I find discussing IQ a bit like discussing house prices, but considerably less precise.
IQ fascinats me, perhaps because my IQ isn't high enough to understand it's subtlety. I will say (and have said in the past) this: in my industry, I have noticed a direct inverse correlation between academic achievement and capability of living in the world. In other words, the more highly qualified you are, the worse you are at coping with everyday life.
The few professors I know are archetypally scatter-brained. The doctors cannot light the correct end of a candle. Those with Masters hit themselves in the face with doors. Those with degrees focus on one area and forget to pay their car tax or council tax.
(As you might have guessed, I don't have a degree.)
The "educated moron" can be comical. Such have had lacunae in their education. The world of practicalities is complicated and challenging. In the right environment our rich society offers huge scope for hands on experience, "helf & safety" notwithstanding.
To put Brexit in context - the horrific pictures coming out of Greece with people being burnt to death in their own cars while attempting to escape the fires is truely dreadful and a moment for us all to pause and realise that nothing is more precious than life
There have been stories about child marriages and about how the authorities in Sweden and Germany deal with migrants arriving with children already "married" for a number of years now.
Why this isn't treated as child abuse beats me. Whatever may be acceptable in Syria or wherever surely shouldn't be acceptable here, no matter what the child's culture or how "diverse" her background is.
It is paedophilia and rape and should be treated as such. Put the offenders in jail and on the Sex Offenders Register.
I have just started reading Anne Applebaum's book "Red Famine" on the Ukrainian famine. The early chapters are very interesting on the relationship between Ukraine and Russia and how the former was viewed by both the Tsarist Empire and the Bolsheviks as really part of Russia and not a separate nation at all. It's very interesting historical context to what has been happening more recently between Ukraine and Putin's Russia.
The Holodomor, like the Armenian Genocide, demands much more publicity. It's a shame that it often descends to an argument over numbers instead of contempt for those who, through deliberate acts, policy effects or stupidity (*), caused it.
Do you think it's worth reading?
(*) For the record, I believe the former.
Based on what I've read so far, yes. I've read her previous two books - Gulag and on the Soviet takeover of Eastern Europe.
It was quite clear - certainly based on what I've read - that it was a deliberate act. What I've learnt though, which I didn't know beforehand, was that there was an earlier famine in 1921 which the Russians did not conceal and where they sought and obtained help from the outside, including US charities. The cause was the same: seizing of grain coupled with poor weather leading to poor harvests. But Lenin was still in charge at this point.
Timothy Snyder's books are very good too: Borderlands especially. But a grim read.
The 1921 famine was one of the factors in the Retreat, leading to the introduction of the New Economic Policy.
There was a third famine in 1946-47. However, that was unusual as it can't altogether be blamed on Stalin (a little number called the Great Patriotic War was at the root of it, along with dismal weather) although there is still a suggestion he ignored it until rather late in the day making it worse than it would otherwise have been.
There was also a very poor harvest in 1963 - just 113 million tonnes of grain - due to bad weather and poor farming practices on the sovkhozy in the Virgin Lands. However, Khrushchev bought grain in from Australia and America to stave off hunger. While that was humiliating for him and was a factor in his overthrow, it was a significant indication of how times had changed.
(I've always loved the irony that the figures for the 1964 harvest were suppressed because at 152 million tons they were embarrassingly good and undermined the case for removing Khrushchev.)
So the big question today is has TM done the right thing by becoming the chief negotiator and is she now driving a deal and taking on ERG
There is a pattern here. Brexiteers and Remainers take it in turns to be thrown under a bus by TM's edicts, which appear out of thin air. She is accumulating a mighty list of enemies. Her 'deal' will appear likewise at the last minute, and parliament will be bounced into a take this or crash out ultimatum.
And then she stands down having undertaken the worse job in British politics since the war
I agree - that is what I suspect she has in mind. You could even call it quitting while you're ahead!!
I find discussing IQ a bit like discussing house prices, but considerably less precise.
IQ fascinats me, perhaps because my IQ isn't high enough to understand it's subtlety. I will say (and have said in the past) this: in my industry, I have noticed a direct inverse correlation between academic achievement and capability of living in the world. In other words, the more highly qualified you are, the worse you are at coping with everyday life.
The few professors I know are archetypally scatter-brained. The doctors cannot light the correct end of a candle. Those with Masters hit themselves in the face with doors. Those with degrees focus on one area and forget to pay their car tax or council tax.
(As you might have guessed, I don't have a degree.)
The "educated moron" can be comical. Such have had lacunae in their education. The world of practicalities is complicated and challenging. In the right environment our rich society offers huge scope for hands on experience, "helf & safety" notwithstanding.
A couple of years ago I chatted to an AA man (for an embarrassingly trivial problem with my car), and he said that medical doctors were amongst his worst sort of customer. Many would get frustrated at not being able to fix a problem, get defensive, and argue. Whereas many other people would try to learn how to fix the problem.
So the big question today is has TM done the right thing by becoming the chief negotiator and is she now driving a deal and taking on ERG
There is a pattern here. Brexiteers and Remainers take it in turns to be thrown under a bus by TM's edicts, which appear out of thin air. She is accumulating a mighty list of enemies. Her 'deal' will appear likewise at the last minute, and parliament will be bounced into a take this or crash out ultimatum.
And then she stands down having undertaken the worse job in British politics since the war
I agree - that is what I suspect she has in mind. You could even call it quitting while you're ahead!!
Well I hope so and her legacy could just be better than she could have expected
And also quite a terrible understanding of an unbiased sample.
I’m voted yes in this poll.
To someone who is not an expert on polls, maybe a little naive, why is this poll suspect - which I really hope it is
Any poll that is
1) Self selecting
2) Not weighted for demographics
is trash, regardless of the sample size.
Thank you for that but without sounded more naive what makes self selecting trash
There are very few moderate, reasonable people on Twitter who would bother responding to such a poll. It's fairly clear what answer the poster is expecting, and due to the nature of how Twitter works (people tend to follow those who have the same views), it's very much an echo chamber.
I find discussing IQ a bit like discussing house prices, but considerably less precise.
IQ fascinats me, perhaps because my IQ isn't high enough to understand it's subtlety. I will say (and have said in the past) this: in my industry, I have noticed a direct inverse correlation between academic achievement and capability of living in the world. In other words, the more highly qualified you are, the worse you are at coping with everyday life.
The few professors I know are archetypally scatter-brained. The doctors cannot light the correct end of a candle. Those with Masters hit themselves in the face with doors. Those with degrees focus on one area and forget to pay their car tax or council tax.
(As you might have guessed, I don't have a degree.)
The "educated moron" can be comical. Such have had lacunae in their education. The world of practicalities is complicated and challenging. In the right environment our rich society offers huge scope for hands on experience, "helf & safety" notwithstanding.
A couple of years ago I chatted to an AA man (for an embarrassingly trivial problem with my car), and he said that medical doctors were amongst his worst sort of customer. Many would get frustrated at not being able to fix a problem, get defensive, and argue. Whereas many other people would try to learn how to fix the problem.
It was an unsought interesting comment.
I think there's a class element to our attitude towards practicality. The drain is clogged so one gets "a little man" in to fix it. Actually practical ability can save LOTS of money. But not, for example, for the fellow who decided to tidy up the petrol tank of his car using a vacuum cleaner and burnt his garage.
So the big question today is has TM done the right thing by becoming the chief negotiator and is she now driving a deal and taking on ERG
I've said before, May shouldn't even walk with scissors. She is a political anti-Midas - everything she touches turns to shit. So, in summary: no.
Maybe just for once it doesn't
Ever the optimist Big G . Stopped clocks etc I suppose, but I'm more realistic; she'll find a way to screw things up. She's far too secretive and uncollegiate.
