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GeneralRe: Record breaking Fedor just landed Pin
OriginalGriff22-Jul-16 23:58
mveOriginalGriff22-Jul-16 23:58 
GeneralRe: Record breaking Fedor just landed Pin
Daniel Pfeffer23-Jul-16 21:38
professionalDaniel Pfeffer23-Jul-16 21:38 
GeneralCreating multicast group Pin
esamelzain22-Jul-16 23:09
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GeneralRe: Creating multicast group Pin
OriginalGriff22-Jul-16 23:20
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GeneralRe: Creating multicast group Pin
BillWoodruff22-Jul-16 23:24
professionalBillWoodruff22-Jul-16 23:24 
GeneralRe: Creating multicast group Pin
Marc Clifton23-Jul-16 2:53
mvaMarc Clifton23-Jul-16 2:53 
GeneralRe: Creating multicast group Pin
ZurdoDev23-Jul-16 17:52
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GeneralSongs from the Uncanny Valley: "Real Humans" and "Animal Personhood" Pin
BillWoodruff22-Jul-16 21:51
professionalBillWoodruff22-Jul-16 21:51 
... just in case you are new to the 'uncanny valley' meme: [^] ...

I've been watching, and enjoying, the Swedish tv-series "Äkta människor" ("Real Humans", 2012~2014) [^] which I find so much better than the English language re-make "Humans" (2015) [^].

imho, "Humans" is to "Akta" as comic-book is to novel.

The issues of the possible replacement of "binary 'exclusive' humanity" ... you is one, or you ain't ... with some broader trans-species concept of "sentient being," and the subsequent possible recognition of "legal status" similar to person-hood, and "civil rights" ...

... is fascinating to think about, and what I like so much about "Real Humans" is that I find the emotional involvement and relationships of the human characters with their Hubots (robots) ... believable ... and, that's where the strange sensation, indeed a kind of creepiness, does ... arise.

Of course the psychodrama of the tension between our perceptions of non-human and human, life and non-life, embodiment and consciousness, animal and machine, is as "old as the hills," and has been explored forever in literature, and art, as well as "scripture." Consider the movies: "Metropolis," "Blade Runner," "AI," "Her," "Ex Machina," etc.

So, today, I received an e-mail from "Foreign Affairs" linking to this interesting story, "Toward Animal Personhood" (no registration required for this story) [^] :
Quote:
The law has long classified entities as “things” or “persons.” But “person” has never been synonymous with “human.” Legally, tens of millions of human slaves were once things, while corporations, ships, a Hindu idol, a mosque, the holy books of the Sikh religion, and New Zealand’s Whanganui River have been labeled persons. The distinction is critical: persons have the capacity for legal rights; things don’t. Personhood protects a human’s most fundamental interests. This is why Article 6 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.” Nonhuman animals will continue to suffer until the law recognizes them as persons.
The implications of defining the class of beings we now call "animals" as sentient, and/or "persons under the law," is ... well, all I can say is that in the confusion that results from trying to think about this ... why not insects ? plants ? why not parasites ? amoeba ? ... I hear some sort of strange tune that I suspect comes from the Uncanny Valley.

Oh boy, it just feels so nice to put these thoughts out of my head (I'm sure you don't mind hearing them ... since suffering shared is suffering diluted, and I've been listening to your tsuris for so many years ... and get back to the comforting Platonic abstractions of programming !

But, first I'm going to take the fried-rice veg I just picked-up on the way home, and add a bunch of fresh garlic, and the fiery little red Thai onions, and heat it up after adding a can of tuna cooked Thai green curry kaeng khiao wan style, topped off with a can of good ol' Campbell's cream of mushroom soup (necessary for me to be able to swallow). And, while I enjoy this concoction, I am going to try and forget about that deep thing that Albert E. said:
Quote:
"A human being is a part of the whole, called by us "Universe", a part limited in time and space.

He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest — a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.

Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security."
Because ... well, deep thoughts while eating ... you can get indigestion eating in the Uncanny Valley.

While gnoshing, I'm going to watch the dance of the jing-jok (geckos) on the screen outside my window as they catch the insects that come to the light. I find a strange comfort in the ubiquity of geckos in the house, and enjoy their little chirping sounds so much. Later in the night, I might get lucky and hear the surreal sound of a tookay (the awesome super-sized gecko): [^]. Big Grin | :-D
«There is a spectrum, from "clearly desirable behaviour," to "possibly dodgy behavior that still makes some sense," to "clearly undesirable behavior." We try to make the latter into warnings or, better, errors. But stuff that is in the middle category you don’t want to restrict unless there is a clear way to work around it.» Eric Lippert, May 14, 2008

GeneralRe: Songs from the Uncanny Valley: "Real Humans" and "Animal Personhood" Pin
Eddy Vluggen23-Jul-16 1:25
professionalEddy Vluggen23-Jul-16 1:25 
GeneralRe: Songs from the Uncanny Valley: "Real Humans" and "Animal Personhood" Pin
BillWoodruff23-Jul-16 1:27
professionalBillWoodruff23-Jul-16 1:27 
GeneralRe: Songs from the Uncanny Valley: "Real Humans" and "Animal Personhood" Pin
Eddy Vluggen23-Jul-16 2:48
professionalEddy Vluggen23-Jul-16 2:48 
Generaltugas Pin
rezi2022-Jul-16 19:50
rezi2022-Jul-16 19:50 
GeneralRe: tugas Pin
OriginalGriff22-Jul-16 19:55
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GeneralSPAM filter? Pin
RTek2322-Jul-16 14:12
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GeneralRe: SPAM filter? Pin
SoMad22-Jul-16 16:13
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GeneralRe: SPAM filter? Pin
RTek2323-Jul-16 3:16
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GeneralRe: SPAM filter? Pin
Richard Deeming24-Jul-16 23:36
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GeneralCaught my first Pokemon Pin
Duncan Edwards Jones22-Jul-16 12:46
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GeneralRe: Caught my first Pokemon Pin
RossMW22-Jul-16 13:00
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GeneralRe: Caught my first Pokemon Pin
R. Giskard Reventlov22-Jul-16 13:18
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GeneralRe: Caught my first Pokemon Pin
Vincent Maverick Durano22-Jul-16 14:44
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GeneralRe: Caught my first Pokemon Pin
H.Brydon23-Jul-16 8:38
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JokeRe: Caught my first Pokemon PinPopular
SoMad22-Jul-16 16:20
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GeneralRe: Caught my first Pokemon Pin
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