We live in curious times. Deep Learning is “eating software”, or at the very least becoming the latest trend, the buzziest word. Its popularity now permeates even into popular culture. At the same time, GPUs (which power Deep Learning) are in scarce supply due to the fourth great cryptocurrency price bubble/boom (and more specifically due…
Current blockchain networks (Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.) do not scale efficiently: their per transaction cost is ~O(N), where N is the number of full nodes. Several recent proposals provide restricted fast O(C) transactions using combinations of payment channels, probabilistic payments, and either cross channel routing (Lightning Network), or surety bonds/deposits to deter double-spending. I propose a…
My most recent writings can be found on LessWrong. I wrote there rather than here mostly due to the LW/reddit codebase’s superior support for comments and the ready supply of comments/commenters (at least historically – it has been dying). Perhaps the best article I’ve written in a while is The Brain as a Universal Learning Machine, but…
In regards to the Fermi Paradox there is a belief common in transhumanist circles that the lack of ‘obvious’ galactic colonization is strong evidence that we are alone, civilization is rare, and thus there is some form of Great Filter. This viewpoint was espoused early on by writers such as Moravec, Kurzweil, and Hanson; it remains dominant today. It…
Here we search for the holy grail of micropayments: a decentralized transaction system that can scale to the volume of the internet itself; the promised land where transactions are plentiful as UDP packets, fast as ping, and as cheap as bandwidth itself. Motivation Bitcoin is a working example of a decentralized transaction network. It’s Proof…
If Bitcoin succeeds, future generations will remember it as the greatest investment opportunity in recorded history. The Forbes list of billionaire dynasties will be completely rewritten, with new names such as the Winklevi clan shifted to the front. A few lucky individuals will become billionaires simply because they tried out this new bitcoin mining app…
A Bitcoin evangelist once said : “Bitcoin will either be worth nothing or it will be worth everything.” This mindset makes the case for a compelling small bet gamble: in the worst case one loses ‘only’ 100% of a small wager, in the best case a single bitcoin could eventually be worth millions. Why should…
This year the annual transhumanist/futurist/AI/lesswrong conference was expanded to two full days. In terms of logistics, execution and turnout this was probably the best iteration of the summit I’ve been to, but the price has increased roughly in proportion. The masonic center in nob hill has a single main auditorium, but it is a most…
A particularly interesting vision of some future descendant of SIRI/Watson/Google: MORPHEUS JC Denton. 23 years old. No residence. No ancestors. No employer. No — JC DENTON How do you know who I am? MORPHEUS I must greet each visitor with a complete summary of his file. I am a prototype for a much larger system.…
Transhumanism may well be on the road to victory, at least judging by some indirect measures of social influence, such as the increasing number of celebrities coming out in support for cyronic preservation and future resurrection, or the prevalence of the memeset across media. If you are advancing into that age at which your annual chance…
February 2010 must be the date that Transhumanism won: when the Black Eyed Peas made a Transhumanist rap video about nothing less than automating away their own jobs and a very robotic future.
The future rarely turns out quite as we expect. Pop sci futurists of a generation ago expected us to be flying to work by the dawn of the 21st century. They were almost right: both flying cars and jet packs have just recently moved into the realm of realization. But there is a huge gap…
