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 27th February at noon SLT: Do we live in a Virtual World?

 

Second Life is a virtual world but is Real Life also a virtual world?  Do our real-life selves live in a simulated universe?  How can we know if that is so?

According to the Bostrom argument, there are likely to be many more simulated universes than real universes so, statistically speaking, it is more likely that we live in a simulated universe.

Could we be conscious in a simulated universe, like the Doctor in Star Trek: Voyager or Vic Fontaine in ST: Deep Space Nine?  The Doctor is a simulation who lives in the real world, Vic Fontaine is a simulation that lives in the holodeck.  Both are apparently conscious.

Is there a real-world outside of our world?  Could we live there?

Come and find out if you are real or not and if it matters.  Bring all your real, imagined and virtual 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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GeekSpeak – Subject for Saturday 20th February at noon SLT: Climate change! Are we all going to die?

 

Are you worried about climate change?  Or do you think the danger has been exaggerated?  Or maybe that it is all a hoax?

If we assume that it is real then some very serious changes are going to hit the earth.  Some places will become much warmer, some much colder.  There will be severe rains where deserts used to be and drought in formerly wet countries.  How will the world cope with that?  How many will die?

Will countries be able to work together to host millions of climate refugees?  Will some countries become completely uninhabitable, unless you can live under kilometres of ice or at the bottom of the sea?

Will undersea cities perhaps be the answer.  Or sky cities?  Or should we all move into space?  Turn on the doom scenario in your mind and show it to us!  Bring your friends.

IM Vulcan Viper, who teaches a meditation class every Wednesday at 1pm SLT, 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 February at noon SLT: Where are we going?

 

Where are the moon bases that were so confidently predicted in 1969?  Where is the socialist utopia?  Every time humanity has plans for the future something else happens.  What makes our history jump about like a butterfly?  Is it because we depend on ‘black swan’ events that cannot be predicted? 

How can we control our future?  Can we invent something really new or do we have to build on earlier inventions? Could we have thought of flight without seeing birds?  Do we lack imagination? 

What do you see coming?  Let’s discuss why we are so certain about our future and why it will probably surprise us.  Bring your time machine.

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 – Robots! Where will they go, what will they do? Join the discussion Feb 6th at 12pm SLT

What is the strangest use for a robot that you can think of?  Will there be one in your kitchen, in your toilet, in your butt?

Will there be robot doctors, dentists, judges, juries?  Will there be zillions of microbots running the world?  Will they replace bees or trees or other wild organisms? What will a future with 10 robots (or 1000 or 1,000,000) to every human be like?  Will you ever marry a robot or put one in your will?

Are we in danger from robots?  Will Asimov’s 3 laws protect us?

Come and discuss our future electronic friends or foes.  Bring your friends, robotic or otherwise.

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 23rd January at noon SLT: What if we had never invented writing?

 

All inventions seem inevitable in hindsight but before they were invented no one thought of them.  The steam engine was invented only after thousands of years of cooking.  A number system was invented after thousands of years of counting.  So this week we ask: ‘What if no one ever invented writing?’

Would memory have evolved so that we needed no records? If we had sound recording would we still have books, recited books?  Would we have drawings or songs to convey information?

Is a modern culture possible without writing? What form of writing will survive into the future? Why was writing never universal though the language was?

Bring your friends and a notebook 😊

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 16th January at noon SLT: GeekSpeak – The Future of Money

 

Last week there was a huge drop in the price of bitcoin and serious inflation is threatened in all currencies.  So now is the time to dive deep into the subject of future money.  What will we use as the basis of value?  Bitcoin, gold, fiat currencies?

What will happen when money can carry a program?  When there can be restrictions on how it can be used?  When you can send money to your kids and your grandchildren will not be able to use the money to buy drugs? When punishments for criminals could include restrictions on how they can use money?  When microtransactions are possible?

When we meet aliens for the first time what money system will they use?  And how will we do business with them?

And what will happen to the old money that we all ….. love?  Come and discuss your future wealth.  It might change your life.  Bring some friends!

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

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

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GeekSpeak subject for Saturday 19th December at noon SLT: The future of Transport!

 

Self-driving cars will be with us very soon.  And in Las Vegas, there is a very exciting tunnel project that will mean we can all travel underground and take hardly any time.  Hyperloop!! 
What if you can step into a taxi that is cheaper than a train?  What will happen to trains once electric trucks, with or without AI, are cheaper?  Will you want to use balloons, or teleportation, or what?

