Harebrained Schemes 8

Floods occur. Harvey is a striking example and offers a severe warning. Numerous homes were ruined – especially the lowest floor – and the cost of rebuilding will be enormous. More so, the lives lost or changed make the situation far worse. The problem cannot be solved, but it can be ameliorated. As houses are rebuilt, and existing houses repaired, it is ridiculous to suggest raising them – especially houses that preexisted the disaster – because foundations, pipes, electrical connections are still in place and they would be difficult to move.

The obvious answer is to lower the ground around them. Every house should have a deep moat with the area around it cleared of earth. The earth, itself, could be used elsewhere, or even nearby, for the building of dams and dikes. It would be a valuable commodity, and any trees existing on it could be sold for their wood. In addition, the clearing of the land would provide jobs for those put out of work by the flood. And it would provide a place to store rescue alligators.

Don't cry when nature serves you water. Make ice cubes.

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I recently suggested the building of robotic companions to keep the lonely entertained. The more I think about it, however, the more it occurs to me that this may not be enough. The robots I proposed would speak back, and even it their views corresponded to your own, that might be a distraction for you.

Better, or at least in addition, work should begin on the design and construction of robotic service animals. They need not have artificial intelligence so they likely would present less of a challenge. The animals would attend to all your needs and desires – at least as far as animals can. Lap or non-lap settings could be included in the plans, as well as controls that determined if stomach rubs were required. The animals would be of whatever species you wished, and whatever age you required. They'd be able to bring in the newspaper and, with intelligence options, they could read it to you.

If you turned on their sound systems they could be used as guard animals, protecting your house. If so programed, they would bite and otherwise maim intruders. Bullet-proof construction would protect them from vicious villains exercising their second amendment rights. The animals would be “loving” to the degree you found satisfactory. And they should allow you in places reserved for those with service animal – although they would not be of interest to live and dirty pets. No feeding would be needed.

And their breath would not smell.

They would accompany you if you chose to go for a walk, but walks at all sorts of bizarre hours wouldn't be necessary. Nor would cleaning up after them.

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A final concern that requires attention is global warming. Whether you attribute it to natural causes or believe that human activity is involved, there is ample evidence both of its existence and its effects. Although there are numerous proposals as to how to minimize those effects, and even to limit its progress, the phenomenon remains.

Fear of warming exists, but perhaps global warming has features that can be harnessed and used to advantage. Perhaps it's not a problem but an opportunity. If there is excess heat or winds it would be helpful if we could recycle that excess into energy using some kind of converter. There are certainly many inventors who could come up with such an apparatus.

The energy so provided could be used to power air conditioners, cleanup services, or other projects in need of juice. We might even be able to make money out of it.

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I'll try to be more realistic next time.

September 4, 2017

Harebrained Schemes 7

And now for somethings entirely different.

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It's comforting to have someone with whom we can converse when we're in the mood. And it's especially comforting when we know that party won't disclose any of our secrets or gossip about us. That confidant needn't be human but should appear to be. And a non-human buddy would be ideal.

For this reason I am suggesting a human-appearing robot which is attached to the real news (including political news and opinions) as well as the social media and the Library of Congress, and which can, because it possesses extensive artificial intelligence, speak or debate with you on any subject. It would be respectful in addition to being knowledgeable.

The robot could be of whatever sex, gender, or orientation you prefer, and of any race that you specify. Its language and style of speech would be designated by the "owner" (is the robot advanced enough for this to be considered slavery?) as would political orientation and social outlook. Everyone could design the ideal foil for his or her views. You'd have someone to talk to and no cost for his or her room and board. And no one to find fault with your views or otherwise insult you.

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Everything is moving faster nowadays. It's hard to keep up. And if it's hard for us, imagine how difficult it must be for the disabled. Society is attempting to meet their needs but how can it? It's certainly something that merits attention. And it's a situation that can be fixed.

All it would take is an improvement in the walkers that the disabled (that's probably not a PC term, but what the hell) use. Make them faster. And that simply requires a motorized walker. Take off the yellow tennis balls and replace them with wheels. Then insert a moter that will operate according to the controls which will be in the hands of the operator. In addition to the motor the controls will include a horn, brakes, a radio, blue tooth capability, and all the other bells and whistles. A skateboard will come with each walker (although it's not actually a "walker" anymore. "Slick segway for the seniors" would be a more appropriate term even though it would have four wheels) so moving the feet wouldn't be necessary.

A "driverless" version would follow (temporally, not actually).