And also quite a terrible understanding of an unbiased sample.
I’m voted yes in this poll.
To someone who is not an expert on polls, maybe a little naive, why is this poll suspect - which I really hope it is
Any poll that is
1) Self selecting
2) Not weighted for demographics
is trash, regardless of the sample size.
Thank you for that but without sounded more naive what makes self selecting trash
There are very few moderate, reasonable people on Twitter who would bother responding to such a poll. It's fairly clear what answer the poster is expecting, and due to the nature of how Twitter works (people tend to follow those who have the same views), it's very much an echo chamber.
So the big question today is has TM done the right thing by becoming the chief negotiator and is she now driving a deal and taking on ERG
I've said before, May shouldn't even walk with scissors. She is a political anti-Midas - everything she touches turns to shit. So, in summary: no.
Maybe just for once it doesn't
Ever the optimist Big G . Stopped clocks etc I suppose, but I'm more realistic; she'll find a way to screw things up. She's far too secretive and uncollegiate.
I have just started reading Anne Applebaum's book "Red Famine" on the Ukrainian famine. The early chapters are very interesting on the relationship between Ukraine and Russia and how the former was viewed by both the Tsarist Empire and the Bolsheviks as really part of Russia and not a separate nation at all. It's very interesting historical context to what has been happening more recently between Ukraine and Putin's Russia.
The Holodomor, like the Armenian Genocide, demands much more publicity. It's a shame that it often descends to an argument over numbers instead of contempt for those who, through deliberate acts, policy effects or stupidity (*), caused it.
Do you think it's worth reading?
(*) For the record, I believe the former.
Based on what I've read so far, yes. I've read her previous two books - Gulag and on the Soviet takeover of Eastern Europe.
It was quite clear - certainly based on what I've read - that it was a deliberate act. What I've learnt though, which I didn't know beforehand, was that there was an earlier famine in 1921 which the Russians did not conceal and where they sought and obtained help from the outside, including US charities. The cause was the same: seizing of grain coupled with poor weather leading to poor harvests. But Lenin was still in charge at this point.
Timothy Snyder's books are very good too: Borderlands especially. But a grim read.
Ukraine has a fairly tragic history, but was by and large populated by Russian nobles and serfs following land grants in the 18th Century. A large part of the current Ukraine was the Hapsburg Ruthenia, or before that the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Slavic nationalities and populations have been rather fluid over the years, but Ukranian national consciousness is a relatively recent phenomenon. That doesn't mean unimportant, as many other nations such in Middle East and Africa, or even Australia are of similar vintage.
The earlier Ukraine famine was in the context of Civil War, and seizure by both Germans and warring Russian factions, but the Holodomor was deliberate. The Red Terror did particularly target ethnic minorities such as Ruthenians and Poles, who were seen as foreign aliens to a degree.
Russia does seem to have an ambivalence about aspects of its past. It is still possible to see the embalmed body of Lenin in Red Square. I did last Sunday, and also the nearby graves of Stalin, Brezhnev and others. Stalins had fresh flowers, and a procession of old communists were paying their respects, amongst the World Cup supporters. It was an odd and discomforting experience, and a reminder of how recently things have changed.
And also quite a terrible understanding of an unbiased sample.
I’m voted yes in this poll.
To someone who is not an expert on polls, maybe a little naive, why is this poll suspect - which I really hope it is
Any poll that is
1) Self selecting
2) Not weighted for demographics
is trash, regardless of the sample size.
I always knew voting was suspect. Self selecting activity and do you see the variation across demographic groups... huge, over 65s massively over represented.
I find discussing IQ a bit like discussing house prices, but considerably less precise.
IQ fascinats me, perhaps because my IQ isn't high enough to understand it's subtlety. I will say (and have said in the past) this: in my industry, I have noticed a direct inverse correlation between academic achievement and capability of living in the world. In other words, the more highly qualified you are, the worse you are at coping with everyday life.
The few professors I know are archetypally scatter-brained. The doctors cannot light the correct end of a candle. Those with Masters hit themselves in the face with doors. Those with degrees focus on one area and forget to pay their car tax or council tax.
(As you might have guessed, I don't have a degree.)
The "educated moron" can be comical. Such have had lacunae in their education. The world of practicalities is complicated and challenging. In the right environment our rich society offers huge scope for hands on experience, "helf & safety" notwithstanding.
A couple of years ago I chatted to an AA man (for an embarrassingly trivial problem with my car), and he said that medical doctors were amongst his worst sort of customer. Many would get frustrated at not being able to fix a problem, get defensive, and argue. Whereas many other people would try to learn how to fix the problem.
It was an unsought interesting comment.
The worst patients are teachers! They hate taking advice.
So the big question today is has TM done the right thing by becoming the chief negotiator and is she now driving a deal and taking on ERG
I've said before, May shouldn't even walk with scissors. She is a political anti-Midas - everything she touches turns to shit. So, in summary: no.
Sad, but true. When she takes charge, what could possibly go right?
What a depressing day's news. May taking over Brexit talks and Corbyn wanting to return Britain to the 1950s. If things continue in this direction, soon Britain will be wishing it had its own Trump ...
I find discussing IQ a bit like discussing house prices, but considerably less precise.
IQ fascinats me, perhaps because my IQ isn't high enough to understand it's subtlety. I will say (and have said in the past) this: in my industry, I have noticed a direct inverse correlation between academic achievement and capability of living in the world. In other words, the more highly qualified you are, the worse you are at coping with everyday life.
The few professors I know are archetypally scatter-brained. The doctors cannot light the correct end of a candle. Those with Masters hit themselves in the face with doors. Those with degrees focus on one area and forget to pay their car tax or council tax.
(As you might have guessed, I don't have a degree.)
The "educated moron" can be comical. Such have had lacunae in their education. The world of practicalities is complicated and challenging. In the right environment our rich society offers huge scope for hands on experience, "helf & safety" notwithstanding.
A couple of years ago I chatted to an AA man (for an embarrassingly trivial problem with my car), and he said that medical doctors were amongst his worst sort of customer. Many would get frustrated at not being able to fix a problem, get defensive, and argue. Whereas many other people would try to learn how to fix the problem.
It was an unsought interesting comment.
The worst patients are teachers! They hate taking advice.
Lol. You didn’t read the Vox article that you yourself linked to, did you?
The art close, aren’t I?
I did, and have in the past. Now read more of it, and other articles.
And do so with an open mind.
So tell me, why are you quite so invested in this particular bit of research?
BTW, it's also funny that you rubbish Vox, then edit your post to use something they say as authoritative.
Indeed.
The tru Indeed I suggest we call a truce tonight, and talk about something else? Tho not Brexit. God help us.
Yeah, let's talk about automated cars and AI.
Ok.
AI Great for thriller writers, tho
A couple of decades ago, there was a very interesting phenomena reported where a neural net was switched off and random 'images' of the data was seen as it was powering down, leading to people wondering if it was an equivalent of dreaming. In other words, as your brain goes into deep sleep, do certain parts of it 'trigger' data that the rest of the brain tries to interpret?
This was a long time ago, I read it in a couple of journals, and have not heard much of it since. But it did bring to mind a certain book by Philip K. Dick.
Ooh, lovely.
The thriller I am writing now is all about AI, tho it is disguised as a standard S K Tremayne domestic noir chiller... I shall say no more.
I do think we are close to creating the real deal. A machine with a brain. Quite a moment. There are lots of fascinating stories: I loved (in a dark way) the Microsoft AI chatbot which became racist and misogynist in one day on Twitter
This is the key. We will see more of this. We are the parents of these new intelligences, they will carry our intellectual and emotional DNA; no matter how we code them, it is likely they will be cruel and kind, loving and hateful, just like us.
A machine with a brain will be a psychopath, like the computer in I Have No Mouth But I Must Scream.
