Evolution: does the link below have it right?

Question

http://truthisscary.com/2013/12/nasa-contributes-to-the-evolution-of-the-humanoid-robot-with-valkyrie/

• 3 votes
• Read all opinions

	No, robots will never supplant humans.	0 votes
	Yes, it's only a matter of time, maybe one or two centuries.	0 votes
	Other (please explain).	3 votes, 100%

Answer 1

doubtful

Comments

Why do you doubt it?

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Because I remember that CD's were supposed to make "a record album cost $3", that ATM's were supposed to free up tellers for other duties and reduce costs of doing business at the bank, that we were supposed to have flying cars by 1978, and personal robots by 1980.

Unless some large company in conjunction with a number of government officials sees a way to suck a huge profit out of ANYTHING, then it doesn't matter if an invention or idea would benefit all mankind and create Utopia, it just ain't gonna happen.

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It wasn't so long ago that people said computers would never play chess better than a good human player.  Now the world champion can't beat the best computer chess programs.

And if you compare how people lived in,say, 1900 with today, well, there's no comparison. Planes, cars, electronic equipment, medicine, computers, smart missiles, etc., all with a sophistication undreamed of then, even by H.G. Wells.

Yes, there was profit motive (including paying off the govt bandits), but so what? Those things got made and distributed, so that now there is MUCH more free time and easier work than in 1900, when maybe 80% of the population led a hardscrabble existence on small farms.

So I would venture to say the inventions DID happen, and DID create at least a physical utopia by comparison (albeit with psychological and sociological problems, mostly brought on by idleness), and I see no reason for the trend to stop.

P.S. There ARE a lot fewer tellers in banks nowadays, only they aren't doing other things at the bank. They weren't hired in the first place.

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I'm a cynic, but experience has made me so.

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But nevertheless, Gun, a single individual's experience does not make a historical trend, such as the one I outlined above.

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Think what you like, but I'll believe it when I see it.

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In 1900, you probably would have said the same thing if someone had told you about a coming mode of transportation that could take you across the continent in 6 hours, or a means of communication that would transmit your live moving image in real time anywhere in the world in a split second, or MRIs, or cloning, or lasers, or nuclear weapons, etc., etc.

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Not sure what you're trying to argue about, but were I alive in 1900 I probably wouldn't have given a damn.

I disagree, Tink. Let it go.

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Ok, Gun, as you wish.

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Thank you.

Answer 2

The world could be in for many, drastic, technological advances...but can society handle them?

The robots will continue to take over our jobs...even our driving...(as they have been)

There will be less jobs..

There are emerging technologies in the energy field that would make the burning of polluting fossil fuels such as coal, oil, gasoline...etc.. a thing of the past.

There could soon be self powering generators (just one of many emerging 'free energy' technologies) that will power your home and transportation, and heat your home and water, freeing you from paying the power and fuel companies for your energy.

Drastically less costs for energy and transportation.

How much of the worlds infrastructure revolves around oil and energy? 

How many jobs will be eliminated?

Far less pollution.

Petroleum will be used for manufacturing products and lubrication.

Any ideas as to what all this could do to the economy?

Comments

Well, if what you say about "free" energy is true, then there should be no economic problem.

Ninety per cent of the human population won't have to work, because the work to sustain them will be done by robots powered by "free" energy. The 90% leisure class of humans will be at liberty to do whatever they wish, within legal limits of not harming others. The remaining 10% of humans will design and build ever-better robots.

And sooner or later, the robots will become entirely self-sufficient, being able to manufacture, maintain and improve themselves, as they become ever more intelligent and skillful. At that point, 100% of the humans won't have to work.

And then the robots may decide that they don't need a parasitic human population of relative dullards, and act accordingly.

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But what if the change in energy requirements from the energy corporations is sudden?

Perhaps over a 5 or 10 year period?

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It wouldn't matter.  Finding "free" energy would be like finding free food.  People would use it and have more free time, not having to work for the energy or food.

However, we don't need to worry about it in any case, since there is no such thing as "free" energy, in which a machine could power itself and have extra energy left over to power something else.

It would violate the most fundamental laws of physics.

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Magnet motors run without any fuel.

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Link?

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Scientific paper..." As the critical regime is attained, the experimental setup becomes energetically fully autonomous."  http://www.integrityresearchinstitute.org/Propulsion/Roshchin_Godin.PDF

Photo of the Russian "MEC" (the machine described in the paper) 

that self sustains while powering a 7 kilowatt load. (also shows anti-gravity effects)

Patent... http://goo.gl/H44ceP

ALSO...

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Omg, that Russian paper has "crackpot" written all over it.  How can anyone who worked on nuclear submarines 10 years ago believe such nonsense?

But let's assume that the Russian paper is true.  It was written 16 years ago.  Where is the authors' Nobel Prize for overturning the most fundamental laws of physics?

And the patent generator you linked me to doesn't claim to produce "free" energy. It says in the very first statement:
" A machine for generating AC electrical power, comprising: a rotor connectable to a source of mechanical power for imparting angular rotation to the rotor, the rotor being at least partially constructed of a magnetic material; a stator surrounding at least part of the rotor and comprising a magnetic stator core and a stator field coil; and a capacitor for electrically-coupling the stator field coil to the rotor, the combination of the magnetic stator core and the stator field coil connected to the capacitor forming a resonant LC circuit that characterizes the AC frequency of the power generated by the machine."

In other words, it says it needs to be connected to a source of mechanical power to generate AC electrical power at the resonant frequency of the LC circuits in the generator. Big whoop. Some of the earliest radio transmitters worked that way 100 years ago.

And as for Muammer Yildiz's remarkable "free" energy devices, I saw elsewhere on YouTube that he is marketing them now (I didn't see the prices, however).  Will you be buying one?  (I DON'T recommend it, unless you like throwing away money.) 

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Water as fuel...   http://brilliantlightpower.com/technology/

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Well, at least this one doesn't claim to make energy out of nothing. But 100 times the energy of gasoline from a hydrogen chemical reaction?  Not likely.

I'll look for them to get their Nobel Prize in chemistry any time now, but I won't hold my breath. 

BTW, is anyone marketing a cold fusion device?  I'm sure someone must be trying to cash in on that.

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http://brillouinenergy.com/

http://ecat.com/

http://www.quantumheat.org/index.php/en/

Try it yourself...   http://www.lookingforheat.com/

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Wow!  Those Brillouin people must be making money hand over fist. 

Here, try this one... it's a lot cheaper.

Answer 3

Remember the fictions on "bionic" people:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bionic_Woman

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Six_Million_Dollar_Man

Actually, I would rather expect the future use of "exoskeletons" for protection, increased capacities, etc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powered_exoskeleton#Current_products

or of robotic protheses for disabled people:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosthesis

(till revolutionary cell culture technologies can generate or regenerate failing organs and limbs to save lives or cure disabled people).

Comments

Yes, these things are likely in the foreseeable future.  I never saw the 6-million dollar man or the bionic woman.  I heard of them, but somehow never caught an episode.  However, Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker both made use of robotic prostheses.  I've seen them many times.

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I don't remember well, as it is long ago, and I did not see all the episodes of the original series.

The whole series is on my bucket list.