Origin > Dangerous Futures > BREAKPOINT: terrorists vs. transhumanists
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    BREAKPOINT: terrorists vs. transhumanists
by   Richard A. Clarke

Former counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke’s BREAKPOINT novel, set in the year 2012, is based on emerging technologies. "Globegrid," a high-speed global network, links supercomputers worldwide. Combined with advanced AI software, it promises to reverse-engineer the brain, revolutionize genomics, enable medical breakthroughs, develop advanced human-machine interfaces, and allow for genetic alterations and even uploading consciousness. But it spurs a terrorist-fundamentalist Luddite backlash against transhumanists, as hackers take down the power grid, and destroy vital international data and telecom links, communications satellites, and biotech firms.


Originally published in Breakpoint, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, January 2007. Reprinted with permission on KurzweilAI.net May 21, 2007. Richard A. Clarke will be featured in Ray Kurzweil's movie, "The Singularity is Near, A True Story about the Future," due for release in Spring 2008.

Author's Note

In The Scorpion’s Gate, I projected a world in 2010, with the United States and China competing politically and economically for a dwindling supply of increasingly expensive oil and gas. That competition naturally took them to the Persian Gulf, where the largest oil deposits remained.  The Persian Gulf of 2010 was unstable, with the United States threatening Iran, and fundamentalist Islamic forces emerging in Saudi Arabia.  Corruption and giant corporations made Washington a political battleground.  While I noted at the time of publication that the work was not meant to be predictive, many of the trends in the novel have developed and are dominating the news.
Breakpoint, set in 2012, is meant to be predictive, at least about technology.  It may read to some like science fiction, but it is based on emerging technologies that are the subject of research today.  Scientists and engineers differ in their views about when the research will result in deployed technology, but their differences are most often a discussion of “when,” not “if.”

This novel is intended to project you a few years ahead, to start readers thinking now about the political, social, and economic changes that technology is about to create. Those changes could be wrenching, creating tensions in our society.  A woman’s right to choose, the teaching of evolution, and stem-cell research have already created social and political discord in the United States.  The coming technological events may make these current controversies seem like a practice round, a warm-up.  For the next debate may be about “what is a human”: Should humans change the species with human-machine interfaces and genetic alterations?

The opening rounds have already occurred.  The Transhumanist movement is real and has regular meetings around the country.  In 2002, the National Science Foundation issued a stunning report, “Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance: Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology and Cognitive Science.” The report, which overall has an upbeat and optimistic tone, concludes that connections between the human brain and computers will transform the way humans work, other technologies will eliminate disabilities and diseases that have plagued the human condition for centuries, and human creativity will flourish due to both improved understanding of the human mind and enhancements to the brain. A year later, the President’s Council on Bioethics issued its report, “Beyond Therapy: Biotechnology and the Pursuit of Happiness” which took a somewhat dimmer view of using technology to enhance human beings. Chaired by Leon Kass, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, the commission included conservative political figures such as Francis Fukuyama and Charles Krauthammer. They believe that genetic science should not be used to enhance human performance, only to fix mistakes that make some humans less healthy than the norm.  In 2004, Californians voted on a referendum on stem cell research and approved funding for research.  Court fights have delayed the spending of state monies.

As to some of the specifics in Breakpoint:

-- The concept of Globegrid arises from the fact that supercomputers in Japan, the United States, and Russia have already been linked through Internet 2, a new high speed networked being developed by a consortium of 207 universities.  U.S. and European labs are actually engaged in a project to reverse engineer the human brain.

-- Living Software does not yet exist, but companies like Watchfire Fortify, Coverity, and others are already developing software to test software for human error.

-- Very Light Jets (VLJs) have been approved by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and are in manufacture. They are four-to-six seat aircraft meant to operate like taxis.  Eclipse Aviation’s Eclipse500 and Citation’s CJ-1 are among the first deployed VLJs.

-- Intelligent video surveillance, in which the software and cameras (not people) recognize aberrant behavior, are already being deployed by companies such as DVTel and Vidient in subways, airports, and other facilities.

-- Exoskeleton suits are already in the prototype phase. The U.S. Army has teamed with the University of California at Berkeley to develop the prototype, which will allow soldiers to carry 180 pounds while feeling as if they were lugging five. Plans on the drawing board at the Army’s Natick Labs in Massachusetts show soldiers being able to run, jump, and throw the way they are described in the baseball game in Breakpoint. The other capabilities that make up the full suite of technologies in the exoskeleton suits (night vision, network connections, GPS, remote cameras, and vital-system monitoring) are all part of a program called the Objective Force Warrior Ensemble, set to be deployed by 2010.

-- People in the United States will be driving Chinese-manufactured cars like the Chery product line in 2007-08.  Cars powered by ethanol derived from switch grass exist today.

-- Driven by the large number of U.S. casualties in Iraq, Marine and Army amputees are now receiving prosthetics far more advanced than what is available in the civilian community. Known as sea legs, these new prosthetics are driven by microprocessors at each joint. They use innovative new materials and techniques to respond to signals from the human brain to straighten a leg or flex a muscle. Servicemen and women who once would have been unable to lead normal civilian lives are now able to return to the battlefield.

