What is the newest installment of 'Random Thoughts' on Physics Forums?

[DiracPool]

I'm going to grad school in Massachusetts in a few weeks to do research in machine learning and artificial intelligence with the directed goal of creating autonomous robots. The problem is that the department and grad program I'm going to be in is computer science and I know pretty much nothing about computer science or programming. They hired me on my neuroscience background and I had to bluff my way that, sure, I can so some basic programming. And I intended to bone up on my Matlab skills and learn Python over the summer and I did to some (minor) extent. But I've been mostly partying all summer. Now D-Day is approaching and I'm stressing the F*&% out. Which is unfortunately leading to more partying. I don't even have housing secured. How do you search for an apartment on the other side of the country to go to a job where you're not going to have a car to get to work (at least for the first semester). I've been avoiding it as I like to put my head in the sand like an Ostrich when problems arise. But it's crunch time and my dad and brother finally cornered me in my attic the other day with the bad news that I was going to have to go. Here's how it went down:

 

[zoobyshoe]

I'm going to grad school in Massachusetts in a few weeks to do research in machine learning and artificial intelligence with the directed goal of creating autonomous robots.

Might as well hang a big sign around your neck, "Please come back through time from the future and kill me before I create skynet!"

 

[DiracPool]

Might as well hang a big sign around your neck, "Please come back through time from the future and kill me before I create skynet!"

As I've said several times this forum, I see the future of humanity being preserved in robots. You can call it RoboSapien if you want. But that's how I see the future. Not necessarily on this planet, but I see our mission as to set forth through the stars an image of our likeness. And not the image of our likeness as was sent out with Pioneer and Voyager, although that's great. But the image of a genuine human-like intellect that we can send out as an envoy of our solar system.

These humanoid robots will be equipped with a means to convert cosmic dust into energy and will skillfully "island hop" or planet hop to take care of more pressing needs. And we (they) will spread across the galaxy and universe to explore strange new worlds, seek out new..OK, you get the point.

But I mean it, we all need to have a mission statement. As far as skynet, this is a real possibility. And it doesn't come down to programming specific rules as in the Asimov case:



If you want an analytic machine that can't think for itself like a human but works more like a serial computer, you can program these "instructions" into it, but it's not going to have the requisite human creativity that is needed for my plan. You can only give it "guidelines" as to hope it's going to organize it's behavior by setting what one might call "temperature controls" on the balance of its reward-puishment system architecture. But there's not guarantee there. That's how it works, you need to have free will to have the access to human creativity.

 

[Ibix]

Might as well hang a big sign around your neck, "Please come back through time from the future and kill me before I create skynet!"

How would the future anti-skynet soldiers see the sign? I don't think this would be a useful approach, at least not without some tweaking.

 

[zoobyshoe]

How would the future anti-skynet soldiers see the sign? I don't think this would be a useful approach, at least not without some tweaking.

History will record he went around wearing the sign, see. When the evil robot future gets tough, humans will know right where to go back to to stop it. Target: Diracpool!

 

[Ibix]

History will record he went around wearing the sign, see. When the evil robot future gets tough, humans will know right where to go back to to stop it. Target: Diracpool!

So far, only PF records that. I'm sure Greg has a decent backup service, but I'll be a bit surprised if he shelled out for the "will survive the coming apocalypse or your money back" plan. Unless he's seeing PF as some kind of Canticle for Leibowitz resource...?

 

[zoobyshoe]

So far, only PF records that.

He has to actually go around wearing the sign before it gets recorded for history.

 

[Pepper Mint]

I find the featured article by Demystifier is like a must-read to all PF members and their families. The debate by all members in the thread sounds very insightful and worth considering!

 

[ShayanJ]

I'm reading this paper, and just now, I came across this footnote:

The following two paragraphs may be skipped by the reader who doesn’t want to hear about string theory.

 

[Sophia]

Am I totally weird?
Today I was standing in a queue and a man touched my shoulders from behind, holding me for a second or two. It wasn't aggressive, he only did it to gain my attention because he wanted to ask something random. I told him not to touch me and I really tried to stay as calm as possible and actually said it so quietly that he asked me to repeat because he couldn't hear me. After I repeated, he got angry and told me he wasn't going to bite me and that he had a daughter older than me. Than he left obviously annoyed and angry.
I didn't think there was anything sexual in it and it had nothing to do with him. I just can't stand when strange people touch me. I would never go to get a massage by a strange person. It's just very unpleasant to me and I can't stand being touched by people who I've known for long but who I don't really like/trust, even if we pretend being friends.
I wanted to ask if I was really acting hysterically and if there's something wrong with me.
Because I've got anxiety and ocd I've been thinking it over and over whole day. When someone criticises me I can't forget about it and often think about criticism over and over for weeks, months or years. Usually it's things that other people would forget in a while.

 

[Borg]

Am I totally weird?

