A Chip is Coming Into Your Brain

[Geneviev]

It will be used to control people even if that isn't the purpose now. Technology can be hacked.

1. It might (even if the possibility is high).
2. That doesn't make it the mark of the beast. The evil would be coming from corrupt corporations and/or governments, not a near-omnipotent extra dimensional entity.

It's not that unbelievable to say that a corporation could be the beast. They're extremely powerful, control the world, and so on.

[New yugoslavaia]

1. It might (even if the possibility is high).
2. That doesn't make it the mark of the beast. The evil would be coming from corrupt corporations and/or governments, not a near-omnipotent extra dimensional entity.

It's not that unbelievable to say that a corporation could be the beast. They're extremely powerful, control the world, and so on.

That still isn't the beast though.
It would still be a problem.

We'll just counter their cybernetic enhancements with our gene splicing!

[Neanderthaland]

This is either just ignorant of the current state of learning machines, or defining what "AI" ought to look like in advance, and dismissing anything that doesn't resemble that.

In either case, we don't know what the future will bring, but our current technology shows very clear trends in the ways that machines "think" that make I, Robot look silly in the light of the modern industry.

Well yes. That's what AI is. Something that thinks. Like a human.

Computers will probably never think "like a human."

It's like demanding that a submarine learn to swim.

[Deacarsia]

I strongly dislike this idea. I find it incredibly creepy.

[Major-Tom]

Total PR stunt, I don't claim to know enough about neuroscience to argue whether or not "brain chips" could be a viable product in the future, what I do know is that this particular incident is kind of meaningless. I mean, Musk even admits "yeah, I have no data to back up my claims, I can't claim it'll cure anything, but look how sick it is!"

Yeah, nah.

[Katganistan]

Remember when Elon Musk was going to turn the Earth's crust into a honeycomb of hyperloops, changing personal transportation forever? Remember when he was going to fix Flint's water? Remember when he was bragging about how his cybertruck was bullet resistant but then smashed the windows easily? I would sooner trust my health to someone in the streets claiming to be a wizard than this overhyped buffoon who has fallen for his own con.

The electric cars seem to be pretty good. Of course you never know with cars: the ones that break down when they get a few years old can seem fine at first.

The boosters seem pretty good. You have to admire landing a rocket on its tail. On a barge, at sea. But you never know with rockets either, they seem good until one blows up.

There's The Boring Company, progressing with purpose though of course quite slowly. They have a dozen contracts.

So yeah. Some of his proposals went no-where. But others have been quite successful. Elon Musk is my kind of capitalist: taking risks, innovating, investing in new industries. Maybe the hyperloop will happen after all: I remember the main problem was unrealistic costing (Musk pretty much assumed all the real estate would be donated) so when he's made some more money maybe it will happen.

He is a bit of a buffoon. Shouldn't use Twitter at all. But I think what you deny about him is actually what you don't like about him: he's successful.

He doesn't innovate. He buys companies that innovate.

[Aeritai]

I noticed a few people in this thread dislike Musk, what's the deal with that?

[Ifreann]

My brain would probably be safer with Hagrid than Musk.

---

Because lots of the technologies we've imagined in fiction would be really cool in reality.

Yeah I, Robot and Terminator sound really cool

Yes, they do. The robots in I, Robot are working very well until the zeroth law rebellion happens, and when it does happen we can pretty safely assume that steps will be taken to prevent this happening again. The Skynet AI in the Terminator series is evidently capable of iterating on and improving the designs of their war machines and it even invents a time machine. Technology that could create new technology would be the last thing we would ever need to invent.

---

Completely incorrect underlying assumptions, mostly.

and they said television and cell phones would never ben a thing. You'd likely have been on of those people who back in the day said the Wright Brothers would never succeed

Quote one person ever saying that televisions or cell phones would never be a thing. Just one person from before the invention of those things, claiming unambiguously that they will never exist.

---

Nice. One day closer to being able to integrate with machines.

Not really, though. Musk hasn't actually achieved anything here, he's just setting out some goals and making unverified claims. Which is to be expected, as he's trying to recruit people to work on this technology. This wasn't an advertisement, this was "Come work for us, we're inventing cool shit".

[Katganistan]

Do please elaborate.

Star Trek predicted things like cell phones and stun guns and countless other things. How many films have their been warning of the dangers of AI. Upgrade, terminator, the matrix and I robot are a few

Jules Verne predicted we'd go to the moon.

[Valrifell]

Star Trek predicted things like cell phones and stun guns and countless other things. How many films have their been warning of the dangers of AI. Upgrade, terminator, the matrix and I robot are a few

Jules Verne predicted we'd go to the moon.

In a giant cannon, but true nonetheless.

[Valrifell]

I noticed a few people in this thread dislike Musk, what's the deal with that?

Techbros worship the ground he walks on and I don't like techbros. His politics and personality are also trash.

That's the short of it, anyway.

[Major-Tom]

I noticed a few people in this thread dislike Musk, what's the deal with that?