How will goods be transported in the future?  In just a few years, what will we see? Will goods be transported through space?   Will they be teleported?  Will nothing be transported over water or land?  What difference will that make, for jobs or towns?  What do you see in the future?  And what do you worry about?

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

Join us for a discussion about the future of transport!  IM Vulcan Viper, who teaches a meditation class every Wednesday at 1pm SLT in the GeekSpeak auditorium, if you have ideas for new subjects.

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GeekSpeak subject for Saturday 12th December at noon SLT:

 

GeekSpeak – What next for SpaceX?

As you know by now, SpaceX has successfully (apart from the final explosion) launched and landed a rocket.  SpaceX Launch Starship on First 12.5km Flight

SpaceX Launch Starship on First 12.5km Flight

This marks the beginning of a whole new era so we would like to ask in this week’s GeekSpeak: What is next?  Where do we go from here to build a space economy and what will become of it?

Will we see permanent bases on the moon and Mars in our lifetimes?  Will SpaceX make it possible to live away from Earth?

Or is it just a pipe dream?  Or worse, a waste of money and resources?  You must decide.  Bring your spacesuit!

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 November at noon SLT

 GeekSpeak – International Living.

 

Let’s talk about living internationally.  What does it take to pack your bags and go and live abroad?  What practical issues do you need to cope with?  Language, money, travel documents?  Will you be able to find work abroad?  What happens if you can’t?  Is living abroad easier for some people?  Will the number of people who live abroad increase as online living becomes more important?

What kind of people will you meet?  Will you be able to understand their values, their view of life?  If you get used to living abroad will you ever want to go back home?  Will you move around from country to country?  Will you consider the planet as your home?  In the future, will people consider the solar system or even the Milky Way as their home? 

If you think you might want to live abroad come and discuss it with us.  Bring your passport and 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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GeekSpeak – How did language really start? Join the discussion Sat. Nov 21st at 12pm SLT

What was the origin of our language system?  Did it start with humans or did some animals have a language before us?  Do some animals have a language, or a proto language, now?  Maybe our language started as a sign language, maybe spoken words came later.

Did we once have just one language on Earth?  What made languages grow apart?  Are there some universal words, like ‘ouch’ perhaps, that exist in all languages?

What is the future of language?  Will we eventually have one language over all the Earth, just as we once did when our species began?  Will that language be a spoken, or written, or sign language? Will we forever keep changing our ways to communicate?

Help us to find the answers in GeekSpeak.  Bring all your international and animal 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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GeekSpeak subject for Saturday 14th November at noon SLT:

 

GeekSpeak – Asteroids!  Are they a threat or an opportunity?

 

Join us in GeekSpeak to talk about asteroids.  How many kinds of asteroid are there?  How were asteroids made?  We have visited and sampled a few asteroids now.  Are there plans to catch one?  (The answer is yes.)

Which asteroids are a threat to us, and which ones could be useful?  What would happen if a fluffy asteroid like Bennu (sampled 2 months ago) were to hit Earth?  And what would happen if a very heavy one like Psyche were to hit us? Is there anything we can do to defend ourselves?

Will we ever find life on an asteroid?

Ask all the questions about asteroids that you never dared to ask before.  Hopefully we can get some answers.  Bring a spacesuit, and 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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GeekSpeak subject for Saturday 7th November at noon SLT

 

GeekSpeak – When did we become human?

At what point in our past did we become human?  Was it when we discovered fire?  Or language?  Or agriculture?  What made us different from other primates? 

What are humans?  Is a human in 1000 BC the same as one in 2000 AD?  Would we share the same values?  What will we have become in 3000 AD?

We can now start defining ourselves but nobody seems to be discussing it.

Let’s start the big discussion of what we, as humanity, want to become.  Come and join the discussion at GeekSpeak.  Bring all your ancient and new 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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GeekSpeak – Is there life after lockdown? Join the discussion Oct 31st at 12pm SLT

Will we have to wear masks forever?  Never visit a restaurant again?  Will we work from home forever?  Will office buildings become obsolete?  Will we order all our food online in future and never again visit a foreign country?

Or will things get back to normal, the old normal?  We hope it will of course.  But what will have changed when the dust has settled and we crawl out of our houses again?  Let’s prepare for that future and explore what will have changed, perhaps forever. 

Do you see any good coming out of the pandemic and the lockdowns?  The end of cities?  The feeling that we must help each other?  Or is it all bad?

Bring your friends.  No need for testing, SL is virus-safe 

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 October 10th at noon SLT

 

GeekSpeak – Should we seed life on other planets?

