A Universal Classification of Intelligence

Posted on February 5, 2008 by Nova in Science, Wild Speculation | 6 Comments

I’ve been thinking lately about whether or not it is possible to formulate a scale of universal cognitive capabilities, such that any intelligent system — whether naturally occurring or synthetic — can be classified according to its cognitive capacity. Such a system would provide us with a normalized scientific basis by which to quantify and compare the relative cognitive capabilities of artificially intelligent systems, various species of intelligent life on Earth, and perhaps even intelligent lifeforms encountered on other planets.… Read More “A Universal Classification of Intelligence”

Artificial Stupidity: The Next Big Thing

Posted on January 24, 2008 by Nova in Best Articles, Technology, Wild Speculation | 12 Comments

There has been a lot of hype about artificial intelligence over the years. And recently it seems there has been a resurgence in interest in this topic in the media. But artificial intelligence scares me. And frankly, I don’t need it.… Read More “Artificial Stupidity: The Next Big Thing”

Radar Networks Announces Twine.com

Posted on October 18, 2007 by Nova in Technology, Web/Tech, Wild Speculation | 4 Comments

My company, Radar Networks, has just come out of stealth. We’ve announced what we’ve been working on all these years: It’s called Twine.com. We’re going to be showing Twine publicly for the first time at the Web 2.0 Summit tomorrow.… Read More “Radar Networks Announces Twine.com”

Scientist Says "Never in Our Imagination Could This Happen." Famous Last Words?

Posted on August 19, 2007 by Nova in Science, Wild Speculation | 1 Comment

Whenever a scientist says something like, don’t worry our new experiment could never get out of the lab, or don’t worry the miniature black hole we are going to generate couldn’t possibly swallow up the entire planet, I tend to get a little worried.… Read More “Scientist Says "Never in Our Imagination Could This Happen." Famous Last Words?”

Knowledge Networking

Posted on August 18, 2007 by Nova in Business, Technology, Web/Tech, Wild Speculation | 4 Comments

I’ve been thinking for several years about Knowledge Networking. It’s not a term I invented, it’s been floating around as a meme for at least a decade or two. But recently it has started to resurface in my own work.

So what is a knowledge network?… Read More “Knowledge Networking”

Enriching the Connections of the Web — Making the Web Smarter

Posted on July 3, 2007 by Nova in Best Articles, Technology, Web/Tech, Wild Speculation | 10 Comments

Web 3.0 — aka The Semantic Web — is about enriching the connections of the Web. By enriching the connections within the Web, the entire Web may become smarter.

I believe that collective intelligence primarily comes from connections — this is certainly the case in the brain where the number of connections between neurons far outnumbers the number of neurons; certainly there is more "intelligence" encoded in the brain’s connections than in the neurons alone.… Read More “Enriching the Connections of the Web — Making the Web Smarter”

Breaking the Collective IQ Barrier — Making Groups Smarter

Posted on March 3, 2007 by Nova in Best Articles, Business, Science, Technology, Web/Tech, Wild Speculation | 3 Comments

I’ve been thinking since 1994 about how to get past a fundamental barrier to human social progress, which I call “The Collective IQ Barrier.” Most recently I have been approaching this challenge in the products we are developing at my stealth venture, Radar Networks.… Read More “Breaking the Collective IQ Barrier — Making Groups Smarter”

Scientists Encode Message into Bacterial DNA

Posted on March 1, 2007 by Nova in Science, Technology, Wild Speculation | 1 Comment

Japanese scientists have developed a technique that can encode 100-bit messages into the DNA of common bacteria. The bacteria replicate and pass the message down from generation to generation for at least thousands of years. Because there are millions or more copies of the message it can survive gradual degradation or mutuations (so they claim).… Read More “Scientists Encode Message into Bacterial DNA”

Capturing Your Digital Life

Posted on February 20, 2007 by Nova in Science, Technology, Web/Tech, Wild Speculation | Leave a comment

Nice article in Scientific American about Gordon Bell’s work at Microsoft Research on the MyLifeBits project. MyLifeBits provides one perspective on the not-too-far-off future in which all our information, and even some of our memories and experiences, are recorded and made available to us (and possibly to others) for posterity.… Read More “Capturing Your Digital Life”

Intelligence is in the Connections

Posted on February 20, 2007 by Nova in Best Articles, Science, Technology, Web/Tech, Wild Speculation | 7 Comments

Google’s Larry Page recently gave a talk to the AAAS about how Google is looking towards a future in which they hope to implement AI on a massive scale. Larry’s idea is that intelligence is a function of massive computation, not of “fancy whiteboard algorithms.”… Read More “Intelligence is in the Connections”

How the WebOS Evolves?

