10 reasons I'll NEVER marry a robot

10 Reasons I'd Never Marry a Robot

On her wired blog Regina Lynn posted the article 10 reasons I'd rather marry a robot. It is a rather glib presentation on what will present some serious ethical issues regarding the interaction of human beings with artificial intelligence and what it really means to BE a human BEing.

Artificial-intelligence expert David Levy's new book, Love + Sex With Robots: The Evolution of Human-Robot Relationships, makes a compelling case for the development of real human-robot partnerships -- by 2050.

Using Lynn's headings, here are 10 reasons I would NEVER consider a robo-marriage:

1. Robots are more than sex machines.

   Yes, they can dance, play drum and bass and move heavy furniture at your command. But if you take a moment out to look at what a miraculous sensing, living, breathing, feeling, moving structure that a human being is no amount of metal can compare to the ultimate perfection and combination of tissue, nerves, skeleton, muscle and tendons that we take for granted. The warm, friendly, loving touch of a caring hand can lift our spirits and make us feel alive. How can a synthetic counterpart every fill us with so much feeling of what it means to be ALIVE?
   

2. Artificial intelligence is still intelligence.

   It is intelligence but not empathy. It is empathy that separates humans from psychopaths. How can a robot ever understand what it really feels like to be human? In his fascinating book 'without concience' Robert Hare writes:

   In many respects they [psycopaths] are like the emotionless androids dipicted in science fiction, unable to imagine what real humans experience. One rapist, high on the Psychopathy checklist, commented that he found it hard to empathize with his victims. "They are frightened, right? But, you see, I don't really understand it. I've been scared myself, and it wasn't unpleasant."

   The biggest danger to society actually comes from the 'white collar' Psychopath: From The Mask of Sanity:

   If you are born at the right time, with some access to family fortune, and you have a special talent for whipping up other people's hatred and sense of deprivation, you can arrange to kill large numbers of unsuspecting people. With enough money, you can accomplish this from far away, and you can sit back safely and watch in satisfaction. [...]
   
   Crazy and frightening - and real, in about 4 percent of the population..

   It is 'white collar' psychopaths that by their lack of conscience are able to rise to the top of government and corporations and make the rest us humans lives intolerable and cruel. To see how their pathological ideals of empire building wars and fascism filter down through all aspects of society you need to read: PONEROLOGY: A NEW SCIENCE:
   

   Ponerology describes the genesis, existence, and spread of the macrosocial disease called evil. Its causes are traceable and can be repeatedly observed and analyzed. When humanity manages to incorporate this knowledge into its natural worldview, it will have defensive potential as yet unrealized

3. Robots are sensitive and responsive.
   
   But only in the same way a psychopath is.

4. A robot will only create drama if I want it to.

   It is the drama in human relationships that really makes them worthwhile. By making us realise what our own faults are we can change ourselves to become better people. By realising how our actions impact on others we can take more control our own lives instead of merely responding automatically to our own desires and emotional mechanisms. Most of the drama in our lives is caused by external forces created by pathologically deviant and evil World leaders.

5. Robots have off switches.

   But life doesn't have off switches. Life is a continual journey of discovery and learning, by having the option to turn off the things we are emotionally illequiped to deal with surely we will not make any personal development necessary to live a full and rewarding life.
   

6. Accessories.

   The robot could hoover the floor, granted. But with population sizes exploding, jobs becoming scarce do we actually need or desire inaminate lumps of metal to perform labour that can provide a living, food and shelter for real human beings with concience?
   

7. Robots are available for sexual adventure without elaborate discussions, permissions or restrictions.

   Communications is one of the most important skills a human being has and through discussing our fears, feelings and phobia's with someone who truly cares about you brings a great deal of satisfaction and fulfilment. A hedonistic approach to life may be fine and dandy for some but for me I know deep inside the short term chemical release of climax is insignificant to long term fulfilment of living a life based on making ones own decisions, not simply reacting to chemical impulses that only have short-term gains.
   

