The insidious "Assassinate Obama" meme

A number of months ago I was in Ottawa leafing through a political paper when I read something that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. It was an article by foreign affairs expert Gwynne Dyer about the various challenges that await Barack Obama should he win the U.S. presidency.

In a very matter-of-fact tone, Dyer argued that Obama may not live to see the end of his first term, "for it is generally assumed that, as the first African-American president, he will face a higher than average risk of assassination."

This was an upsetting realization. It's what futurists refer to as a wild card -- a low-probability but high-impact event.

But just how low-probability is it? My own feeling is that the chances are higher than we would like to believe.

Unfortunately, given the viral spread of the "assassinate Obama" meme, the suggestion has already normalized itself in the U.S. zeitgeist. Earlier this year, for example, the phrase "assassinate Obama" cracked Google's top 100 search engine terms.

This meme may turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy, inspiring a fanatical few to actually consider the act. Just this week it was revealed that a potential plot against Obama's life was thwarted. It will undoubtedly not be the last.

And so pervasive is the fear that a recent art exhibit titled "The Assassination of Barack Obama" presented the possibility as a foregone conclusion.

Indeed, assassinations are an indelible part of U.S. history. The whole idea of presidential assassination as a radical political tool has expanded to become a fixture of American culture. It's become the stuff of folklore, conspiracy theories and Hollywood films.

Moreover, the United States has a disturbing potential for right-wing extremism. The horror that was 9/11 caused many Americans to forget about its own internal ideological failings; it is America's incipient nativism and white supremacist legacy that led Timothy McVeigh and others to bomb the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995 killing 168 people. It is not a stretch to suggest that someone of the same ilk is looking to target Obama -- the potential black U.S. president with a foreign sounding name.

And what a shame it would be if this were to happen, to see the U.S. dragged down to the level of political extremism that saw Benazir Bhutto assassinated earlier this year. Politicians shouldn't have to fear for their lives. The democratic process is put at risk when an extreme few take matters into their own hands because they cannot bear to witness the will of the majority.

As for my contribution to the perpetuation of the "assassinate Obama" meme, I almost didn't write this article because of it. But this is one sick cat that's already out of the bag.

Sadly, the only thing to do now is hope for the best and brace for the worst.

Instant bad karma

I was at Pinery Provincial Park last week where I spent most of my time on the beach. The Pinery is on the south shore of Lake Huron and is one of Southern Ontario's best kept secrets.

Like any large body of water, Lake Huron can be unpredictable. Even water that's as still as glass can pose dangers. The wind often blows into the lake causing a deceptively dangerous situation.

It was on such a day last week that the wind taught me a lesson about indifference and how quickly selfishness and apathy can catch up to you. Nothing too dramatic, mind you, just a nice Buddhist moment that reminded me how karma can bite you in the ass in unpredictable ways.

Over the course of the day I watched a number of inflatable items blow into the lake--much to the dismay of their owners who couldn't swim fast enough to retrieve their drifting items. One by one their floating beach gear would disappear over the horizon; it was like watching helium balloons rise up into the sky until they ventured beyond sight.

At one point I noticed an air mattress very close to me blow into the water. There was a man in his early 20's next to me who had just finished his swim and was putting on his socks and shoes. I assumed it was his mattress. He didn't notice that it was floating away.

And for some strange reason I stood there on the beach paralyzed in indecision. I was unable to act. All I had to do was shout out to him that his mattress was floating away, but I couldn't muster a voice. Or I could have swam for it myself, but I just stood there transfixed by the sight of the mattress getting farther and farther away.

As I stood there twiddling my thumbs it got so far away that I figured it was hopeless so I decided to ignore the situation outright.

But I was shocked at my indifference and my inability to help when I could have easily done so. I wondered what the hell was wrong with me.

And then a realization hit me: that wasn't his mattress, it was my mattress! It had flipped over and I didn't recognize the color.

In that instant I had suddenly become the other.

