Mr Deity returns

As one or two of the two or three regular readers know, I’m impressed by the Mr. Deity shorts. Well, after a delay following the second season, the third season is available. I recommend it.

Robots running amok?

In “Scientists Worry Machines May Outsmart Man,” John Markoff reports on concerns about whether machines might overrun their human creators. It’s the stuff of science fiction, no? Reminds me of the endgame in Sim Earth.

A robot that can open doors and find electrical outlets to recharge itself. Computer viruses that no one can stop. Predator drones, which, though still controlled remotely by humans, come close to a machine that can kill autonomously.

Impressed and alarmed by advances in artificial intelligence, a group of computer scientists is debating whether there should be limits on research that might lead to loss of human control over computer-based systems that carry a growing share of society’s workload, from waging war to chatting with customers on the phone.

Although I pretty much dismiss this concern out of hand (who would build a machine that’s out of control?), I did have a what-if moment.

• If machines ran the world, would they wage wars?
• If machines ran the world, would they immediately take steps to resolve global heating?
• If machines ran the world, would there be capital punishment?
• If machines ran the world, would they behave differently toward each other based on the color of their paint?
• If machines ran the world, would they prevent each other from saying or writing things?
• If machines ran the world, would they worship humans?

Link to Mr. Markoff’s article from the New York Times.

HB, H. D. Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau
(public domain image)

On this day in 1817, Henry David Thoreau drew his first breath in Concord (MA, US). Among his many accomplishments, one that I especially admire was his essay entitled “Resistance to Civil Government,” which was published in 1849 as “Civil Disobedience” in Aesthetic Papers. In his venerated discussion of government and individual responsibility, Mr. Thoreau set an important standard for generations that followed his.

Unjust laws exist; shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once? Men generally, under such a government as this, think that they ought to wait until they have persuaded the majority to alter them. They think that, if they should resist, the remedy would be worse than the evil. But it is the fault of the government itself that the remedy is worse than the evil. It makes it worse. Why is it not more apt to anticipate and provide for reform? Why does it not cherish its wise minority? Why does it cry and resist before it is hurt? Why does it not encourage its citizens to be on the alert to point out its faults, and do better than it would have them?

Visit the Thoreau Society. Link to the Thoreau Reader (courtesy of Iowa State University) where one can read “Civil Disobedience.”

Marvin Gaye’s anthem

For the 1983 all-star game of the National Basketball Association, Marvin Gaye sang the US national anthem, the “Star Spangled Banner.” At that time, the anthem had rarely been sung in any way but quite straightly, one exception being the rendition by Jose Feliciano. Mr. Gaye, an artist with a repretoire that included songs about peace, brotherhood, ecology, as well as love and loss, put his spin on the performance. I suspect many readers will agree with me about that it’s an inspirational performance.

Gandhi Summer Camp

Here’s one that’d be interesting to follow:

The second annual JMU Gandhi Center Children’s Global Nonviolence Summer Camp will be held August 17 – 21, 2009 at James Madison University, Harrisonburg.

The camp will prepare children ages 8 to 12 to appreciate

• - the value of nonviolence,
• - the potential of nonviolent action to address conflicts,
• - the value of personal and social responsibility,
• - the interconnected nature of human experience, and
• - the planet’s natural environment

as they participate in an eclectic blend of exciting activities.

The program, registration form, and other information is available at:

http://www.jmu.edu/gandhicenter/summercamp.shtml

Seeger’s b’day show

There’s to be a celebration for Pete Seeger’s 90th birdthay in New York at Madison Square Garden. It promises to be quite a show.

Gotta love Fiore

Mark Fiore took a shot at explaining the violence in Mexico: Gringo Guns.

B. F. Skinner’s b-day

Today is the anniversary of the birth of B. F. Skinner, the eminent student of behavior. Professor Skinner, who was born 20 March 1904 in Susquehanna, PA (US), changed the way that people understand behavior first by conducting micro-analyses of the effects of immediate environmental conditions on longer-term patterns in behavior and second by explaining how those effects of environmental conditions made mincemeat of person-in-the-street psychology.

Contrary to popular mis-perception, Professor Skinner did not argue that all behavior was learned from stimulus-response (or S→R) relationships. That view is mistaken on two counts: He both acknowledged the importance of genetic contributions to behavior and he showed that lots of learning is, in fact, a result of the consequences of behavior (R→S relationships).

Based on Professor Skinner’s analyses of behavior and society, behaviorism leads pretty directly to a rejection of mentalism and its kissing cousin, deism. We are left with a scientific perspective on unraveling the not-so-mysterious, but-still-challenging subject matter of human behavior. It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth doing, because that improvement in explaining behavior will provide the basis for a more humane and human world.

Link to the B. F. Skinner Foundation. Link to the 2007 bd announcement.