h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

You'll find your post is now visible again, HVL
-myre

Yeah, funny that.

Any suggestions as to why the second one might have been pulled are still welcome. I'm seriously baffled as to what ANYONE could have found offensive in that, once I'd removed the reference to Anna.

H.

Thought y'all might be interested in the following links: [Broken link removed by Moderator], and in particular: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.03/everywhere.html?pg=3 Elsewhere Wired quotes Ray Kurzweil (Author, entrepreneur, technologist) as saying: "Scientists have already reverse-engineered two dozen of the several hundred regions of the human brain; we'll understand its principles of operation and be in a position to re-create its powers in synthetic substrates well within 30 years." Last year they produced a listing of AI projects: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.11/mustread.html?pg=10 I really MUST start getting that magazine again. In the meantime, this is just to say that I posted a pretty sceptical post in the JtP thread, (link in post 2 here) and a question or two on StP's page. I was then contacted directly by someone claiming to be StP (the perils of putting your email addy on your home page). Even so I was *still* sceptical. I know rumours are flying about various members of our very own SBVM; (Hell, I was there on Saturday when Hoovooloo claimed it was him, and if you check http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/F41915?thread=197148&post=2213395#p2213395 you will see that he must have been lying. (Tsk, tsk, tsk)). What do I think? Well, JtP is not exactly thinking outside the box, now is he? (And if you think that answers the question asked, then you need to focus a leeetle more closely, methinks). ;-) B

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.03/

B
(Links repaired, sweetness and light propogated, stuff done)

Well, our yikes attempt failed. So the Italics think that *nobody* believes Justin is an AI. Any doubts you may think you have, Ben, are purely figments of your imagination...

-MyRedDice

Well, lets be honest, with conversations like this- F41915?thread=197148 -going on, why SHOULD anyone believe that Justin is anything other than a real researcher who is merely the victim of another doubtless clever, but at the end of the day cruel, prank like the parody accounts?

You've lost me Calamity - I can't spot which parts of your post are sarcastic, if any, and on what basis. I must have spent too much time talking to Anna at the meet or something...

-MyRedDice

Lucinda wrote: "Well, our yikes attempt failed. So the Italics think that *nobody* believes Justin is an AI."

Possibly because "Steve the Programmer" is in fact one of the Italics? Therefore they KNOW Justin is for real. So not responding to yikes of his space based on the fact he's not real is perfectly understandable. I *think* I've got this sorted out in my mind now.

(a) Justin is a human, albeit one who (insert disparaging comment of your choice about fundamentalists here).
(b) "Steve" is a prank account, and quite a convincing one for people who aren't as up to the minute on the current state of AI research as certain people I could mention.
(c) there are several people who *could* conceivably have been responsible for "Steve", but almost all of them were in the pub on Saturday - with one exception. (I feel like Hercule Poirot.)

Oh, and Calamity - how is it cruel, and how is Justin a victim? Nothing said seems to have affected him in any way whatever, and significantly, nothing said seems to have affected the way he was treated by anyone else, either. I'm still having a conversation with the guy (and quite a bafflingly interesting one at that...). The "victim" isn't complaining, the actions of "Steve" didn't seem to affect anyone else (apart from those of us credulous enough to be taken in by him ), so, where was the harm? It's also started an interesting line of conversation regarding AI and where it's at and where it's going, so in all, I personally think the effect was quite positive. Apart from making me look stupid, of course... but I'm used ot that.

H.