FUTURIST UPDATE
News & Previews from the World Future Society
September 2003
IN THIS ISSUE:
* Robots with Consciousness
* Battling the Bullies
* Futurism vs. Terrorism
* Climate Change and Farming
* Click of the Month: Declaration of Interdependence
* Passionate Problem Solving
ROBOTS WITH CONSCIOUSNESS
If robots were conscious, they would be able to imagine the consequences of alternative choices and then choose the better one.Giving robots humanlike consciousness is one of the goals of a team of British researchers, including computer scientists, neuropsychologists, and roboticists. The work could also lead to insights about human consciousness.
The researchers will study how humans and apes use visual experience and imagination, then attempt to develop artificial systems that closely match these experiences. To test the skills of robots, the researchers will place them in complex environments where they would have to imagine their own potential actions and determine the optimal action to take.
"Consciousness is perhaps the last remaining mystery in understanding what it is to be human," says computer science lecturer Owen Holland of the University of Essex. "By attempting to build physical systems which can produce a form of artificial consciousness, we hope to learn more about the nature of consciousness."
SOURCE: University of Essex, http://www.essex.ac.uk/news/2003/nr20030822.htm
BATTLING THE BULLIES
Bullying has long-term impacts on individuals and communities and has been linked with school shootings and suicides. A recent study found that 60% of playground bullies would have a criminal conviction by age 24, and 90% of young offenders were bullying victims themselves.But bullying can be prevented, according to researchers with the Menninger Clinic of the Baylor College of Medicine.
School bullying behavior involves three participants: a bully, a victim, and an observer, the researchers found. Since bullies often derive their power from the passive reinforcement of bystanders, one important prevention technique is to isolate the bully; removing the observer effectively stymies the bully's motivation for aggression. The researchers also recommend giving the bully alternative behaviors and rewarding nonviolence.
The study, called the Peaceful Schools Project, has also shown that schools with more peaceful, bully-free atmospheres can raise their academic scores.
Source: The Menninger Clinic, http://www.menningerclinic.com
NOMINATE A SPEAKER
Who is your favorite futurist? That is, whom would you like to hear at the next World Future Society conference?
The planning committee for WorldFuture 2004: Creating the Future Now! invites your suggestions for speakers and sessions.
WorldFuture 2004 will be held July 31 through August 2 at the Grand Hyatt Washington in the heart of D.C., between the White House and the U.S. Capitol.
To nominate a speaker, send a message to Conference Director Susan Echard: mailto:sechard@wfs.org.
Session proposal guidelines are now available online. Hurry! The deadline for proposals is October 31. (And to save $230 off the registration fee, sign up for the conference before September 30!)
DETAILS: http://www.wfs.org/2004main.htm
FUTURISM VS. TERRORISM
Futurism could help end terrorism by Islamic fanatics, argues Iranian futurist Sam Ghandchi, editor and publisher of Iranscope.com.In his new book, FUTURIST IRAN, Ghandchi calls for a futurist program that builds up freedom and progress in an open society. It is this freedom and openness that will counter support for terrorists' creation of an ideal Islamic state. Toward that end, he proposes an Iranian Futurist Party platform.
"For years, I have been arguing for a futurist program for Iran when viewing Iran's issues of development into the twenty-first century," he writes in the book's introduction. "The old ways of the right and the left will neither work for the freedom of Iran, nor can they be used to build a new Iran."
LINKS:
Iranscope, Sam Ghandchi's futurist portal for Iranian news and culture: http://www.iranscope.com
FUTURIST IRAN online book: http://www.ghandchi.com/500-FuturistIran.htmCLIMATE CHANGE AND FARMING
The heat wave plaguing Europe this summer bodes dramatic changes ahead for agriculture. The European Commission reports reduced yields of crops such as wheat and maize throughout southern Europe due to the heat wave, which was compounded by droughts.Agriculture could cease altogether in the most-parched areas of southern Europe, predicts Jørgen Olesen of the Danish Institute for Agricultural Sciences. The water needs in urban areas will most likely win out over agricultural needs if future water scarcity creates competition, he argues.
Though the temperature increases from global warming have hurt farms in some places, others will benefit. In northern Europe, yields of sugar beets and canola have increased, and in the eastern United States, global warming is expected to boost farm productivity.
The lesson is that the time is now to prepare the world's agricultural systems for an era of global warming, the researchers conclude.
SOURCES:
New Scientist, http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994072
European Commission's Joint Research Centre, http://mars.jrc.it/stats/bulletinCLICK OF THE MONTH: DECLARATION OF INTERDEPENDENCE
http://www.civworld.org/day.htmThe Civworld Citizens Campaign for Democracy has declared September 12 the first annual Interdependence Day and invites individuals to celebrate by signing a "Declaration of Interdependence" online.
The pledge proclaims people everywhere to be citizens of a common world with "responsibilities to the common goods and liberties of humankind as a whole."
The organizers chose September 12 (the day after 9/11) to encourage people to view terrorism and war as opportunities for civic renewal and global cooperation. Celebrations are planned in Philadelphia, Budapest, Johannesburg, and Buenos Aires, as well as at many schools and colleges in the United States.
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***************************************************PASSIONATE PROBLEM SOLVING
"Fall in love with your problem" is the heart-melting problem-solving advice from the newsletter INNOVATIVE ISSUES.Whatever your problem is, write it down clearly in no more than 10 words. Step back. Now think of the first person you fell madly in love with. Remember how you would have done any crazy thing to help that special someone. Now pretend he or she is the one with the problem--what crazy things would you do to solve it? Write down all of these absurd ideas, then tweak them into workable solutions.
"Be passionate about your problem solving," the newsletter advises, "and you might just be able to kiss some of your troubles goodbye."
SOURCE: INNOVATIVE ISSUES, published by Innovation Focus, http://www.innovationfocus.com/articles/articles.asp?arID=1076
FUTURIST UPDATE: News & Previews from the World Future Society is an e-mail newsletter published monthly as a supplement to THE FUTURIST magazine. Copyright © 2003, World Future Society, 7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 450, Bethesda, MD 20814, U.S.A. Telephone 1-301-656-8274; mailto:info@wfs.org; Web site http://www.wfs.org.
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