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Jul 18, 2017

SETI's (Indiegogo) ET Outreach and another peek at Russell Brinegar's 'Overlords' 2/3

“There is no route out of the maze. The maze shifts as you move through it, because it is alive. ” -  Philip K. Dick, VALIS


Misc. News Notes ...
  • SETI ready to do some big eye sky patrolling, launching a funding campaign to gear up with specialized cameras. "The Laser SETI device "can look everywhere simultaneously. The technology has been prototyped and subjected to preliminary tests, and consists of a robust assembly of straightforward optical and mechanical components. It can be easily and inexpensively) replicated."

    With the "$100,000 campaign launched on Indiegogo, the institute hopes to develop the first two cameras, allowing them to localize targets and validate the algorithm and distribution of potential signals." - Read more: Daily Mail
Indiegogo fundraiser -


- Laser SETI on Indiegogo from SETI on Vimeo.

  • Incentive: Mystery Radio Signal from Nearby Star. RawStory

  • AI Stone Cold Alert from Elon Musk. Newsweek  Regarding potential impact of wide scale societal integration, Jobs are not the primary concern. At issue: National Security.
    • "Musk's bigger concern has to do with AI that lives in the network, and which could be incentivized to harm humans. “[They] could start a war by doing fake news and spoofing email accounts and fake press releases, and just by manipulating information," he said. "The pen is mightier than the sword.” Fortune
    • Dejavu. We've already had a trial run with this. AI elevates the game level to pro.

As one might imagine, coming face-to-face with a transcended version of yourself in a near death experience might trigger an intense reconfiguring of "reality"... And that is what happened for Russell Brinegar. Russell shared details about that Experience on this video: Youtube

He thinks differently about life now, asking radically different questions and entertaining broader ranges of possibilities. Getting a glimpse of that expanded framework he's navigating to connect the dots involves tracking his footsteps. I thank him for giving me permission to share a bit of his work here. Enjoy.



Overlords of the Singularity:
The Manipulation of Humankind by Hidden UFO Intelligences and the Quest for Transcendence'- 
CreateSpace


Chapter 4, excerpt - 2/3

UFOs and the Technological Singularity


“I believe there is a machinery of mass manipulation behind the UFO phenomenon.” - Dr. Jacques Vallee


The problem is, because the coming Singularity will propel us into completely unknown territory, there is really no way to predict the outcome. Some fear that, once machines are suddenly billions of times smarter than humans and self-aware, they might just decide to destroy humanity like a mere nuisance and take over the planet.

James Barrat, author of Our Final Invention: Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era, states (chapter 1 audible): If the ASI [artificial superintelligence] doesn’t care about us, and there’s little reason to think that it should, it will experience no compunction about treating us unethically, even taking our lives after promising to help us.


This is a daunting possibility, that self-aware machines who are billions of times smarter than we are might just decide to get rid of us, their creators.

Another strong voice of warning within the AI community who is concerned about the implications of self-aware artificial intelligence as we head into the Singularity is a Swiss philosopher from the University of Oxford - Dr. Nick Bostrom.

Bostrom earned his Ph.D. from the London School of Economics and is the founder of the Oxford Martin Programme on the Impacts of Future Technology

Bostrom considers the impending creation of self-aware AI one of the biggest existential threats to humanity.

Bostrom is the author of the New York Times best-seller, Superintelligence:
Paths, Dangers, and Strategies.
At the time of this writing, Bostrom is a scientific activist who urges the AI community to immediately start implementing safety parameters now for the inevitable creation of artificial intelligence in possession of the sum total of all human knowledge before the monster in Mary Shelly’s novel, Frankenstein, becomes a reality. 

Another brilliant individual who has already proved instrumental in the development of self-aware AI and is working diligently within the AI community at the time of this writing to prevent the very real existential threat of artificial intelligence that takes over the world and destroys humanity is Steve Omohundro.

Omohundro has conducted extensive research in the field of Hamiltonian physics.  In this complex field, the Hamiltonian, H, has to do with the time-evolution of a given system. The Hamiltonian represents the sum total of kinetic energy within a system, plus the potential energy of all associated particles that comprise the system.

The spectrum of the Hamiltonian is the set of possible outcomes when the total energy of a system is measured. Omohundro studies dynamical systems in which a fixed, deterministic rule describes what future states might arise from the current state in a dynamical system, such as the swing of a pendulum or the flow of water. Using a deterministic rule, the future state of a dynamical system (referred to as a geometric manifold) can be determined for a particular future time interval.