Should we take life to other planets?  Should we design and create lifeforms suited to conditions away from Earth?  Should we replace the life on other planets with life that is useful to us?  If a planet is lifeless should we take life there?  The newly discovered underground lakes on Mars might provide the first opportunity for seeding life.  And maybe some people will think it is our duty to spread life around the universe.

 If you were to design lifeforms what would you design?  Inflatable birds on Mars where ordinary birds could not fly?  Plants that move around like animals?  Animals that photosynthesize like plants?  Green cows and sheep?

Or is the whole idea foolish, even dangerous?  The animals we design may evolve to become our rivals, even our predators.  What will happen if we fill the universe with life?  Will we be worshipped as gods?  Or will we become food for a stronger species from far away? 

Come and discuss the biological future of the universe.  Bring a time machine and 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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What REALLY makes the world go around? GeekSpeak subject for Saturday 3rd October at noon SLT

 GeekSpeak – What REALLY makes the world go around?

We tend to think we know how the world works, but do we?  Does anyone really understand it?  What does the world run on?

We are used to the picture of the world running on oil, but that has only been true for the last century or so.  Before that, maybe it was the possession of fertile land.  What will be the next thing that makes the world work?  Resources?  Energy? 

Come to GeekSpeak and discuss macroeconomics and who or what really runs the planet.  And let’s learn a thing or two about the shady background to the world in which we are all trying to make our living.  Bring your friends!

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

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

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GeekSpeak subject for Saturday 19th September at noon SLT

 

Scientists have discovered a marker for phosphine in the clouds of Venus.  That might indicate life on this barren planet since phosphine on Earth is produced only by living organisms.

But how barren is Venus?  On the surface of the planet lead will melt but up in the clouds it can be a comfy 30C.  We could live in cloud cities there, especially since Venus is ‘en route’ to Mars because of orbital mechanics.  Would you like to live in a Venus cloud city?  Are there maybe sentient lifeforms living in such cities now?

If there is no life on Venus where do you think we will find it?  On Europa, Callisto, Titan, Pluto?  What is life anyway?  Would we know it if we found it?  And if we find it, how will it change our art, our religion and our way of living?

Come and discuss alien microbes in GeekSpeak.  Bring your friends.

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

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

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GeekSpeak subject for Saturday 12th September at noon SLT

GeekSpeak – How I stopped worrying and started to love finance!

Everything you always wanted to know about finance but were afraid to ask.  Ask all your finance questions now.  Let’s explore the financial system.  What are shares?  How should we invest?

Even if you have close to zero in your account right now, let’s see where to go.  Erik Goff has been there and got the T-shirt and knows the way out. 

Why does the world work as it does?  What are the financial markets doing?

If you want to know more and if you want to know how to get extra money into your pocket, come and join us in GeekSpeak.

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

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

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GeekSpeak – Neuralink: Saviour or Disaster? GeekSpeak Saturday 5th September at noon SLT

Last week Elon Musk unveiled the latest plans for Neuralink, the company that plants a chip in your skull that connects your brain to a computer.  This technology promises to make the paralyzed walk and the blind see.  If it can do that it will be an amazing benefit for all disabled people.

What else will it be able to do?  Will we be able to link our brains to robots on Mars so that we can experience being there on another planet?  Will we be able to share thoughts with other people?

Are there dangers with this technology?  If a couple links their brains will they live happily ever after, or get a divorce straight away?  Will companies be able to put advertisements into your thoughts?  Will the government force all children to get a link so that they can be controlled?

Come and discuss the digitalization of your brain patterns.  It is closer than you think.  Bring your friends, with or without brains.

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

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

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All your data belongs to us! Who is listening? And should we worry? Saturday 29th August at noon SLT

So much data is collected about all of us.  What is it used for?  Is it an invasion of privacy?  Does it make you angry?  Will all humans eventually get sick and tired of all the spying?  Will the Big Five data collectors, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google, cease to exist?

Or do you think they should use the data to give you information you really need?  Like what colour the flowers you buy for your mother on her birthday should be.  Or what sort of job you should take. Or who you should marry.  Would you listen?  Or would you find it creepy?

Can we ever get our privacy back?  Is there a way to escape the panopticon we all live in?  If you do escape, how long will you be safe from the ever-seeing Eye?  Come and join the discussion.  Turn off your phone and wrap it in tinfoil.  And bring your non-friends to confuse the system.

IM Vulcan Viper, who teaches a meditation class every Wednesday at the GeekSpeak auditorium at 1pm SLT, if you have ideas for new subjects.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/143/127/51

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