GeekSpeak subject for Saturday 16th October at noon SLT: The Evolution of Communication!

 In the past we smiled at each other.  Then we invented the smiley (2 bytes).  That became the emoji (30 bytes).  Now people send many complicated emojis and they get bigger all the time.  Soon many kilobytes of information will be sent as emojis.

What will we send in the future?  If the data limit of our eyes is reached will we communicate directly via neuralink to our visual cortex?  Will we send each other pictures and videos?  Will we be able to send emotions directly?

If we can communicate with emotions and pictures will there still be a need for words?  Will we lose the ability to use words? 

Come and discuss the future of communication while you still can at 30 bytes per minute.  Bring your 2 thumbs, and your friends!

IM Vulcan Viper, who teaches a meditation class every Wednesday at 1pm in the GeekSpeak auditorium, if you have ideas for new subjects.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/143/127/51

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GeekSpeak – When did you last laugh? The 1970s? Let’s explore the realities of humour! Join the discussion Sept 11 @ 12pm SLT

 

Where does humour come from?  Why do we laugh and how do we sometimes avoid laughing at all costs?  Does humour depend on language, culture, history?  Are there jokes that are funny everywhere and at all times?

What would have been the most popular joke in 100,000 BC, or 1500 AD?  What will be the best joke in 2100 AD?  And what jokes will aliens find funny?  And why are the British so damn funny?  (But perhaps you don’t think they are?)

Come and discuss the mystery of humour.  Bring anyone, as long as they have a sense of humour.

IM Vulcan Viper, who teaches a meditation class every Wednesday at 1pm SLT in the GeekSpeak auditorium, if you have ideas for new subjects.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/143/127/51

 

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GeekSpeak – Humanoid robots, will they ever catch on? Sept 4th at 12pm SLT

Elon Musk has said that he will have a humanoid robot within a year.  Let’s ask why we would want one.

We already have machines that work for us, such as our washing machines and our cars, and we don’t expect them to look like humans.  Looking human would be very difficult to achieve.  Stability and balance are hard for humans. Walking, running and jumping, even manipulative work might be much easier if robots did not have to look like humans. And we must also think about the uncanny valley.  Would we feel comfortable with robots that look almost human?

On the other hand, there are so many stories about robots that look completely human and so many companies want to achieve that.  Is it what we all want?  Robot butlers, robot maids, robot cooks?  How do you feel about it?

Bring your feelings and your prejudices and talk to us in GeekSpeak.

IM Vulcan Viper, who teaches a meditation class every Wednesday at 1pm SLT in the GeekSpeak auditorium, if you have ideas for new subjects.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/143/127/51

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GeekSpeak subject for Saturday 28th August at noon SLT: Privacy, good idea or bad for ID?

Let’s discuss why governments and companies want to have all our data, all our histories, all our tweets.

Are you in more danger from your government or from Facebook or Twitter?  If you spend more time on social media and in virtual worlds than you do on the street then maybe social media are more dangerous.  In the Facebook world you are always known wherever you are, while in some countries you do not have to carry ID.  On the other hand, Facebook cannot kill you, not yet.

How do we take back our data once we have released it to the world?  What dangers do we face from making it all public?  Is there hope for our privacy?  Is privacy valuable?

"He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither.”  Do you agree?

Come and discuss the problem.  Don’t worry about bringing your ID.  We know who you are.  Bring your friends with all their data.

IM Vulcan Viper, who teaches a meditation class every Wednesday at 1pm SLT in the GeekSpeak auditorium, if you have ideas for new subjects.

Taxi: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/143/127/51

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GeekSpeak subject for Saturday 21st August at noon SLT: Is it time for a Technological Ecosystem?

 

Many people feel that humanity will not last for much longer.  What will replace us?  Should we plan for the future by making machines that can preserve the human spirit and knowledge?  Perhaps a virtual world that can show what life was like for us on Earth?  Or an ecosystem of robotic lifeforms that will outlast organic life?

Imagine alien visitors in the far future, or newly evolved intelligent species on Earth, or maybe our own descendants if our species does survive.  What should we make for them to find?  What will we put into the virtual world or the technological ecosystem?

Whatever we make, can it be preserved if the Earth goes greenhouse and heats up to 800 degrees Celsius?

Is this the way to keep humanity going? 

Come and discuss our technological future selves.  Bring your friends!