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Alphabet Soap – It's never too early to start educating your children. Baby Einstein and Mozart didn't do it, but there's a better approach. Soap in the form of letters (Latin, Cyrillic, Arabic, and all other alphabets – even cuneiform and other ancient languages for the potential geniuses) would be ideal since babies are so often washed and so happy with warm water. Parental conversation would cover what the letter is and some of the words it can start or be used in. A quick start and your children will be doing New York Times crossword puzzles before pre-school.

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Better things for better living through demonstrable excogitation. Look it up.

August 25, 2017

Two Roads Diverged In A Yellow Wood

We are threatened. By the past and by the future. Frost may have foreseen a different scenario in his time, but concerns have changed.

We're admonished that if we don't learn from the past we're condemned to repeat it. That would be a positive outcome, because it speaks to future possibilities, but our future doesn't look that hopeful – especially since history suggests that it's likely to contain some challenges that will be hard for us to meet.

Let me start with the past and then I'll get back to the future.

It is not fashionable – at least in centers of liberal thought – to note the threat of Radical Islam. It's “Islamophobia” and it's not politically correct. Yet it's hard to deny the rapid rise of Islam throughout the world. In the early seventh century CE, about the time of Muhammad's epiphany, when he was the sole adherent of the new faith, there were approximately 203 million people in the world. There are now more than 1.6 billion Muslims out of a population of 7.1 billion. Put differently, the Muslim population has risen 1.6 billion times while the world's population is only thirty-five times what it was in Muhammad's time. (Islam is now the world's second largest religion, behind Christianity, which it is expected to pass in about fifty-five years.)

How did Islam gain so many adherents? Natural growth, of course, was one of the factors. But however prolific Muhammad and his followers, that would certainly be a minor factor. Another mechanism was the proselytization of others – starting with those around him. The Qur’an attests to this being problematic. It certainly contributed to the number of believers, but the contribution doesn't nearly account for the numbers.

The new believers, however, were passionate and resolute. Muhammad had written in the Qur'an

“[F]ight and slay the pagans wherever you find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practice regular charity, then open the way for them: for God is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.” (9:5)

Convert to Islam or die. It was a simple, and very convincing, argument. And the policy was carried out without mercy. To an alarming degree the new religion was spread not by the word, but by the sword. And, sadly, that medieval approach exists today among many – for just a small percentage of 1.6 billion is a lot of people, and many of them are ready, and even eager, to die for their beliefs. Their determination is evident from news broadcasts we hear daily. The sword threatens us today. Terrorism is rampant around the globe ("[t]errorism is rampant around the globe dozens of Swedish citizens received threatening letters with 'ISIS' signatures, calling for them to either convert to Islam, pay tax to the terrorist organization, or be killed – according to a Russia Today Arabic report") and, notwithstanding the struthious attitude of many, including world leaders, the vast majority of perpetrators of multi-victim terrorist attacks are “radical Muslims.” (Less frequently the insane and imitators.) The media also promote a head-in-the-sand approach: they decry prejudice by advertizing their own bias. And it's not just political correctness. It's bias.

What about the future – a future in which the number of Muslims (including radical terrorists) will increase? Humanity will become even more dehumanized than it already is. Robots will increase. In a sense, the history of robots is a long one, dating back to several centuries before the Common Era. But for most of the time what was theorized, drawn, or built were little more than toys. They were non-moving or moving statues that served no practical purpose. The first such construction that actually did something was built in 1865. John Brainerd created the Steam Man which apparently was used to pull wheeled carts and other objects. And their existence was literary in 1921, as noted in robotshop.com, “[T]he term 'robot' was first used in a play called 'R.U.R.' or 'Rossum's Universal Robots' by the Czech writer Karel Capek.” The plot was simple: “man creates a robot to replace him and then robot kills man!” And while there were other tales of robots, R.U.R. raised a serious problem dealt with by Isaac Asimov in his laws of robotics.

A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

But scientists, good and bad, don't accept limitations. There are robots now and it is certain that sooner or later there will be others programed to go about on their own without any intervention or limitation by human beings. H.A.L., in “2001: A Space Odyssey,” defied human control in fiction, and, as is so often the case, science imitates science fiction, and this ability will probably be installed in some future computers and robots. And along with that will come the ability to produce additional examples of themselves. Horrifying as it might seem, it is not difficult to imagine the ultimate control of humans by those machines.

Muslims who live in the past or robots likely to be created in the future? Neither is an especially attractive prospect. And the answer? There is none I can imagine. I may not be around to see it, but one or the other seems likely to me. I'm not sure what we can learn from the past. I'm not certain what we can do to prevent the challenges we face from overwhelming us. It's up to the politicians and the generals to find a solution if one exists. We're in trouble if we have to rely on politicians and generals, but I fear that that's the reality.