And also quite a terrible understanding of an unbiased sample.
I’m voted yes in this poll.
To someone who is not an expert on polls, maybe a little naive, why is this poll suspect - which I really hope it is
Any poll that is
1) Self selecting
2) Not weighted for demographics
is trash, regardless of the sample size.
I always knew voting was suspect. Self selecting activity and do you see the variation across demographic groups... huge, over 65s massively over represented.
What are the chances that is a Russian plant social media account and poll?
I find discussing IQ a bit like discussing house prices, but considerably less precise.
IQ fascinats me, perhaps because my IQ isn't high enough to understand it's subtlety. I will say (and have said in the past) this: in my industry, I have noticed a direct inverse correlation between academic achievement and capability of living in the world. In other words, the more highly qualified you are, the worse you are at coping with everyday life.
The few professors I know are archetypally scatter-brained. The doctors cannot light the correct end of a candle. Those with Masters hit themselves in the face with doors. Those with degrees focus on one area and forget to pay their car tax or council tax.
(As you might have guessed, I don't have a degree.)
The "educated moron" can be comical. Such have had lacunae in their education. The world of practicalities is complicated and challenging. In the right environment our rich society offers huge scope for hands on experience, "helf & safety" notwithstanding.
I wonder who is most academic/sagacious mind on PB?
I'd be near the bottom. I have one A Level (an A in English) to my name, and I was lucky to get that. My wife is thick as a bull's knob but she's a more content, easier to please person.
Lol. You didn’t read the Vox article that you yourself linked to, did you?
The art close, aren’t I?
I did, and have in the past. Now read more of it, and other articles.
And do so with an open mind.
So tell me, why are you quite so invested in this particular bit of research?
BTW, it's also funny that you rubbish Vox, then edit your post to use something they say as authoritative.
Indeed.
The tru Indeed I suggest we call a truce tonight, and talk about something else? Tho not Brexit. God help us.
Yeah, let's talk about automated cars and AI.
Ok.
AI Great for thriller writers, tho
A couple of decades ago, there was a very interesting phenomena reported where a neural net was switched off and random 'images' of the data was seen as it was powering down, leading to people wondering if it was an equivalent of dreaming. In other words, as your brain goes into deep sleep, do certain parts of it 'trigger' data that the rest of the brain tries to interpret?
This was a long time ago, I read it in a couple of journals, and have not heard much of it since. But it did bring to mind a certain book by Philip K. Dick.
Ooh, lovely.
The thriller I am writing now is all about AI, tho it is disguised as a standard S K Tremayne domestic noir chiller... I shall say no more.
I do think we are close to creating the real deal. A machine with a brain. Quite a moment. There are lots of fascinating stories: I loved (in a dark way) the Microsoft AI chatbot which became racist and misogynist in one day on Twitter
This is the key. We will see more of this. We are the parents of these new intelligences, they will carry our intellectual and emotional DNA; no matter how we code them, it is likely they will be cruel and kind, loving and hateful, just like us.
I am fascinated to learn what could possibly lead to a struggle with that issue, it is surely a no brainer.
Unbelievably, I read that some child marriages still take place in the USA. I hope that's not true.
A problem is that there isn't a consensus even in Europe on the definition of a child in the sexual/marital context (from 14 in Germany to 18 in Turkey), see
If you marry legally in one country, can you be arrested for it in another? If the answer is no, then the least common denominator becomes the rule, which doesn't seem right - what if there's some country where there is no lower limit? If the answer is yes, do you really split up a couple who believe they're happy together and married under the law in a neighbouring country?
In Britain, I believe the de facto age of consent is 14, so long as there isn't a significant age gap (you don't get any 16-year-olds prosecuted for sleeping with 15-year-olds). But you can't get married yet, which feels right to me but perverse to some fundamentalists of all religions who feel that allowing sex but forbidding marriage is perverse.
Legal child marriage in some US states is the really scary, creepy story.
The thriller I am writing now is all about AI, tho it is disguised as a standard S K Tremayne domestic noir chiller... I shall say no more.
I do think we are close to creating the real deal. A machine with a brain. Quite a moment. There are lots of fascinating stories: I loved (in a dark way) the Microsoft AI chatbot which became racist and misogynist in one day on Twitter
This is the key. We will see more of this. We are the parents of these new intelligences, they will carry our intellectual and emotional DNA; no matter how we code them, it is likely they will be cruel and kind, loving and hateful, just like us.
Have you watched 'Person of Interest' ? We've just binge-watched it, and it is excellent - and later series touch on the 'parenting of AIs' concept.
However I disagree with your central argument: the AIs we have at the moment are exceptionally limited, and probably not 'intelligent'.
BTW, as for machine with a brain: the God Prof. Steve Furber at Manchester (co-designer of the ARM chip) is trying to replicate a brain using neurons. It will use one million ARM processors (though I don't know how that splits wrt cores or threads) to emulate one billion neurons.
As a reluctant Leaver, I am, reluctantly, forced to admit the accuracy of this comment under a piece in the FT: "Watching this government handle Brexit is like watching a pigeon panicking after flying into a kitchen. No Theresa, you really don't want to go that way. "
Except the pigeon didn't just fly in.
Farage carried it in, BoZo and Gove encouraged its release. Then they all ran away.
I find discussing IQ a bit like discussing house prices, but considerably less precise.
IQ fascinats me, perhaps because my IQ isn't high enough to understand it's subtlety. I will say (and have said in the past) this: in my industry, I have noticed a direct inverse correlation between academic achievement and capability of living in the world. In other words, the more highly qualified you are, the worse you are at coping with everyday life.
The few professors I know are archetypally scatter-brained. The doctors cannot light the correct end of a candle. Those with Masters hit themselves in the face with doors. Those with degrees focus on one area and forget to pay their car tax or council tax.
(As you might have guessed, I don't have a degree.)
The "educated moron" can be comical. Such have had lacunae in their education. The world of practicalities is complicated and challenging. In the right environment our rich society offers huge scope for hands on experience, "helf & safety" notwithstanding.
A couple of years ago I chatted to an AA man (for an embarrassingly trivial problem with my car), and he said that medical doctors were amongst his worst sort of customer. Many would get frustrated at not being able to fix a problem, get defensive, and argue. Whereas many other people would try to learn how to fix the problem.
It was an unsought interesting comment.
The worst patients are teachers! They hate taking advice.
Lol. You didn’t read the Vox article that you yourself linked to, did you?
The art close, aren’t I?
I did, and have in the past. Now read more of it, and other articles.
And do so with an open mind.
So tell me, why are you quite so invested in this particular bit of research?
BTW, it's also funny that you rubbish Vox, then edit your post to use something they say as authoritative.
Indeed.
The tru Indeed I suggest we call a truce tonight, and talk about something else? Tho not Brexit. God help us.
Yeah, let's talk about automated cars and AI.
Ok.
AI Great for thriller writers, tho
A couple of decades ago, there was a very interesting phenomena reported where a neural net was switched off and random 'images' of the data was seen as it was powering down, leading to people wondering if it was an equivalent of dreaming. In other words, as your brain goes into deep sleep, do certain parts of it 'trigger' data that the rest of the brain tries to interpret?
This was a long time ago, I read it in a couple of journals, and have not heard much of it since. But it did bring to mind a certain book by Philip K. Dick.
Ooh, lovely.
The thriller I am writing now is all about AI, tho it is disguised as a standard S K Tremayne domestic noir chiller... I shall say no more.
I do think we are close to creating the real deal. A machine with a brain. Quite a moment. There are lots of fascinating stories: I loved (in a dark way) the Microsoft AI chatbot which became racist and misogynist in one day on Twitter
This is the key. We will see more of this. We are the parents of these new intelligences, they will carry our intellectual and emotional DNA; no matter how we code them, it is likely they will be cruel and kind, loving and hateful, just like us.