And I was struck with the feeling that this served me right--that the cosmos had conspired to teach me a lesson about apathy, inaction and the failure to project beyond one's self. My own indifference about helping another person had actually cost me my own air mattress.

Well, almost. I dove into the water and swam like hell to get it, laughing all the way at the absurdity of the situation.

Sometimes lessons are not so subtle.

Currently reading: The Best Buddhist Writing 2007

I'm currently reading The Best Buddhist Writing 2007, a compilation that was put together by Melvin McLeod and the editors of the Shambhala Sun. I cannot recommend this book highly enough -- very engaging and hard to put down.

Synopsis:

Containing writings that are variously wise, witty, heartfelt, and profound, this is the fourth volume in an annual series that brings together the year’s most notable literature inspired by Buddhist philosophy and practice. Selected by the editors of the Shambhala Sun, North America’s leading Buddhist-inspired magazine, the pieces in this anthology offer an entertaining mix of writing styles and reflect on a wide range of issues from a Buddhist point of view. The collection includes writings by the Dalai Lama, Matthieu Ricard, Dzongsar Khyentse, Diana Mukpo, Thich Nhat Hanh, Charles Johnson, Susan Piver, bell hooks, John Tarrant, Natalie Goldberg, Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso, Thinley Norbu, Karen Maezen Miller, Pema Chödrön, and Norman Fischer, among others.

Here's the editorial review from Publishers Weekly:

The fourth annual collection of best Buddhist writings, as in previous years, reflects breadth and diversity among English-speaking Western Buddhists. This collection is notable for the number of reflections on love—true love, mother love, a culture based on love—that offer refreshing change from more cerebral teachings on no-self. Even as he ages, venerable Zen monk Thich Nhat Hanh continues to pour forth teaching in his distinctive lyrical way, embodying what is meant by bodhisattva, a Buddhist saint. Dying mothers, cancer, crazy siblings, violent men in a prison yard—such concrete situations all provide food for Buddhist reflection and response. Not every piece is equally accessible, which is not a problem but a caution for some readers. Two essays of Tibetan textual commentary require patience and advanced knowledge. Anthologies are not always well served by including A-list writers; Alice Walker's essay is beautiful in parts but contains undisciplined rambling in other sections. It's interesting to hear less well-known voices, alongside those of the Dalai Lama or the American nun Pema Chödrön, who also contribute pieces. This series does a great service by highlighting views and themes as they modulate with each passing year.

Michael Phelps: The 'natural' transhuman athlete

Watching Michael Phelps swim you quickly realize that he's not like the others. He's clearly in a league of his own.

Or more accurately, he's swimming in a genetic pool of his own.

Phelps has a number of fortuitous physical endowments that have enabled him to dominate like no other. Simply put, he is the perfect swimmer.

Here's what Phelps has going for him:

• Most people have a wingspan that matches their height. Not Phelps. He may be 6'4" tall, but his arms extend outward to a total of 6'7".
• The average shoe size for a person the size of Phelps is 12; he wears a size 14 which gives him a 10% advantage over the competition.
  
• He also has a larger than average hand size which allows him to move more water.
  
• Phelps is double-jointed in the chest area; this enables him to extend his arms higher above his head and pull down at an angle that increases his efficiency through the water by as much as 20%; this also allows him to have quicker starts and turns.
• He has proportionately short legs relative to his long, powerful trunk; this large upper body is the engine that powers his long arms. Moreover, his unique physique reduces drag through the water and allows for maximum propulsion.
• Phelps has a greater-than-average lung capacity allowing him to execute his underwater dolphin kicks longer than the competition.
• He has a genetic advantage that cause his muscles to produce 50% less lactic acid than other athletes. This means he can work at higher work loads for longer periods.
  
• With a low body fat of 4%, he is better able to convert his effort into speed.
  

Looking at this list it's as if Phelps was designed to swim.

Which leads to an interesting question: Given the potential for genetic modification and gene doping, should it be acceptable for other athletes to acquire the same physiological endowments through artificial means?

