Iâ(TM)m saying no

None of those things needs to be done.

To answer your question as succinctly as I can—pressure from who?—the government wanted to avoid having Assange on US soil for a trial that would centre on US war crimes, especially at a time when Democrats are at risk of losing votes because of their support for similar crimes and an unfolding genocide in Gaza. They also never seriously thought they would be able to convict him, but wanted to torture him and see him broken both to neutralize him and to set an example to others. They got what they wanted, because he has now pled guilty to something that everyone with a basic understanding of the case—including the Obama DOJ—knows should have been protected speech. And I think you should care about that, because just like the escalating prosecution of whistleblowers in recent years (including under Obama), it sets a terrible precedent both for real journalists, and for all the cosplaying journalists who remained silent during his imprisonment and appeals. Outlets like the NY Times and Washington Post did not do anything materially different from what Assange did when they broke the stories from, and hand-in-hand with, WikiLeaks. I don't blame him for pleading guilty, because he deserves to be free. But this is a travesty and a disgrace. Assange is now free, but the state is also free to act with even greater impunity than it had before.

Yes, cheap mass produced goods are apparently one of the highest ends we can achieve in this era when anything is supposed to be possible. And people imagine imagine implanting these things in their bodies or brains, expecting them to work better than organic nature. Against all the evidence in front of them that these cheaply produced goods donâ(TM)t last. Iâ(TM)m not arguing for going back to writing everything on clay tablets or stone, but something in between would be nice. Something that lasts longer than a generation.

to unimproved ends. Information still hasnâ(TM)t solved any of our most important or urgent problems as a species, and having even more of it, even if it is stored and processed more efficiently, wonâ(TM)t change that.

This story has almost zero content and as others have commented, reads like an advertorial. Nowhere is it even explained what on earth a surgeon might need a flying robot for, although it does say that this surgical robot (the term is used several times) wonâ(TM)t be used for surgery after all. It might be used for other environmentally, politically and ethically dubious purposes, though. Again, no real discussion of that. This article isnâ(TM)t even remotely journalism, itâ(TM)s just trash.

Precisely

âoeIt is successful, and successful products make the world a better place.â If this doesnâ(TM)t tell you what kind of mind he has, Iâ(TM)m not sure what else would.

And I didnâ(TM)t ask if you could know with certainty whether any of those things were the case, I asked whether they mattered. I submit that they do, probably even to you. Having confidence is not the same as having certainty. The former is required to go on trusting that your conversation partner understands the words you and they are using. The latter is not. And whether they do or donâ(TM)t most certainly matters to people who use language.

You originally asked about mattering, which is not the same as consciousness. I recommend the book Retrieving Realism by Hubert Dreyfus and Charles Taylor if you wish to understand what it at issue here. Your radically solipsistic view cannot lead to anything resembling a conversation. Youâ(TM)re only talking to yourself, which is both sad and absurd, even if understandable.

Does it matter whether your partner fakes pleasure when being touched by you? Does it matter if a parent fakes their love for a child? Does it matter if a teacher only pretends to know their subject area? Does it matter if the news is accurate, as long as it sounds about right? Does it matter if your doctor found the correct diagnosis, as long as he says something that makes him sound like an authority on health? People who say it doesnâ(TM)t really matter donâ(TM)t understand what our most important and problematic issues of language are actually about. Nothing could be more thoughtless or ignorant.

Centrifugal governors were invented in the 17th Century. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik...

Maybe next, Apple will port their suite of office applications, and then Windows can finally be seen as a serious platform. It could totally change things for the folks in Redmond, maybe even alter the course of personal computing history.

If every time it rains, it rains, pennies from heaven (Shooby Dooby) Don't you know each cloud contains pennies from heaven (Shooby Dooby) You'll find your fortune falling all over town Each red and yella umbrella is up up up up upside down and...

Cats may be capable of complex cognition, but itâ(TM)s not clear that these researchers are capable of it. Beetles are amazing creatures and can follow very complex âoemapsâ of the stars to navigate across the desert with few other landmarks. So what? Are they therefore a âoehigherâ form of life (whatever that is supposed to mean)? What tells us that this is anything like what happens when learning happens between individuals, or between species? The idea that there has to be some kind of internal representation in our minds of the outside world (or of other minds), for there to be cognition, or for there to be learning, is an outdated Cartesian trope. This sort of misunderstanding is why early AI research programs failed, an outcome which was accurately predicted by the late Hubert Dreyfus. These researchers would do well to study his work before they attempt to make any further so-called discoveries in this domain.