-- Human nerves have already connected artificial ears directly to the brain. Paralyzed patients are today using their thoughts to move computer mouse devices.  Some patients suffering from severe depression and other disorders already do have miniature wires leading to parts of their brain and do have battery packs implanted behind their collarbones. Other Human-Machine Interfaces (HMIs) are in development.

-- Artificial retinas for people suffering from blindness caused by diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa or macular degeneration are in the development phase and have already seen some success in restoring limited vision in clinical trials. The devices work by implanting a small chip at the back of the eye that stimulates retinal neurons. They are powered by solar receptors fed by the light that enters the eye. Replacing the full eye with a silicon-based optical unit may be feasible, but is also likely that the ability to regenerate or transplant an eye may happen sooner and be more appealing.

-- The state of cyber security described in the novel is, unfortunately, not fiction. Identities (name, date of birth, Social Security number, credit-card number) are bought and sold in cyberspace hacker chat rooms.  Software coding errors are regularly used by hackers to enter networks and computers.  Scientists at U.S. government national laboratories have demonstrated the possibility of taking down the power grid through hacking.

--The company iRobot has sold large numbers of robots to clean floors. Asimov, the robotic dog, could easily be a reality in the near term. Sony’s Aibo already can mimic the actions of a “real” dog. Moving from Aibo to the fictional Asimov will require adding voice recognition technology, a wireless web link, limited artificial-intelligence capabilities, and advanced motor devices to power its arms and legs. In some form or another, these technologies all exist today.

-- Performance-enhancing pharmaceuticals (PEPs) is my own name, but  the concept is not fiction. For memory enhancement, a compound known as CX717 has proven effective in boosting the brain chemical glutamate, the substance that is key in learning and memory. Studies have shown it effective in treating narcolepsy and ADD. It has also proven effective for otherwise healthy individuals who need to stay focused over longer periods without sleep. For sports, regulatory authorities are fighting an uphill battle, with gene doping and performance enhancing pharmaceuticals becoming more sophisticated, more effective, and safer than steroids.  The Pentagon is developing drugs that will allow soldiers to go for long periods without sleeping.

-- Cellular regeneration of organs and other body parts is in its infancy but will likely yield real-world results by the end of this decade. Embryonic stem cells are thought to hold the most promise for treating a wide range of maladies, from cancer to spinal injuries. Human adult stem cells are already used to treat a variety of ailments. Fixing retinas, cloning hair for baldness, and regrowing teeth are all showing promise.  Progress on stem cell research has slowed due to the Bush administration’s unwillingness to fund research on embryonic stem cells. This decision has slowed progress and shifted much work overseas, where governments have embraced the promise of this research. It is quite possible the United States will be left behind in what will be the most pivotal medical advance since the decoding of the genome.

-- Aircraft without onboard pilots are already in use.  I fought a bureaucratic battle with CIA in 2000 to get them to use the unmanned Predator to hunt for terrorists and in 2001 to arm the Predator with missiles. When Predator finally was used to attack terrorists in Afghanistan and Yemen, it was probably the first time a robot intentionally killed a human. The U.S. Air Force is now developing UCAVs, unmanned combat aerial vehicles, fighter planes whose pilots will sit safely on the ground hundreds or thousands of miles away from the aircraft. Lockheed has plans for an unmanned version of the F-35.

-- The laser gun depicted in Breakpoint is a technology set to emerge sometime within the next decade, depending on the prioritization it receives in Pentagon budget negotiations. The Airborne Laser is being built by Boeing to mount a laser on a 747 for use against ballistic missiles. When the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) was first put on the drawing board in 2001, plans called for a solid-state laser as an offensive weapon.  Although it has been delayed, The Lightweight Tactical Laser weapon  may now be incorporated in the F-35 block 30.

-- The initial mapping of the human genome was complete in 2000. Detailed mapping of the individual chromosomes is under way, with most of the existing human chromosomes already mapped. The first genetic therapy was approved to treat patients in 1990. Today, genetic therapy is used to fix flaws in some human coding, including sickle-cell anemia, Huntington’s disease, cystic fibrosis and hemophilia.

-- Nanotechnology is already in use in cosmetics, tennis racquets, paints, and fabrics. The National Nanotechnology Initiative is the largest new federal science project in recent years. Researchers have successfully used gold nanoparticles to deliver DNA molecules safely into cancer cells as part of a program to defeat cancer.

-- The field of Synthetic Biology is also real and has resulted in the creation of Bio Fab plants, named to sound like the plants (called Fabs) that made silicon-based computer chips. Synthetic Biology has created bacteria that seek and invade tumor cells, yeast that produce the anti-malarial drug precursor artemisinic acid, and biological sources of renewable energy.

Sometimes you can tell more truth through fiction.

© 2007 RAC Enterprises, Inc.

   
 

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Mind·X Discussion About This Article:

Clarke
posted on 05/21/2007 1:53 PM by remoran

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Richard Clarke is a very savvy guy. Impressive, eruidite and tough minded, he walks the walk and talks the talk. No doubt he researched the hell of tech and how it is changing how society and govenrment does business. Too bad the BA did not take his advice but hey, the Bush Administration is too arrogant and incompetent to listen to anyone who has brains and is not shy about expressing his take on terrorism and the ramifications of it on policy.