A machine with a brain will be a psychopath, like the computer in I Have No Mouth But I Must Scream.
He scores lots of points with my animal loving family
+1
Me too. Yay for beavers and boar. I love the Red Kites over the Chilterns
I see absolutely no reason why we shouldn't have lynxes too: they would naturally cull the deer, of which we have too many.
I'd go so far as to bring back wolves to Scotland and Northumberland. Why not? The huge boost to tourism would pay for any sheep eaten. Compensate the farmers. Rewild the land!!!
On this, I am in agreement with the Gover and SeanT.
Now if only we could eradicate the bloody humans that bugger up the countryside it would be job done.
I am fascinated to learn what could possibly lead to a struggle with that issue, it is surely a no brainer.
Unbelievably, I read that some child marriages still take place in the USA. I hope that's not true.
A problem is that there isn't a consensus even in Europe on the definition of a child in the sexual/marital context (from 14 in Germany to 18 in Turkey), see
If you marry legally in one country, can you be arrested for it in another? If the answer is no, then the least common denominator becomes the rule, which doesn't seem right - what if there's some country where there is no lower limit? If the answer is yes, do you really split up a couple who believe they're happy together and married under the law in a neighbouring country?
In Britain, I believe the de facto age of consent is 14, so long as there isn't a significant age gap (you don't get any 16-year-olds prosecuted for sleeping with 15-year-olds). But you can't get married yet, which feels right to me but perverse to some fundamentalists of all religions who feel that allowing sex but forbidding marriage is perverse.
Generally states will recognise marriages legally entered into under the law of a foreign country. But I think that where said couple are coming to live in your country you are entitled to require them to live by your laws. A child cannot legally consent to marriage and, below a certain age, sex with them is rape and, depending on how young they are, paedophilia.
Balancing the desire to recognise another state's laws and protecting children from harm: frankly, there is no contest to my mind. If people want to come and live in the West then they abide by the West's laws and mores, which forbid child abuse. No ifs, buts or caveats.
What is worse is that in some cases in Sweden the Swedish authorities have assisted families who have wanted to force girls into marriages abroad with men very much older than themselves contrary to the girls' wishes i.e. they have aided and abetted forced marriage and rape etc.
All in the name of some sort of idiotic cultural cringe before diversity. Well, bollocks to that!
He scores lots of points with my animal loving family
+1
Me too. Yay for beavers and boar. I love the Red Kites over the Chilterns
I see absolutely no reason why we shouldn't have lynxes too: they would naturally cull the deer, of which we have too many.
I'd go so far as to bring back wolves to Scotland and Northumberland. Why not? The huge boost to tourism would pay for any sheep eaten. Compensate the farmers. Rewild the land!!!
On this, I am in agreement with the Gover and SeanT.
Now if only we could eradicate the bloody humans that bugger up the countryside it would be job done.
Night night all.
Wow a big pbCOM lovefest to which I'll join the party
He scores lots of points with my animal loving family
+1
Me too. Yay for beavers and boar. I love the Red Kites over the Chilterns
I see absolutely no reason why we shouldn't have lynxes too: they would naturally cull the deer, of which we have too many.
I'd go so far as to bring back wolves to Scotland and Northumberland. Why not? The huge boost to tourism would pay for any sheep eaten. Compensate the farmers. Rewild the land!!!
On this, I am in agreement with the Gover and SeanT.
Now if only we could eradicate the bloody humans that bugger up the countryside it would be job done.
Night night all.
The countryside you love is almost certainly a man-made invention. How much of the UK is actually as it would be without humans? Some parts of Knoydart or Sutherland?
The chart presented comparing the 1976 summer global temperatures and now was risible and complete fake news. No mention in the media of the snow in eastern Canada in July, no mention of Artic summer ice this time - it has recovered significantly since the 2012 low (funny you don't hear about that any more - according to the AGW crowd all the arctic ice was going to be gone by 2007, then it became 2012, then it became 2018, and now its out to 2050! Equally no mention of record cold temperatures right across the Southern Hemisphere in their winter: Peru currently, South Africa and eastern side of Australia have had record cold recently, all the Aussie ski resorts are well and truly open with record amounts of snow.
But of course, with our mainstream media, you won't hear a word of the cold weather. It's all consistent with a blank solar disc (no sun spots) and quickly oncoming mini-ice age conditions. Yes it doesn't feel like it with our hot days at the moment (although a BBC article said it was less hot than the 1976 summer, and the 1969 summer was drier until now) but somehow it was still apocalyptic, when we've had these conditions in the past! It's a cycle like everything else pretty much in life. Grand solar minimum conditions are consistent with wild swings in the jet string like we have now, but the colder areas are larger than the warmer areas. Oh and the AGW crowd said the jet stream would move north on average and become less wavy - yet another thing they got completely wrong from Hansen et al in the late 1980's. Go back to the Maunder minimum in the 17th century, and there are accounts of very hot summers in the UK, when like now there would have wild jet stream swings with our country on the warm side of the jet.
Look at the Danish Meteorological Institute for non-corrupted data, as they haven't been overcome with government money wanting to spew out the AGW nonsense in order to justify carbon taxes. It's frightening just how gullible many people are to the data that they are presented, without questioning where it is coming from, and spotting the all too easy falsehoods that are presented. Continue to question everything that you're told, rather than meekly believe what you're told.
Several places have now had 54 consecutive dry days – meaning less than 1mm of rain – stretching back to 30 May, the longest spell since 1969 when 70 days passed with no significant rainfall, according to the Met Office.
He scores lots of points with my animal loving family
+1
Me too. Yay for beavers and boar. I love the Red Kites over the Chilterns
I see absolutely no reason why we shouldn't have lynxes too: they would naturally cull the deer, of which we have too many.
I'd go so far as to bring back wolves to Scotland and Northumberland. Why not? The huge boost to tourism would pay for any sheep eaten. Compensate the farmers. Rewild the land!!!
On this, I am in agreement with the Gover and SeanT.
Now if only we could eradicate the bloody humans that bugger up the countryside it would be job done.
Night night all.
It's largely the humans which have made the countryside you love. Do you think the Lake District would be as it is without sheep farmers, for instance?
All that is needed to stop this campaign by a paper that doesn’t have a paper, and a party that doesn’t exist, is to keep calling it a ‘second referendum’. Because that clearly polls dreadfully; ‘peoples’ vote’ and ‘final say’ are both terribly naff, and yet must do better in focus groups...
The thriller I am writing now is all about AI, tho it is disguised as a standard S K Tremayne domestic noir chiller... I shall say no more.
I do think we are close to creating the real deal. A machine with a brain. Quite a moment. There are lots of fascinating stories: I loved (in a dark way) the Microsoft AI chatbot which became racist and misogynist in one day on Twitter
This is the key. We will see more of this. We are the parents of these new intelligences, they will carry our intellectual and emotional DNA; no matter how we code them, it is likely they will be cruel and kind, loving and hateful, just like us.
Have you watched 'Person of Interest' ? We've just binge-watched it, and it is excellent - and later series touch on the 'parenting of AIs' concept.
However I disagree with your central argument: the AIs we have at the moment are exceptionally limited, and probably not 'intelligent'.
BTW, as for machine with a brain: the God Prof. Steve Furber at Manchester (co-designer of the ARM chip) is trying to replicate a brain using neurons. It will use one million ARM processors (though I don't know how that splits wrt cores or threads) to emulate one billion neurons.
I disagree. The robots are beginning to behave in unexpected and creepy ways, that suggest a self-consciousness could form, in less than a decade.
Or alternatively 'unexpected and creepy ways' that indicate they are deeply borken rather than intelligent?
