well beyond the possibility of a transhumanist movement and will now see the growth of a family of transhumanist-inspired or influenced movements that have more specific identities, including Mormon and other religious transhumanists, libertarians and technoprogressives, and the ongoing longevist, AI, and brain-machine subcultures.

I do think we need public intellectuals to be more serious about connecting the dots, as technologies continue to converge and offer bane and blessing to the human condition, and as our response tends to be uncritically enthusiastic or perhaps unenthusiastic, said Cameron.

Sandberg says transhumanism is needed as a counterpoint to the pervasive pessimism and cynicism of our culture, and that to want to save the future you need to both think it is going to be awesome enough to be worth saving, and that we have power to do something constructive. To which he added: Transhumanism also adds diversity the future does not have to be like the present.

As Manney aptly pointed out, it seems ludicrous to advocate for human enhancement at a time when abortion rights in the U.S. have been rescinded. The rise of anti-vaxxers during the covid-19 epidemic presents yet another complication, showing the extent to which the public willingly rejects a good thing. For me personally, the anti-vaxxer response to the pandemic was exceptionally discouraging, as I often reference vaccines to explain the transhumanist mindset that we already embrace interventions that enhance our limited genetic endowments.

Given the current landscape, its my own opinion that self-described transhumanists should advocate and agitate for full bodily, cognitive, and reproductive autonomy, while also championing the merits of scientific discourse. Until these rights are established, it seems a bit premature to laud the benefits of improved memories or radically extended lifespans, as sad as it is to have to admit that.

These contemporary social issues aside, the transhuman future wont wait for us to play catchup. These technologies will arrive, whether they emerge from university labs or corporate workshops. Many of these interventions will be of great benefit to humanity, but others could lead us down some seriously dark paths. Consequently, we must move the conversation forward.

Which reminds me of why I got involved in transhumanism in the first place my desire to see the safe, sane, and accessible implementation of these transformative technologies. These goals remain worthwhile, regardless of any explicit mention of transhumanism. Thankfully, these conversations are happening, and we can thank the transhumanists for being the instigators, whether you subscribe to our ideas or not.

From the Gizmodo archives:

An Irreverent Guide to Transhumanism and The Singularity

U.S. Spy Agency Predicts a Very Transhuman Future by 2030

Most Americans Fear a Future of Designer Babies and Brain Chips

Transhumanist Tech Is a Boner Pill That Sets Up a Firewall Against Billy Joel

DARPAs New Biotech Division Wants to Create a Transhuman Future

Follow this link:

Whatever Happened to the Transhumanists? - Gizmodo Australia

Its time to put together our 2023 business calendar, and we would love to have one of your photos featured!

Submit your photo below. Keep in mind, were looking for:

Deadline to submit is Wednesday, August 31.

If you have trouble uploading the photo, you can email the photo to kgrr@radiodubuque.com Only attach one photo in each email please.

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Mound View RV /Piggers Motorcycle Shop /Dubuqueland Door /Beidler Towing /Midwest Motorsports /Remote Start & Stereo /Bell Tower Theater /Calico Bean Market /OConnor & English Insurance /Grant County Truck Bodies /Interiors by Design /Mr Quix Printing /White Front Feed & Seed /Dubuque Mattress Factory /Key West Early Childhood /Tri-State Cremation Center /Goedert Custom Cabinets /Lange Sign Group /Brimeyer Auto Body /Delaneys Ice Cream Shop /Shamrock Jewelers /Alexxus Entertainment /Lettman Chiropractic /Delaneys Auto & Ag /Welters Storage & Office Equipment /Dubuqueland Mini Storage /Morocco Supper Club /Pro Care Automotive /Freddies Popcorn /Sunset Lanes /Canvas Products /J & D Catering /Cremers Grocery /Czipars Apple Orchard /Sunset Park Place /Country Inn & Suites in Platteville /Jacks Chicken Palace /Dubuque Religious Center /Skip Breitbach Feeds /PJs Pub & Hall /Dubuque Sewing & Vacuum /Pizza Factory/Feed Store Pub /Bluff Street Time Shop /South End Tap /Butts Florist /Jeremy Noel Realtor /Complete Off Road /Sub Zero Spray Foam Insulation /KCRD Radio /Paramount Ambulance /Papa Ozz / Huseman Electric / Dubuque Wine & Spirits / Tri-State Blueprint

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TREASURES OF THE TRI-STATE 2022 - 97.3 the Rock - Radio Dubuque

India versus West Indies second T20 highlights: India continue to remain without a victory at the Warner Park.

