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Comment: Re:Moral objection (Score 2) 392

by Camel Pilot (#43736365) Attached to: Why We Should Build a Supercomputer Replica of the Human Brain

We've long established that the source of the human "soul" is in the brain. Those interconnections give rise to consciousness and self-awareness -- and sentience. If you build something that precisely models the brain, you will be creating sentience. I have to question how we can create a sentient creature simply to experiment upon it and still claim to have a shred of humanity to us.

I know that this is not as dazzling and interesting as building the device to geeks like us, but we cannot simply ignore the ethical consequences of our actions. All vocations, all manner of human endeavor, must move forward with an eye towards a respect for life. This may not be human life we're creating, or even organic life, but it is no less deserving.

Someday we're going to have cybernetic life walking about. And I have to wonder -- how well will they treat us, when they find out how ethical we were in creating it?

1) The brain being the soul is far from established... the problem of consciousness is still with us.

2) You probably had something that was sentient at one time for lunch.

3) Taking things apart in a biological situation is a one way process... typically it can't be repaired or "rebooted". That is a big difference in what is being described in the OP.

All vocations, all manner of human endeavor, must move forward with an eye towards a respect for life. This may not be human life we're creating, or even organic life, but it is no less deserving

To this I agree.

Comment: Re:Windows has been "over" for me for years (Score 1) 863

by Camel Pilot (#43463593) Attached to: ZDNet Proclaims "Windows: It's Over"

Never used Ubuntu before but just installed Debian squeeze on several workstations used for Matlab work. When I sit down and play with those machines compared to my Windows desktop I feel much more at home and comfortable. I could easily see myself going to Debian on the desk except for the apps. Once Adobe, Quicken, and others start developing for Linux it is game over.

Comment: Re:Ask a Biblical Archaeologist (Score 1) 1121

Doing a little research... John Calvin thought the earth was young...

‘and they will not refrain from guffaws when they are informed that but little more than five thousand years have passed since the creation of the universe.’ - John Calvin

Believed in a 6-day creation...

‘I have said above that six days were employed in the formation of the world; not that God, to whom one moment is as a thousand years, had need of this succession of time, but that he might engage us in the contemplation of his works.’ - John Calvin

Was a Delugionist

‘And the flood was forty days.. Moreover, it is to be regarded as the special design of this narrations that we should not ascribe to fortune, the flood by which the world perished; how ever customary it may be for men to cast some veil over the works of God, which may obscure either his goodness or his judgments manifested in them. But seeing it is plainly declared, that whatever was flourishing on the earth was destroyed, we hence infer, that it was an indisputable and signal judgment of God.’ - John Calvin

So not sure of our point above.

Comment: Re:Ask a Biblical Archaeologist (Score 1) 1121

For it appears opposed to common sense, and quite incredible, that there should be waters above the heaven. Hence some resort to allegory, and philosophize concerning angels; but quite beside the purpose. For, to my mind, this is a certain principle, that nothing is here treated of but the visible form of the world. He who would learn astronomy, and other recondite arts, let him go elsewhere. Here the Spirit of God would teach all men without exception; and therefore what Gregory declares falsely and in vain respecting statues and pictures is truly applicable to the history of the creation, namely, that it is the book of the unlearned.
-- John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis

That is a bit of a difficult passage to parse. I will have to read up on the entire context.

However, Calvin did believe in a literal Adam/Eve without which his doctrine would not make any sense! (not claiming that it makes much sense to begin with).

Hardware

+ - Too Much Gold Delays World's Fastest Supercomputer->

Submitted by
Nerval's Lobster
Nerval's Lobster writes "The fastest supercomputer in the world, Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s “Titan,” has been delayed because an excess of gold on its motherboard connectors has prevented it from working properly. Titan was originally turned on last October and climbed to the top of the Top500 list of the fastest supercomputers shortly thereafter. Problems with Titan were first discovered in February, when the supercomputer just missed its stability requirement. At that time, the problems with the connectors were isolated as the culprit, and ORNL decided to take some of Titan’s 200 cabinets offline and ship their motherboards back to the manufacturer, Cray, for repairs. The connectors affected the ability of the GPUs in the system to talk to the main processors. Oak Ridge Today‘s John Huotari noted the problem was due to too much gold mixed in with the solder. Gold is used for connectors because it does not oxidize quickly, and because of its high electrical conductivity; however, when mixed with solder that contains tin, the gold and tin can combine, making the combination brittle under certain conditions. Cray is reportedly replacing the connectors to alleviate the problem. In a statement provided to Slashdot, ORNL confirmed Titan’s status: “Titan has not yet completed the full suite of acceptance tests but has successfully passed both the functionality and performance phases of acceptance testing.”"
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Earth

+ - Microbes Likely Abundant Hundreds of Meters Below Sea Floor->

Submitted by sciencehabit
sciencehabit writes "Samples drilled from 3.5-million-year-old seafloor rocks have yielded the strongest evidence yet that a variety of microorganisms live deeply buried within the ocean's crust. These microbes make their living by consuming methane and sulfate compounds dissolved in the mineral-rich waters flowing through the immense networks of fractures in the crust. The new find confirms that the ancient lavas formed at midocean ridges and found throughout deep ocean basins are by volume the largest ecosystem on Earth, scientists say."
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Science

+ - The Higg's Boson exists!-> 3

Submitted by FBeans
FBeans writes "New York Times:
"Physicists announced Thursday they believe they have discovered the subatomic particle predicted nearly a half-century ago, which will go a long way toward explaining what gives electrons and all matter in the universe size and shape."

So it's back to the LHC to find out what type of Higg's Boson this is.

From The Independant:
"Cern says that confirming what type of boson the particle is could take years and that the scientists would need to return to the Large Hadron Collider — the world's largest 'atom smasher' — to carry out further tests. This will measure at what rate the particle decays and compare it with the results of predictions, as theorised by Edinburgh professor Peter Higgs 50 years ago."

Good Job SCIENCE!"
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+ - What do you do to stay fit? 1

Submitted by Dishwasha
Dishwasha writes "What do you do to stay fit? Probably like many of you, this code monkey has lead a fairly sedentary life consisting most on fritos, tab, and mountain dew. Every time I attempt to incorporate exercise in even the most modest amount it never really seems to work out. "Just do it" or joining and going to a gym just doesn't seem to work and with time being my most precious resource at this point, I would like to incorporate exercise in to my daily work process. Our office recently switched to standing desks, which is great, and I would like to possibly bring in a flat treadmill that fits under the standing desk, but my bosses have balked unless the equipment is whisper silent. We are a small business in a traditional office park with no exercise facility. Do any other geeks out there have a similar set up and would like to share what they use to stay heart healthy and improve circulation during their work day? What other ways do you incorporate exercise in to your geeky or nerdy lifestyle?"

If the ends don't justify the means, then what does? -- Robert Moses

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