Let's put it this way. A million processors are required to emulate the way one percent of the human brain works. The biggest supercomputer has 10 million cores, and those supercomputers are used for other purposes. Therefore the AIs we have at the moment have nowhere near the capacity of a human brain. Now, many of the neurons in our brain many be unused, or not used for intelligence, but it is clear that we are nowhere near having enough power to replicate a human brain.
If that's the case, then what we are seeing is not artificial 'human' intelligence. Indeed, if we get true 'intelligence', it will likely be via for shortcuts and backdoors. We may not even recognise it as intelligence.
Furthermore, the dangers of AI may not come from the AI itself, but from people who believe in an AI's intelligence.
I must again recommend 'Person of Interest' to you. It touches directly on the impacts true AIs would have.
Maybe you can barter blood for chlorinated chicken after Brexit?
These news stories around contingency planning for car crash Brexit are going to run and run, and it would be remarkable if they have no effect on public opinion or sales of baked beans
He scores lots of points with my animal loving family
+1
Me too. Yay for beavers and boar. I love the Red Kites over the Chilterns
I see absolutely no reason why we shouldn't have lynxes too: they would naturally cull the deer, of which we have too many.
I'd go so far as to bring back wolves to Scotland and Northumberland. Why not? The huge boost to tourism would pay for any sheep eaten. Compensate the farmers. Rewild the land!!!
On this, I am in agreement with the Gover and SeanT.
Now if only we could eradicate the bloody humans that bugger up the countryside it would be job done.
Night night all.
The countryside you love is almost certainly a man-made invention. How much of the UK is actually as it would be without humans? Some parts of Knoydart or Sutherland?
And....if we can create lough, we can also create a beautiful and wild countryside
So the big question today is has TM done the right thing by becoming the chief negotiator and is she now driving a deal and taking on ERG
I've said before, May shouldn't even walk with scissors. She is a political anti-Midas - everything she touches turns to shit. So, in summary: no.
Sad, but true. When she takes charge, what could possibly go right?
What a depressing day's news. May taking over Brexit talks and Corbyn wanting to return Britain to the 1950s. If things continue in this direction, soon Britain will be wishing it had its own Trump ...
The weather is fucking lovely, tho. I haven't enjoyed a British summer like this, since, well, ever. I could say 1976 but then I wasn't allowed to drink (being 12) and I didn't have a hot young wife who wears tiny miniskirts in the sun (as I do now)
You weren't allowed to drink when you were 12! I thought you were from rural Cornwall. Granted, the family did not return to Devon until I was 13, but I don't remember a time when I didn't go to the pub for a pint, including after hours when the village bobby would ride up on his bicycle, the doors would be locked, and everyone carried on. Granted, I was 6'3" so didn't look 13.
In 76, I was 17 that summer, and remember plenty of drinking.
Several places have now had 54 consecutive dry days – meaning less than 1mm of rain – stretching back to 30 May, the longest spell since 1969 when 70 days passed with no significant rainfall, according to the Met Office.
Saturday, in Damascus MD, our rain gauge measure 8.18" rain - in just one day! Most of that came between 21:00 and midnight, when the gauge leapt from 3.22" to 7.8"
The four day total is around the 12" mark now, with heavy rain for the next few days also.
So the big question today is has TM done the right thing by becoming the chief negotiator and is she now driving a deal and taking on ERG
I've said before, May shouldn't even walk with scissors. She is a political anti-Midas - everything she touches turns to shit. So, in summary: no.
Sad, but true. When she takes charge, what could possibly go right?
Who would you suggest might do Brexit "right", from the position we find ourselves? I see no one on the horizon, in either party.
It's a fuck up, The best we can do is grimace, eat the thin gruel TMay is cooking, make a very soft Brexit to virtual vassal status, and then fight our way from there - over time, with a better plan, and a bolder leader.
And hope to avoid the calamity of a Corbyn government, on the way.
So when you said, ooh last year I think it was “Bring on fucking diamond hard Brexit” (or profanities to that effect) were you:
a) wrong; or
b) lying?
Edit to say - don’t bother replying, I really don’t fucking care.
Maybe you can barter blood for chlorinated chicken after Brexit?
These news stories around contingency planning for car crash Brexit are going to run and run, and it would be remarkable if they have no effect on public opinion or sales of baked beans
Remarkable like....Obama backfiring for Remain? James Chapman’s Twitter feed having no effect? 17 new parties have no effect?
So the big question today is has TM done the right thing by becoming the chief negotiator and is she now driving a deal and taking on ERG
I've said before, May shouldn't even walk with scissors. She is a political anti-Midas - everything she touches turns to shit. So, in summary: no.
Sad, but true. When she takes charge, what could possibly go right?
Who would you suggest might do Brexit "right", from the position we find ourselves? I see no one on the horizon, in either party.
It's a fuck up, The best we can do is grimace, eat the thin gruel TMay is cooking, make a very soft Brexit to virtual vassal status, and then fight our way from there - over time, with a better plan, and a bolder leader.
And hope to avoid the calamity of a Corbyn government, on the way.
So when you said, ooh last year I think it was “Bring on fucking diamond hard Brexit” (or profanities to that effect) were you:
a) wrong; or
b) lying?
Edit to say - don’t bother replying, I really don’t fucking care.
To someone who is not an expert on polls, maybe a little naive, why is this poll suspect - which I really hope it is
The theory underpinning polls is the Central Limit Theorem. This theorem says that provided certain criteria are met you can deduce some things about a very big population from a very small sample.
So you have to meet the criteria for the poll to work. Those criteria are:
* The sample frame must be representative of the population * The sample must be taken at random
"Random" and "representative" are the important words. A "random" sample means that the probability of appearing in the sample is (roughly) equal to the probability of appearing in the sample frame. A "representative" sample frame must be similar to the population.
But the Twitter poll you refer to is neither representative nor random. The set of all Twitter users is not similar to the set of all voters. And the sample is not random because the probability of a Twitter voter voting X in the online poll is not equal to the probability of a voter voting X in a real election.
The term "voodoo poll" was invented for such polls and you can't draw conclusions about the population from them.
Notes [1] the "sample frame" is the thing you sample from. So if you are investigating households in England, you would use the Post Office's Postcode Address File, which is the nearest we have to a list of all the households. It's not exactly alike, but it's similar. [2] Polling firms have problems with unrepresentative sample frames, which they cure by weighting (fiddling the figures a bit to make it similar) - technically it breaks the theory but it's close enough to make it work-ish.
The thriller I am writing now is all about AI, tho it is disguised as a standard S K Tremayne domestic noir chiller... I shall say no more.
I do think we are close to creating the real deal. A machine with a brain. Quite a moment. There are lots of fascinating stories: I loved (in a dark way) the Microsoft AI chatbot which became racist and misogynist in one day on Twitter
This is the key. We will see more of this. We are the parents of these new intelligences, they will carry our intellectual and emotional DNA; no matter how we code them, it is likely they will be cruel and kind, loving and hateful, just like us.
Have you watched 'Person of Interest' ? We've just binge-watched it, and it is excellent - and later series touch on the 'parenting of AIs' concept.
However I disagree with your central argument: the AIs we have at the moment are exceptionally limited, and probably not 'intelligent'.
BTW, as for machine with a brain: the God Prof. Steve Furber at Manchester (co-designer of the ARM chip) is trying to replicate a brain using neurons. It will use one million ARM processors (though I don't know how that splits wrt cores or threads) to emulate one billion neurons.
And that's still only one percent of the neurons in a human brain (or one ten-thousandth of those in yours.)
I disagree. The robots are beginning to behave in unexpected and creepy ways, that suggest a self-consciousness could form, in less than a decade.
