The Sword and Laser discussion

Ramez Naam talks about his Nexus trilogy, nanotechnology, and when to worry about AI getting too smart!

http://swordandlaser.com/home/2016/6/...
https://soundcloud.com/swordandlaser/...

Is this podcast not working or something? Where is everyone.

I'm at work. Can't listen while doing my job lately as much of my job has been reading design documents. I started it (thanks for asking my question!) but won't finish til later tonight. :D

terpkristin wrote: "I'm at work. Can't listen while doing my job lately as much of my job has been reading design documents. I started it (thanks for asking my question!) but won't finish til later tonight. :D"

I actually asked your question twice!

Hahaha! Guess I only heard it the first time then (so far!).

Right now I'm in a meeting. Would look bad to put in earbuds.

We no longer need forums. Our minds communicate directly now through the Brain Cloud. Join us, Veronica. It's beautiful in here.

But can you play Neko Atsume in the Cloud?

Really dug the interview, thanks for asking my question (twice!). I definitely need to move the Nexus books ahead in my queue. I know so many people who've liked them, but time just is not my friend lately. I guess I should say that I loved the interview until he said how much he likes Elon Musk. But I'll overlook that flaw. :) ;)

Sean wrote: "We no longer need forums. Our minds communicate directly now through the Brain Cloud. Join us, Veronica. It's beautiful in here."

Lol.

No?! Why not, Ramez?

I feel like he evaded my question which makes me EVEN MORE CERTAIN that he is a mad scientist.

Veronica wrote: "Is this podcast not working or something? Where is everyone."

We all took Nexus and that's how we're discussing it.

You should hear what we're saying about you.

Oh man!

I am also augmented! I have power port that makes drawing blood easy. No computer chips, though.

Good for those cyber-vampires.

I had a lot more questions I wanted to ask about some of the technical aspects of the book but 1) i wanted to get my other question answered for sure and 2) i didnt want to sound like a dick when i was asking how X and Y can really work :) I thought the Ken Thompson compiler backdoor in Nexus was really cool :)

I also wanted to ask him if he all thought we were living in a computer simulation like Elon Musk. I haven't listened to the podcast so maybe he touched on the Musk issue.

Anywhoo one of my other favorite parts of the book was the coalescing of neuroscience and Buddhist thought. If anyone else found that as interesting as me I recommend this book:

Buddha's Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom

I thought of a better question while listening to the podcast, but thanks for asking the one I did ask!

Finally got a chance to listen to the podcast (yay for walking the baby to sleep for several miles every night) - great interview!

Thanks for asking my question, even though you didnt ask the second half (which granted was leading and I am pretty sure the answer would have been yes given the characters in the book and his responses to other questions in the interview).

He wasn't sure which particular scene I was talking about - it was pretty much every party scene but the one in particular that blew my mind is when they were all linked on nexus but also taking the other drug on top of that that not only let their minds connect but also allowed them to feel each others emotions. I forget what he called that drug in the book. I think they did it once at a party with the DJ fellow and then again when they were in Thailand at the old man's house. I still need to go back and read Apex I think!

Veronica wrote: "Oh man!"

We are your internet doctors and we're all still diagnosing your acid reflux. :-)

AI is not the problem.... It's when we use algorithms blindly without understanding where hey go wrong (drones killing anyone with a turban as an example)...

Our problems are usually laziness and an unwillingness to deal with complexity. I.e. Sticking people in boxes and not dealing wth the messiness that is any normal persons life...

I'm about quarter way through nexus and am absolutely loving it, the concept is absolutely fascinating (one of those great books that make you think) and the writing is gripping. My only problem was that Kade was introduced in a *cough* scene of passionate intercourse that was completely out of his character.

Thomas wrote: "My only problem was that Kade was introduced in a *cough* scene of passionate intercourse that was completely out of his character"

I don't think I've laughed that hard for a long time in an opening sequence of a book.