Good article here.

Re: Clarke
posted on 08/22/2009 7:30 PM by LifeQuest

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Too bad the BA did not take his advice but hey, the Bush Administration is too arrogant and incompetent to listen to anyone who has brains and is not shy about expressing his take on terrorism and the ramifications of it on policy.


Even those at the working level within government operating groups are likely to ignore good ideas, but rather keep their focus on issues like 'how do we look to management three levels up?' and 'what's our PR look like?'. Their contractors are also likely to be responsive to whims in the operating groups rather than insistent on innovative approaches, since their goals are driven by financial rather than idealogical concerns.

In a short story titled "Innerzones" (no URL's permitted here, so I can't link to it) a war using killer-replicators (nanotechnology) is on the brink of taking place, and it falls to innovators who have devised a defense system to choose to deploy it rather than waiting for the slow and indecisive actions of government. It's that sort of intervention that may be necessary in situations where a solution is apparent, but no governmental authority will take a chance on putting it to work.

Re: BREAKPOINT: terrorists vs. transhumanists
posted on 05/28/2007 12:12 PM by pranosb

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Back when I was a boy in the 1960s it was said by the "experts" that technology would shrink the work week and give us all a wonderful world to live in. Those people were not stupid! That potential existed just as they said it did. Why did it not happen? Because of the human tendancy toward ego! Those with the tools to bring about such a social revolution decided (conciously or not) to use the power locked up in that gross product to better their own situation and as of now, leave the rest of us in developed countries a bit worse off than our parents. Most of us value that social currency which tells us "I'm better than the rest". That's what drives alot of our spending... get the newest thing so I can show it off to my friends. This too will drive the application of the technologies spoken of here. I can find no reason (wish I could) to suppose that those who are holding the purse strings will suddenly become interested in making a future for those less well off then they are. I am no better of course! How can I possibly sleep at night when I know of the suffering of people in Africa? How can I go on living knowing that much of my wealth is purchased with human misery? Well somehow I can. I sleep very well at night though I am well aware of the worsening conditions around the 3rd world.
My point? When these technologies come on line, access will be granted only to those who can pay. Their pride will immediately exclude most of us from gaining those benefits! What happens when they don't need the rest of humanity? Will they ignore us? Will they see us as a threat? Why should our own pride not cause us to be just that... a threat to them. Surely we would hate them for excluding us! These technologies will not be our undoing. The Bible teaches that pride comes before a fall. I believe that pride not technology may lead to our demise. The singularity? You all are pointing to the future but I believe we are at the event horizon now! It's my opinion and I am PROUD of it!

Re: BREAKPOINT: terrorists vs. transhumanists
posted on 05/28/2007 12:20 PM by NANO-ONE

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****Back when I was a boy in the 1960s it was said by the "experts" that technology would shrink the work week and give us all a wonderful world to live in. Those people were not stupid!***** WELL LOOK HOW FRANCE IS DOING, THEY HAVE 35 HOUR WEEK, THEIR ECONOMY STINKS, AND THEY HAVE
9% UNEMPLOYMENT !

Re: BREAKPOINT: terrorists vs. transhumanists
posted on 05/28/2007 12:24 PM by pranosb

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Why? Who controls that economy?

France
posted on 06/02/2007 7:06 PM by advancedatheist

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Make up your minds about the French, you conservative & libertarian cranks. Either they screwed up their economy (apparently not, according to this article); or else they've shown the way to the future by embracing nuclear power.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-weisbrot/econom ic-misinformation-p_b_47265.html

Economic Misinformation Plays a Major Role in French Election

It is important to understand that there is no economic logic to the argument that the citizens of any rich country need to reduce their living standards or government programs because of economic progress in developing countries. Once a developed country has reached a certain level of productivity, there is no economic reason for its residents to take a pay or benefit cut, or work more hours, because other countries are catching up to their level. That productivity, which is based on the country's collective knowledge, skills, capital stock, and organization of the economy, is still there, and in fact it increases every year. To the extent that international competition is being used by special interests to push down the living standards of French or German or U.S. workers -- and it is -- it just means that the rules for international commerce are being written by the wrong people. It is a problem of limited democracy and lack of representation for the majority, not a problem that is inherent to economic progress.


Re: BREAKPOINT: terrorists vs. transhumanists
posted on 10/24/2007 7:48 PM by boatman

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With regard for your fear that future humanity would
somehow hate and discriminate against those who, for whatever reason were not enhanced, I would point to the Amish. Compassion and chivalry will not be dead in the future.

Re: BREAKPOINT: terrorists vs. transhumanists
posted on 05/28/2007 12:23 PM by pranosb

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I know I am replying to my own post but I felt I need to add that the connection between what I wrote there and Breakpoint is this... the feeling of outrage which is felt by terrorists is based on pride. This is exploited by their leaders just as it is by ours. Thanks!

Re: BREAKPOINT: terrorists vs. transhumanists
posted on 05/28/2007 12:32 PM by NANO-ONE

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I KNOW ITS THE JEWS AND THE US, RIGHT!