Omohundro is also involved with machine language, machine learning, and machine vision, along with the societal implications of future artificial, self-aware superintelligence. Omohundro is the inventor of the “Best-first model merging approach” to machine learning, which proved useful in learning Hidden Markov Models. HMMs are the “Legos” of computational sequence analysis, a formal foundation of linear sequence labeling problems that provide conceptual tools for building complex models from an intuitive picture. Omohundro’s research and inventiveness has been instrumental in the development of modern machine languages.

Omohundro started Self-Aware Systems in Palo Alto, California, for research into the societal implications of self-improving artificial intelligence, and was an advisor to the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence. One of Omohundro’s concerns about artificial superintelligence is that rational machines possess certain intrinsic drives that must be countered somehow in their programming in order to create ASI that is human-friendly and safe.

Taking this idea into consideration, is there any reason to believe that an alien planetary search-probe would have been constructed by its builders with such safety parameters built in regarding human life? Possibly, but that seems doubtful. Steve Omohundro and associate Cliff Lasser also developed a programming language called Star Lisp, the first programming language used for the Connection Machine.


The Connection Machine was a series of supercomputers that provided an alternative to von Neumann computation architecture. Omohundro developed many parallel algorithm libraries and applications for the Connection Machine, along with another programming language called Sather, which further advanced the fast-growing field of machine language design.

Steve Omohundro is a key player at this time insuring that we will not fall victim to our own computational creations as the Singularity swiftly approaches, and has many lectures on the subject available to view online at this time that are quite worthy of the time and consideration.

                   

The aforementioned scientist, John von Neumann, speculated as far back as the 1950s about the possibility of advanced alien civilizations who may have already achieved a technological singularity millions of years ago. If such a civilization existed, they may have sent out automated probes from their home planet into the universe at large that were programmed to self-replicate. Such self-replicating ancient alien artifacts of programmed artificial superintelligence are now referred to as von Neumann probes.

Many scientists now believe that some alien version of the von Neumann probe is the most likely intelligence to visit Earth. If such advanced alien civilizations existed long ago who wanted to learn more about the universe and ventured out from their native planet with a fleet of von Neumann probes, they could have been scouting out regions of the universe for a variety of purposes for aeons by now. 

These purposes might include: searching for resources; seeking knowledge of the universe; terraforming other planets; reestablishing their own native life form on other worlds; self-replicating the next generation of advanced AI; or all of the above. Futurism/VonNeumann Probe
 
Perhaps all technological civilizations eventually reach a Singularity on their worlds, produce a new lifeform that is part biological and part technological, or even convert to a 100% electrical or energetic lifeform and embark on an exploration of the rest of the universe in a way that is not limited by time or space. This intelligence could either be a post-biological version of themselves, or, more disturbing, an independent, runaway form of artificial intelligence that set out to explore, or even conquer the entire universe on their own without their original creators, perhaps with an artificial intelligence agenda of their own that we cannot even imagine.


In other words, the entire universe might be populated by now with super-intelligent robots that have transcended their original biology aeons ago. Such an intelligence could easily travel throughout the universe and remain invisible to the pre-singularity biological life it encounters, unless there were some purpose, possibly comprehendible only to the AI, for revealing themselves or providing a glimpse of their presence to further their own goals.

Continue? Read Overlords of the Singularity. Amazon


Related Posts

Russell Brinegar Intro - Link 1  
Brinegar - Link 3

Join me for the live show or catch the podcast download 24/7
Wendy's Coffeehouse Archives. Thank you for listening and sharing!

Jul 17, 2017

Paranormal Author F. P. Dorchak, 7/16/17 - Twilight Zone, Floats, Weird things happen

“There is nothing in the dark that isn't there when the lights are on.” - Rod Serling


Cool, Misc, and etc. - 

Main Street Galleria - Ice Cream,
Fudge, Candy ... Soda Fountain.
Ghost Tales of Weston - Dinner and Ghost Walking Tour.
Plan now

Andy and I went for a drive Saturday afternoon and stopped in to see Verna at Main Street Galleria, home of the haunted Captain's Desk and great fudge. Yum to go. Chocolate Brownie Fudge. (Yes, you can order online.)


Here's a post from a few years ago (Already!) with a few of the quirky antics from that event. Link.

Some haunted regional (hotel/business) sites keep a low profile (including some in Weston), preferring to avoid the label and/or rely on word-of-mouth. CJonline

Dinner Theater Reservations
Those who are comfortable with public visits may also be open to Q and A but not paranormal groups.

It's a mixed bag. Do your homework and inquire in advance. There are listings for many places and those who invite paranormal groups often advertise their availability.