If not, what makes it so acceptable to come by these traits 'naturally?' And how could the genetic lottery ever be construed as something that's not arbitrary and unfair?

Read more about Phelps's extraordinary physiology here and here.

Speedo's Vitruvian Man

Great ad.

Read more about Speedo's LZR Racer swim suit.

Q: What is the qualitative difference between this sort of technological enhancement and pharmacologically endowed enhancement?

Gee, do you think the Russian invasion of Georgia was timed to coincide with the Olympics?

Undoubtedly.

With billions of people distracted by the Olympics it was a perfect opportunity for the Russians to instigate one of the most significant geopolitical events seen thus far in the 21st century.

And I'm not the only one who thinks so.

It's obvious that the Russians don't want to let Georgia slip away. It's an extremely important conduit for the transportation of oil and gas to parts west of Russia. It's also critical to U.S. and NATO interests; 9/11 enhanced the importance of both the South Caucasus and Central Asia to American security. Flying rights through the Caucasus to Central Asia and Afghanistan are vital components of the ongoing military effort there by both U.S. and NATO forces.

And frustratingly, Georgia was making good progress as it was working to transition itself to an autonomous and democratic post-Soviet nation. That's looking very unlikely right now.

Talk about shades of Czechoslovakia 1968.

What's been equally interesting is Putin's role in the matter, as his voice appears to be trumping that of Dmitri A. Medvedev's. Looks like someone's having a hard time relinquishing power.

Lech Walesa on communism and communications technologies

Communism is a monopolistic system, economically and politically. The system suppresses individual initiative, and the 21st century is all about individualism and freedom. The development of technology supported these directions. When I was fighting communism, there was rapid development of satellite television and cell phones, and communism, to survive, would have to block all these information devices. To control the free flow of information, the Communists would have to increase the secret police by a factor of four. It would be a huge effort for police to control the channels you get on TV or the phone numbers you are allowed to dial. So technology helped end communism by bringing in information from the outside. It was possible to get news from independent sources; stations like the BBC (British Broadcasting System) and VOA (Voice of America) were beyond government control. During '50s and '60s, the Communist government put people accused of listening to these stations in prison. -- Lech Walesa (Interview with Wired, June 2002)

True or false? What about the situation in China?

Peter Singer: Of great apes and men

Peter Singer says that, as Spain takes one great step forward for animal rights and liberty, activists elsewhere are persecuted:

If we regard human rights as something possessed by all human beings, no matter how limited their intellectual or emotional capacities may be, how can we deny similar rights to great apes? To do so would be to display a prejudice against other beings merely because they are not members of our species - a prejudice we call speciesism, to highlight its resemblance to racism. The Spanish resolution marks the first official acceptance of that view. The use of the term "slavery" in relation to animals is especially significant, for it has been assumed that animals are rightly our slaves, to use as we wish, whether to pull our carts, be models of human diseases for research, or produce eggs, milk, or flesh for us to eat. Recognition by a government that it can be wrong to enslave animals is a significant breach in the wall of exclusive moral significance we have built around our own species. -- Peter Singer

Entire article.

New trailer for The Day the Earth Stood Still

I'm looking forward to this. To be released on Dec. 12. Here's the original trailer -- theremin and all:



My review of The Day the Earth Stood Still.

What I've been reading: 2008-07-06

• 'World's longest concert' resumes (BBC)
  A note from a piece by a US composer is to be played this weekend in a German town in what has been called the world's slowest and longest concert. [Yes! I've been waiting for this note for some time now... -GD]
• Life Support - Could animals be transformed into medical devices? (we make money not art)
  Design for debate explores how design can be used as a medium to draw attention to the social, cultural and ethical implications of new technologies.
• Animal-Rights Farm (William Saletan - Slate Magazine)
  Ape rights and the myth of animal equality.

My transhumanism and life extension talk for the CFI

I gave this talk in April 2008 for the Center for Inquiry Ontario.