Re: BREAKPOINT: terrorists vs. transhumanists
posted on 05/28/2007 12:39 PM by NANO-ONE

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PRIDE IS NOT WHAT MOTORVATES THEM! RELIGION IS. ILLITERACY AND LACK OF OTHER MEANS IS THE REASON THEY CHOSE TERRORISM. THEIR GOVERNMENTS USE THEM TO AVOID CRITISISM OF THEIR DICTATORSHIP, AND THEY STRIVE TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE WILL NEVER BE A FREE PALESTINE OR IRAQ FOR THAT MATTER SO THE ILLITERATE MASSES WILL HAVE ALWAYS REASONS TO BE BUSY BLOWING THEMSELVES UP AND BURNING US FLAGS.

Re: BREAKPOINT: terrorists vs. transhumanists
posted on 05/28/2007 2:34 PM by BeAfraid

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My Brother-in-Law grew up in Iran... For w ehile he was sucked into Fanatic Islamic Ideologies, and he was from a fairly well-to-do family.

Many of those involved in the perpetration of 9/11 were educated and not exactly ignorant or poor.

Radical Ideology comes about as a perception of lack of power and a fear of what those who are perceived as having power might do with even more of it. There is also the fact that Islam is currently undergoing their own reformation. They have yet to have a pivital point like Luther Nailing his 95 thesis to Wittenburg Cathedral in the 15th century.. Ooops... 16th century... It was 1546 (not important though really)...

What I am getting at is that currently Islam as a whole is feeling as if it is being threatened, and in a way it is.. Much of current science tends to threaten historical religion by exposing that it is still just myth that it is based upon and not really the historical actions of some savior or prophet. Unfortunately for those religions, they do not realize that a religion based upon a firm foundation of myth is much stronger than one which tries to base its creed/dogma and beliefs upon an actual historical event (but, again, this is getting off the subject a bit).

The threat that religion is undergoing is proucing a lot of fear, and those whose basic faith in the world is threatened tend to react in pretty irrational manners. Seeing as they have begun from an irrational belief in a superbeing based upon what they see as a factual history it is no surprise that they then move toward an irrational reaction to that percieved source of fear (teh threat).

This threat, in Islam, as I have been told by many erudite Muslims, is mostly manifest to the Islamic world by the US and its support of Israel, in conjunction with its continued support of education that is on the verge of creating godless technologies that are the works of Satan (in their eyes). Mostly it is the education more than it is the creation of thee godless technologies.

What they said most Muslims feared the most was the Internet and its ability to bring instant information to someone. Often information that contradicts what they have been taught as good little muslims... Basically, they fear the lifting of a veil of ignorance, because the lifting of that veil brings about a change in their world for which they had no clue as to ever have to prepare for... And change brings fear... always... Seems to always come back to that... Change and fear...

Re: BREAKPOINT: terrorists vs. transhumanists
posted on 05/28/2007 5:48 PM by Questor

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Whenever you see a well-fed housecat idly killing a mouse in the garden, this is the last point of delineation between "evil" and bored animaldom practising what would be necessitated for survival in the wild. What exactly am I trying to say with this? Basically, benevolent singularity is the only chance for both collective redemption and species survival, simply because when a grown human first consciously murdered a human child with organized malevolence, that singular action of perhaps several hundred thousand years back went far beyond cats toying with mice; effectively "we" have long ago lost any claim to even our own existence, this adjudicated by the present daily carnage around this planet from preventable diseases, hunger, and war. It took some seven thousand years of settled agrarianism to reach this point-"this" being our small pockets of advancing civilization-and even now barely a quarter of the masses live comfortable fruitful lives. Given past indicators, I predict a looming period of fake singularity announcements coupled with all manner of false techno-messiahs punctuating the grinding neo-feudalism that even now lies on the social horizon, a time within which 10% of humanity will avoid yet rule the other 90% doomed to continued suffering during an indeterminate period between now and the only true hope: genuine singularity.

Re: BREAKPOINT: terrorists vs. transhumanists
posted on 05/29/2007 4:22 AM by BeAfraid

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Personally, I do not see the Singularity as being something that hs any kind of "good/evil" associated with it.

I view it in much the same manner that you described the cat playing with the mouse... It is just something that is going to hapen, and in the process, because of humanity being the way that humanity is (much the same way that cats are the way that cats are, adn as such , tend to jump on and "play" with small moving objects), many people will get hurt, killed, and otherwise damaged in the process.

Hopefully, much of this damage will be reparable by the very process that originaly caused said damage.

As I said in my post above... All of that depands upon the amount of fear that is created in society concerning said revolutions, whether they are pre- or post- singularity.

Re: BREAKPOINT: terrorists vs. transhumanists
posted on 05/30/2007 8:45 AM by NANO-ONE

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I am afraid that you gentleman are somehow ignoring the fact that to be that religious, to the point, strapping yourself to a bomb and expect 70 virgins to welcome you in heaven, has to do with illiteracy. The few that control and instigate these poor people, to do such things do not believe in any virgins, but power. Any dictatorship will use any means to convince the masses or distract them from their misery. The muslim religion all through history was never able to convert anybody by their choice. It was always by the sword. And they are taking a page out of their history today, to assert themselves through violence.