Peter Watts is very good on the whole 'who needs consciousness' debate. I think it more likely that we'll achieve human-scale intelligence with no self awareness. Like Twitter, only cleverer.
So the big question today is has TM done the right thing by becoming the chief negotiator and is she now driving a deal and taking on ERG
I've said before, May shouldn't even walk with scissors. She is a political anti-Midas - everything she touches turns to shit. So, in summary: no.
Sad, but true. When she takes charge, what could possibly go right?
What a depressing day's news. May taking over Brexit talks and Corbyn wanting to return Britain to the 1950s. If things continue in this direction, soon Britain will be wishing it had its own Trump ...
The weather is fucking lovely, tho. I haven't enjoyed a British summer like this, since, well, ever. I could say 1976 but then I wasn't allowed to drink (being 12) and I didn't have a hot young wife who wears tiny miniskirts in the sun (as I do now)
Thought of you in a miniskirt is mind boggling to say the least
Maybe you can barter blood for chlorinated chicken after Brexit?
These news stories around contingency planning for car crash Brexit are going to run and run, and it would be remarkable if they have no effect on public opinion or sales of baked beans
They may. Or people will see them as funny scare stories, like millions dying from AIDS or BSE.
Several places have now had 54 consecutive dry days – meaning less than 1mm of rain – stretching back to 30 May, the longest spell since 1969 when 70 days passed with no significant rainfall, according to the Met Office.
Saturday, in Damascus MD, our rain gauge measure 8.18" rain - in just one day! Most of that came between 21:00 and midnight, when the gauge leapt from 3.22" to 7.8"
The four day total is around the 12" mark now, with heavy rain for the next few days also.
But Mayland (a typo but I'll let it rest) is supposed to be humid in the summer?
I disagree. The robots are beginning to behave in unexpected and creepy ways, that suggest a self-consciousness could form, in less than a decade.
Or alternatively 'unexpected and creepy ways' that indicate they are deeply borken rather than intelligent?
Let's put it this way. A million processors are required to emulate the way one percent of the human brain works. The biggest supercomputer has 10 million cores, and those supercomputers are used for other purposes. Therefore the AIs we have at the moment have nowhere near the capacity of a human brain. Now, many of the neurons in our brain many be unused, or not used for intelligence, but it is clear that we are nowhere near having enough power to replicate a human brain.
If that's the case, then what we are seeing is not artificial 'human' intelligence. Indeed, if we get true 'intelligence', it will likely be via for shortcuts and backdoors. We may not even recognise it as intelligence.
Furthermore, the dangers of AI may not come from the AI itself, but from people who believe in an AI's intelligence.
I must again recommend 'Person of Interest' to you. It touches directly on the impacts true AIs would have.
I don't think computers will achieve intelligence or consciousness until they emulate the brain. The brain is 6 neurons deep but with 100 billion neurons and perhaps a trillion glial cells. Both memory and intelligence are based on patterns of firing of this six-deep neural net, and each firing changes the strength of a particular pathway and its links to other pathways. It is from this level of complexity that consciousness and intelligence arise. Not sure we are there yet with computers, but stand ready to be corrected, as ever, by rcs2000.
I disagree. The robots are beginning to behave in unexpected and creepy ways, that suggest a self-consciousness could form, in less than a decade.
Or alternatively 'unexpected and creepy ways' that indicate they are deeply borken rather than intelligent?
Let's put it this way. A million processors are required to emulate the way one percent of the human brain works. The biggest supercomputer has 10 million cores, and those supercomputers are used for other purposes. Therefore the AIs we have at the moment have nowhere near the capacity of a human brain. Now, many of the neurons in our brain many be unused, or not used for intelligence, but it is clear that we are nowhere near having enough power to replicate a human brain.
If that's the case, then what we are seeing is not artificial 'human' intelligence. Indeed, if we get true 'intelligence', it will likely be via for shortcuts and backdoors. We may not even recognise it as intelligence.
Furthermore, the dangers of AI may not come from the AI itself, but from people who believe in an AI's intelligence.
I must again recommend 'Person of Interest' to you. It touches directly on the impacts true AIs would have.
I have personally witnessed creepy behaviour by these fuckers. No joke. I have, and it is very unsettling.
I agree with the person downthread that when AI comes we probably won't immediately recognise it as intelligent, as it will be so odd, so different, outwith our comprehension, at least at first. But it is coming. And it will reveal itself in stages.
I can't help but wonder if Eliza would unsettle you.
Maybe you can barter blood for chlorinated chicken after Brexit?
These news stories around contingency planning for car crash Brexit are going to run and run, and it would be remarkable if they have no effect on public opinion or sales of baked beans
They may. Or people will see them as funny scare stories, like millions dying from AIDS or BSE.
I would suggest that both of those latter concerns had rather more impact on opinion and behaviour than simply promoting a spot of mild amusement?
Several places have now had 54 consecutive dry days – meaning less than 1mm of rain – stretching back to 30 May, the longest spell since 1969 when 70 days passed with no significant rainfall, according to the Met Office.
Saturday, in Damascus MD, our rain gauge measure 8.18" rain - in just one day! Most of that came between 21:00 and midnight, when the gauge leapt from 3.22" to 7.8"
The four day total is around the 12" mark now, with heavy rain for the next few days also.
But Mayland (a typo but I'll let it rest) is supposed to be humid in the summer?
Humid, but not this wet. Average annual rainfall is 44" (so we've have 3 months' worth in 4 days) and average July rainfall is 3.6" (so on Saturday we had over twice the average for the whole month).
Maybe you can barter blood for chlorinated chicken after Brexit?
These news stories around contingency planning for car crash Brexit are going to run and run, and it would be remarkable if they have no effect on public opinion or sales of baked beans
They may. Or people will see them as funny scare stories, like millions dying from AIDS or BSE.
I would suggest that both of those latter had rather more impact on opinion and behaviour than simply promoting a spot of mild amusement?
I remember we ate far more Steak after the BSE crisis; it was much cheaper and the risk was marginal to none.
So the big question today is has TM done the right thing by becoming the chief negotiator and is she now driving a deal and taking on ERG
There is a pattern here. Brexiteers and Remainers take it in turns to be thrown under a bus by TM's edicts, which appear out of thin air. She is accumulating a mighty list of enemies. Her 'deal' will appear likewise at the last minute, and parliament will be bounced into a take this or crash out ultimatum.
Which they won't take. Corbyn's not saving it, and enough of her lot want to crash out.
But on any case I think she is right to take things on. I thought in effect she already had. She has nothing to lose by doing it and the future contest will be full of people who were in cabinet or still are claiming they'd have differently but may did it all, so it gives them an out. Not a plausible one, by something , and since she's not long from the job why not have her take on it all, a poison eater if you will.
So the big question today is has TM done the right thing by becoming the chief negotiator and is she now driving a deal and taking on ERG
I've said before, May shouldn't even walk with scissors. She is a political anti-Midas - everything she touches turns to shit. So, in summary: no.
Sad, but true. When she takes charge, what could possibly go right?
Who would you suggest might do Brexit "right", from the position we find ourselves? I see no one on the horizon, in either party.
It's a fuck up, The best we can do is grimace, eat the thin gruel TMay is cooking, make a very soft Brexit to virtual vassal status, and then fight our way from there - over time, with a better plan, and a bolder leader.
And hope to avoid the calamity of a Corbyn government, on the way.
So when you said, ooh last year I think it was “Bring on fucking diamond hard Brexit” (or profanities to that effect) were you:
a) wrong; or
b) lying?
Edit to say - don’t bother replying, I really don’t fucking care.
But clearly you do, since you asked, even not wanting a reply. We all now know that you care by virtue of your post.
I disagree. The robots are beginning to behave in unexpected and creepy ways, that suggest a self-consciousness could form, in less than a decade.
