I like to think of Free Will and agency as just a useful means of compartmentalizing things.
Everything in my house is made of matter and atoms. But it's useful to say that my computer is "intelligent" while my couch is not. Technically it's all just part of a giant soup, but within that soup are more independent and more self determined agents. My Roomba is not self aware but I recognize it as separate from my floor and it has at least some awareness of its surroundings. I can't predict its path or its choices perfectly but I don't doubt that its software is ultimately deterministic if I could perfectly debug it.
Similarly I can't predict even my own decisions perfectly but I certainly have a distinct independence from my environment compared to even a Roomba. Ironically though it's this independence and ability to process my environment that in many ways makes me even more influenced and less free. A Roomba never observes another Roomba and changes its behavior. So in many ways it's free to continue being what it was. If I observe something it affects me and changes how I think. I'm in many ways controlled more by external influences. My flexibility in adapting to new environments also means that my environment has a much greater influence on who I am.
So who is freer me or a robotic butler?
Friday, September 30, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Dangerous Shadows
10 years ago I woke up and turned on the computer to check the morning news like any other day and discovered a tower of the world trade center had collapsed. "What happened?" "It's World War 3 we're under attack!" a friend exclaimed through an IM. "Who attacked us?" "Nobody knows!"
30 minutes later I watched the second tower collapse on CNN. 10 years later we're still on the run. The war we launched that day was less against those who struck us than our own liberty. It's past time we end this war with our own shadows and focus instead on building a brighter future.
Yes, we need security. And yes, we sacrifice liberty in the name of security every day--but we have to balance that sacrifice against the threat we face . It's clear 10 years later that it wasn't World War 3, it was just a handful of pissed off revolutionaries with a god complex who had played MS Flight Simulator and bought some packing supplies at Office Depot. It's time to remember 9/11 by declaring war on our real enemies.
On the eleventh of September 2011, 2977 people were murdered by terrorists.
On the twelfth of September 2011, about 6500 people were killed by air pollution.
And on the thirteenth of September 2011, about 6500 people were killed by air pollution.
Every day about 6,500 people are killed by air pollution. We have the technology to end this. We just need to build it.
Every day about 3,000 people are killed in automobile accidents. We have the technology to eliminate most of those--we just need to make the proper investments.
Every day about 17,000 children die of hunger. We have the food, can feed them.
Every day Malaria kills almost 2,000 people. Most of those deaths can be prevented with basic sanitation and medicine.
Not every terrorist brandishes an AK47 and declares war on modern civilization. We have the benefit of hindsight and the human gifts of intelligence, creaitivity and compassion to guide our future. It's time to make it a better one. There are plenty of challenges to overcome and they aren't infinite and they aren't insurmountable. We cured polio, we'll cure cancer. We split the atom, we'll fuse them back together. We flew to the moon, we'll mass produce cars that can drive themselves to the grocery store. We're able to reason, we'll even grant that same intelligence to our synthetic progency. There are plenty of challenges to overcome but we won't solve them while hiding under the covers hoping the government will make the boogie man go away. Fight those who would have us live in the dark ages by fighting for science, progress and innovation. Fight those who would spread narrow minded oppression by fighting for the equal rights of everyone regardless of race, sex, religion or orientation. If anything should terrify us it's not change or progress, it's the status quo.
10 years ago I woke up and two buildings fell down killing thousands of people. Since then terrible things have happened-- but even more wonderous and amazing things happend too. Over the last 10 years mistakes were made but so was progress. I look forward to seeing what we can do in the next 10 years.
- Gavin Greenwalt
30 minutes later I watched the second tower collapse on CNN. 10 years later we're still on the run. The war we launched that day was less against those who struck us than our own liberty. It's past time we end this war with our own shadows and focus instead on building a brighter future.
Yes, we need security. And yes, we sacrifice liberty in the name of security every day--but we have to balance that sacrifice against the threat we face . It's clear 10 years later that it wasn't World War 3, it was just a handful of pissed off revolutionaries with a god complex who had played MS Flight Simulator and bought some packing supplies at Office Depot. It's time to remember 9/11 by declaring war on our real enemies.
On the eleventh of September 2011, 2977 people were murdered by terrorists.
On the twelfth of September 2011, about 6500 people were killed by air pollution.
And on the thirteenth of September 2011, about 6500 people were killed by air pollution.
Every day about 6,500 people are killed by air pollution. We have the technology to end this. We just need to build it.
Every day about 3,000 people are killed in automobile accidents. We have the technology to eliminate most of those--we just need to make the proper investments.
Every day about 17,000 children die of hunger. We have the food, can feed them.
Every day Malaria kills almost 2,000 people. Most of those deaths can be prevented with basic sanitation and medicine.
Not every terrorist brandishes an AK47 and declares war on modern civilization. We have the benefit of hindsight and the human gifts of intelligence, creaitivity and compassion to guide our future. It's time to make it a better one. There are plenty of challenges to overcome and they aren't infinite and they aren't insurmountable. We cured polio, we'll cure cancer. We split the atom, we'll fuse them back together. We flew to the moon, we'll mass produce cars that can drive themselves to the grocery store. We're able to reason, we'll even grant that same intelligence to our synthetic progency. There are plenty of challenges to overcome but we won't solve them while hiding under the covers hoping the government will make the boogie man go away. Fight those who would have us live in the dark ages by fighting for science, progress and innovation. Fight those who would spread narrow minded oppression by fighting for the equal rights of everyone regardless of race, sex, religion or orientation. If anything should terrify us it's not change or progress, it's the status quo.
10 years ago I woke up and two buildings fell down killing thousands of people. Since then terrible things have happened-- but even more wonderous and amazing things happend too. Over the last 10 years mistakes were made but so was progress. I look forward to seeing what we can do in the next 10 years.
- Gavin Greenwalt
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