During the second T20I of Indias tour of West Indies 2022 in Basseterre, West Indies beat India by 5 wickets to end their 12-match losing streak against this opposition in white-ball cricket. It is after almost 33 months that West Indies have been able to defeat India in any format.

Chasing a 139-run target, West Indies wouldve ideally wanted to have registered a victory way before they eventually did. Having said that, considering their recent form, the hosts wouldnt mind winning with four balls remaining in the match.

Opening batter Brandon King, who brought up a fourth T20I half-century to score 68 (52) with the help of eight fours and two sixes, was the pick of their batters.

Having said that, it was Devon Thomas (31*) who kept calm in a tense situation to be able to register a last-over finish at the Warner Park. Needing 23 runs off 14 balls to win the match, Thomas hit India vice-captain Hardik Pandya for a six to bring the asking rate down.

Further requiring 10 runs off the last Avesh Khan over, the right-hand batter hit a six and a four off consecutive deliveries to avoid any last-minute error. One of the two changes made by West Indies for this match, Thomas justified the decision of playing an extra batter on the back of hitting a four and two sixes.

That being said, the real architect of this West Indian victory was fast bowler Obed McCoy. Banking on his current form, McCoy not only registered career-best bowling figures but also picked the best figures for a West Indian bowler. McCoys six-wicket haul, only the 11th in this format, earned him a second Player of the Match award in international cricket.

Streaming platform FanCode, onlyofficial streaming appof this tour for the Indian audiences, has an option of watching highlights but only for itssubscribers.However, non-subscribers can watch selected video highlights on theTwitter handleorYouTube channelof FanCode.

While the official YouTube channel of West Indies Cricket will also be uploading highlights of this match but that might take some time especially for the Indian audiences who would be looking for highlights upon waking up in the morning in a few hours from now.

Link:

India versus West Indies second T20 highlights: Fancode yesterday match 2nd T20 highlights where to watch - The Sportsrush

An Internet troll who was described as a Tartan Jihadist during a trial has been found guilty of sending threatening online messages to politicians George Galloway and Angus Robertson.

David Llewelyn posted a disturbing post on his Facebook page stating If you ever see him [Mr Galloway] under a Union Jack with a Tory then please shoot him.

Llewelyn also posted an explicit picture on the social media site of Mr Galloways face photoshopped onto an image of a man having sex with an animal.

READ MORE - Restaurant hits back after British tourist slams '50 for lemonade' in scathing review

The online lout also publicly published the controversial politicians email address demanding his followers register the account with pornographic websites.

The 61-year-old Scottish nationalist then used Facebook to state SNP MSP Angus Robertson and his wife Jennifer should be dumped in the capitals Water of Leith.

Llewelyn, from Royston Mains, Edinburgh, denied the allegations but was found guilty of amended charges on Tuesday following a two day trial at the capitals sheriff court.

Sheriff Fiona Reith said she found all the Crown witness to be credible and reliable and deferred sentence to later this month for social work reports to be prepared.

Mr Galloway, leader of the Workers Party of Great Britain, told the trial he was left alarmed when made aware of Lewellyns post that said If you ever see him under a Union Jack with a Tory then please shoot him.

The 67-year-old father-of-six told the court the Facebook message filled him with revulsion, alarm and a bit of fear.

Mr Galloway described Llewelyn as a Tartan Jihadist and said he believed he is capable of anything.

He added: I had ample reason on receiving all of this to fear he may turn up in my garden.

Mr Galloway also told the court he was made aware of an image circulating online showing his face photoshopped onto an explicit sexual picture.

Mr Galloway said: It purported to show me in an act of coitus with an animal. It doesnt get much worse than that - it is grotesque and is totally revolting.

I have been in politics a long time but I do not think I have seen a worse piece of imagery regarding myself.

The politician also said he was left horrified after being told Lewellyn had posted his email address imploring his pals to register the account on X-rated websites.

He said the move had led to him receiving an immediate flooding of pornographic content.

Edinburgh Central MSP Angus Robertson, 52, also gave evidence stating he became aware of an online post concerning him and his wife in January last year.

The full message read: Angus Robertson says the games a bogey. Time him and his social climbing wife are dumped. In the Water of Leith.

Mr Robertson, 52, said: [The post was] brought to my attention by my wife. We were having a scan for our second child and we were at a medical facility in Leith [Edinburgh].

She was distraught. She was extremely upset.

I felt that it was threatening and aimed at causing upset and that is exactly what it did.

