2026-03-02
I wrote this 7 years ago
I see a danger to the future existence of the human race, and it is the kind of thing that people should think about and prepare for now. Sometime in the next 50 years machines will be smarter than people. There are major technical hurdles to overcome, such as the inevitable end of Moore's Law, which probably means that it is not right around the corner or even within the next couple of decades, but it will happen, and easily within this century. And if for some reason it does happen within the next couple of decades then that means the results will be upon us that much sooner.
We can predict what will happen next and follow it to its logical conclusion, which is a future without people.
We can predict what will happen next and follow it to its logical conclusion, which is a future without people.
As machines become smarter, people will become increasingly reliant on technology. We can see that already with smartphones, which have only been with us for barely over a decade. Eventually machines will do all the heavy mental work, which will make our lives easier, but also make us more dependent.
And since we will be so dependent on the machines, we will start incorporating them into us. This will evolve over time until we are no longer purely human, but human machine hybrids. Perhaps when your biological brain dies, the machine part of you will be able to continue with all your memories intact. Maybe it would have an artificial body or maybe it would exist in a virtual world. It is likely that some would prefer to live in a virtual world where they can do more things than they could in the real world. Taken to the eventual extreme, our descendants would no longer bother with biological bodies and prefer to exist as machine intelligences either in the real world or in virtual ones.
The evolutionary pressure will be against purely biological people. Having machines incorporated into you will make you more productive, competitive, and increase your quality of life.
The future I describe might be long distant, but if it is not the future we want for the human race then we should start thinking about it now. Maybe we could have a Pure Human movement that would prohibit the merging of machine intelligence with human intelligence? This could be roughly analogous to the current legal ban on human cloning, because we very likely have the technology right now to clone humans, but countries ban it because they are uneasy about the implications of where that might take us.
However, we might not be able to prevent it. Linking machines with human intelligence is likely to happen in such small steps that we will easily adjust to it. It is sort of happening already with our dependence on computers. It could also start as a series of military applications where having the most effective soldiers determines who wins the wars. And once the genie is out of the bottle, we will never get it back in.
Best wishes,
John Coffey
P.S. Seven years later, I think that energy consumption and cost might become limiting factors in machine intelligence, at least in the short run.
The laws of physics won't allow us to make chips much smaller, and I just saw an article saying that it might be physically impossible to run a processor at 10 GHz. Right now, in theory, the only way to get more computing power is to have more processors, unless we invent a new technology like optical processors. However, upscaling requires more energy consumption and more cooling.
2026-03-01
Cops Shot An Innocent Schoolteacher 5X's and COVERED It Up
Federal officers have a right to protect themselves. However, in this case they don't seem to have been under threat.
On the morning of October 4, 2025, Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old U.S. citizen and school teacher, was driving in her neighborhood of Brighton Park, Chicago when she observed federal immigration agents patrolling the area. She followed them in her car while honking her horn and shouting "la migra" to warn neighbors about the presence of immigration officers. While she was driving alongside a white Chevy Tahoe driven by Border Patrol agents, the two vehicles made contact. Martinez alleges that the Border Patrol vehicle sideswiped her, while government prosecutors later claimed that Martinez had attempted to "ram" the Border Patrol vehicle. A Border Patrol agent, identified in court filings as Charles Exum, then shot Martinez five times.[3][4][5]
...
The released evidence appeared to contradict key elements of the government narrative. In the bodycam footage, Exum appeared to turn the steering wheel of his vehicle to the left, toward Martinez, immediately prior to their collision. He initiated the turn toward Martinez after another agent in the vehicle said "it's time to get aggressive." The recording ran counter to the government claim that Martinez attempted to "ram" the agents. It appeared to support Martinez's claim that the Border Patrol agents swerved toward her vehicle.[11] Exum was subsequently put on administrative leave.
I don't trust Wikipedia to tell us the whole story.
The body cam shooting doesn't show us what happened with the cars, or what precipitated the incident, but it appears to show the agent turning into her car. It is possible that she tried to box in the government vehicle.
Officers are aware that they are being filmed, so it would be reasonable to think that they feel justified in their actions.
This incident has to be evaluated independently and it is not a reflection on other border enforcement actions.
2026-02-28
2026-02-27
Is Fascism Back?
4 minutes ago (edited)
The political left engages in unjust name calling toward Trump. Just because Trump wants to do what he perceives as best for the United States, with his loyalty belonging only to the U.S., does not make him a fascist. He has no desire to do away with democracy, and he has acted within the confines of the law. However, current law gives the president a bit too much power, such as war powers, so maybe we should update the laws.
I mostly disagree with Trump's tariff policy. Tariffs might have some use when dealing with belligerent nations. The Supreme Court struck down Trump's justification for his tariff policy, while pointing out that he has other methods of imposing tariffs.
2026-02-26
2026-02-24
2026-02-22
The final sense the human body loses before death, according to science
This might not matter much, but it is interesting.
2026-02-21
2026-02-20
The Incredible Evolution of Computers
I like the video. Unfortunately, it is just the first part of four.
The first microprocessor, the 4-bit Intel 4004, was created for Japanese companies that wanted to make the first electronic calculators. I have seen 4-bit devices used for cheap electronics, like low cost chess playing computers.
In the first half of the 1980s, 8-bit computers were the norm, with the Apple II costing up to $1,300, and the IBM models costing considerably more. The Atari 800 started at $1,000, and the Commodore 64 started at $595, which adjusted for inflation would cost $1900 today.