Or alternatively 'unexpected and creepy ways' that indicate they are deeply borken rather than intelligent?
Let's put it this way. A million processors are required to emulate the way one percent of the human brain works. The biggest supercomputer has 10 million cores, and those supercomputers are used for other purposes. Therefore the AIs we have at the moment have nowhere near the capacity of a human brain. Now, many of the neurons in our brain many be unused, or not used for intelligence, but it is clear that we are nowhere near having enough power to replicate a human brain.
If that's the case, then what we are seeing is not artificial 'human' intelligence. Indeed, if we get true 'intelligence', it will likely be via for shortcuts and backdoors. We may not even recognise it as intelligence.
Furthermore, the dangers of AI may not come from the AI itself, but from people who believe in an AI's intelligence.
I must again recommend 'Person of Interest' to you. It touches directly on the impacts true AIs would have.
A great show which masqueraded as a normal procedural for a few years before revealing it's true colours.
So the big question today is has TM done the right thing by becoming the chief negotiator and is she now driving a deal and taking on ERG
There is a pattern here. Brexiteers and Remainers take it in turns to be thrown under a bus by TM's edicts, which appear out of thin air. She is accumulating a mighty list of enemies. Her 'deal' will appear likewise at the last minute, and parliament will be bounced into a take this or crash out ultimatum.
And then she stands down having undertaken the worse job in British politics since the war
Bouncing parliament into a deal that everyone hates would, as you say, lead to her downfall. The political logic is that she should roll the dice on a second referendum at that point. If Remain won big, she'd be sitting pretty, and even if her deal won, she'd have a mandate to carry on.
Several places have now had 54 consecutive dry days – meaning less than 1mm of rain – stretching back to 30 May, the longest spell since 1969 when 70 days passed with no significant rainfall, according to the Met Office.
The forecast in London is for another fortnight (at least) of hot weather - i.e. 26-33C. Maybe a storm or two, no proper rain.
This could end up the all time hottest, sunniest and driest.
I love it. Especially as it's the one summer I haven't arranged loads of foreign travel assignments (coz I have a book to finish)
But now you'll be outdoors enjoying the sunshine instead of finishing your book!
So the big question today is has TM done the right thing by becoming the chief negotiator and is she now driving a deal and taking on ERG
I've said before, May shouldn't even walk with scissors. She is a political anti-Midas - everything she touches turns to shit. So, in summary: no.
Sad, but true. When she takes charge, what could possibly go right?
Who would you suggest might do Brexit "right", from the position we find ourselves? I see no one on the horizon, in either party.
It's a fuck up, The best we can do is grimace, eat the thin gruel TMay is cooking, make a very soft Brexit to virtual vassal status, and then fight our way from there - over time, with a better plan, and a bolder leader.
And hope to avoid the calamity of a Corbyn government, on the way.
So when you said, ooh last year I think it was “Bring on fucking diamond hard Brexit” (or profanities to that effect) were you:
a) wrong; or
b) lying?
Edit to say - don’t bother replying, I really don’t fucking care.
Allow me to help
c) drunk as a skunk.
I think c would likely be closest, yes.
Coincidentally I am right now drinking THIS. It is quite quite magnificent. BUY
Several places have now had 54 consecutive dry days – meaning less than 1mm of rain – stretching back to 30 May, the longest spell since 1969 when 70 days passed with no significant rainfall, according to the Met Office.
Saturday, in Damascus MD, our rain gauge measure 8.18" rain - in just one day! Most of that came between 21:00 and midnight, when the gauge leapt from 3.22" to 7.8"
The four day total is around the 12" mark now, with heavy rain for the next few days also.
But Mayland (a typo but I'll let it rest) is supposed to be humid in the summer?
PS I do like describing 8" of rain in one day as 'humid' though. Perhaps my Britishness and litotes are diminishing from too long in the US
I disagree. The robots are beginning to behave in unexpected and creepy ways, that suggest a self-consciousness could form, in less than a decade.
Or alternatively 'unexpected and creepy ways' that indicate they are deeply borken rather than intelligent?
Let's put it this way. A million processors are required to emulate the way one percent of the human brain works. The biggest supercomputer has 10 million cores, and those supercomputers are used for other purposes. Therefore the AIs we have at the moment have nowhere near the capacity of a human brain. Now, many of the neurons in our brain many be unused, or not used for intelligence, but it is clear that we are nowhere near having enough power to replicate a human brain.
If that's the case, then what we are seeing is not artificial 'human' intelligence. Indeed, if we get true 'intelligence', it will likely be via for shortcuts and backdoors. We may not even recognise it as intelligence.
Furthermore, the dangers of AI may not come from the AI itself, but from people who believe in an AI's intelligence.
I must again recommend 'Person of Interest' to you. It touches directly on the impacts true AIs would have.
I have personally witnessed creepy behaviour by these fuckers. No joke. I have, and it is very unsettling.
I agree with the person downthread that when AI comes we probably won't immediately recognise it as intelligent, as it will be so odd, so different, outwith our comprehension, at least at first. But it is coming. And it will reveal itself in stages.
I can't help but wonder if Eliza would unsettle you.
Actually I was making a point about self-consciousness downthread, not intelligence.
iirc we don't understand our own self-consciousness very much, and philosophy has been debating forever what it represents, does it exist etc etc.
But I like SeanT's comment about not recognising machine's weirdo intelligence.
I remember, at the height of BSE, a very very smart scientist talking to me at a party. He said, in conspiratorial tones, "look, most of the scare stories are just that, scare stories. Pay no attention to 99% of them. It's all rubbish, whipped up hysteria - and I know this, I have seen the data." Then he leaned closer "But here's a word of warning: the BSE thing is absolutely real. I have friends very high up in this exact field. None of them are eating beef. In about a decade, you'll see thousands dying, maybe tens of thousands".
He was so smart and senior and respected and such a genius, I almost considered quitting beef, entirely, for about a week, but then I thought Fuck it.
That same guy does spring to mind, these days, whenever I hear a scare story about ANYTHING, from Brexit to Trump to Climate Change
I recall that it was estimated that every person in the UK who ate beef would have eaten about 200 meals which may have had some BSE contaminated beef in them. At the time it wasn't clear how the new variant CJD would develop in humans, but the potential given the exposure was apocalyptically bad.
So the big question today is has TM done the right thing by becoming the chief negotiator and is she now driving a deal and taking on ERG
I've said before, May shouldn't even walk with scissors. She is a political anti-Midas - everything she touches turns to shit. So, in summary: no.
Sad, but true. When she takes charge, what could possibly go right?
Who would you suggest might do Brexit "right", from the position we find ourselves? I see no one on the horizon, in either party.
It's a fuck up, The best we can do is grimace, eat the thin gruel TMay is cooking, make a very soft Brexit to virtual vassal status, and then fight our way from there - over time, with a better plan, and a bolder leader.
And hope to avoid the calamity of a Corbyn government, on the way.
So when you said, ooh last year I think it was “Bring on fucking diamond hard Brexit” (or profanities to that effect) were you:
a) wrong; or
b) lying?
Edit to say - don’t bother replying, I really don’t fucking care.
Allow me to help
c) drunk as a skunk.
I think c would likely be closest, yes.
Coincidentally I am right now drinking THIS. It is quite quite magnificent. BUY
Comments
The world of practicalities is complicated and challenging. In the right environment our rich society offers huge scope for hands on experience, "helf & safety" notwithstanding.
1) Self selecting
2) Not weighted for demographics
is trash, regardless of the sample size.
There was a third famine in 1946-47. However, that was unusual as it can't altogether be blamed on Stalin (a little number called the Great Patriotic War was at the root of it, along with dismal weather) although there is still a suggestion he ignored it until rather late in the day making it worse than it would otherwise have been.
