From the quixotic mind of Lorenzo Gigliotti 
- The Random Times
Contents
Today is Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Random thoughts from a quixotic mind.*

Having All Knowledge Onboard

Since this column is related to a previous column, a couple of quotes that were part of the previous should be re-stated:

"One voice speaking through many...
One mind projecting its mind as many..."

-- Radio discussion with Art Bell and Fred Alan Wolf, Ph.D.

"It has been said that 'the Internet is the largest collection of knowledge ever assembled.'"

There are many reasons for developing technology -- a few broad reasons are economic, social, military and political. The Internet is a strange place. Originally encouraged and funded as an academic and military network, it has exceeded those objectives and developed into a social and economic entity, which has changed and is changing almost every facet of human life. It is responsible for the fundamental changes in the way that humans get information and steadily is becoming one of the primary mechanisms for economic activities. Driven by our seemingly infinite desire for information, it has created new paradigms for business, human interactivity and entertainment.

"Nanosizing" and Wireless Freedom

Advances keep occurring -- the hardware continues "nanosizing" -- wireless freedom is quickly becoming commonplace -- and as interfaces become more ergonomic or humanly compatible it is only a matter of time before we may have the option of having devices installed in or on our bodies to allow us immediate access to all of the knowledge that is available.

Existing Technology

A few years ago I shared some of my thoughts with a client who represented a cochlear implant firm. Based on what I observed regarding their methods of interfacing with implanted devices, I mentioned that her firm's cochlear devices could be easily adapted to interface with a computer in such a way that a person would be able to interact with a computer without the aid of a keyboard -- a modern "bionic man" or "bionic-woman" concept. She indicated that the concept was not far-fetched -- I imagine they began developing such a device immediately after I left the facility... -- If you did... Click here to

Caveats -- more Good, Bad and Ugly...

Missing information and inefficient data mining!

There will be a number of caveats to a scenario whereby humans have knowledge such as this "on board." Besides those mentioned in the previous column, another caveat is the incomplete catalog of available information. The ability to data mine still has not become well developed by the search engines. There are vast quantities of information and data that has not yet been tapped. The more common search engines such as Yahoo, Google and MSN will not return many data-based entries. Many libraries, information agencies, newspapers and other media do not really allow the search engines to catalog their archives, thus huge chunks of archived information are completely unknown to the universal search engines. There are subscription services, but even they have limited access to what some entities consider proprietary files. Obviously new subscription services will surface to promote their proprietary knowledge bases, which will give the subscriber an advantage over free service users... This is a very frustrating situation, because newspaper and media reports include just about any topic or subject imaginable and they are unfortunately buried in individual databases with limited or no access to the universal search engines. But I am getting ahead of myself here... Current search engines do not really have mechanisms to mine the data anyway...

Much of the information stored in databases is only accessible through a "query" -- in other words the database must be asked a question before the data is displayed. Current search engines do not ask random or systematic questions, they usually follow hyperlinks to gather information -- if a hyperlink includes a query then some search engines will follow and extract the data... however some search engines are designed to specifically avoid query strings, thus they are imposing their own limits...

Until this item is addressed the usability of the Internet, though substantial will remain incomplete.

Sorry for the deviation from topic...

Analog vs. Digital?

If human-computer implants become available, then there are a couple of other refinements that will quickly reveal themselves... Analog vs. digital. It is my understanding that cochlear implants do not send impulses to the nerves, but rather work in a mechanical way with the surviving parts of the human hearing system, which senses sound. I imagine that ocular implants work in a similar fashion. I may be wrong, but if that is the case then the first generation of computer-human interfacing may be more like viewing and hearing information rather than a direct sensing of information by the brain. No-doubt though, eventually a direct method which interacts with the nerves in an almost digital fashion will be developed -- then everything will be instantaneous. In such a situation most, if not all forms of communication will be possible through the interface and characteristics that today are considered "metaphysical" or "super-natural" would become scientifically possible... Is this the ultimate destination?

"...'metaphysical' or 'super-natural' would become scientifically possible... Is this the ultimate destination?"

Quite Possible

This column has allowed me to roll out some of my thoughts... I am not really discussing anything that is impossible here and I sincerely hope that I don't come off looking like a nut-case. The technology is quite possible and the adoption and application would only be a matter of time. The possibilities of a comprehensive system such as I have described are both positive as well as negative. The human-computer interface would allow a person to have enormous amounts of information at his or her disposal at all times. It would allow humans to have the ability to monitor the health of their bodies 24/7 and in turn would allow e-treatments of ailments and diseases before they become serious. It would allow us to interact in ways that are unimaginable -- communally, personally and virtually... It would also open doors to serious threats such as new types of attacks, as well as new types of privacy intrusion...

Do we want to create God... do we want to be God? ...

There are many that would argue that we may eclipse our spirituality by following such a path -- still others would argue that we may be finding the mechanisms for creating spirituality. Do we want to create God... do we want to be God? ... Or are they one in the same...

I just hope that we won't crash and need rebooting too often...

Dot dot dot...

I apologize for all of the "..."s but I warned you a long time ago about that -- it's on the "Why" page.
Bibliographic Entry

Gigliotti, Lorenzo. "Having All Knowledge Onboard." The Random Times
Volume 1. #26 (2005): 11 pars. 19 Mar. 2024 <http://www.therandomtimes.com>.

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