Maggie Philbin, PW Singer, Rachel Armstrong, Pattie Maes, Lloyd Davis
Maggie Philbin
a reminder of the technologies that I had the pleasure of bringing to you.
"Technology can smell a tomorrow's world reporter…." as the video failed to work.
The Tomorrow's World timeline – what it can teach us about the nature of innovation. Innovators do NOT have the ability to foretell the future.
1965 the woman of the future will have ear-rings that are miniature transistor radios, the Light programme on one sied and the Third on teh other. [note women don't listen to the Home programme (later re-named Radio 4)!]
Inventors and developers all have 'sticking power'.
1981 a bonza year, Frist flight Shuttle, Camcorder, Phone card, compact disc, Dyson Cleaner (5127 prototypes)
Killer things to do for your business based on things Maggie thinks are really good.
Communicate as if person to person, be outstanding, innovate don't imitate, go beyond 'just enough' create an experience, exceed expectations.
PW Singer – on video
The future of robotics. Robots in war – un-manned systems. Affecting both the 'how and who' of fighting. Previously it was about bigger / faster weapons. Now the identity of the warrior is no longer human.
In technology there is no such thing as a permanent 'first-mover' advantage. e.g. Wang computers, Tanks – invented by the British and French, poerfected by the Germans.
Warfare is now open source. A lot is off the shelf.
Ripple effects into politics – people are more likely to support the use of force if they see it as 'costless'. Former adviser to Ronald Reagan. Robots remove humans from the war an video / record everything they see (on YouTube). 'War Porn'videos of bombs.
The army of 'one' where a unit has one human and the rest robots.
Un-manning of wr plays to our strength (US General). A sign of the cold hearted cruel israelie and Americans who are afraid to fight because they send out mahcines instead of men.
A Cubicle warrior – killing from the comfort of your office in Nevada. Psychological balance is tough PTSD?
Oops moments with robots in war… somethimes they just happen. And are tragic.
The laws of war – 'un-mamnned slaughter' how does this work out? What is the impact on war crimes when the robot does the killing? EMotionless robots.
At what point to replacements become enhancements – sportsmen with robotic limbs.
Deal with the issues behind and around robots. No issue 'unless the machine kills the wrong people repeatedly. Then it's just a product-recall issue." Quote from top robotics scientist.
We use our crativity to build fantastic machines with amazine abilities – but one of the main reasons we do this is because of our drive to destroy each other. Is this us or our machines that are wired for war?
Rachel Armstrong – the Future of Buildings.
She uses architecture as a design tool – it's scale is huge and a managed environment. Potentially it is positioned to solve the world's greatest problems e.g. global warming.
Architecutre has links to technology using materials that 'wall out' nature and the environment. Belligerent architectures that don'e care about the outside world. Even the world's most modern buildings account for 40% of our carbon footprint built through victorian technques. This is unsustainable.
Sustainable architectures are possible but need to be connected directly to the natural world not separate from it. A living system is in constant 'conversation' with nature. This is the opportunity the architctural surface provides us.
Metabolic materials for use in architectural practice. They don't yet exist. Low Tech Biotech – describes cheap and easy to use solutions. Two approaches – innovation through design. Reutilising existing materials. Every building today has a coating of bacteria – can we identify those that have metabolisms that are useful for us (absorb CO2, emit light).
The other approate is to use innovation and invention – Transition from inert to living matter using proto-cells. They have no genetics but can operate as populations and modify their envrionment. They can shed skins, emit a black ink-like substance when provoked by light. Using primitive chemistry – soap, oil, water and vitamin tablets.
Living technology that possesses some but not all the properties of living systems. Capable of growth, repair and replication all without genetics.
Protocell pearls using barium to collect carbon dioxide by making carbonates which themselves absorb more CO2. This could be made into a paint that absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere.
These are ubiquitous and as applicable to third as first world countries. She'd like to give away the technologies and harvest these from local environments (local bateria, oils etc).
This may start to approximate to a genuinely harmonious relationship with nature.
Nanno bio info cogno convergence "NBIC". Working on the physical properties of oils and reactions they have with the boundary between oil and water e.g. surface tension, streaming and convection currents.
Pattie Maes – on video
Access to multimedia mobile applications. Using a projector, mirror and portable battery pack all linked to a cellphone (Costing US$350).
Designed as a 'sixth' sense device to give you relevant information about the product. The point is that the information neems to be seamlessly available.
Lloyd Davis
Tuttle – the great thing about it is that it has kept going over a couple of years even though it's open to everyone. These things tend to degrade over time when the original founders drift away.
There never was a plan. Run Tuttle like a children's party. Stop bad stuff happening early, so you don't need to impose draconian laws.Diversity and inclusion – it's open. Nobody will be turned away.
I want to carry uncertainty for the group. It is always on – that's the amount of certainty you need.
Giving away power… if you have an idea, do it. Rich connections – getting to know each other in a way that isn't normal for a business detworking group.
Structure and ritual – always being at the same time and place. Talking andmeeting and learning from each other. The Blog post is still up… Social Media Cafe. [link later].
It's still a prototype… not an end in itself. Doing the thing we know with someone watching over your shoulder and learning.
Jared Diamond – on video
Societies that collapsed fascinate us. What is there we can learn from the past to avoid collapsing / declining like other past societies have.
Five point framework – checklist – to understand what happens.Look for human impacts on the environment (destroying the resource base on which they depend), climate change, relations with neighbouring friendly societies who may prop up a socieity if withdrawn, relations with hostile societies, the political, economic, social and cultural factors that make it less likely that the society will perceive and solve the society's problems.
What about us today?
General themes
The rapidity of collapse after a society hits its peak can be quick e.g. Maya of the Yukatan, Soviet Union. Rapid collapses are more likely when a mis-match between resource availability and consumption.
Some factors have greater environmental impact than may first appear. e.g. Easter Island
Why didn't they see the obvious things they were doing and take corrective action? Blueprint for trouble – making collapse likely where there is a short term conflict of interest between the decision-making elites and the long term interest of the society. These are acute in the US today e.g. the elite in the business world advance their short term interests (Enron).
It is odd for a socieity to make good decisions when there is a conflict involving strongly held values which are good in many circumstances but bad in some circumstances. e.g. Australians today survived for 250 years by a commitment to a British identity but it's serving them poorly in today's need to adapt to relations with Asia.
Water, soil, climate change, invasive species, poplulation problems, toxics, all are time bombs that has 'fuses' of 50 years more or less.
e.g. loggable forests in the Philippines and the Solomon Islands.
Our present course is non-sustainable and the outcome will be solved in a few decades. We will resolve these either in pleasant ways of our own choice or they will be settled in unpleasant ways not of our own choosing.
Should we be pessimistic? THe big problems of our world are not beyond our control – they are entirely of our own making. Since we made the problems we should be able to solve them.
What we can do – understand, take action.