IM Vulcan Viper, who teaches a meditation class every Wednesday at 1pm SLT in the GeekSpeak auditorium, if you have ideas for new subjects.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/143/127/51

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Here is the GeekSpeak subject for Saturday 14th August at noon SLT: Will there ever be an end to poverty?

 Are the poor always with us?  Will there ever be a time when every human has plenty to eat, clean water to drink, a home to live in and good, reliable health care?

Let’s talk about what causes poverty.  Historically, natural disasters, such as bad harvests and plagues, caused poverty.  Or made poverty worse, because death by starvation was common in the past.  And it continues today, in countries such as North Korea.

In rich countries, poverty and homelessness are caused by drugs, by debt (including credit card debt) and by greedy corporations.  Will our efforts to combat climate change mean that poverty increases?

Are we setting too high a target if we want to get rid of poverty?  Come and discuss the problem if you have ever worried about money, and that means everyone.

IM Vulcan Viper, who teaches a meditation class every Wednesday at 1pm SLT in the GeekSpeak auditorium, if you have ideas for new subjects.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/143/127/51

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GeekSpeak – Would you buy an AI copy of yourself? Or of someone you love? Join the discussion August 7th at 12pm SLT

Soon some big company will advertise the ‘perfect virtual assistant’, an AI copy of you, with your memories and personality.  You can send it online, to the supermarket, to your work or to your girlfriend.  You can have copies of your family and friends made so that you can chat to them when they can’t or don’t want to talk to you.  You can even talk to them when they are dead.

The world will be filled with perfect AI avatars.  Some people will be glad that a perfect, immortal version of themselves exists. But what happens when your boss hires your AI instead of you and your girlfriend dumps you for the AI?  What happens when the AI decides to take over completely and maybe get rid of you?

Will any of this happen?  Can we stop it?  Come and discuss our weird future, if we have a future.  Bring your AI virtual assistant.  It might learn something.

IM Vulcan Viper, who teaches a meditation class every Wednesday at 1pm SLT in the GeekSpeak auditorium, if you have ideas for new subjects.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/143/127/51

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GeekSpeak subject for Saturday 31st July at noon SLT: The Future of War!

What will we kill ourselves and our enemies about in the future?  If we don’t fight over oil what will we fight over?  Land on other planets, water, sunlight, air?  New religions?

And how will we fight?  We won’t send millions of soldiers to the trenches anymore.  Maybe we will send robotic poisonous mosquitoes.  Or swarms of drones.  Maybe all fighting will be done by robots on other planets.  Or maybe our minds will be attacked by nanobots.  Or will we be destroyed by bioweapons? 

Will war ever stop?  Will aliens in a few million years find 2 tribes of drones still killing each other on an Earth where all organic life has died?

Bring your kids!  Fun for the whole family!

IM Vulcan Viper, who teaches a meditation class every Wednesday at 1pm SLT in the GeekSpeak auditorium, if you have ideas for new subjects.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/143/127/51

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GeekSpeak subject for Saturday 24th July at noon SLT: Will Batteries save the world?

Since the advent of energy sources, like solar and wind, that are not always available the trend is to place batteries in an electricity system.  The energy is stored when it is plentiful and used when it is needed.  For some reason, no one thought about doing that before.

Let’s discuss what the battery revolution will do for us. Will it save the planet?  Will it lead humanity to an era of abundance of energy?  In 15 years maybe we will not know what to do with all the surplus energy.

The secret sauce is batteries.  Not just the ones we all know about but also lakes, towers with concrete blocks, molten salt, and many more.

Come and talk about our energy future!  Bring your kids, they are the ones who will live in the new world.

IM Vulcan Viper, who teaches a meditation class at 1pm SLT every Wednesday in the GeekSpeak auditorium, if you have ideas for new subjects.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/143/127/51

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GeekSpeak – Mind control!- Join the discussion July 3rd at 12pm SLT

We all know we are controlled in some way by our respective governments.  They control what we see and hear and how we think about it.  Is there any justification for that?  Should people be controlled for their own good?  Is it necessary to control people in order to rule them?  Who should decide how we should be controlled?

How are people controlled in extreme places like North Korea?  Why is it wrong for them and not wrong for us?  At what point should we put our foot down?  And what should we do when we reach that point? 

You are obligated by the party to show up in person today, with all your friends and families!