Re: BREAKPOINT: terrorists vs. transhumanists
posted on 05/30/2007 9:03 AM by BeAfraid

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I do not see it as a matter of illiteracy, as many of those who do such things are rabid readers of the Koran, which takes a great deal of literacy to do...

I do see it as a matter of ignrance, born of fear... Either way, you are correct about them being exploited by those who have the power to convince them that giving their life will be rewarded somehow...

Personally, I think that if they realized how AWFUL virgins were at sex... They might be less willing to give up their lives (That is mostly a joke, but I have found there to be some truth in it - I know of several people who swore they would never have sex again after loosing their virginity or after having been with someone who did)...

Still... The Islam is a culture that was born by the sword and grew by the sword... There HAVE been those who adopted Islam without having it forced upon them (I need to consult with my Islamic expert, but I know he has mentioned cultures that adopted it as a political ploy during the 9th through 12th centuries... Of course, they did so in order to gain military support from the Turks or Safavids to go beat on someone else...

Re: BREAKPOINT: terrorists vs. transhumanists
posted on 05/30/2007 12:48 PM by NANO-ONE

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Good points re: virgins. There is a lot to be desired there. Anywho !!! I strongly believe that the whole world eventually will turn out to be all moslem.******************************************* ************************************************** ***********************************************Bec ause by then everybody else will be on a different planet ...

Re: BREAKPOINT: terrorists vs. transhumanists
posted on 08/06/2007 12:09 PM by infodel

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“Many of those involved in the perpetration of 9/11 were educated and not exactly ignorant or poor.”

All of them were educated. That ‘poverty breeds terrorism’ is a myth, propagated by jihadists and their left wing apologists, and dispelled time and time again as we learn more about the proponents of this barbaric, medieval ideology.

“Radical Ideology comes about as a perception of lack of power and a fear of what those who are perceived as having power might do with even more of it.”

“Radical”? Are we talking about Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism ..? No. We’re talking about Islam. “Radical Islam” then? No. Until we study the Quran and the stories and sayings of Mohammad (the Hadith) we will be under the illusion that Islam is a ‘religion of peace’. Nothing could be more further from the truth.

“Islam as a whole,” may as you said feel “as if it is being threatened” since Islam is a political and ideological project that was only disrupted in 1923 with the dissolution of the Islamic Caliphate in Ottoman Turkey after WW1: Western civil liberty and the growth of technology indeed threatens an ideology that would otherwise prescribe every detail of society in the most oppressive terms.

And I am afraid you have been duped by “ many erudite Muslims” that the cause is the “US and its support of Israel, in conjunction with its continued support of education that is on the verge of creating godless technologies”. America is the Great Satan, Israel the Little Satan: the former the champion of values anathema to Islam, the Complete and Total Explanation of the Universe and Regulator of Society; the latter the thorn in the side of the once great Islamic Empire that systematically persecuted the Jews until, as Mohummad said on his death bed, “there shall not be more than one religion on the [Saudi] peninsula”.

Until we learn more about Islam, and stop buying into the myth of Islamophobia, and understand that way before America was even conceived, there was jihad, there was sharia, there was oppression of non-Muslims (learn about the jizya, the treatment of the dhimmi), there was slavery, there was an expansionist, totalitarian political project … only then we might stop blaming ourselves, America, and Israel, and understand that the war we are in is not going to stop until Islam totally reforms or is utterly subdued.

This is the key lacking ingredient in all of Kurzweil’s analysis: a properly researched context in which we fight this war. It is not a War on Terror – it is a war on Jihadism. Read Waild Phares, Robert Spencer, Hugh Fitzgerald, Andrew Bostom, Bat Yeor … listen to Global Crisis Watch … This is the singular, specific war we are in and this will be the one that affects, limits, or stimulates breakthroughs in technology as we head toward the Singularity.

Re: BREAKPOINT: terrorists vs. transhumanists
posted on 08/07/2007 12:05 AM by BeAfraid

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You seem to have understood my points exceedingly well...

These are exactly some of the same questions (and conclusions) I have come to.

Only, I think that the radicalizing of religion across the globe is part of the problem... Not just with Islam, but with ANY levantine monolithic monotheistic religion (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam).

Islam is at the present the most visible of the wackos, and the most outspoken proponent of violence. Although, I believe that all three of the Yahweh cults are just as violent; just two of them are more hypocritical about their use of violence as a means to an end.

Re: BREAKPOINT: terrorists vs. transhumanists
posted on 06/01/2007 2:23 AM by jefft0

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Nitpicking date details. The novel is supposed to be set in 2012, but page 1 begins "Sunday, March 8".
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0399153780/ref=sib _dp_pt/104-3959489-2013568
But in 2012, March 8 is on a Thursday. How could the author have made such a basic mistake?

Re: BREAKPOINT: terrorists vs. transhumanists
posted on 06/01/2007 5:11 AM by lokamr

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singularity: Full reality regeneration becomes available. It turns out
technology was just something to give us beliefs about advancement. A
we with you achieve a point where we merge with the universe --
converting to nano-fog or whatever else we like.


a post-singularity city:

A whole country that decided to go against the people of Singularity
decided to drop an hydrogen bomb on the most advanced of Singularity
cities.