Mr Robertson told the court he and his wife were living near the Water of Leith at the time and his constituency office was also located nearby.

Mr Robertson added: In an aggressive context it refers to the dumping of a body. That is what comes to mind.

It could have said thrown but it didnt, it said dumped.

Llewelyn was found guilty of posting an obscene picture with Mr Galloways head imposed on the picture and posting a message containing abusive massages between July 18 and October 24, 2020.

He was also convicted of engaging in a course of conduct which caused George Galloway fear and alarm by publishing his email address and inciting others to register it with pornographic websites.

Llewelyn was also found to have behaved in a threatening or abusive manner by uploading remarks to social media suggesting Angus Robertson and wife Jennifer should be harmed on January 5 last year.

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Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2022: ScotRail issues timetable update for August

Spain holiday warning to British holidaymakers as strict new beach rule is imposed

Edinburgh weather as 'clammy' temperatures to hit Scotland this week

Continued here:

Edinburgh internet troll guilty of sending vile online messages to politicians - Edinburgh Live

What would you feel if you suddenly came to know that all your photos, videos, and hundreds of minutes of memories were all gone? You had them carefully stored in your computer, but since your PC broke down, there is no other method to retrieve your missing memories.

We all dearly value the videos and photos that we collect over time. They are some small tokens that remind us about all the fun, joyous and sad events we passed throughout our lives. They could be memories of your childhood, parents, friends, grandparents, etc. Even though the computers measured them in bits and bytes, they hold an invaluable amount of value in them.

And it's no wonder we feel devastated when we accidentally lose them.

You will remember all the times you reminiscence over them, clicking through your computer screen, sighing and awe ing at them.

But worry no more! The PhotoStick is here to protect all your valuable videos and photos!

It is a portable USB stick that automatically scans through all the computer files and extracts the videos and photos from them. To get to know more about this enhanced version of traditional USB pen drives, keep reading The PhotoStick reviews.

Protect Your Most Memorable Memories

Saving your most favorite memories elsewhere other than your PC is essential. Imagine what would happen if your computer dies down suddenly not to be able to switch it back on? All your precious memories will be gone forever!

In the US, 140,000 hard drives crash every week. As a result, wedding pictures, family outings, and anniversary pictures will all be gone in seconds.

What about your grandson's first words, his kindergarten degree? Yes, they will all be gone, too. NO LONGER!

Of course, nobody wants to spend hours loading a storage device with years of images. Also, a professional digital photo organizer can be pretty expensive! What about all the duplicated ones? They will just be eating your storage space.

However, how about storing all your files in the cloud? That seems safe and easy.

You would be shocked. Many people are willing to say that their pictures are "stored in the cloud," but they cannot describe the location of these personal memories or the potential users. Some run out of storage on the cloud and have to buy the space after spending hundreds of dollars.

And then, sort them one by one before uploading. Then, money, time, and your wifi will all be wasted.

So why not buy a simple PhotoStick? It's the easiest, cheapest, and fastest method to back up all your gallery items. But you must be wondering what this new gadget we are talking about, isn't that right?

From here, you can discover the new The PhotoStick reviews.

What Is The PhotoStick?

The PhotoStick is a powerful little gadget, a USB pen drive, that resembles a standard memory stick. But this wonderful little gadget is anything but ordinary.

All you must do is connect the PhotoStick to one of the USB openings in your computer and click on its program. There is nothing to install, no programmed CDs to run, but once you connect the two devices, it will automatically get installed into your personal computer or the laptop.

And when you open up the PhotoStick program, you will see a big green button with the words "Go!" All you have to do is click on that big green button, and the program will search through all your computer photos and save them in the PhotoStick memory. Additionally, it will also remove any duplicated images or videos before the files are copied into the PhotoStick.

TERRIFIC FACT: Did you know that a whopping 140,000 hard drives crash and become corrupted weekly in the US? Daily hard drive crashes amount to 20,000!

=> Visit The PhotoStick For PC Official Website To Avoid Scams!

Spend Less Time Searching And Sorting

Backing up pictures used to be difficult and time-consuming. However, with the PhotoStick for Computer, you must click GO to start the magic!

Everything is taken care of by the PhotoStick for Computers. To ensure no memory is lost, it recognizes and classifies thousands of your favorite photos and videos in minutes. The duplicates are then deleted to save space.

Protects your pictures and videos forever with the PhotoStick for Computers, and your photos and files are safely stored on the stick, which also backs them up.

The PhotoStick is now available in three sizes.

