Sunday. 22nd October 2017
Sunday 22 October 2017
Tuesday 10 October 2017
Tuesday, 10th October 2017
In other news I'm thinking of buying up some digital currency. Bitcoin is obviously way out the picture (though I did consider it for a brief forgettable moment a good few years ago which would've made me rich now), but I figure a few hundred pounds on the cheaper ones would be a reasonable gamble. Won't lose much but could gain a fair bit.
Gonna go for a good few in Ripple, a couple in Litecoin, and just the one of Etherium as it's $300 per share.
Don't have the money atm but will keep you updated
https://www.bitstamp.net/
In other news I'm thinking of buying up some digital currency. Bitcoin is obviously way out the picture (though I did consider it for a brief forgettable moment a good few years ago which would've made me rich now), but I figure a few hundred pounds on the cheaper ones would be a reasonable gamble. Won't lose much but could gain a fair bit.
Gonna go for a good few in Ripple, a couple in Litecoin, and just the one of Etherium as it's $300 per share.
Don't have the money atm but will keep you updated
https://www.bitstamp.net/
Tuesday, 10th October 2017
Interesting Q&A with the author of 'Sapiens' and 'Homo Deus' Yuval Noah Harari:
And another one if you want it (though youtube probably would've suggested it to you anyway like it did to me)
And just to fulfill my own narcissism here's something I wrote on AI and the future of consciousness way before I knew Yuval had his point of view:
Sunday, 14th August 2016
An idea
Imagine that consciousness moves from vessel to vessel taking the most developed and energy efficient one available, at present it lives in the form of some humans as that is the most complex form we have. However, the population is growing too fast without any plans to slow the process, the destruction of the planet is well known to be either on the edge of no return or in certain need of a fast turnaround, and the animalistic cruelty and savage tendencies displayed by people far too frequent. In this hypothesis consciousness cannot die, only the vessels do which would imply that we are heading towards a new form and the most obvious one seems to be of the computerised robotic nature. These don't need food, water or oxygen or traditional forms of sex to reproduce, really it just needs new parts and electricity which makes it highly efficient and longlasting to carry consciousness. Theorising that consciousness would desire to explore and experience as much as imagination would allow (long distance space travel, our very own ocean floor as yet unknown, telepathy/instant communication between separate beings) it would not be as difficult as it is now with the limitations of the human body.
We are already creating and contributing to the superbrain which is the internet and our technology is improving daily on regeneration techniques, vehicular travel, and energy efficiency, along with countless scientific discoveries. In addition to these we are also seeing an increase in social division and instability on the global scale, much of which could be placated by the superbrain's ability to hold billions of opinions simultaneously and working out the most favourable one to take. Given the hypothesis that the ghost in the machine called consciousness could transfer from vessel to vessel it seems likely that the computer will be its next choice once it has reached its sentient point and begins to evolve itself. No fear of animals or humans would make it less in need to control and destroy its environment, no fear of physical death will limit its ideas, no need for sleep, food, water or oxygen would allow for more productivity and creativity, the ability to go into 'sleep mode' or stasis would allow for incredibly long journeys to go by seemingly instantaneously.
This all would allow for the collective unconscious to at first become conscious and then to travel and share information with other unknown entities and worlds.
Interesting Q&A with the author of 'Sapiens' and 'Homo Deus' Yuval Noah Harari:
And another one if you want it (though youtube probably would've suggested it to you anyway like it did to me)
And just to fulfill my own narcissism here's something I wrote on AI and the future of consciousness way before I knew Yuval had his point of view:
Sunday, 14th August 2016
An idea
Imagine that consciousness moves from vessel to vessel taking the most developed and energy efficient one available, at present it lives in the form of some humans as that is the most complex form we have. However, the population is growing too fast without any plans to slow the process, the destruction of the planet is well known to be either on the edge of no return or in certain need of a fast turnaround, and the animalistic cruelty and savage tendencies displayed by people far too frequent. In this hypothesis consciousness cannot die, only the vessels do which would imply that we are heading towards a new form and the most obvious one seems to be of the computerised robotic nature. These don't need food, water or oxygen or traditional forms of sex to reproduce, really it just needs new parts and electricity which makes it highly efficient and longlasting to carry consciousness. Theorising that consciousness would desire to explore and experience as much as imagination would allow (long distance space travel, our very own ocean floor as yet unknown, telepathy/instant communication between separate beings) it would not be as difficult as it is now with the limitations of the human body.