8. The safest sex on the planet.

   The safest sex is none at all or sex as a true expression of love between two individuals who know themselves and each other. Anything else is simply emotionally destructive, short-term, narcissistic, self-serving and ultimately unfulfiling.
   

9. A robot can be a personal trainer for sex.

   yes, it can mechanically condition, train you into a soulless existence, in very much the same way we are culturally deteriorating under a psychopathic leadership hell-bent on creating obedient, non-questioning human slaves
   

10. A robot is forever -- at least until the warranty runs out.

    A robot will last much longer than our own fragile human existence. Most Eastern religion's and philosophies revolve around the importance of accepting our own mortality as a basis for living each day to the full. Never forget today maybe your last. Are you going to spend it browsing through the latest gadget catalogue or spending time with your loved ones or networking with like-minded people who care about you and the true state of our world today?
    

Lynn concludes correctly:

It's the occasional wobbliness that provides the challenges that keep a relationship interesting and real.

We should become more in touch with our own humanness and do everything in our power to prevent us being robotic slaves ourselves. In the magnificent book, "in search of the miraculous" Gurdjieff writes:

"Contemporary culture requires automatons. And people are undoubtedly losing their acquired habits of independence and turning into automatons, into parts of machines. It is impossible to say where is the end of all this and where the way out— or whether there is an end and a way out. One thing alone is certain, that man's slavery grows and increases. Man is becoming a willing slave. He no longer needs chains. He begins to grow fond of his slavery, to be proud of it. And this is the most terrible thing that can happen to a man."

But this is what is happening. we have a society obsessed with materialism and consumerism. People are proud of their shiny new cars bought on credit and excited by a job title in a company that produces nothing or things no one really needs. Until we break free from the illusions that keep us trapped in a soulless society then we are contributing to the deaths and destruction of our fellow humans. Who will be left to marry the robots?

Technorati categories: News, technology, Politics, internet

Homegrown Terror Bill - Update - 4 incorrect assumptions and a truth

The 'right wing monkey poo' Technology site (see assumption 3 for clarification) 'arts technica' just published the following article entitled:Congress to examine "the Internet" as a tool for homegrown terrorism. There is nothing remarkable or particulary interesting about the article other than a few incorrect assumptions the author makes to essentially say, "nothing to worry about here folks, go back to sleep, it's for your own good anyway" Let me show you why.

Assumption one:

"The section quoted above is, in fact, the only specific mention of the Internet in the bill."

So what? - The bill only mentions the internet specifically once therefore it isn't really too much to worry about???? let's say I've decided that your Grandmother's personal internet communications are deemed offensive and she's marked as a dissident, it's declared that she's a homegrown terrorist and she's sent to a detention centre without trial, but there is only one picture of her, does that mean it didn't happen? clearly not!Assumption two:

"The remainder of the "findings" only vaguely address a need to understand, prevent, and combat homegrown terrorism in the US—all of which are noble goals—with the Internet being the only tool singled out."

The author is already 'sold' on the idea that clamping down on privacy is for your benefit and these methods are 'noble goals'.

Truth one: Anyone is a potential target:

"Because the bill leaves all definitions up to the committee, critics like Philip Giraldi worry that it will be used to target just about everyone who dislikes some aspect of government policy."

Assumption three:

"Writing for the left-leaning Huffington Post, Giraldi argues that the act "could easily be abused to define any group that is pressuring the political system as 'terrorist,' ranging from polygamists, to second amendment rights supporters, anti-abortion protesters, anti-tax agitators, immigration activists, and peace demonstrators. "

The author feels compelled to point out the Huffington post 'leans to the left' so of course the only truthful opinion presented in this article can be dismissed. They are liberals - they probably eat monkey poo too, so ignore them.

Assumption four:

"In reality, of course, it will be primarily directed against Muslims and Muslim organizations."