The PhotoStick 8

The PhotoStick 64

The PhotoStick 128

How To Use The PhotoStick And How Does The PhotoStick Organize Photos?

Using the PhotoStick is as easy as using a regular flash drive you used for assignments at school and work. It has a similar layout and a USB body that you can plug into an available port.

Even if you don't have perfect knowledge about computers and electronics, using the PhotoStick 2.0 is pretty much easy.

You won't have any problems using the PhotoStick if you turn on your computer and let it boot up and run. Just follow these instructions to back up all your pictures and videos quickly:

Step 01 - Locate an available USB port on your computer.

Step 02 - Before inserting the stick into the port, ensure it is facing up.

Step 03 - Wait for the device to be recognized by your computer.

Step 04 - Look at the window that appears in the middle of your screen.

Step 05 - Then click the green Go button.

If you are looking for how does the PhotoStick organizes photos, you can follow the following steps.

Scan

PhotoStick will scan your entire PC. Find pictures and movies and copy them to a single location on your PhotoStick. More than 50,000 photos can be reviewed in less than a minute. And you don't have to do any hassling things like finding the locations with pictures and videos and then copying them into the stick. Instead, everything is automated, and you can engage in something else while the PhotoStick recovers all your files after the scan.

Organize

If the PhotoStick Canada detects any duplicated images after the scan, the program will delete the newest copy and keep the original one. Then that picture will be copied to the pen drive. This way, not only will the space be saved on the device, but the photos will also be well organized and easy to access.

Automatic recovery

Any file on your computer containing these add-ons will be instantly recognized and supported by the device. Moreover, you don't have to locate these files manually. For example, PhotoStick offers automatic functions. These images will take a long time to create if you have a lot of pictures on your computer, but with Photosticks, you can press GO.

Does The PhotoStick Organize Photos Without The Internet?

It is multifunctional, and it has compatibility.

Similar to other data storage programs, PhotoStick is, too, a system that is internet-independent.

Data that can be accessed on different devices is backed up via Photostick. Your computer automatically saves your files when you find them. PhotoStick can perform backup operations for everyone if you have numerous PCs with photos and videos.

Any device with a USB port can be used to connect. It allows for the secure storage of millions of images.

Advantages Of The PhotoStick

Before buying the product, checking out the advantages of the product is essential to make sure you're making a suitable investment. Therefore, we also compiled a handful of benefits of using the PhotoStick.

Check them out below and make up your mind whether you will be the same older person who backed up your precious memories to your personal computer that could crash anytime. Or are you changing your style to use the safest method in the world to back up your images and videos?

Let's check out the advantages first!

Save yourself the hassle of organizing, transferring, and searching for photos and videos. The safest way to back up all your memories

No need to pay hundreds of dollars to buy cloud storage

Super fast shipping - Every order will be shipped within one day after ordering!

Money-back guarantees for 30 days - Each product has a warranty that starts on the day it is shipped. The highest level of control

No pre installations

Fast- find and save 1000 photos in ten minutes

It can hold up to 60,000 average-size images and videos

Works on both Mac and Windows

ThePhotostcik 128 contains massive storage of 128GB, which will keep your memories safe in one place Super easy to use and no passwords, no filenames, no cloud storage

Finds duplicates

Safe - just store in a secure location

Eliminates the vulnerabilities of the cloud

So, what are your thought? Is the PhotoStick any good? Then without wasting any more time, hurry up to their original seller's website and place your order immediately!

But why do we recommend the original seller's website? They offer the best price cuts and year-long discounts. It will not only save you a few extra bucks but also save you from wasting money on a scam such as the PhotoStick Amazon on the internet.

How To View Photos On PhotoStick?

As stated earlier, your PhotoStick will store both photo and video files. Therefore, the PhotoStick device's directory path will contain these files. Follow this address, and you will find all your content saved securely in the protected space of The PhotoStick device.

My PC > My-Files > the name of your computer> Your saved files

You can access your photographs on PhotoStick from the above computer path.

Please view The PhotoStick Organizer Software User Guide for more information on how to use the program.

The PhotoStick Pricing And How To Buy

The PhotoStick is available only on the official website. It is because the manufacturer does not sell his product elsewhere to protect potential customers from getting into scams. Moreover, this way, he could also control the demand for the product that flows from all over the world.

Therefore, the best-recommended place to buy this new and improved backing up device is from the official site. Further, there are so many discounts running on the site throughout the year, which you can enjoy.

The last unique feature of the PhotoStick is that there are no additional or hidden fees.