What I've been reading: 2008-06-30

• Spanish parliament approves 'human rights' for apes (Guardian)
  Great apes should have the right to life and freedom, according to a resolution passed in the Spanish parliament, in what could become landmark legislation to enshrine human rights for chimpanzees, gorillas, orang-utans and bonobos.
• The Science of Humour (More Intelligent Life)
  Apes do it.
• Should we care why people give to charity?(Peter Singer)
  Public displays of philanthropy are often frowned upon. But should we care what motivates the giver?

The art of William Scott (1913-1989)

Beans on a plate with mushrooms

Study for Still Life

Still Life With Orange Note

Tasty abstract minimalism and still life. More about William Scott.

What I've been reading: 2008-06-11

• The Genetics of Fear (Henry Greely)
  Sci-fi fantasies about the risks of genetic engineering can't get in the way of life-saving research. A response to Jamie Metzl.
• Top Pentagon Scientists Fear Brain-Modified Foes (Wired)
  There's concern in some corners of the U.S. military about "enemy activities in sleep research," neuro-pharmaceutical performance enhancement, and "brain-computer interfaces."
• Amputees fight caps in coverage for prosthetics (USA Today)
  There is a nationwide fight by amputees and the prosthetics industry to get the states and Congress to require fuller coverage for artificial limbs. The insurance industry is fighting the effort, saying such mandates drive up costs and reduce the flexibil
• Triumph of the Pill (Reason Magazine)
  Why brain doping on campus is no cause for concern

What I've been reading: 2008-06-09

• This Global Show Must Go On (Tyler Cowen - NYT)
  The last 20 years have brought the world more trade, more globalization and more economic growth than in any previous such period in history. Few commentators had believed that such a rise in trade and living standards was possible so quickly.
• How Do We Intelligently Discuss Politicized Geoengineering? (WorldChanging)
  Ever since I wrote about my support for a ban on geoengineering research, I've found myself more involved in a debate about geoengineering, climate science and politics than I anticipated being.
• Paralympics 2.0 (Andy Miah)
  Oscar Pistorius was right all along, at least for now. He was right to appeal the ruling from the International Association of Athletics Federations that forbade him from competing alongside Olympians in Beijing for one simple reason: he is an Olympian.
• The Top Ten Solutions to the World's Biggest Problems (Ronald Bailey)
  The final dispatch from the 2008 Copenhagen Consensus Conference.
• Military Supercomputer Surpasses Petaflop Milestone (NYT)
  An American military supercomputer, assembled from components originally designed for video game machines, has reached a long-sought-after computing milestone by processing more than 1.026 quadrillion calculations per second.
• Using Sci-Fi to Change the World (Analee Newitz)
  Science fiction isn't escapist; it can help us envision how to make the world a better place.

The art of Fred Harper

Fred Harper's website.

What I've been reading: 2008-06-04

• EU urged to review animal testing (BBC)
  A world expert on primates, Dr Jane Goodall, has urged Europe to find alternatives to experiments on animals.
• Study suggests holding in one's feelings is not harmful after all (Machines Like Us)
  Contrary to popular notions about what is normal or healthy, new research has found that it is okay not to express one's thoughts and feelings after experiencing a collective trauma, such as a school shooting or terrorist attack.
• Futurist Ray Kurzweil Sees a Revolution Fueled by IT (NYT)
  Do you have trouble sticking to a diet? Have patience. Within 10 years, Dr. Kurzweil explained, there will be a drug that lets you eat whatever you want without gaining weight.
• Aliens get a new switchboard: a SETI radio telescope in Northern California (LAT)
  An array at Hat Creek near Mt. Shasta points an ear to the cosmos. If E.T. tries to phone on any of 10 billion channels, Earth will be ready to listen.
• The day of judgment (Guardian Books)
  End-time thinking - the belief in a world purified by catastrophe - could once be dismissed as a harmless remnant of a more superstitious age. But with the rise of religious fundamentalism, prophets of apocalypse have become a new and very real danger, ar

Warren Ellis: Singularity 'indivisible from religious faith'

Science fiction author Warren Ellis has written a short and typically trite blog post about what he calls The NerdGod Delusion -- an attack against those who make the case for a technological Singularity:

The Singularity is the last trench of the religious impulse in the technocratic community. The Singularity has been denigrated as "The Rapture For Nerds," and not without cause. It’s pretty much indivisible from the religious faith in describing the desire to be saved by something that isn’t there (or even the desire to be destroyed by something that isn’t there) and throws off no evidence of its ever intending to exist. It’s a new faith for people who think they’re otherwise much too evolved to believe in the Flying Spaghetti Monster or any other idiot back-brain cult you care to suggest.