Sinclair, along with Timex, were offering budget models that created a dedicated fan base.
In the second half of the 1980s, the industry was moving to 16-bit, so the 8-bit models were being heavily discounted. The C64 sold for $100 or less.
The 1990s saw a slow transition to 32-bit computers, and the 2000s saw a slow transition to 64-bit. There is almost no reason to go to a higher number of bits, except for graphics cards that range from 64-bit to 384-bit.
2026-02-19
2026-02-18
Chili
I've been trying various brands of canned chili. The brands without beans are a bit more expensive, but the prices vary a great deal by brand. The cost ranges from 12 to 30 cents per ounce. The Amour brand with beans is the cheapest, but I haven't tried it yet. I am going to try more brands.
I initially tried Wolf Brand Chili with no beans. It is good, but it is so spicy I could barely eat it.
The Great Value (Walmart Brand) Chili with beans is just slightly cheaper, but it has a taste that I think is really good.
The hot dog chili is the cheapest. I only mention it because my mother used to love to make coney dogs, and I enjoyed them too. She would put onions on them. I once bought sauce that had onion in it.
2026-02-17
THIS Is Why Doctors Can’t Make You Healthy
This is an interesting take on health. I hadn't thought of it in this way, but it rings true.
Age related diseases seem inevitable. Genetics are also a factor. Doctors can help us when prevention doesn't work.
2026-02-16
2026-02-15
Why the Economy Hasn't Crashed Yet
P.S. I have recently discovered Windows Reading Mode. You can highlight text and then select reading mode. Then hit play to have the text read aloud.
This is a different take on economics and Trump.
0 seconds ago
This "economist" has written only one book that reportedly blames inflation on everything except the government printing money. Some of the reviewers on Amazon called it "Liberal BS."
The anti-Trump people tend to spin facts in the worst possible way for Trump. I'm sure the same thing was true for Biden and Obama.
This video has ideas that ring true, but might be half truths and don't necessarily see the whole picture.
I understand why people hate Trump. He is a troll, a narcissist, and a bully. But he can also be a kind man that cares passionately about helping the country.. He came along at a time when Americans wanted someone strong to stand for them. Despite his personality flaws, he uses his influence to get things done. The country is going broke and has many problems, so Trump is the strong man that people need to fix things. Despite his flaws, I see Trump as a net positive.
If you privately own a business, you may think that you are your own boss, but you really work for your customers. If you don't provide the customers with what they need for a price that they are willing to pay, you won't have a business. In some businesses, you need to innovate or die. Corporations are no different. You may say that corporations work for the shareholders, but the companies are really working for their customers. The shareholders are just the investors.
Having people employed by the government and government regulations aren't necessarily a good thing unless they are doing positive work and not hindering the free market or just wasting resources, in which case getting rid of those things frees up resources that can be put to more productive use.
The fact the corporations curry favor from the government is a sign of a government that is too powerful with too much control. I don't doubt that there is corruption, since all major companies have lobbyists, but big government is the problem. The countries that are closer to socialism are always more corrupt because their governments have too much power.
Private individuals donate to politicians that they politically agree with. Companies are the same way. Some companies do benefit massively from government spending, but many private individuals are also dependent upon government spending, so they vote and donate accordingly.
Because of political influence, I have long thought that only private citizens should be allowed to donate to campaigns.
An atheist explains the most convincing argument for God
This argument has a physics way of thinking, saying that there must be a fundamental force behind the workings of the universe. However, physics has already identified the four forces that it believes are fundamental. Whether those fundamental forces have a cause might be impossible to determine, but if they did then they wouldn't be fundamental. And there may be no underlying cause because they are fundamental, meaning they are simply are.
One doesn't have to think about physics to believe in a god. Everything we see is created by something else. How far back in time does that go? So the religious argument is that you can't have creation without a creator. My problem with that line of reasoning is who created God and how far back does that go?
Logically, I have a problem with infinities. I assume that you can't have infinite anything, because infinite matter would have an infinite gravitational attraction. However, we assume that every moment in time had a moment that came before it and another that follows. Likewise, for every location in space, we assume that there is something beyond it. Does space go on forever?
What I am trying to say is that the universe makes no sense. It is either infinite or finite, and if it is finite, what lies beyond? Nothing? However, the toughest question to answer is why there is something instead of nothing at all? Either the fundamental cause was physical or something else. If you want to say that God was the fundamental cause, I can't prove you wrong.
I don't know that we will ever be able answer these questions. Religion is a failed science because it provides imperfect and usually false answers to why things are the way they are. Modern science has done a really good job of explaining how things work, but not necessarily why the universe exists.
2026-02-14
BSG
I've tried a couple of times over the last few months to restart watching Battlestar Galactica. I didn't get very far, partly because I felt obligated to watch the streaming services I'm currently paying for. I also hesitated to watch it again because, over the last 22 years, I've watched the entire series three times. I've seen the pilot miniseries and season 1, episode 1 several times, and they are both fantastic. Because of that, I figured I must have the show memorized by now.
Another concern was that the series is more of a soap opera than I remember it being.
However, I watched the first half of the miniseries last night and fell in love with the show all over again. The acting and the drama are outstanding. Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell have screen presences that are truly remarkable. The entire supporting cast is excellent as well, especially Katee Sackhoff, Jamie Bamber, Aaron Douglas, Michael Hogan, and James Callis.
The special effects are starting to look dated, but they were movie quality at the time of the release.
I'd like to watch one episode per night until I make it all the way through the series.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)