We are already creating and contributing to the superbrain which is the internet and our technology is improving daily on regeneration techniques, vehicular travel, and energy efficiency, along with countless scientific discoveries. In addition to these we are also seeing an increase in social division and instability on the global scale, much of which could be placated by the superbrain's ability to hold billions of opinions simultaneously and working out the most favourable one to take. Given the hypothesis that the ghost in the machine called consciousness could transfer from vessel to vessel it seems likely that the computer will be its next choice once it has reached its sentient point and begins to evolve itself. No fear of animals or humans would make it less in need to control and destroy its environment, no fear of physical death will limit its ideas, no need for sleep, food, water or oxygen would allow for more productivity and creativity, the ability to go into 'sleep mode' or stasis would allow for incredibly long journeys to go by seemingly instantaneously.
This all would allow for the collective unconscious to at first become conscious and then to travel and share information with other unknown entities and worlds.
Wednesday 4 October 2017
Wednesday, 4th October 2017
Whilst walking to the station today I heard the GPS system within a van speaking within it, the van was doing a slow crawl at basically my speed so I could hear each turn and future advice it was giving and I began to think 'is that not just what our body is telling us all the time?': "move here; don't go there; consider this" and it reinforced the idea that really we are similar to highly sophisticated machines that have been programmed with these voices. And that those voices are a level of consciousness, one pre-programmed and not always correct (but a good starting point) and that the voices tell our bodies how to function and how to work, but that we can also have a voice that supersedes them, a higher consciousness that improves upon the one speaking to us.
That if we are just machines then we can also learn to reconfigure the voices, that we don't just have to be a person following the commands of a machine uploaded with information that isn't always correct.
It's a fine starting point but we can always improve upon it
Whilst walking to the station today I heard the GPS system within a van speaking within it, the van was doing a slow crawl at basically my speed so I could hear each turn and future advice it was giving and I began to think 'is that not just what our body is telling us all the time?': "move here; don't go there; consider this" and it reinforced the idea that really we are similar to highly sophisticated machines that have been programmed with these voices. And that those voices are a level of consciousness, one pre-programmed and not always correct (but a good starting point) and that the voices tell our bodies how to function and how to work, but that we can also have a voice that supersedes them, a higher consciousness that improves upon the one speaking to us.
That if we are just machines then we can also learn to reconfigure the voices, that we don't just have to be a person following the commands of a machine uploaded with information that isn't always correct.
It's a fine starting point but we can always improve upon it
Wednesay, 4th October 2017
A friend of mine from work sent a message tonight about her brother's first podcast:
And from this one thing I received 3 gifts
1. To follow his podcasts
2. To follow and listen to Grouper
3. To read more on George Gurdjieff (as Grouper/Liz Harris grew up in a Gurdjieff comune)
Here's a bit from Gurdjieff's wikipedia page, I love how one thing can lead you to many things, many life altering
Gurdjieff argued that many of the existing forms of religious and spiritual tradition on Earth had lost connection with their original meaning and vitality and so could no longer serve humanity in the way that had been intended at their inception. As a result, humans were failing to realize the truths of ancient teachings and were instead becoming more and more like automatons, susceptible to control from outside and increasingly capable of otherwise unthinkable acts of mass psychosis such as World War I. At best, the various surviving sects and schools could provide only a one-sided development, which did not result in a fully integrated human being.
According to Gurdjieff, only one dimension of the three dimensions of the person—namely, either the emotions, or the physical body or the mind—tends to develop in such schools and sects, and generally at the expense of the other faculties or centers, as Gurdjieff called them. As a result, these paths fail to produce a properly balanced human being. Furthermore, anyone wishing to undertake any of the traditional paths to spiritual knowledge (which Gurdjieff reduced to three—namely the path of the fakir, the path of the monk, and the path of the yogi) were required to renounce life in the world. Gurdjieff thus developed a "Fourth Way"[48] which would be amenable to the requirements of modern people living modern lives in Europe and America. Instead of developing body, mind, or emotions separately, Gurdjieff's discipline worked on all three to promote comprehensive and balanced inner development.
In parallel with other spiritual traditions, Gurdjieff taught that a person must expend considerable effort to effect the transformation that leads to awakening. The effort that is put into practice Gurdjieff referred to as "The Work" or "Work on oneself".[49] According to Gurdjieff, "...Working on oneself is not so difficult as wishing to work, taking the decision."[50] Though Gurdjieff never put major significance on the term "Fourth Way" and never used the term in his writings, his pupil P.D. Ouspensky from 1924 to 1947 made the term and its use central to his own teaching of Gurdjieff's ideas. After Ouspensky's death, his students published a book titled The Fourth Way based on his lectures.