I don't hate him, I just don't think he deserves a ton of praise either. I don't give a shit about his Twitter antics, honestly, but here's some specifics;

Tesla, while a great idea I commend him for, isn't the best-managed company. It only got to this point through tons of government subsidies and funding, and were Musk and his fans to own up to that, that'd be cool, but even while it's profitable, it doesn't make quality automobiles. Cool EVs, sure, but EVs that are prone to a wide myriad of issues you just don't see from Japanese EV competitors who theoretically shouldn't be that far ahead in technology. Additionally, the treatment of employees and subordinates at that company is ghastly. And it's not just "oh boo hoo workers rights," it's the management style itself that has caused Tesla to fluctuate wildly in their margins all while still selling really well. It's just a wonky business model.

A lot of his innovations have come from buying out others, which again, totally acceptable in a free-market economy, but the issue is the claim that he was a brilliant innovator within that capacity.

Space X is pretty solid, and he's had some good takes, but he sees himself as some sort of deity. He's not a brilliant scientist, he's just good at being a capitalist. Make of that what you will, he just doesn't deserve legions of fans and heaps of praise.

[Katganistan]

Remember when Elon Musk was going to turn the Earth's crust into a honeycomb of hyperloops, changing personal transportation forever? Remember when he was going to fix Flint's water? Remember when he was bragging about how his cybertruck was bullet resistant but then smashed the windows easily? I would sooner trust my health to someone in the streets claiming to be a wizard than this overhyped buffoon who has fallen for his own con.

Flint's water is still not fixed?

How many years? Literally?

https://nypost.com/2020/08/20/michigan- ... er-crisis/

[Senkaku]

I noticed a few people in this thread dislike Musk, what's the deal with that?

I don't hate him, I just don't think he deserves a ton of praise either. I don't give a shit about his Twitter antics, honestly, but here's some specifics;

Tesla, while a great idea I commend him for, isn't the best-managed company. It only got to this point through tons of government subsidies and funding, and were Musk and his fans to own up to that, that'd be cool, but even while it's profitable, it doesn't make quality automobiles. Cool EVs, sure, but EVs that are prone to a wide myriad of issues you just don't see from Japanese EV competitors who theoretically shouldn't be that far ahead in technology. Additionally, the treatment of employees and subordinates at that company is ghastly. And it's not just "oh boo hoo workers rights," it's the management style itself that has caused Tesla to fluctuate wildly in their margins all while still selling really well. It's just a wonky business model.

It may also be involved in destabilizing Bolivia to acquire its lithium reserves, so God only knows what he's going to get up to in the Congo when they need more cobalt.

A lot of his innovations have come from buying out others, which again, totally acceptable in a free-market economy, but the issue is the claim that he was a brilliant innovator within that capacity.

Especially since it's not like he made all his money himself (apartheid emeralds cough cough).

Space X is pretty solid, and he's had some good takes, but he sees himself as some sort of deity. He's not a brilliant scientist, he's just good at being a capitalist. Make of that what you will, he just doesn't deserve legions of fans and heaps of praise.

SpaceX is doing brilliant and important work and I actually do give him a lot of credit for pushing them to take some pretty big and risky leaps in development. But the man needs to just pick one project and stick with it instead of flitting from thing to thing- because sooner or later, something's going to go bust under him, and then it might bring down some of the stuff he's created that's actually working.

[Major-Tom]

I don't hate him, I just don't think he deserves a ton of praise either. I don't give a shit about his Twitter antics, honestly, but here's some specifics;

Tesla, while a great idea I commend him for, isn't the best-managed company. It only got to this point through tons of government subsidies and funding, and were Musk and his fans to own up to that, that'd be cool, but even while it's profitable, it doesn't make quality automobiles. Cool EVs, sure, but EVs that are prone to a wide myriad of issues you just don't see from Japanese EV competitors who theoretically shouldn't be that far ahead in technology. Additionally, the treatment of employees and subordinates at that company is ghastly. And it's not just "oh boo hoo workers rights," it's the management style itself that has caused Tesla to fluctuate wildly in their margins all while still selling really well. It's just a wonky business model.

It may also be involved in destabilizing Bolivia to acquire its lithium reserves, so God only knows what he's going to get up to in the Congo when they need more cobalt.

A lot of his innovations have come from buying out others, which again, totally acceptable in a free-market economy, but the issue is the claim that he was a brilliant innovator within that capacity.

Especially since it's not like he made all his money himself (apartheid emeralds cough cough).

Space X is pretty solid, and he's had some good takes, but he sees himself as some sort of deity. He's not a brilliant scientist, he's just good at being a capitalist. Make of that what you will, he just doesn't deserve legions of fans and heaps of praise.

SpaceX is doing brilliant and important work and I actually do give him a lot of credit for pushing them to take some pretty big and risky leaps in development. But the man needs to just pick one project and stick with it instead of flitting from thing to thing- because sooner or later, something's going to go bust under him, and then it might bring down some of the stuff he's created that's actually working.