It is too late however, the majority of the population has merged and
the bombs were taken apart within seconds of release from the aircraft
by the large gray mass of nano fog hanging around the city.

There was the attack in some universes, but most residents of the city
aren't interested in hostile relations with the rest of the world and so never
experienced it and continued to live in a peacefull world.

This was however an eventuality that was thought about by some members
of the city in terms of what scripts to run in the case of such an
eventuality.

There will probably be a few city citizens that opted for a world
of nuclear war to experience -- for a little while at least. There
were some latch ditch efforts made by the city to allow newcomers to
merge with the singularity.

A group of special ops come in from the attackers to check upon the
damage in radiation suits.

Around the city floats a constant dome of nano-fog creating the
impression of an "entrance" on some of the main streets.

The spec-ops see no movement in the city, most of the cars having been
adandoned -- perhaps long ago.

As they approach Rodni notices it looks like there is a figure vaguely
standing at the main intersection they are approaching.

Rodni alerts the group and they take cover. The figures just continue
to vaguely exist in the middle of the street, seeming relatively
unthreatening -- creating a golden halo of light emiting from them in
the sea of gray that is the nano-fog.

Sam looks carefully and sees a small blonde girl in a red coat and hat
standing amongst the figures -- it stirs vague recollection for him from
childhood and he breaks formation to stumble towards the golden
congregation.

Rodni to seems to see someone they are certain lived in the city they
thought for sure were lost to the singularitarian uploaders. In fact
everyone in the group sees someone the recognize, break formation, and
start mind-numbingly walking towards the group -- which is now casually
beckoning them with motions, glances, fruits and toys.

Except Paul. Paul was much of a loner much of his life and never really
got along with his family or anyone for that matter -- most of Paul's
existance is about the destruction of others, Singularitarians are just
the most prominent of targets. The spec-ops let Paul on the team for
his obvious ability and onemindedness about the issue.

Paul sees demons lurking in the golden green flames emiting from the
main gates -- though occasionaly the images are swept over by a girl he
once saw in childhood. This really torments Paul and he lets out a
gutural yell as he retrieves his machine gun and starts firing in the
direction of the people.

The girl in red notices and raises and eyebrow. Two giants form
seemingly from the two adjacent business towers -- which upon close
inspection are seeping nano-fog, making the building seem almost alive.
They giant/trolls have bodies of gray and carry each a gray shield that
is one with their arms -- the giant emerging from the right has a left
arm shield, and the one from the left a right arm shield. Though their
size and apparent bulk seems like it would be slow moving, they have no
trouble in getting between the explosive lazer bullets and the golden
conglomerate.

The whole spec ops faction gets really spooked, some hit the floor, some
turn on Paul -- they were torn away from the silent communication stream
that was going on between them and their loved ones of the golden
conglomerate, to them it stopped with Pauls attack.

Rodni makes some statements about pursuing non-violent action, Sam
agrees. The leader, Flip checks that the giants with shields aren't
advancing or threatening them in any matter -- makes a few value
judments about the strength of the city and his crew -- turns to
his crew and yells that it's just a reconissance mission and so they are not to engage in
combat unless absolutely necessary.

The giants on hearing this shrink into gray coloured Spartan phalanx
soldiers. The right one speaks to Flip and asks if an ambassador should
be sent for information exchange. Flip concerned for his safety and
that of the crew is relieved that they wont have to go much further,
also feels empowered by the obvious gesture and respect of power that
they gave him by asking.

Flip looks around his crew, sees Rodni nodding to him, Sam nodding while
staring at the golden conglomerate and Paul walking around yelling
something almost incoherantly while waving his arms about. The rest of
the crew seem to be staring or hiding -- immobilized. Slowly some fear
starts to creep into him as he was getting over the shock of what just
happened.

"Yes let the ambassador come!" yells Sam while stepping forward. Paul
moves his gun into position to take out Sam -- Sam believes Paul to have
been taken over by the enemy. There is a fly in Paul's ear and some
dust on his scope though, he becomes obssesively interested in cleaning the
lense, even decides to sit down.

Flip is standing biting his nails after having just seen his most
dedicated blood thirsty man become tame. Rodni, who was looking in a
different direction at the time, makes eye contact with Flip and motions
with his head towards the golden conglomerate, words come out of Rodni's
mouth but Flip doesn't seem to hear them. Rodni takes Flip by the
shoulders and turns him around softly saying in Flips ear "Derz
symuyn kyming".

Sam was up ahead of them kneeling down talking to the little girl in red
which had come forward. He stood up, turned around and said "kymon
gaiz, Lilim sez shill teik ys tu de Teacher". Flip started feeling
nauseated and vomited in his suit. "shi seiz dat iu dont hav tu uer ior
sut."

Bob chirped up saying that the radiation levels were normal. Sam
started taking off his suit with he help of the little girl in red.