Vernor Vinge, the originator of the term, is a scientist and novelist, and occupies an almost unique space. After all, the only other sf writer I can think of who invented a religion that is also a science-fiction fantasy is L Ron Hubbard.

Wow, sounds like Warren has some special knowledge of his own. I certainly hope that, aside from this vacuous and inflammatory post, that he'll begin to share some of his expert views into AI theory and the potential for machine minds.

With the bold claim that there is "no evidence" to support the suggestion that SAI is engineerable, I'll have to assume that he's engaged the principle thinkers on the matter and offered sufficient critique to dismiss their findings outright -- thinkers like Eliezer Yudkowsky, Ben Goertzel, Hugo de Garis, and the many others devoted to the problem.

Otherwise, why should we take Ellis seriously? Or are we expected to take his position on mere faith alone?

The day is coming, my friends, when Singularity denial will seem as outrageous and irresponsible as the denial of anthropogenic global warming. And I think the comparison is fair; environmentalists are often chastised for their "religious-like" convictions and concern. It's easy to mock the Chicken Littles of the world.

And like the foot-dragging on climate change, there are consequences to inaction. The bogus and unfair memetic linkage between millenarian beliefs and the Singularity is a dangerous one, and the sooner this association is severed the better.

As I see it, there are four strategies to help us normalize the Singularity debate:

(1) We need to better promote and engage respected thinkers and public intellectuals who are sympathetic to the issue -- key figures like Ray Kurzweil, Robin Hanson, Nick Bostrom, Marvin Minsky, etc.

(2) A new generation of public figures is required -- renowned individuals who are willing to a) put their reputations at stake and b) use their popularity/credibility to raise awareness and help with foresight.

(3) Continue to frame the issue as a scientific endeavor and pitch the various scenarios as hypotheses; we need to keep the language within the scientific vernacular.

(4) Let the critics have it and show them no quarter. Particularly when their denial is mere contradiction and driven by sheer incredulity. We need to force them to better articulate their positions while defending our own with as much evidence can be mustered.

And in the meantime, don't buy into Ellis's empty anti-Singularity rhetoric, which is all that it really is.

What I've been reading: 2008-06-02

• What Does It Mean to Be Human? (Wired)
  A star-studded panel of scientists gathered to discuss those heady themes last night at the World Science Festival in New York City. Here are their answers in convenient nutshell form:
• IEEE Spectrum: Special Report: The Singularity
• IEEE Spectrum: Economics Of The Singularity (Robin Hanson)
  This is part of IEEE Spectrum's SPECIAL REPORT: THE SINGULARITY
• Caring or cruel? Inside the primate laboratory (The Guardian)
  The Guardian, given rare access to an animal research facility, talks to scientists about their experiments on monkeys.

What I've been reading: 2008-06-01

• SCREECH (More Intelligent Life)
  Ferrari is putting carbon-ceramic brakes in all its cars. Paul Markillie goes from 160kph to zero in four seconds flat ...
• Bayesian theory in New Scientist (Reverendbayes's Weblog)
  Is this a unified theory of the brain?
• Space particles play with the mind (New Scientist)
  IT'S hardly unusual to find things flashing into your head as you fall asleep, but as Christer Fuglesang was settling down on his first night aboard the International Space Station it happened quite literally.
• A Computer That Can 'Read' Your Mind (NSF)
  Research team's work with brain scans and computational modeling an important breakthrough in understanding the brain and developing new computational tools