Posted on February 9, 2007 by Nova in Technology, Web/Tech, Wild Speculation | 31 Comments

Here is my timeline of the past, present and future of the Web. Feel free to put this meme on your own site, but please link back to the master image at this site (the URL that the thumbnail below points to) because I’ll be updating the image from time to time.… Read More “How the WebOS Evolves?”

This Freaks Me Out… Self-Referential Formula Reproduces Itself…

Posted on January 17, 2007 by Nova in Science, Wild Speculation | Leave a comment

Umm…… take a look at this formula’s output…..

OK. That must be some kind of a cosmic joke.

Must-Know Terms for the 21st Century Intellectual

Posted on January 12, 2007 by Nova in Science, Technology, Wild Speculation | Leave a comment

Read this fun article that lists and defines some of the key concepts that every post-singularity transhumanist meta-intellectual should know! (via Kurzweil)

British Ministry of Defense Chief Resigns; Cites Concerns About UFO's

Posted on November 9, 2006 by Nova in Science, Technology, Wild Speculation | Leave a comment

Ok, here’s a very unusual news item:

During his time as head of the Ministry of Defence UFO project, Nick
Pope was persuaded into believing that other lifeforms may visit Earth
and, more specifically, Britain.

His concern is that "highly credible" sightings are simply dismissed.

Minding The Planet — The Meaning and Future of the Semantic Web

Posted on November 6, 2006 by Nova in Best Articles, Business, Science, Technology, Web/Tech, Wild Speculation | 18 Comments

NOTES

Master Copy can be found at this URL or http://tinyurl.com/yynb93
Last Update: Tuesday, November 7, 2006, 10:17AM PST
License — This article is distributed under the Creative Commons Deed. If you would like to distribute a version of thisarticle, please link back to http://www.mindingtheplanet.net

A World Without Elephants

Posted on October 28, 2006 by Nova in Science, Wild Speculation | 1 Comment

This is so sad. Elephants are increasingly being wiped out due to encroachment by nearby human populations, and also by inept human attempts to help them — and of course by poaching. As their species is increasingly backed into a dead-end corner, and as older elephants are separated from their herds, younger elephants are developing psychological disorders and are becoming violent.… Read More “A World Without Elephants”

A Statistical Approach for Winning Lottery — Group Wins $13M!

Posted on October 28, 2006 by Nova in Science, Wild Speculation | 2 Comments

A group of scientists and academics in Britain have come up with an approach for picking lottery numbers that appears to have a higher probability of success than picking randomly. After several years of playing the numbers, at a total investment of $8700, they finally just won $13M.… Read More “A Statistical Approach for Winning Lottery — Group Wins $13M!”

LOST: My Newest Obsession

Posted on October 22, 2006 by Nova in Wild Speculation | Leave a comment

I know, I know. I’m several years late to the party on this one, but I have become quite obsessed with the television show, Lost. It’s possibly the most addictive show on TV. Ever. You have to start from the beginning though.… Read More “LOST: My Newest Obsession”

The Next Sexual Revolution?

Posted on October 22, 2006 by Nova in Wild Speculation | Leave a comment

This article is an over-the-top and somewhat gonzo review of an experimental nasal-spray that promises to revolutionize sex. It is currently in clinical trials. The very idea of nasal spray would seem to be one of the bigger turn-offs there is, but in this case they’ve found the override button.… Read More “The Next Sexual Revolution?”