Rodni looked at the now nearly non-visible Flip through his visor. "hir
ai kan ynhuk iu." It was getting brighter -- the walls of the buildings
were starting to glow golden. Flip spread his arms and turned around
almost by reflex to let Rodni unzip him, Flip needed to think, this
vomit wasn't helping.

Once the crew saw their leaders taking off their suits they followed
suit -- ;) ambiguity.

Sam came up to Flip with a bunch of white hand-towels and handed them
over. "Thanks" said Flip cleaning himself. Somehow that was really
what Flip needed, his paranoia was gone, he felt comfortable 'ar de ualz
glo,uing?' hi thought to himself while looking to the right building
casually not taking note of the golden conglomerate.

He turned towards them and found himself with his crew, mostly anyways
-- he had a nagging feeling that someone was left behind but couldn't
place it and the goldshine was really getting to him, so he really
couldn't care less.

A figure in a black cloak stepped out of the golden conglomerate, took
off its hood to reveal a stunningly pale complexing with golden flowing
hair. It decided that a male homo-sapien appearance would be most easy
to relate to with this crowd and took upon the appearance of one.

"Ai kan teik iu intu de Siti, byt ior maindz myst bi redi first."
uttered the cloaked man. Flip, Sam and Rodni nodded in agreement.
Six arms extended out of the cloak all bearing familiar looking pipes.
"iuv yl smoked marijuana before haven't you?". Rodni game a smile and
plucked his familiar decorated wooden pipe -- which he was certain he
left at home but had seen enough things today he wasn't going to argue.
He saw it was stuffed to the brim with what undoubtebly looked and
smelled like high grade Cannabis Sativa. A pale hand held out a light
and Rodni took a toke, closing his eyes in the nostalgic memory of the
pipe.

"pylz ril fain .ui" Rodni said in the half-restrained voice of someone
holding a hit for sensual extravagence and optimal effectiveness.

The rest of the crew smiled and emulated the ritual. Stout Bob voiced up
"do iu tink we kan have sym tcerz?"

"sirtenli" the man in the cloak motioned with a hand and the gaurds soon
appeared with chairs retrieved from some of the nano-fog seeping out the
buildings. "hau abaut a tcendj in sineri?" hi waved and what was fog
turned into lush plant life, a stream ran down the right side of the
street.

The golden conglomerate started mingling with their arrived familiars. A
golden fountain sprang from where the golden conglomerate had been
standing. The man in the cloak leaned back and the fountain
rock came to meet him and make him a comfortable seat.

He saw that the majority of people were occupied with their familiars
and so he had time to relax.

The girl in red led Sam up to the fountain, tapped it and said "wine" a
spout formed from the yellow rock of the fountain and started spewing
wine, it was just dropping to the floor. The girl motioned towards it.

"Perhaps a drinking vessle as well?" Sam said a little aghast at the
obvious waste of the wine just flowing down the street and into the
river. A menu popped up infront of him, floating in mid air, it said: "
drinking vessel, Cancel, Ok". Without even thinkng he clicked okay
with his right hand and felt a cup in his left.

Paul awoke to notice that he had been drooling. There was no one around
him, some suits were scattered not far from where he was.

He remmebered the Golden Conglomerate, looked up, and there it was, the
monsters he had been seeing were still present, and that figure in the
black cloak.

It stepped out of the conglomerate and revealed itself. It was a
temptress, no wait it was just a man with long hair. The man extended
his hand to reveal a new self heating pipe that Paul had been eyeing for
some time -- packed to the brim.

Paul felt for his weapon not really expecting to find them, and not. He
looked towards the man who was outstretching a bottle of what clearly
said "vitamin C -- reduces paranoia". Paul found it a little odd, but
had another glance at the monsters of the golden conglomerate and
decided that perhaps he was somewhat paranoid.

He took the bottle and looked suspiciously at the contents. Then it hit
him "Uer iz everyone!?".

"they are in a happier universe, you can join them as soon as you are
happy too" said the man waving and the holographic forms of the rest of
the group dimly were aparent, playing with their familiars and
experiencing the environment.

"they're in heaven, I don't want to go there" Paul retorted. Lokam
nodded.

"Anything I can do for you in your hell universe?"

Paul pondered. "Make me immortal and get me some slave broads"

Lokam snapped his fingers, two shape shifters stepped out of the
conglomerate. Lokam handed Paul the pipe with leather bag and a small
pamphlet.

"Eat the vitamins and smoke some pot to get closer to heaven, otherwise
read the pamphlet for your immortality, the second page is a portal to
la.ma'aSELtcan., it'll teach you LOJban and whatever else you want to
know" Lokam paused. "Hell is a free for all, cities are full of high
chaos creatures ready to consume. You can take shelter for the night,
but in the morning set out to your home base and tell them what you
like, if you like -- it's a free for all, do as thou wilt and have fun!
:D" and with that Lokam was gone. The two shape shifters pressed
close to their master and made him a shelter.


The first page of the pamphlet: http://tcana.info/maheSELkik.asc

Re: BREAKPOINT: terrorists vs. transhumanists
posted on 08/06/2007 11:11 PM by BeAfraid

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Dude,

According to all of the info I have been able to gather about lojban... there are only about 50 people on earth who speak it...

