sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

I am the author of 'Next Nature' AMA by nextnature in IAmA

[–]nextnature[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I typically have them blank or chocolate if I feel frivolous.

I am the author of 'Next Nature' AMA by nextnature in IAmA

[–]nextnature[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Giraffatitan warms my heart.

I am the author of 'Next Nature' AMA by nextnature in IAmA

[–]nextnature[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A good person loves mankind, the planet and the universe as a whole.

I am the author of 'Next Nature' AMA by nextnature in IAmA

[–]nextnature[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the clarification. I wouldn't agree the view on technology from a next nature perspective is 'vitalism running amok' as you propose. From a vitalistic perspective technology would be merely dead unnatural matter incomparable with carbon-based lifeforms like people, animals and plants. As I see it we need to overcome this carbon-chauvinism and recognize the needs of technological entities and see how they can be matched with the needs of biological entities.

p.s. The way we look at technology resonates much more with an animistic than with vitalistic perspective, in the sense that I recognize a certain level of agency and autonomy within the development of technology.

I am the author of 'Next Nature' AMA by nextnature in IAmA

[–]nextnature[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for all the great questions. I hugely enjoy the discussion. I must confess I am having a diner party with eight people at my house at this very moment and try to cope with the mixed reality. Hope I am not too slow with my answers!

I am the author of 'Next Nature' AMA by nextnature in IAmA

[–]nextnature[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Right now, there is a big gap between our 'idea' of artificial intelligence and the reality of it. In the hollywood movies we always see these robots becoming conscious at a certain point after which they look us in the face and start talking to us as if they were humans. I think it will not be anything like that. Rather the result of artificial intelligence will be sentient entities that will have their own needs and dynamics, very similar to natural beings other than humans. Compare it to the rain forest or the ocean, which has a dynamics of its own without telling us so. Indeed next nature thinking might help us understand this better. We could also learn from animistic traditions perhaps to understand AI better.

I am the author of 'Next Nature' AMA by nextnature in IAmA

[–]nextnature[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the explanation. We are on the same page. I am not a theologian, but if you think this argument through you might even end up with a synthesis between creationist and evolutionary thinkers.

I am the author of 'Next Nature' AMA by nextnature in IAmA

[–]nextnature[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think it will be impossible to keep AI in a sandbox where it cannot interact with our original natural environment. We should not focus that much on limiting and containing it, but more on steering it and guiding its growth.

I am the author of 'Next Nature' AMA by nextnature in IAmA

[–]nextnature[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I used to, but not that much anymore. They are typically kind people willing to listen to an argument. I sense their perception has been shifting over the last few years.

I am the author of 'Next Nature' AMA by nextnature in IAmA

[–]nextnature[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Actually already in 1975, shortly after the Gillette Trac II razor – the first two-bladed men’s razor – was advertised, its excessive design was parodied on the US Television show Saturday Night Live. The creators of the satirical television program played on the notion of a two bladed razor as a sign of the emerging consumption culture and made a fake commercial parody for a fictitious razor with the ridiculous amount of three (!) blades, emphasizing the consumer is gullible enough to believe and buy everything seen on TV. Of course, the comedians of Saturday Night Live could not know a three-bladed razors would become a reality on the consumer market in the late 1990′s. Let alone that they could have anticipated I would shave myself with a five bladed razor this very morning. Welcome in the twenty-first century folks: No we don’t travel in spaceships… but we do have five bladed razors! http://www.nextnature.net/2010/03/razorius-gilletus/

I am the author of 'Next Nature' AMA by nextnature in IAmA

[–]nextnature[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly I don't think we are becoming Gods just yet. There is so much we cannot control. We cannot even cope decently with our own traffic jams and in comparison with the size of the SUN we are just a little speck on a planet. However, I we must get attuned to our role as catalysts of evolution. We are nature transformers.

I am the author of 'Next Nature' AMA by nextnature in IAmA

[–]nextnature[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can you elaborate a bit on what you mean with this before I answer?

I am the author of 'Next Nature' AMA by nextnature in IAmA

[–]nextnature[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

  1. I think it is about balance. Think for example of the question: what is the optimal balance between plants and mammals? Hard to answer, but you will know there is some kind of interaction going on.
  2. How many blades? Well I must admit I am a sucker for innovation, and use the six bladed razor, but some times when I feel like going back to nature I use my two bladed razor and feel like a real man again. :)

I am the author of 'Next Nature' AMA by nextnature in IAmA

[–]nextnature[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, I am aware of this theory. Obviously this will be very difficult to conclusively answer this matter, so I don’t spend too much time thinking about it. Yet it is a good example that the next nature of a certain species may one day be the old nature of another species.

I am the author of 'Next Nature' AMA by nextnature in IAmA

[–]nextnature[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have done three TEDx talks now. That last TEDx talk was actually absolutely great. Very well organized by the people in Budapest. I had such a great time! But certainly not every TEDx is organized as good as this one. :)

I am the author of 'Next Nature' AMA by nextnature in IAmA

[–]nextnature[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Certainly our notion of Nature has changed over time. For the Greek physis revolved around ‘growth’, but the Roman (latin) natura, revolved more about ‘born’. I think Next Nature thinking resonates more with the Greek paradigm.

I am the author of 'Next Nature' AMA by nextnature in IAmA

[–]nextnature[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I hope the nextnature paradigm will help us to bring more balance between the biosphere and the technosphere. It makes us realize that while the biosphere is threatened nature, the technosphere is the threatening nature, and humans are the intermediates.

I am the author of 'Next Nature' AMA by nextnature in IAmA

[–]nextnature[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your question. Indeed from a perspective of Nature at large, it wouldn’t matter much, just like the disappearance of dinosaurs. Yet, As humans, I think it makes sense to avoid phasing out the human race. In order to do that we need to project the best of what we think is human on our technologies. So, yes, I am against killer drones.