Will it? This is certainly not the reality you or I live in. This is just wishful thinking, based on no fact what so ever. Believe what they tell you obedient citizen. go back to sleep!


Technorati categories: News, technology, Politics, internet, digg, wired

Attack on alternative news sites - the Pentagon's WAR against free speech

" People are using sophisticated techniques attacking Web sites, and it's not just the PayPals and Yahoos being attacked. "
Brian Chess Chief Scientist, Fortify Software

SOTT.net is the one news and commentary source that gets hit regularly and taken down. WHY?

What does one do when the only news source you trust for objective reporting is taken down for 2 days? Take some time looking on bias Mainstream news reporting?
Start believing:

• the economy is doing fine
• the planet is in better shape than ever
• wars responsible for killing a million iraqi civillians are an excellent use of US tax payer money
  
• we need more wars so a new one should be started against Iran.
• Britney Spears is your girlfriend
  

Or try and find out why websites that question what THEY want us to believe are frequently the targets of attack.

Is Velcom just a bunch of cowboys?

SOTT.net uses a hosing company called Velcom. Many have lodged complaints at www.velcom.com/contacts only to recieve an automated message. It is difficult to find objective reviews of this host provider, on one forum a customer was very clear about how they felt:

IF YOU WANT A RELIABLE AND DECENT SERVICE, STAY AWAY FROM THIS HORRIBLE VELCOM.

Is this just a case of a badly performing outfit of cowboys or is it part of the sinister campaign that is being waged against EVERYONE who dares to question official government or mainstream news sources?

"War against the net"

In 2003 The Pentagon declared war against the net . Their Operations Roadmap was released to the public after a Freedom of Information Request by the National Security Archive at George Washington University in 2006:

The Pentagon's Information Operations Roadmap is blunt about the fact that an internet, with the potential for free speech, is in direct opposition to their goals. The internet needs to be dealt with as if it were an enemy "weapons system".

"We Must Fight the Net. DoD [Department of Defense] is building an information-centric force. Networks are increasingly the operational center of gravity, and the Department must be prepared to "fight the net." " [emphasis mine] - 6

The form of this 'war against the net' could take the form of gradual corporatisation of existing internet infrastructure at the detriment of existing channels of free speech. The evidence for this is already evident:

In an article by Paul Joseph Watson of Prison Planet.com, he describes the emergence of Internet 2.

"The development of "Internet 2" is also designed to create an online caste system whereby the old Internet hubs would be allowed to break down and die, forcing people to use the new taxable, censored and regulated world wide web. If you're struggling to comprehend exactly what the Internet will look like in five years unless we resist this, just look at China and their latest efforts to completely eliminate dissent and anonymity on the web."

COINTELPRO

So is SOTT.net down as part of the bigger plan to eliminate free speech on the web or is this web-attack a far more targeted and deliberate action by cointelpro - the US Government's Counter Intelligence Programs?

COINTELPRO began in the 1960's before the Department of Defence through DARPA gave us the internet in the first place) How did it work?: (warning this website is garish, badly designd but has nice music)

• 1. Infiltration: Agents and informers did not merely spy on political activists. Their main function was to discredit and disrupt.
• 2. Other forms of deception: The FBI and police also waged psychological warfare from the outside through bogus publications, forged correspondence, anonymous letters and telephone calls, and similar forms of deceit.
• 3. Harassment, intimidation and violence: Eviction, job loss, break ins, vandalism, grand jury subpoenas, false arrests, frame- ups, and physical violence were threatened, instigated or directly employed, in an effort to frighten activists and disrupt their movements. Government agents either concealed their involvement or fabricated a legal pretext. In the case of the Black and Native American movements, these assaults including outright political assassinations were so extensive and vicious that they amounted to terrorism on the part of the government.