I don't think so. Tapping a stranger on the shoulder to get their attention is normal. Leaving your hand there for an extended period of time is creepy. If someone did that to my wife in front of me, I would give them some 'attention' of my own.

 

[1oldman2]

Am I totally weird?

Nope, not at all. The person doing the touching was obviously more comfortable with the hands on approach, but that's only half of the people involved. He shouldn't expect random strangers to appreciate that type of conduct.

 

[fresh_42]

Let me tell you my favorite fable.
The porcupines have been cold in the winter. So they decided to come together closer to warm themselves by the group. It turned out that they were pricking themselves so they just widened their distance a little so they are still kept warm but not hurt by their neighbors. This distance they then called politeness.

 

[Ibix]

@Sophia - I agree with the consensus here. Particularly with the angry reaction to being challenged - you're not the weirdo in this story.

 

[ProfuselyQuarky]

Sophia, your little story reminded me of this.

Spoiler

Not that I'm recommending that or something

(I don't like violent notions, but had to laugh at it )

 

[Sophia]

Thank you everyone for support :-) I feel better now :-)

 

[1oldman2]

(I don't like violent notions, but had to laugh at it )

Kind of like a Freudian slip.

 

[Pepper Mint]

It's "weird" to me that strangers in your culture can tap or pat people's shoulders freely. In mine, those who do so to me at night should be gang i.e "Hey yo show me your wallet".

 

[ProfuselyQuarky]

Kind of like a Freudian slip.

It's "weird" to me that strangers in your culture can tap or pat people's shoulders freely. In mine, those who do so to me at night should be gang i.e "Hey yo show me your wallet".

It curious how the way some people talk/behave give different people different impressions. Of course, it's cultural and depends on the way a person's been brought up, but even within the same school, the variety of language is extraordinary.

 

[Borg]

After I repeated, he got angry and told me he wasn't going to bite me and that he had a daughter older than me.

You should have asked him if she has told him not to touch her that way also.

Than he left obviously annoyed and angry.

I have found that the people who get the most upset in these situations are usually the most guiltly. Pat yourself on the back for putting him in his place. You earned it.

 

[Sophia]

It's "weird" to me that strangers in your culture can tap or pat people's shoulders freely. In mine, those who do so to me at night should be gang i.e "Hey yo show me your wallet".

There are indeed big differences in personal space in various cultures. And then individual differences.
Paradoxically, I enjoy physical contact with close people who I trust. It's my primary or secondary language of love, if you read a book Five languages of love by Gary Chapman. It's a very interesting work. I don't know how accurate it is, but I generally find that there might be some truth in it. It proved effective in some situations in my life.

Here's more about his theory https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Five_Love_Languages

 

[Pepper Mint]

All of us are married!

 

[WWGD]

I fell for it again. This place selling Indian food at 50% for lunch. I have a tasty, albeit smallish-sized meal.
I then look at other dinner's (eating at regular price) plates/servings, all of which are...twice as large as the ones in my plate, AKA,
pay only 50%...and get only 50% of the full portion..

 

[fresh_42]

I fell for it again. This place selling Indian food at 50% for lunch. I have a tasty, albeit smallish-sized meal.
I then look at other dinner's (eating at regular price) plates/servings, all of which are...twice as large as the ones in my plate, AKA,
pay only 50%...and get only 50% of the full portion..

After all I've read (and seen) about obesity in the states, this sounds reasonable to me.

 

[Ibix]

pay only 50%...and get only 50% of the full portion..

Ah - the good old "buy one for the price of two and get one free!" trick.

 

[WWGD]

After all I've read (and seen) about obesity in the states, this sounds reasonable to me.

I have just one large meal a day, trying to save $ , and they are cheating people in the process.

 

[WWGD]

Nope, not at all. The person doing the touching was obviously more comfortable with the hands on approach, but that's only half of the people involved. He shouldn't expect random strangers to appreciate that type of conduct.

May have been a good thing to tell Dubya re the Merkel massage.

 

[1oldman2]

May have been a good thing to tell Dubya re the Merkel massage.

Touche'

 

[shadowshed]

Have you ever felt that we sometimes act in opposite way to the other person we're with?
For my example, I experience things like becoming braver around afraid people and step up to protect them, and get unreasonably childish when I'm around close friend who's more mature. Is there already scientific explanation behind this?

And then, this might be out of context, but I find myself being aware of my eating manner from time to time-- I also noticed that I'm more relaxed and unaware when there's someone next to me who eat more 'elegantly'. This is especially bothering me since I want to eat peacefully, but somehow I became aware of how I eat. Is this normal?

 

[zoobyshoe]

Have you ever felt that we sometimes act in opposite way to the other person we're with?
For my example, I experience things like becoming braver around afraid people and step up to protect them, and get unreasonably childish when I'm around close friend who's more mature. Is there already scientific explanation behind this?

You're right. It happens pretty often. If anyone's ever studied it, it would have been under the aegis of psychology. However, I haven't personally seen anyone offer a term or explanation for it, that I can recall.