In Weston, we picked up some fantastic smelling candles from (actively haunted) Weston Bend Candle Company

The owner says they have more stories to add for this tour. 2016 Video interview w/Kathy Quinn of KC's Fox 4
 
- - - 

Wendy's Coffeehouse 7/16/17 interview - Paranormal Author F. P. (Frank) Dorchak


Frank and I have a few things in common - including being fans of The Twilight Zone (I had to sneak out of bed to watch the show - long story.), a love for writing scary stories as kids and experiencing all manner of strange and unusual things.

He also does the isolation floats so I was looking forward to sharing and comparing our experiences. Float number 8, Frank's Blog. We have had some interesting incidents but he has an even better resource in a float diary he's been keeping. For the whole story, start at the beginning and chart the progress. This is why we float. Frank's other Blog, Float 1 -7.

I think I am at about 8 or 10 and it continues to shift and change each and every time. Great for decompressing and unwinding. Always relaxing, no matter what the encounter. Floating KC offers a special rate for first timers, 30 percent off, if you mention the show or this post. 

Haunts, frights, weird, disturbing, mind-bending, Frank peppers his stories with personal incidents. We talk about a few, including a disappearing grape and the reappearing ring.

That ring story isn't so far out when compared to one I posted about Psychic Spy/Remote Viewer Lyn Buchanan who talked with Jeffrey Mishlove about the reaction he got when he perfected his PK talent of putting a rock through a metal plate. Blog Post. Unappreciated to say the least.


Preview of Frank's Book - 'Sleepwalkers' -



Interview highlights include Frank's brother - and the Silver Man sighting and a visitation from dancing Vaudevillians. He includes some of the strange encounters he has experienced in his books as part of the storyline. Which book and what encounter? You'll have to follow-up with Frank. Link.

A collection of short stories is due out this fall, 'Do the Dead Dream?' ... Asking me? Depends on POV and definition of "Dead"... We've got a lot to learn about consciousness, reality, the dream plane and non-corporeal states and abilities. We might be their dream. Imagination is limitless.

Check out some of Frank's stories and his float experiences on his blog: Reality Check

Exciting times we are living.

*Next interview with Frank will give us a chance to share more stories. September 6, 9p central Conscious Living with Wendy Garrett on Empower Radio. 

Join me for the live show or catch the podcast download 24/7
Wendy's Coffeehouse Archives. Thank you for listening and sharing!

Jul 14, 2017

SciXFriday - Eclectic Links and a Teaser Chapter from Russell Brinegar's 'Overlords of the Singularity' 1/3

“Mathematical truth is not determined arbitrarily by the rules of some 'man-made' formal system, but has an absolute nature, and lies beyond any such system of specifiable rules.” - Roger Penrose, Shadows of the Mind: A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness 


Quantum Streaming Math and Theories -

Issue 47. Nautilus. - Quantum Consciousness Theorist, "Penrose believes we must go beyond Neuroscience and into the mysterious world of Quantum Mechanics to explain our rich mental life." View his presentation, The Quantum Nature of Consciousness/YouTube. Of Roger Penrose, Physicist Lee Smolin/Time Reborn says, he's "one of the very few people I've met in my life who, without reservation, I call a genius." Smolin in Scientific American - Physics Must Evolve. 

Eclectic and otherwise, Interesting Links -

Russell Brinegar spoke with me about his Near Death Experience, one in which he found himself in contact with a transcended version of himself. A deep transformation followed and the book Overlords of the Singularity is part of that life redirect.

Interview with Russell Brinegar on Wendy's Coffeehouse and we continue our talk in a 2nd interview on Conscious Living on Empower Radio.

As the introduction states, "Following a near-death experience that prompted a personal awakening to the underlying, interdimensional nature of reality, the author shares insights into the realm of the paranormal."

Russell has given me permission to share some of that book here on the blog. Too long to post all at once, I'll post in segments. The book is available on Amazon.

**Please NOTE: Links have been added by me (Wendy) for context and support. There are no links in the original copy.


[Chapter 4]

UFOs and the Technological Singularity
Russell Brinegar, 'Overlords of the Singularity: The Manipulation of Humankind by Hidden UFO Intelligences and the Quest for Transcendence'-  CreateSpace


“I believe there is a machinery of mass manipulation behind the UFO phenomenon.” – Dr. Jacques Vallee

In recent years, the science of quantum mechanics and theoretical physics have merged with the science of consciousness itself. Concepts such as quantum entanglement have changed the way we look at the universe and our place in it. *Scientific Breakthrough, reported 7/2017, The Independent

Quantum entanglement poses that, prior to the moment of the Big Bang, all particles that are now spread out across the Cosmos were once unified as a cohesive whole, and as such all subatomic particles in the universe remain connected to one another on a fundamental level, regardless of the distance they have grown apart by the expansion of the Universe.