There was also a very poor harvest in 1963 - just 113 million tonnes of grain - due to bad weather and poor farming practices on the sovkhozy in the Virgin Lands. However, Khrushchev bought grain in from Australia and America to stave off hunger. While that was humiliating for him and was a factor in his overthrow, it was a significant indication of how times had changed.
(I've always loved the irony that the figures for the 1964 harvest were suppressed because at 152 million tons they were embarrassingly good and undermined the case for removing Khrushchev.)
It was an unsought interesting comment.
(Note; I know this does not apply to Lynxes.)
Actually practical ability can save LOTS of money. But not, for example, for the fellow who decided to tidy up the petrol tank of his car using a vacuum cleaner and burnt his garage.
The earlier Ukraine famine was in the context of Civil War, and seizure by both Germans and warring Russian factions, but the Holodomor was deliberate. The Red Terror did particularly target ethnic minorities such as Ruthenians and Poles, who were seen as foreign aliens to a degree.
Russia does seem to have an ambivalence about aspects of its past. It is still possible to see the embalmed body of Lenin in Red Square. I did last Sunday, and also the nearby graves of Stalin, Brezhnev and others. Stalins had fresh flowers, and a procession of old communists were paying their respects, amongst the World Cup supporters. It was an odd and discomforting experience, and a reminder of how recently things have changed.
I mean look at twitter address/handle.
I'd be near the bottom. I have one A Level (an A in English) to my name, and I was lucky to get that. My wife is thick as a bull's knob but she's a more content, easier to please person.
Edit/ as downthread
However I disagree with your central argument: the AIs we have at the moment are exceptionally limited, and probably not 'intelligent'.
BTW, as for machine with a brain: the God Prof. Steve Furber at Manchester (co-designer of the ARM chip) is trying to replicate a brain using neurons. It will use one million ARM processors (though I don't know how that splits wrt cores or threads) to emulate one billion neurons.
One billion neurons.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpiNNaker
And that's still only one percent of the neurons in a human brain (or one ten-thousandth of those in yours.)
Farage carried it in, BoZo and Gove encouraged its release. Then they all ran away.
For your starter for ten, identify what parties will be sitting in the HoC in a year and who they will be led by.
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/artificial-intelligence-social-impact-deepmind
Now if only we could eradicate the bloody humans that bugger up the countryside it would be job done.
Night night all.
Balancing the desire to recognise another state's laws and protecting children from harm: frankly, there is no contest to my mind. If people want to come and live in the West then they abide by the West's laws and mores, which forbid child abuse. No ifs, buts or caveats.
What is worse is that in some cases in Sweden the Swedish authorities have assisted families who have wanted to force girls into marriages abroad with men very much older than themselves contrary to the girls' wishes i.e. they have aided and abetted forced marriage and rape etc.
All in the name of some sort of idiotic cultural cringe before diversity. Well, bollocks to that!
Labour: Corbyn:
Lib Dems: Cable
SNP: Sturgeon
On the basis that there are no GE's due, and no change is more likely than change.
(It would be interesting to see on a year-by-year basis how many years see changes in the main parties' leadership, and how many years do not.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayKuOLU4C5Y
The chart presented comparing the 1976 summer global temperatures and now was risible and complete fake news. No mention in the media of the snow in eastern Canada in July, no mention of Artic summer ice this time - it has recovered significantly since the 2012 low (funny you don't hear about that any more - according to the AGW crowd all the arctic ice was going to be gone by 2007, then it became 2012, then it became 2018, and now its out to 2050! Equally no mention of record cold temperatures right across the Southern Hemisphere in their winter: Peru currently, South Africa and eastern side of Australia have had record cold recently, all the Aussie ski resorts are well and truly open with record amounts of snow.
But of course, with our mainstream media, you won't hear a word of the cold weather. It's all consistent with a blank solar disc (no sun spots) and quickly oncoming mini-ice age conditions. Yes it doesn't feel like it with our hot days at the moment (although a BBC article said it was less hot than the 1976 summer, and the 1969 summer was drier until now) but somehow it was still apocalyptic, when we've had these conditions in the past! It's a cycle like everything else pretty much in life. Grand solar minimum conditions are consistent with wild swings in the jet string like we have now, but the colder areas are larger than the warmer areas. Oh and the AGW crowd said the jet stream would move north on average and become less wavy - yet another thing they got completely wrong from Hansen et al in the late 1980's. Go back to the Maunder minimum in the 17th century, and there are accounts of very hot summers in the UK, when like now there would have wild jet stream swings with our country on the warm side of the jet.
Look at the Danish Meteorological Institute for non-corrupted data, as they haven't been overcome with government money wanting to spew out the AGW nonsense in order to justify carbon taxes. It's frightening just how gullible many people are to the data that they are presented, without questioning where it is coming from, and spotting the all too easy falsehoods that are presented. Continue to question everything that you're told, rather than meekly believe what you're told.
Rant over!
Maybe you can barter blood for chlorinated chicken after Brexit?
Let's put it this way. A million processors are required to emulate the way one percent of the human brain works. The biggest supercomputer has 10 million cores, and those supercomputers are used for other purposes. Therefore the AIs we have at the moment have nowhere near the capacity of a human brain. Now, many of the neurons in our brain many be unused, or not used for intelligence, but it is clear that we are nowhere near having enough power to replicate a human brain.
If that's the case, then what we are seeing is not artificial 'human' intelligence. Indeed, if we get true 'intelligence', it will likely be via for shortcuts and backdoors. We may not even recognise it as intelligence.
Furthermore, the dangers of AI may not come from the AI itself, but from people who believe in an AI's intelligence.
I must again recommend 'Person of Interest' to you. It touches directly on the impacts true AIs would have.
In 76, I was 17 that summer, and remember plenty of drinking.
Saturday, in Damascus MD, our rain gauge measure 8.18" rain - in just one day! Most of that came between 21:00 and midnight, when the gauge leapt from 3.22" to 7.8"
The four day total is around the 12" mark now, with heavy rain for the next few days also.
a) wrong; or
b) lying?
Edit to say - don’t bother replying, I really don’t fucking care.
Innocent face etc.
c) drunk as a skunk.
So you have to meet the criteria for the poll to work. Those criteria are:
* The sample frame must be representative of the population
* The sample must be taken at random
"Random" and "representative" are the important words. A "random" sample means that the probability of appearing in the sample is (roughly) equal to the probability of appearing in the sample frame. A "representative" sample frame must be similar to the population.
But the Twitter poll you refer to is neither representative nor random. The set of all Twitter users is not similar to the set of all voters. And the sample is not random because the probability of a Twitter voter voting X in the online poll is not equal to the probability of a voter voting X in a real election.
The term "voodoo poll" was invented for such polls and you can't draw conclusions about the population from them.
Notes
[1] the "sample frame" is the thing you sample from. So if you are investigating households in England, you would use the Post Office's Postcode Address File, which is the nearest we have to a list of all the households. It's not exactly alike, but it's similar.
[2] Polling firms have problems with unrepresentative sample frames, which they cure by weighting (fiddling the figures a bit to make it similar) - technically it breaks the theory but it's close enough to make it work-ish.
I posted twice, apols
But on any case I think she is right to take things on. I thought in effect she already had. She has nothing to lose by doing it and the future contest will be full of people who were in cabinet or still are claiming they'd have differently but may did it all, so it gives them an out. Not a plausible one, by something , and since she's not long from the job why not have her take on it all, a poison eater if you will.
Should be Bud or at least Ott right now.
WTF?
iirc we don't understand our own self-consciousness very much, and philosophy has been debating forever what it represents, does it exist etc etc.
But I like SeanT's comment about not recognising machine's weirdo intelligence.
https://www.winesdirect.com/products/pillastro_selezione_doro.aspx#voucher1