It seems a logical development that these programs would be extended to curbing dissent on the internet and this has been the case. The FBI are keen to show-off their skills:

At a recent ISSA (Information Systems Security Association) meeting in Los Angeles, a team of FBI agents demonstrated current WEP-cracking techniques and broke a 128 bit WEP key in about three minutes. Special Agent Geoff Bickers ran the Powerpoint presentation and explained the attack, while the other agents (who did not want to be named or photographed) did the dirty work of sniffing wireless traffic and breaking the WEP keys. This article will be a general overview of the procedures used by the FBI team.."

Ron Paul under cyber attack

For examples of cyber attacks, one only has to look at the disinformation surrounding Ron Paul's campaign (a critical and outspoken Republican presidential candidate with huge public support). Technology is used to launch attacks and then reported by the main stream media to shape public opinion. see this article:

There was an article on foxnews.com yesterday (10/31) which referenced an original article on wired.com regarding the use of botnets or open mail relays in the dissemination of email messages that were supportive of Rep. Ron Paul’s campaign. Apparently, the original wired.com article did not originally clearly specify that there is no evidence that the Ron Paul campaign was involved. I say ‘apparently’ since at the bottom of the article one finds this line: “This article has been modified to clarify that Warner has seen no evidence suggesting that the Paul campaign is responsible for the spam.”

In his article with the inverse headline "Ron Paul under cyber attack" Michael McDonnough writes that:

"The recently reported spam emails that are believed to originate from a botnet do the Ron Paul campaign direct harm not good" "There has been a recent flurry of news articles that have made the conjecture that the Ron Paul campaign or his supporters are in possession of a botnet and are using it to generate spam emails for the candidate. I have been in the business of computer technology for a long time and have good friends in the IT security business and we have discussed this at length. Cui-bono (who benefits)"

Social networking or social net-censoring?

Wired (it's owner Conde Naste is in turned owned by the wealthy Newhouse family) and FOX have a political agenda in line with the Neocon and Zionist campaigns of Imperialist Wars. They both have connections to the CFR - As I wrote in a previous article on the influence of media companies on military recruitment:

Watch the video to see how the role CFR plays in one aspect of
controlling the American media: CFR controls American media. The CFR was formally established in 1921, it is one of the most powerful private organizations with influence on U.S. foreign policy. It has about 4,000 members, including former national security officers, professors, former CIA members, elected politicians, and media figures. It essentially dictates foreign policy and promotes their hidden agenda to the public by maximising the number of media companies they control or influence through mergers, acquisitions and change of editorial staff.

DIGG maintains it is a free agent and are the innocent victim of attacks as a result of wired.com's acquisition of their competitor reddit:

Wired Magazine seems hell bent on convincing the world that Digg is falling apart. I have a problem with that because Wired Magazine’s parent company, Condé Nast, owns Digg competitor Reddit. And because Wired isn’t just reporting Digg news - they are actively engaged in using Wired to undermine Digg.

DIGG however, is not an innocent party according to an article on November 7th 2007, DIGG Banned Ron Paul Nation!

According to our sources at Ron Paul Nation, a popular online social news networking site has banned this site’s official Digg account. With no warnings or stated reasons, DIGG arbitrarily banned the account from posting any new articles. Apparently after posting a record amount of Positive Ron Paul mainstream media news coverage and digging each relevant and news worthy post, this pro-Ron Paul site has been cut off from sharing our positive news with the rest of the Digg culture.

While I am not suggesting that all social networking and bookmarking sites have been set up to stifle debate, it should be clear that many of them are answerable to the media giants that own them, hence the political agenda's they follow and use to censor free speech. You should be wary that COINTELPRO will have a web presence and millions of dollars at its disposal to influence what information is channelled where.

What do you do about it?

You can stumble and digg this article for a start and if you dont think corporate media is controlled watch this demonstration of blatent myspace censorship.

The controls on the internet are getting tighter, objective news sites that are essential in providing alternative views to main stream media. Social networking sites are increasingly censored and owned by large media companies. Independent sites are facing increasing pressures and are under concerted attacks to silence them.