=> (SPECIAL OFFER) Click Here To Order The PhotoStick For PC For The Best Discounted Price Today From The Official Website!

The PhotoStick For Different Countries

If the goods cannot be shipped to Australia from the PhotoStick Amazon, you can order the same drives through the PhotoStick website. The good news is that Australia can buy products from the official PhotoStick website for a reasonable fee. But it takes about a month for your items to arrive, as the official PhotoStick website uses standard shipping for international shipments.

For a 64GB drive, the cost of the PhotoStick USB drive can range from $40 to $80.

Note that the prices of these products are significantly lower on the official website than the PhotoStick Amazon and other sites, so be careful when comparing prices before placing a single order.

The same thing applies to the PhotoStick Canada and the PhotoStick UK as well. There might be products precisely the same on the PhotoStick Amazon, but keep an eye out for possible scams.

You might be risking deleting or forgetting something if you manually transfer your photos. Therefore, you would need to put in a lot of effort and exercise extreme caution. Who, though, has the time for that? For sure, I don't. But don't

worry; the PhotoStick will take care of that for you! Yes, The PhotoStick UK can automatically sort, classify, and transfer all of your files for you.

If The PhotoStick Amazon is out of your price range, you can buy PhotoStick directly from The PhotoStick Australia, our official website. In addition, several Chinese companies have PhotoStick USB drivers available on The PhotoStick Australia. The USB drive price ranges from $20 to $30. But these low prices fool people into buying these scam products and stop you from buying the original and genuine product that will save your memories for years.

Pros And Cons Of Using The PhotoStick UK

There's not really much combat when using the stick. Just plug it in again if it doesn't load the first time. The pros and cons of using the PhotoStick are detailed in several web reviews.

We ship our original devices to Canada, Australia, the UK, and several other countries around the world. As a result, the PhotoStick Canada takes a more significant place in international customers. It also has an affordable price range compared to other websites.

ADVANTAGES:

It's easy to use.

According to reviews of the PhotoStick, the size is perfect for travelers and people constantly on the go. Files are quickly transferred from a PC or mobile device.

Three storage capacity variants are available for different applications.

Duplicate items are automatically filtered out.

DISADVANTAGE:

All media files are transferred or backed up automatically. However, the user cannot deselect anything with it.

=> Get Your The PhotoStick For PC From The Official Website To Avoid Scams! - Comes With No Risk Money-Back Guarantee!

Is PhotoStick any good?

You can pretty much tell if this is a decent buy or not after reading several PhotoStick reviews and seeing what people are saying about it. There are many customer reviews as the PhotoStick has been around for a long time. It is a dependable, practical, time- and money-saving device.

View post:

The PhotoStick Reviews (PhotoStick For PC) - Does This Device Really Worth Buying? Must Read This Before You Buy! - Outlook India

cigdem/Shutterstock.com

Mind uploading, technically known as whole brain emulation, is the idea that you can digitize a brain (and presumably the mind) and have that mind live on within the computer long after the body is dust. But how realistic is this idea?

First, why does anyone want to do it? The obvious answer is that many people are interested in extending their lifespan, to keep existing as a conscious being when their body and brain die. If you believe in any sort of afterlife, then this is a non-issue for you. But even so, the idea of preserving your mind for the foreseeable future is intrinsically appealing.

Apart from this rather self-centered motivation, there are other interesting potential applications for this sort of theoretical technology. Maybe we want to preserve our smartest people, so they can keep coming up with brilliant ideas. Perhaps its a way to achieve strong AI without having to crack the secret of how consciousness works. It could be a way to send the human mind into space without the need for large, slow ships or life support systems. These ideas are just the tip of the iceberg, so suffice it to say that theres more than enough interest to fund serious research in this area.

However, just because you have money and manpower to throw at a problem doesnt mean youll get anywhere. There are some serious roadblocks on the way to digital immortality.

On the face of it, this sounds like a silly question. However, despite all of us (supposedly) having minds and thoughts, we dont know all that much about what a mind is or how it works. Weve learned a lot about how human psychology works, how neurons work, and how specific substructures of the brain work, or at least what they do. But all of these puzzle pieces dont add up to any true understanding of the mind.

The reality is there are some fundamental mysteries about the mind-body relationship. For example, is it enough to emulate just the brain? Do we need to emulate the whole brain? Can a mind operate without a body? Does the body have to be emulated too?

