Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Surviving Progress

After recently reading, and watching the video, of DARPA's technological advances in robotics, one can't help but wonder just how long it will be before human beings become fully obsolete?

I can't help but wonder about the probability that within fifty-years or so, the only actual people the corporations and their government minions will require are those who know how to create, operate, and maintain their robotic systems. Technological advancement, economic development, population increase - are they signs of a thriving society? Or too much of a good thing?

Based on the best-selling book An Illustrated Short History of Progress, this provocative documentary explores the concept of progress in our modern world, guiding us through a sweeping but detailed survey of the major "progress traps" facing our civilization in the arenas of technology, economics, consumption, and the environment. Here's the trailer -


Source: First Run Features: Surviving Progress

3 comments:

  1. I guess I'm not the only one picturing where the future of robotics is headed. Here's what a couple of researchers out of New Zealand have to say about Robots, men and sex tourism -

    In 2050, Amsterdam's red light district will all be about android prostitutes who are clean of sexual transmitted infections (STIs), not smuggled in from Eastern Europe and forced into slavery, the city council will have direct control over android sex workers controlling prices, hours of operations and sexual services.

    This paper presents a futuristic scenario about sex tourism, discusses the drivers of change and the implications for the future. The paper pushes plausibility to the limit as boundaries of science fiction and fact become blurred in the ever increasing world of technology, consumption and humanity, a paradigm known as liminality.

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  2. Here's something that might pique your interest -

    Beaming, of a kind, is no longer pure science fiction. It is the name of an international project funded by the European Commission to investigate how a person can visit a remote location via the internet and feel fully immersed in the new environment.

    Real-world beaming: The risk of avatar and robot crime

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  3. admenta 10 mg is used to treat the side effects of Alzheimer's sickness. Memantine is in a class of prescriptions called NMDA receptor antagonists. It works by decreasing unusual action in the cerebrum. It helps balance glutamate, a mind synthetic engaged with memory and learning.

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