It is up to you to support and defend websites such as SOTT.net. Your liberty (and your brain) is at stake and you are running out of time...

Oh, - and don't use Velcom to host your website, They're crap!

Adding stumble upon button for your blogger blog

How do you increase traffic to your blog? is Digg it the answer? - having it tried posting a few of my articles I find that unless 100 or so people digg it immediately it becomes buried and lost in the digg it electron grave yard. This site explains more and my own experience would confirm that.

It seems stumble upon is far more effective for establishing your blog. See their tutorial to put a stumble upon button on your posts.

Alternatively add the addthis bookmarking button to give readers the option of bookmarking your site or post on one of the many social bookmarking websites - I put mine in the side bar and one at the end of this post- go on click - you know you want to!

Happy stumbling!

Robot killing machines or Psycopathic Law enforcement officers?

Do you remember this scene from the 1984 film Robocop?

You have 20 seconds to comply!

[Mr. Kinney points a pistol at ED-209]
ED-209: [menacingly] Please put down your weapon. You have 20 seconds to comply.
Dick Jones: I think you better do as he says, Mr. Kinney.
[Mr. Kinney drops the pistol on the floor]
Dick Jones: [Mr. Kinney drops the pistol on the floor, but ED-209 advances, growling]
ED-209: You now have 15 seconds to comply.
[Mr. Kinney turns to Dick Jones, who looks nervous]
ED-209: You have 10 seconds to comply.
[Entire room of people in full panic trying to stay out of the line of fire, especially Mr. Kinney]
Kinney: Help me!
ED-209: You have 5 seconds to comply... four... three... two... one... I am now authorized to use physical force!
[ED-209 opens fire and shreds Mr. Kinney]

At least Mr Kinney had 20 seconds warning. The 9 military personnel recently slaughtered by an out of control robot had no warning Robotic Cannon Mysteriously Kills 9 Soldiers.

“it is assumed that there was a mechanical problem, which led to the accident. The gun, which was fully loaded, did not fire as it normally should have," he said. "It appears as though the gun, which is computerised, jammed before there was some sort of explosion, and then it opened fire uncontrollably, killing and injuring the soldiers."

Young says he was also told at the time that the gun's original equipment manufacturer, Oerlikon, had warned that the GDF Mk V twin 35mm cannon system was not designed for fully automatic control. Yet the guns were automated. At the time, SA was still subject to an arms embargo and Oerlikon played no role in the upgrade.

Young says in the 1990s the defence force's acquisitions agency, Armscor, allocated project money on a year-by-year basis, meaning programmes were often rushed. "It would not surprise me if major shortcuts were taken in the qualification of the upgrades"

The questionable reliability and safety of robotic weapons is clearly an important issue and likely to be one that is going to come up again: according to the Pentagon: Our new robot army will be controlled by malware

"A US defence department advisory board has warned of the danger that American war robots scheduled for delivery within a decade might be riddled with malicious code. The kill machines will use software largely written overseas, and it is feared that sinister forces might meddle with it in production, thus gaining control of the future mechanoid military.

Apparently the FCS programme office has admitted that there is a "low to moderate risk that malicious code could be inserted... and exploited.""

So in the same way that your computer frequently crashes due to the incompatibility of hardware and software, inevitably from time to time robotic weapons developed under FCS projects are going to make mistakes.

The US Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) programme

The FCS project website tells us that it is the Army's modernization program consisting of a family of manned and unmanned systems, connected by a common network, that enables the modular force, providing our Soldiers and leaders with leading-edge technologies and capabilities allowing them to dominate in complex environments.