Man Doesn't Know Who He Is

Posted on October 21, 2006 by Nova in Wild Speculation | Leave a comment

This is fascinating. A man is interviewed in this CNN video segment because he doesn’t know who he is and hopes someone watching will recognize him. So strange. Here is further footage from the full story for this man. He was found in Denver with no memory except a few clues that came out under hypnosis.… Read More “Man Doesn't Know Who He Is”

Is There Room for The Soul? – Good Article on Cognitive Science

Posted on October 17, 2006 by Nova in Science, Wild Speculation | 1 Comment

This is a surprisingly good article on the nature of consciousness — providing a survey of the current state-of-the-art in cognitive science research. It covers the question from a number of perspectives and interviews many of the leading current researchers.

Why Machines Will Never be Conscious

Posted on October 17, 2006 by Nova in Best Articles, Science, Technology, Wild Speculation | 7 Comments

Below is the text of my bet on Long Bets. Go there to vote.

“By 2050 no synthetic computer nor machine intelligence will have become truly self-aware (ie. will become conscious).”

Spivack’s Argument:

(This summary includes my argument, a method for judging the outcomeof this bet and some other thoughts on how to measure awareness…)

Zooming Out in Time

Posted on October 16, 2006 by Nova in Science, Wild Speculation | Leave a comment

For an interesting read — download this wonderful presentation on zooming out in time as a way to predict the future. It’s from a talk given at the Long Now Foundation. Nice visual slides illustrate how the world changes over vast timescales.

Visualizing the Tenth Dimension

Posted on October 12, 2006 by Nova in Science, Wild Speculation | 4 Comments

One of my readers commented that they were looking for this really cool flash presentation that I blogged about a while back — it helps you visualize higher-dimensions all the way to 10-dimensions. Check it out! After this your brain will need a rest, and possibly a hard reboot — but worth it.… Read More “Visualizing the Tenth Dimension”

How to Build a Landspeeder

Posted on September 23, 2006 by Nova in Technology, Wild Speculation | 1 Comment

So as a kid you watched Star Wars and since then you’ve wanted your very own Landspeeder. The problem is, how to make things hover without using fans, magnets, or special effects? Well, a maverick UK scientist may have invented a way to do it.… Read More “How to Build a Landspeeder”

US Banking System Collapse in 2008?

Posted on September 9, 2006 by Nova in Business, Wild Speculation | 5 Comments

I recently listened to a talk by Dr. David Martin, given at the Arlington Institute, a think tank I advise. You can listen to it here. It takes some patience to get to the main point — but you will be rewarded with a mind-blowing new perspective on what may unfold in the next few years.… Read More “US Banking System Collapse in 2008?”

Help Me Answer This — Specific Blogosphere Stats

Posted on September 8, 2006 by Nova in Web/Tech, Wild Speculation | 1 Comment

Hi everyone, I am trying to generate some specific stats about the size of the Blogosphere. I couldn’t find the answer in Dave Sifry’s excellent State of the Blogosphere reports . Do any of you know of any studies or reports that answer the following:

Average number of post per blog
Average size per blog
post
Average number of comments per post
Average size per comment
Distribution of numbers of posts per
blog across all blogs
Distribution of size of posts per
blog across all blogs

What Was Before the Big Bang?

Posted on September 4, 2006 by Nova in Science, Wild Speculation | 2 Comments

An article in my new favorite magazine, Seed Magazine, by cosmologist Sean Carrol, proposes an interesting new theory about the nature of time and the evolution of baby universes. In this approach, baby universes can suddenly come into being from empty space when random quantum vacuum fluctuations fall into place in just the right way.… Read More “What Was Before the Big Bang?”

The Hidden Structure of Quantum Mechanics and The Prime Numbers Turns Out to Be 42 After All

Posted on September 4, 2006 by Nova in Science, Wild Speculation | Leave a comment

This is a wonderful article about how a chance encounter led to the discovery of a connection between physics and number theory that may help explain everything from quantum mechanics to the prime numbers….and the most incredible thing is that the answer may actually really be "42" after all.… Read More “The Hidden Structure of Quantum Mechanics and The Prime Numbers Turns Out to Be 42 After All”

Wild Speculation