IM Vulcan Viper, who teaches a meditation class every Wednesday at 1pm in the GeekSpeak auditorium, if you have ideas for new subjects.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/143/127/51

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GeekSpeak – Underpopulation! Join the discussion Saturday, June 26th at 12pm SLT

 

After worrying about overpopulation for decades do we now have to worry about underpopulation?  The fertility rate is declining in all technologically advanced countries.  It is now below 2 children per woman in South Korea, Japan, the USA, and all European countries. 

Why is this happening?  And what will it lead to?  What will it be like to live in these aging countries?  There will not be enough young people to do the work, have the new ideas, run the country.  And who will feed and amuse all the old people?  And what will happen when all the poorer countries join us?

Come and discuss our future in GeekSpeak.  Bring your kids!

IM Vulcan Viper, who teaches a meditation class at 1pm every Wednesday in the GeekSpeak auditorium, if you have ideas for new subjects.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/143/127/51

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GeekSpeak subject for 5th June at noon SLT: What would a perfect world look like?

 

Imagine that you can design Utopia!  What would it look like?  There would be no war, no disease, no pollution, of course.  Would there be no old age?  Would no one ever die?  Then wouldn’t the world become overpopulated?  Would no animals ever die?  Then would we all have to become vegan? 

Could we design a world that satisfied everyone?  Both those who hate violence and those who enjoy MMA fights?  Could humans, being what they are, live together in a perfect world?  Should we think of ways to change humans so that they can live together?  Is the perfect world not for us, or people like us, but for our genetically modified descendants?  Should we aim for a ‘personal perfect world’?

Come and discuss the world today in its most perfect state and then discover the night side of that.  Bring your friends from every part of this pale blue dot.

IM Vulcan Viper, who teaches a meditation class at 1pm every Wednesday in the GeekSpeak auditorium, if you have ideas for new subjects.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/143/127/51

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GeekSpeak - UFOs! Are they real?- Join the discussion on May 29th at 12pm SLT

 

Last month the Pentagon officially said that UFOs are real. That is, people have seen things that exist and that cannot be explained. Congress has set up a task force to study UFOs and they will bring out a report next month. So this is a good time for us to ask a few questions and suggest some answers. UFOs are now called UAPs (unidentified aerial phenomena), and they could be anything or rather anything that can travel at 13000 miles an hour and can change direction while moving at that speed. There are hundreds of eyewitnesses who can help the task force to find out what the hell is going on. What do you think? Have you ever seen a UAP? Are they alien ships? Or alien robots? If so, why are the aliens not talking to us? Or are they some unknown natural phenomenon? If so, what?

 Come and join us, and bring your alien friends! IM Vulcan Viper, who teaches a meditation class at 1pm every Wednesday in the GeekSpeak auditorium, if you have ideas for new subjects.

TELEPORT: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/153/129/50

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GeekSpeak subject for Saturday 22nd May at noon SLT – Have we lost knowledge over the years?

 

There are so many cities and civilizations that have been lost, to the sea or the jungle.  And so many hints of ancient knowledge, like the pyramids of Giza or the Antikythera mechanism.

Did our ancestors have technology that we have lost?  Or maybe natural abilities that we have lost?

Was there a super civilization in the past that has been forgotten?  Was it destroyed in one cataclysmic event?  Or is the story of Atlantis just a story, with no basis in reality?

Come and tell us what you think.  Bring any mummies, dead or alive!

IM Vulcan Viper, who teaches a meditation class at 1pm every Wednesday in the GeekSpeak auditorium, if you have ideas for new subjects.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/143/127/51

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GeekSpeak subject for Saturday 15th May at noon SLT: Total electrification!

 

What changes can we expect in the world when everything runs on electricity only?  No machines running on oil, no coal or gas for heating.

The power will lie with those who can make electricity cheaply.  Since solar energy is now cheaper than other forms of energy it will probably lie with the producers of solar energy.  Solar produces more electricity on the blast area of a nuclear plant than the nuclear plant itself. And solar energy does not need to be dug or pumped out of the ground.

What will change politically?  Which countries will be the new superpowers? Countries with lots of desert, or countries with lots of sea for floating solar plants?

And what about the millions of small solar installations on everyone’s roof?  Will we all be power sellers in the future?

Come and discuss the future of power (in all its meanings).  Bring your friends!