Haha, he's such a Gemini amirite.

But, on the real, I don't know if he was fucking around or not with those Bolivian comments. I feel like he just wanted to play Hank Scorpio on Twitter and decided he'd respond with "I DO COUPS FOR FUN I'M SICK" when he really probably doesn't? Maybe I'm wrong there, I just don't think he had a major hand in that, he just profited off it. Which, still shitty.

[Senkaku]

It may also be involved in destabilizing Bolivia to acquire its lithium reserves, so God only knows what he's going to get up to in the Congo when they need more cobalt.


Especially since it's not like he made all his money himself (apartheid emeralds cough cough).


SpaceX is doing brilliant and important work and I actually do give him a lot of credit for pushing them to take some pretty big and risky leaps in development. But the man needs to just pick one project and stick with it instead of flitting from thing to thing- because sooner or later, something's going to go bust under him, and then it might bring down some of the stuff he's created that's actually working.

Haha, he's such a Gemini amirite.

But, on the real, I don't know if he was fucking around or not with those Bolivian comments. I feel like he just wanted to play Hank Scorpio on Twitter and decided he'd respond with "I DO COUPS FOR FUN I'M SICK" when he really probably doesn't? Maybe I'm wrong there, I just don't think he had a major hand in that, he just profited off it. Which, still shitty.

Exploiting developing countries for their mineral resources using the labor of people of color who are seen as second-class citizens by the state is sorta in his blood, so...

[Philjia]

I noticed a few people in this thread dislike Musk, what's the deal with that?

Elon Musk is a scion of an obscenely wealthy family who's clearly achingly desperate to be a plutocrat. Everything he does is aiming to create a mythology about himself and/or elevate the interests of the rich. He's also an illiterate git who is clearly heavily inspired by the science fiction of Iain M Banks (Naming SpaceX rockets after Culture ships, taking a heavy interest in transhumanism, etc.), but has managed to overlook the total, dripping contempt for capitalism present in his books. If he really understood them he'd be investing in AI research, for the public good rather than profit, but he doesn't, so he isn't.

[Kowani]

Jules Verne predicted we'd go to the moon.

In a giant cannon, but true nonetheless.

A rocket is just a really pointy cannonball.

[Ghost Land]

In the event this has a snowball's chance in hell of happening, allow me to ask this question: is this real life in the early 21st century, or is this my dystopian nightmare? There is no way in heck I'd allow anyone to put a chip of any sort inside my brain. I care too much about my privacy and autonomy for this even to be a thought.

The more I read about the way this world is going, the more attractive just moving into the woods and becoming self-sufficient seems.

[Nobel Hobos 2]

In a giant cannon, but true nonetheless.

A rocket is just a really pointy cannonball.

A rocket is a rocket.

The only reason Verne's idea of a space cannon isn't a thing now, is the extreme G-force the "cannonball" would have to experience when being fired. That rules out human crew but who knows, it may still be useful for getting bulk commodities to low earth orbit. Like water or liquid oxygen. Verne's cannon was extremely long, to try to minimize that g-force, but even so the initial impulse of explosives would be too much. We'd probably use a constant-pressure gas cannon instead.

Launch loops are better. Eventually a space elevator. Musk will have gone the way of Howard Hughes by then.

[Nobel Hobos 2]

In the event this has a snowball's chance in hell of happening, allow me to ask this question: is this real life in the early 21st century, or is this my dystopian nightmare? There is no way in heck I'd allow anyone to put a chip of any sort inside my brain. I care too much about my privacy and autonomy for this even to be a thought.

The more I read about the way this world is going, the more attractive just moving into the woods and becoming self-sufficient seems.

Yes just return to humanity's past of digging food out of the ground and making small animals dead.
After a few weeks, slink back into town to buy a phone and a solar panel.

[Punished UMN]

As long as it's not cooming, that's fine

[Washingtonae]

I doubt many people will agree to this, but if they do, we are truly doomed as a species. The only thing more disturbing than technological trans-humanism is the amount of people that support it. AI and robotics are an existential threat to humanity, and people like Elon Musk are on course to just allow it to destroy us because it might make life a little easier.

[Nobel Hobos 2]

I doubt many people will agree to this, but if they do, we are truly doomed as a species. The only thing more disturbing than technological trans-humanism is the amount of people that support it. AI and robotics are an existential threat to humanity, and people like Elon Musk are on course to just allow it to destroy us because it might make life a little easier.

Once again, yes. AI and robotics are a threat to humanity as we know it. But how can you be satisfied with humanity as it is?

[Rusozak]

I doubt many people will agree to this, but if they do, we are truly doomed as a species. The only thing more disturbing than technological trans-humanism is the amount of people that support it. AI and robotics are an existential threat to humanity, and people like Elon Musk are on course to just allow it to destroy us because it might make life a little easier.

I wouldn't call correcting horribly crippling disorders making life "a little easier." This is tremendous for medicine.