Not to mention, it SUCKS ASS as a language to do anything but communicate precise instructions, and if I wanted to do that... I'll use a programming language.

No double entendré, no innuendo, no subtlety, no poetry, no methphor, no soul... Lojban may be an excellent langauge for removing all doubt as to the intent of a speaker, but that is why we have things called "questions"... To ask someone to clarify their intentions, and statements.

The adoption of lojban would be a nightmare of laziness. Communication skills would be lost, art would be lost....

I can definitely see the worlds languages thinning out to create a sort of "lingua franca" of the world (eventually, but I doubt that all of the people will really be speaking ONE language; it will just appear that way), but lojban???

I do not see a worldwide need for such a language. If one existed... I am not aware of it.

WTF is this obsession with lojban?

Re: BREAKPOINT: terrorists vs. transhumanists
posted on 08/06/2007 11:46 PM by BeAfraid

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Also, why would a group who opposed "The Singularity" be so stupid as to try to drop a bomb where they would probably have a clue that the technological defenses would disable it.

Things like nanite-fogs don't get created in a vacuum. Odds are very likely that any pre-singularity society would know full well the futility of a direct intervention as clumsy and crude as "dropping a bomb".

Why would they not use their own nano-tech to produce some sort of weapon? Why would they not use some sort of disruptive energy weapon to disable the communications between computational nodes in the nanites (and between any other form of communications)?

And Pot? Isn't that a bit crude as well... If you have access to the innermost workings of the mind (due to nanite 3D imaging of the molecular structure of the Brain, Central and Sympathetic Nervous Systems), why would you leave "Mind expansion" to a crude chemical that has not been tailored to the specific chemistry of each person? Not to mention that there are mechanisms beyond chemistry that could be used as well for "mind expansion". As if such a metaphor would even be applicable at that point.

All of these are just points that go to the basic features of the Singularity.

As has been pointed out below...

The whole point of the thing is that what exists beyond it is not predictable... It is an unknown....

You also seem to be trying to put anthropomorphic properties into what would be first and foremost a machine intelligence (i.e.: NON-human).....

The Ilusion of Security
posted on 06/02/2007 5:12 AM by James_Jaeger

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Clarke's book is substantiation of the reasons globalization may be foolish. We had this discussion here extensively several years ago.
The idea is that globalization, or any so-called one world system or "integrated economy," violates the universal principle of redundancy.

We are also violating this principle every day we fail to get off this world and start exploring and colonizing new worlds. See ENTERING SPACE by Robert Zubrin for the details on this argument.

James Jaeger

Re: BREAKPOINT: terrorists vs. transhumanists
posted on 08/06/2007 6:39 PM by notbob

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The short sighted perspective that the current state of human suffering is somehow relevant to where the sigularity leads misses the entire point of the singularity: The idea that what happens on the other side of the event horizon is beyond or comprehension, the results may be total devastation for the human species, it may be the move into a utopian paradise but most likely is something we can not conceive of yet.

All of our ego and positining will be irrelevant to a transhuministic entity, money and power are tools of egoist, but if the controlling entity is exponentially smarter than anyone else and is essentially egoless what would the actions of such an entity be? no-one can guess because its on the other side of the singularity.

Re: BREAKPOINT: terrorists vs. transhumanists
posted on 08/06/2007 11:14 PM by BeAfraid

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I have been trying to make just those points... That the whole point of a singularity is that you cannot see past its event horizon (short of some phenomenon like "Hawking Radiation", of which I am not aware of any such thing in regards to the "singularity".

Re: BREAKPOINT: terrorists vs. transhumanists
posted on 02/19/2010 11:36 AM by Singularized

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Au contraire - if I remember correctly, Ray K talks, in the Singularity, of Hawking's Radiation as the entanglement effect that takes place at the horizon of a black hole (used as a computer) - what comes out as antimatter radiation on the other side is the result of the calculation, for the benefit of Singular Man. (It's been a few years since I read it, but it struck me).

PS unrelated: Breakpoint does have its funny no-so-subtle clues, as Will Gaudium (Will=Bill Gaudium= Joy, in Latin) brilliantly represents the king of Luddites.

Re: BREAKPOINT: terrorists vs. transhumanists
posted on 03/30/2009 3:31 PM by isamelb

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Before you send robats ti kill people. Make sure who is the terrorist because AI won't help you figure that out. Idiot Scientifically informed, politically misinformed.

Re: BREAKPOINT: terrorists vs. transhumanists
posted on 04/02/2009 10:19 AM by zombiefood

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as cultures become more cosmopolitan they tend to move away from superstition. by that i mean well fed well housed and well educated people will not be as motivated to bring retaliation on their families and neighbors

bombing ignoramuses just delays thier progress toward stability and peace.

all cultures want safety for their children

leave them alone. let them try to eat their oil. fund renewables. give them a chance to come out of the stone age. police their behavior. act like men, don't panic. they can't take over the us. fear is what they thrive on. give them twenty five years of mtv and internet and they will be us.

as reasoning machines proliferate they will have less room to move or organize. when you control a crowd though you have to give them a way out. they need an opportunity to progress or it will never end.