Add to that the observer effect, in which the act of observation itself is the factor that converts a pure energy wave into a particle of matter, introducing an element of subjectivity into our concept of the universe that we once thought of as immutable, objective reality. 

The presumed solidity of the universe that we once took for granted has now melted into a chaos of
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pure energy and quantum potentiality, the solidity revealing itself scientifically as a mere illusion.  One of the physicists on the forefront of this fascinating and complex field is theoretical physicist Michio Kaku. With his many books, Kaku has done an excellent job translating the mechanics and implications of modern theoretical physics into language that anyone of reasonable intelligence can understand, regardless of scientific background.

One such book is Parallel Worlds. In this work, Kaku speaks of the mathematician, John von Neumann, who was the first person to use the term, Singularity. 

Popularized by science fiction writer Vernor Vinge, the Singularity now commonly refers to an approaching state of humankind, when, following a long history of slow, painstaking progress, technological advancements accelerate exponentially into the realm of advanced, self-aware, artificial intelligence that vastly exceeds the computing capability and storage capacity of the human mind and takes us into completely unknown territory. *Astronomers report evidence of the Multiverse. Reported 5/2017, The Guardian

Suddenly, and soon, we will be confronted by machines of our own creation that are possibly billions of times smarter than we are. As far as we know, an event such as the Singularity has never happened in all of human history, and the implications of this inevitable event that is soon upon us are completely unknown. 
 
The Singularity is currently a hot subject among futurists, physicists, and AI (artificial intelligence) experts, generating much debate and theorizing. Some individuals who take the time to examine the subject and discover the quagmire of complicated issues that self-aware AI inevitably thrusts upon us become overwhelmed, frightened, or even repulsed. Some even decide to reject technology altogether to save humankind before we create a monster that destroys us. 

Others who share a more optimistic outlook, like Michio Kaku and futurist Ray Kurzweil, have decided that, despite the daunting possibilities of disaster for the human race, embracing the coming Singularity and trying to make it work for us is the correct route to take. The concept of the Singularity has spawned an entire subculture with quasi-religious overtones, and produced individuals who call themselves Singularitarians.

These technical optimists express idealistic ambitions of merging human consciousness with the machines we are about to create. The Singularity is expected to produce a hybrid version of humanity, part biological, and part machine, with a very real possibility for the achievement of human immortality, having transcended the biological format we have been using thus far, and transferring our consciousness into a silicon substrate with indefinitely expanded lifespans.

This is the gist of the Transhumanist movement. These new visionaries imagine electronically-augmented humans in our near future who possess expanded thought and perceptual abilities, possibly even superhuman powers, taking us into a post-human, post-biological world. The optimists view the coming Singularity as the next stage in human evolution, and look forward to a form of transcendence from our current biological limitations. 

In its most extreme version, the Singularity might even allow humanity to finally escape the confines of three-dimensional reality altogether, and possibly merge with other entities that may exist throughout the universe who have also achieved a post-physical form of cosmic transcendence. 

In Kaku’s, The Future of the Mind, and Ray Kurzweil’s, The Singularity is Near, the possibilities of downloading the memories and personalities of human beings into machines to create conscious, artificial intelligences that were once completely human but now exist as computer-enhanced or augmented cyborgs are explored. 

Such a person, who was once completely biological, is now transformed into an immortal synthetic human being with an indefinite lifespan. The Holy Grail of human technological ambition, immortality, is projected to exit the realm of science fiction and enter the realm of reality with the approaching Singularity, which futurists like Kurzweil predict will occur sometime around the year 2045. *Immortality Project Underway. Reported 3/2017, The Guardian

The problem is, because the coming Singularity will propel us into completely unknown territory, there is really no way to predict the outcome. Some fear that, once machines are suddenly billions of times smarter than humans and self-aware, they might just decide to destroy humanity like a mere nuisance and take over the planet. 

James Barrat, author of Our Final Invention:Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era, states (chapter 1 audible): If the ASI [artificial superintelligence] doesn’t care about us, and there’s little reason to think that it should, it will experience no compunction about treating us unethically, even taking our lives after promising to help us.

Chapter 4, Part One. Continued in following posts. Previous post/Russell Brinegar - Link