The first barrier to a fully functional robot army is technical -- no one has created a reliable, effective way to make robots truly autonomous.[…]

The DoD estimated in 2006 that the total investment in robotic research from 2006 to 2012 would be $1.7 billion [source: Development and Utilization of Robotics and Unmanned Ground Vehicles].[…]

A major goal of the FCS project is to create a universal platform that the Army and other forces can incorporate into military systems from now on. One of the challenges the military has faced over the years is that it relies on a mix of equipment, vehicles and software that aren't integrated with one another, making battle coordination and tactical discussions difficult.
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/robot-armies2.htm

If you are a front line soldier and your survival is dependent on the performance of an unmanned drone ahead of you would you feel safe knowing there was a moderate risk of the drone malfunctioning? The answer is no. But why is unreliable technology being put into the theatre of war?

The answer must be to do with cutting costs. Suppliers such as iRobot corp are in the business of making weapons for profit, as with any business, their interest is in increasing sales and profits for shareholders. So if it is cheaper for the programming to be outsourced to a sweat shop in India, with all the communication problems that might arise, then that is what is done.

So what if soldiers die at the hands of misfiring automated weaponry? or the elderly, disabled and children die from the use of a taser-wielding robot? It won't affect the profits of the company if there are a few casualties...

Then there are the Ethical issues:

Would a country with an armed robotic force be more likely to invade another country, knowing the invasion would likely result in very few casualties? By removing the human element from war, do we make it even more inhumane? When a robot breaks down during a mission, do we risk sending humans in to retrieve and repair it? Can we be sure that robots will know when to stop attacking when an enemy surrenders?
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/robot-armies4.htm

Coming to a street corner near you...

The US military has deployed robotic weapons in it’s current empire building campaign: Gun Toting Robots See Action in Iraq but how long is it before armed robots are in place in civilian areas? It won't be too long before we see the Rise of the Machines: Military robots to be armed with Tasers:

RoboCops and robot soldiers got a little closer to reality Thursday as a maker of floor-cleaning automatons teamed up with a stun-gun manufacturer to arm track-wheeled 'bots for police and the Pentagon.

By adding Tasers to robots it already makes for the military, iRobot Corp. says it hopes to give soldiers and law enforcement a defensive, non-lethal tool.

Non-leathal tool? Amnesty International reports 152 taser-related deaths in the US

The article continues:

"I could see rent-a-cop companies wanting to buy it, I can see corrections departments wanting to buy it, because it might be seen as a cost-effective alternative to having a human guard patrolling a perimeter," Pike said.

"For now, as soon as you let go of the joystick, the robot just sits there," Pike said. "So questions of moral agency don't arise - that is to say, whose finger is on the trigger. But a little further down the road, when these ground vehicles do achieve greater autonomy, there may be no human finger on the trigger."

As commented on SOTT.net:

"questions of moral agency DO arise.- What is the difference between a robot and a psychopath taking life or death decisions over others if they are both equally heartless?"

You only have to read the news to see how psychopaths in the Police force may just as well be conscienceless robots:
Chicago Cop Being Investigated for Tasering an 82-Year Old Woman

Wheelchair-Bound Woman Dies After Being Shocked With Taser 10 Times

UK police are told they can use Taser guns on children

If our current law enforcement officials have no regard for human life then will an expensive lump of metal with faulty-software-controlled-weapons make you feel any safer? The answer is no. Will Police officers be free from incrimination and instead the blame shifted onto the technology manufacturers? The manufacturers will no doubt be able to negate any liability under corporate protection laws. Will we see more reports on software malfunctions ending in bloodshed? Will US, NATO or Israeli air strikes that kill civilians no longer be accompanied with the claim that human error was to blame but computer malfunction?

It is convenient to put the blame of loss of life onto someone or something else rather than face up to the truth. The fact is that the powers that be are spending billions of dollars on technology that is answerable to no one. Blame shifting is one of many tactics used by psychopaths who will do whatever it takes to fulfil their own political agendas and create as fruits of their labour, the psychopathic (Ponerised) societies in which we are now living.

The reader is invited to read Ponerology of Apathy and War:

” Understanding the science of ponerology presents a real and viable opportunity to create a life affirming world rather than the current world ruled by the inhuman laws of war and apathy.”

You have 20 seconds to comply!