To keep your mind intact might require simulating a lot of flesh and blood baggage it was designed to expect, and altering a digital mind so that it doesnt need that stuff arguably means its no longer a faithful reproduction. Thats before we deal with the fact that we dont know what aspects of our brains are important or how the brain works at a low level.

You need a lot of computational power to create simulations. Exactly how much power you will need depends on what youre planning to simulate. It might turn out that a lot of the brain simply doesnt have to be simulated in perfect detail to make everything work, or it could turn out that every bit of information about the state of every single brain cell matters. Theres a massive gulf in the computational power needed between those two extremes, but even at the low end, the computational needs are massive.

The Blue Brain project is a real-life research project with the aim of simulating a mouse brain. The project started in 2005, and by 2019 the research team announced that they had completed mapping the whole cortex of a mouse and were preparing to run virtual EEG experiments. Despite using the Blue Gene supercomputer, the mouse cortex model had become too heavy to simulate. You begin to see just how far away from human brain simulations we are if even a mouse brain demands more horsepower than we can muster.

Digitizing a brain means scanning it somehow. The most accurate scans are destructive, where a brain is treated and sliced into very thin slices, which are then reconstructed. Clearly, this isnt great news for the owner of the brain!

Even then, its not yet clear if those extremely high-fidelity scans contain all the information you need to upload a snapshot of a mind. Noninvasive scanning methods, such as fMRI, dont have anywhere near the detail of these destructive scanning methods, but that technology is improving all the time.

If the biological structure of the brain is in fact essential to uploading a mind, then well need to advance a few orders of magnitude when it comes to our ability to scan and capture those structures. It may turn out that the way our mind works might require information about things that are happening at the subatomic level, in the realm of quantum physics. If that turns out to be true, it becomes even harder to imagine a technology that can capture the necessary data.

One major snag, and one thats perhaps not solvable, is that mind uploading would be a form of copying and not transfer. In other words, no matter what you do your current consciousness will die when your brain does. The uploaded mind is a copy. It will believe its you, and it will think exactly as you would. It would have all your memories and experiences, assuming that the technology works that is. Yet your subjective experiences and consciousness will end. Even if mind uploads are done after your natural death, the original you is gone.

Whether this actually matters is a question for philosophers. But if mind uploading that can be done on a living brain without destroying it ever becomes real, it would mean that you and the digital copy of you would exist side-by-side. The two of you would immediately start to diverge into different individuals.

With any problem that doesnt have a clearly-defined scope, its impossible to put a timeline on things. An uploaded mind may never happen, or there could be a breakthrough next year. There are also many different variations on the theme of mind uploading that dont require whole brain emulation. Similar to Amazons infamous experimental feature for Alexa, we already have AI chatbots that learn to mimic people, living or deceased, by looking through all of their available data. This imitation could fool someone into thinking the bot was the original, which meets some rudimentary standards of mind uploading, but clearly isnt what people are looking for here.

Considering that we expect major leaps in both computing power and artificial intelligence systems that could help crack some of the harder problems on the road to mind-uploading, it would not be shocking to see some semblance of it during the 21st century. But at the same time, it would be surprising for it to remain permanently in the world of science fiction. Only time will tell.

RELATED: What Is Machine Learning?

Continued here:

How Close Are We to Uploading Your Mind? - How-To Geek

What should you remember while going ahead with your debut collaboraion? And why its crucial for content creators to make short-format videos

Collaborate carefully

Ive just gotten my first collaboration offer. What are some of the things I should keep in mind while deciding whether to take it or not?

Shivan, Via Instagram

You should always decide based on whether it is a brand you will actually use or if you are just doing it for the money. If its just for financial reasons, please dont do it, because its not ethical and your audience can see through it. Secondly, you have to ask yourself if the content that you are uploading on your social media would have been uploaded anyway if the brand wasnt a part of their content piece. If the answer is yes, then go for it. If you are forcing a brand deal, then I would suggest that you dont upload it.

The long and short of it

Is it absolutely necessary for me, an aspiring content creator, to make Reels?

Anikha, Mumbai

In the modern day, if you are starting to grow as a content creator, re-use the central part of the content creation. Short content is the center of social media. So, you shouldnt be the one to say I cant do short content and video, as that is how you grow on social media. You have to play the game according to the algorithm.

Popularly known as BeerBiceps, Ranveer is a star YouTuber and digital marketing entrepreneur. His videos on fitness, grooming and wellness, and his recent podcasts, have won him millions of fans

From HT Brunch, July 23, 2022

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Ranveer Allahbadia: Of collaborations and making Reels - Hindustan Times