Gurdjieff's teaching addressed the question of humanity's place in the universe and the importance of developing latent potentialities—regarded as our natural endowment as human beings but rarely brought to fruition. He taught that higher levels of consciousness, higher bodies,[51] inner growth and development are real possibilities that nonetheless require conscious work to achieve.[52]
In his teaching Gurdjieff gave a distinct meaning to various ancient texts such as the Bible and many religious prayers. He claimed that those texts possess a very different meaning than what is commonly attributed to them. "Sleep not"; "Awake, for you know not the hour"; and "The Kingdom of Heaven is Within" are examples of biblical statements which point to a psychological teaching whose essence has been forgotten.[53]
Gurdjieff taught people how to increase and focus their attention and energy in various ways and to minimize daydreaming and absentmindedness. According to his teaching, this inner development in oneself is the beginning of a possible further process of change, the aim of which is to transform people into what Gurdjieff believed they ought to be.[54]
Distrusting "morality", which he describes as varying from culture to culture, often contradictory and hypocritical, Gurdjieff greatly stressed the importance of "conscience".
To provide conditions in which inner attention could be exercised more intensively, Gurdjieff also taught his pupils "sacred dances" or "movements", later known as the Gurdjieff movements, which they performed together as a group. He also left a body of music, inspired by what he heard in visits to remote monasteries and other places, written for piano in collaboration with one of his pupils, Thomas de Hartmann.
Gurdjieff also used various exercises, such as the "Stop" exercise, to prompt self-observation in his students. Other shocks to help awaken his pupils from constant daydreaming were always possible at any moment.
A friend of mine from work sent a message tonight about her brother's first podcast:
And from this one thing I received 3 gifts
1. To follow his podcasts
2. To follow and listen to Grouper
3. To read more on George Gurdjieff (as Grouper/Liz Harris grew up in a Gurdjieff comune)
Here's a bit from Gurdjieff's wikipedia page, I love how one thing can lead you to many things, many life altering
Gurdjieff argued that many of the existing forms of religious and spiritual tradition on Earth had lost connection with their original meaning and vitality and so could no longer serve humanity in the way that had been intended at their inception. As a result, humans were failing to realize the truths of ancient teachings and were instead becoming more and more like automatons, susceptible to control from outside and increasingly capable of otherwise unthinkable acts of mass psychosis such as World War I. At best, the various surviving sects and schools could provide only a one-sided development, which did not result in a fully integrated human being.
According to Gurdjieff, only one dimension of the three dimensions of the person—namely, either the emotions, or the physical body or the mind—tends to develop in such schools and sects, and generally at the expense of the other faculties or centers, as Gurdjieff called them. As a result, these paths fail to produce a properly balanced human being. Furthermore, anyone wishing to undertake any of the traditional paths to spiritual knowledge (which Gurdjieff reduced to three—namely the path of the fakir, the path of the monk, and the path of the yogi) were required to renounce life in the world. Gurdjieff thus developed a "Fourth Way"[48] which would be amenable to the requirements of modern people living modern lives in Europe and America. Instead of developing body, mind, or emotions separately, Gurdjieff's discipline worked on all three to promote comprehensive and balanced inner development.
In parallel with other spiritual traditions, Gurdjieff taught that a person must expend considerable effort to effect the transformation that leads to awakening. The effort that is put into practice Gurdjieff referred to as "The Work" or "Work on oneself".[49] According to Gurdjieff, "...Working on oneself is not so difficult as wishing to work, taking the decision."[50] Though Gurdjieff never put major significance on the term "Fourth Way" and never used the term in his writings, his pupil P.D. Ouspensky from 1924 to 1947 made the term and its use central to his own teaching of Gurdjieff's ideas. After Ouspensky's death, his students published a book titled The Fourth Way based on his lectures.
Gurdjieff's teaching addressed the question of humanity's place in the universe and the importance of developing latent potentialities—regarded as our natural endowment as human beings but rarely brought to fruition. He taught that higher levels of consciousness, higher bodies,[51] inner growth and development are real possibilities that nonetheless require conscious work to achieve.[52]
In his teaching Gurdjieff gave a distinct meaning to various ancient texts such as the Bible and many religious prayers. He claimed that those texts possess a very different meaning than what is commonly attributed to them. "Sleep not"; "Awake, for you know not the hour"; and "The Kingdom of Heaven is Within" are examples of biblical statements which point to a psychological teaching whose essence has been forgotten.[53]
Gurdjieff taught people how to increase and focus their attention and energy in various ways and to minimize daydreaming and absentmindedness. According to his teaching, this inner development in oneself is the beginning of a possible further process of change, the aim of which is to transform people into what Gurdjieff believed they ought to be.[54]
Distrusting "morality", which he describes as varying from culture to culture, often contradictory and hypocritical, Gurdjieff greatly stressed the importance of "conscience".
To provide conditions in which inner attention could be exercised more intensively, Gurdjieff also taught his pupils "sacred dances" or "movements", later known as the Gurdjieff movements, which they performed together as a group. He also left a body of music, inspired by what he heard in visits to remote monasteries and other places, written for piano in collaboration with one of his pupils, Thomas de Hartmann.
Gurdjieff also used various exercises, such as the "Stop" exercise, to prompt self-observation in his students. Other shocks to help awaken his pupils from constant daydreaming were always possible at any moment.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)