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The Goodness of the Universe — John Smart

Outer Space, Inner Space, and the Future of Networks.
Synopsis: Does the History, Dynamics, and Structure of our Universe give any evidence that it is inherently “Good”? Does it appear to be statistically protective of adapted complexity and intelligence? Which aspects of the big history of our universe appear to be random? Which are predictable? What drives universal and societal accelerating change, and why have they both been so stable? What has developed progressively in our universe, as opposed to merely evolving randomly? Will humanity’s future be to venture to the stars (outer space) or will we increasingly escape our physical universe, into physical and virtual inner space (the transcension hypothesis)? In Earth’s big history, what can we say about what has survived and improved? Do we see any progressive improvement in humanity’s thoughts or actions? When is anthropogenic risk existential or developmental (growing pains)? In either case, how can we minimize such risk? What values do well-built networks have? What can we learn about the nature of our most adaptive complex networks, to improve our personal, team, organizational, societal, global, and universal futures? I’ll touch on each of these vital questions, which I’ve been researching and writing about since 1999, and discussing with a community of scholars at Evo-Devo Universe (join us!) since 2008.

For fun background reading, see John’s Goodness of the Universe post on Centauri Dreams, and “Evolutionary Development: A Universal Perspective”, 2019.

John writes about Foresight Development (personal, team, organizational, societal, global, and universal), Accelerating Change, Evolutionary Development (Evo-Devo), Complex Adaptive Systems, Big History, Astrobiology, Outer and Inner Space, Human-Machine Merger, the Future of AI, Neuroscience, Mind Uploading, Cryonics and Brain Preservation, Postbiological Life, and the Values of Well-Built Networks.
He is CEO of Foresight University, founder of the Acceleration Studies Foundation, and co-founder of the Evo-Devo Universe research community, and the Brain Preservation Foundation. He is editor of Evolution, Development, and Complexity (Springer 2019), and Introduction to Foresight: Personal, Team, and Organizational Adaptiveness (Foresight U Press 2022). He is also author of The Transcension Hypothesis (2011), the proposal that universal development guides leading adaptive networks increasingly into physical and virtual inner space.

A talk for the ‘Stepping into the Future‘conference (April 2022).

The Goodness of the Universe: Outer Space, Inner Space, and the Future of Networks /w John Smart

Many thanks for tuning in!

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The maker of the world’s largest chip has made a major AI breakthrough

Cerebras Systems, maker of the world’s largest processor, has broken the record for the most complex AI model trained using a single device.

Using one CS-2 system, powered by the company’s wafer-sized chip (WSE-2), Cerebras is now able to train AI models with up to 20 billion parameters thanks to new optimizations at the software level.

The firm says the breakthrough will resolve one of the most frustrating problems for AI engineers: the need to partition large-scale models across thousands of GPUs. The result is an opportunity to drastically cut the time it takes to develop and train new models.

When Botnets Attack

By Chuck Brooks

Our Growing Digital Connected World — Made For Botnets

There are dire implications of having devices and networks so digitally interconnected when it comes to bot nets. Especially when you have unpatched vulnerabilities in networks. The past decade has recorded many botnet cyber-attacks. Many who are involved in cybersecurity will recall the massive and high profile Mirai botnet DDoS attack in 2016. Mirai was an IoT botnet made up of hundreds of thousands of compromised IoT devices, It targeted Dyn—a domain name system (DNS) provider for many well-known internet platforms in a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. That DDoS attack sent millions of bytes of traffic to a single server to cause the system to shut down. The Dyn attacks leveraged Internet of Things devices and some of the attacks were launched by common devices like digital routers, webcams and video recorders infected with malware.

Silence for Thought: Special Interneuron Networks in the Human Brain

Summary: Human cortical networks have evolved a novel neural network that relies on abundant connections between inhibitory interneurons.

Source: Max Planck Institute.

The analysis of the human brain is a central goal of neuroscience. However, for methodological reasons, research has largely focused on model organisms, in particular the mouse.

Robotic Armband Shows Promise for Advanced Dexterity

AZoRobotics speaks with Dr. Erik Enegberg from Florida Atlantic University about his research into a wearable soft robotic armband. This could be a life-changing device for prosthetic hands users who have long-desired advances in dexterity.

Typing on a keyboard, pressing buttons on a remote control, or braiding a child’s hair has remained elusive for prosthetic hand users. How does the loss of tactile sensations impact limb-absent people’s lives?

Losing the sensation of touch has a profound impact on people’s lives. Some of the things that may seem simple and a part of everyday life, such as stroking the fur of a pet or the skin of a loved one, are a meaningful and fundamental way to connect with those around us for others. For example, a patient with a bilateral amputation has previously expressed concerns that he might hurt his granddaughter by accidentally squeezing her hand too tightly as he has lost tactile sensation.