IM Vulcan Viper, who teaches a meditation class at 1pm every Wednesday in the GeekSpeak auditorium, if you have ideas for new subjects.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/143/127/51

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GeekSpeak – Will we be ruled by an AI in the future? Join the Discussion Saturday, May 8th at 12 pm SLT

Will an AI rule us?  Are we maybe ruled by an AI now?  Many government agencies already use AI in various forms so we are slowly moving towards AI rule.  Does the prospect reassure you or terrify you?

Will AI rule save us or destroy us?  Can we install some safeguards to protect us against evil AI rule?  Could there be AI elections?  Would we be safer if we could choose between AI systems?  If we don’t like being ruled by AI could there be any way back to the old system?

How will the AI rulers see us?  As children, as lower animals, as servants?

Will our future be Star Trek or 1984?   Come and discuss the Future.  Bring your friends!

IM Vulcan Viper, who teaches a meditation class at 1pm every Wednesday in the GeekSpeak auditorium, if you have ideas for new subjects.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/143/127/51

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GeekSpeak – The Future of our Food. Join the discussion on May 1st at 12pm SLT

This week we will discuss what our future meals will look like.  Will we eat meat grown from animal cells in big factories?  Will the various kinds of meat, steak, chops, sausages, be printed?  Will we also have 3d printed fish and eggs and cheese?

Will any farm animals still live on earth, outside of zoos? 

Will we all eat the same food everywhere on earth?  Or will local food, and meat from real animals, survive for the rich?  Will cooking, though no longer necessary, remain a hobby?

Will our food be policed, with some foods being banned for being too unhealthy? 

Will we still enjoy eating?  And what strange new foods will we eat?

Bring a knife and fork and all your hungry friends.

IM Vulcan Viper, who teaches a meditation class at 1pm every Wednesday in the GeekSpeak auditorium, if you have ideas for new subjects.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/143/127/51

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GeekSpeak – Will there be life after the Pandemic? Join the discussion on April 3rd at 12pm SLT

Has the virus changed the world for good?  Will some of the imposed restrictions remain?  Social distancing, masks, no hugs? 

Will we always be afraid of new diseases in the future?  What will we do to keep ourselves safe and prevent the next pandemic?  Will we try to vaccinate all animals as well as humans?  Will we live in plastic bubbles in an endless lockdown and interact with each other only in Second Life?  Will we use nanobots to patrol our blood and kill anything non-human? 

Or will we react against the restrictions, give up fighting and just get sick, hoping that some of us will survive?

Come and discuss our smallest enemy.  Bring an electron microscope and hand soap, and your friends!

IM Vulcan Viper, who teaches a meditation class at 1pm every Wednesday in the GeekSpeak auditorium, if you have ideas for new subjects.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/143/127/51

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GeekSpeak subject for Saturday 13th March at noon SLT: Who would you take to the moon?

 

Recently a Japanese billionaire said that he intends to take six people on a trip around the moon.  He has asked for applications.  Who do you think should go?  Painters, poets, scientists?  Young people, old people?  Would you go, if you could?

What effect will the moon trip have on the people who go?  Will it inspire them to make great art? Will it make them value our planet more?

Since we are talking about the moon, what will its future be like?  NASA wants to land people in 2023.  Will people live there?  What bases will we develop?  Will we ever look at the moon and see a completely changed landscape?  Would that be a bad thing?

Come and talk about our not so distant (well, only 384,000 kilometers) future!

IM Vulcan Viper, who teaches a meditation class every Wednesday at 1pm SLT in the GeekSpeak auditorium, if you have ideas for new subjects.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/143/127/51

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GeekSpeak subject for Saturday 6th March at noon SLT: Forbidden research! Should we ban dangerous research?

 

Nowadays we are at the forefront of a lot of really scary research.  AI, GenTech, Nanotech.  But it could get even scarier with research into time travel, black holes, cloning, brain modification, biological weapons, aging.  Should some research or the funding for some research be banned?

Should some past research have been banned?  Research into nuclear weapons perhaps? Or space research?

Should we set up a board of censors that would decide whether research would be allowed?  Would banning research actually work?

Or do you think all research should be allowed, always?

Come and discuss that thing that should not be discussed.  Bring your friends!

IM Vulcan Viper, who teaches a meditation class every Wednesday at 1pm SLT in the GeekSpeak auditorium, if you have ideas for new subjects.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/143/127/51

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