Titanium Dioxide: Miracle Paint or Carcinogen?
Causes of Revolution
Belgium Rule in the Congo
Updates on sources page, with added sources for new posts.
14
Feb
2021
Purusha Shirvani
03
Feb
2021
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence- By Purusha Shirvani
We often think about ourselves as living in a “modern world,” imagining the twenty-first century as the height of human civilization to date, with advances in all forms of technology, ranging from healthcare, medicine, prevention, and detection to every area like recreation, forensics, transportation, and in almost every other aspect of our lives.
This was all accomplished by what we like to proudly call our “superior intellect” to the other inhabitants of this planet. What some have begun worrying about throughout the last century, however, is that one day we might NOT be the most intelligent species on Earth. This would make us unable to rule this land the way we have been doing for millennia. This perceived threat is usually associated with fears that our creations might be the ones accelerating our way to this demise. This would make our improvement and advances being a double-edged blade.
Double Edged Blade
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This double-edged blade can take many forms, but one of the most famous examples is Artificial Intelligence. An often misused label for functions that would otherwise require human intelligence is also confused with machine learning. Machine learning is a subset of artificial intelligence that involves learning and improving by itself. Ever since the introduction of ENIAC (one of the first computers, it stood for Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer ), fears of the machines one day overtaking us grew and were often expressed in the form of stories, novels, and sometimes conspiracy theories
However, unlike what some of us think, the fear is not wholly baseless, nor is it “far off on the horizon.” Stephen Hawking once said that artificial intelligence could be the “worst event in the history of our civilization.” He also urged creators to “employ best practice and effective management.” Turing has proven that it’s logically impossible to know if every program reaches a conclusion and halts; or if it will loop forever trying to find a solution.*
That means that simple rules such as “minimize human suffering” or “never harm humans” could have unknown consequences or direct the AI in a way we could never have predicted. This restriction would, in effect, make containment algorithms that seek to do precisely that unusable. A super-intelligent AI with unknown or greater than human capacity would thus be unpredictable and uncontrollable by extension.
Kind of scary, but it’s still a long ways off, right?
21
Jan
2021
Virtual Humanity
Virtual Humanity- By Purusha Shirvani
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March is the month of COVID 19. Around March, schools across the United States and in dozens of other countries were officially and abruptly closed. March 11, 2020, was the day that the WHO finally classified COVID-19 as a pandemic.
With the sudden and unexpected start of a worldwide pandemic, the international community was thrown into disarray and uncertainty. We weren’t ready. Abruptly thrown into a virtual world, we needed to adapt and change our beliefs. We often talk about how things will go “back to normal,” but nearly a year after the start of the pandemic, the world has changed it’s norm forever. Never before have most students (and some teachers!) attended school in their pajamas, or the workplace been one click away. “Hanging out with friends to grab a bite” has changed to “zoom parties” and “have your own food!”
No longer are the majority of our interactions face-to-face. Never before have work meetings and school presentations been interrupted by younger siblings, children, and pets. Massive buildings put out for rent because there’s not a single soul in them. Workplaces with empty parking lots and hospitals with lines stretching to the next city. Children unable to tell apart our expressions because our masks cover them. These are aspects of culture, and by extension, humanity.
Albert Einstein once said, “It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity,” and he was right. Classes, concerts, meetings, parties, reunions, and even exercises are now available by simply clicking on a link. None of these could previously be accepted into our culture. The change in our routines and personal lives can actually be a blessing in disguise. We can use this as an opportunity to redefine and shape our humanity to match the technology we have today. This will bridge the gap between what we are right now and a virtual humanity.
The interesting thing is that the whole world is experiencing the same things and moving in the same direction. Maya Angelou once said, “It’s good to remember that in crises, natural crises, human beings forget for awhile their ignorances, their biases, their prejudices. For a little while, neighbors help neighbors and strangers help strangers”. When the National Health Service in Britain sent out a call for help regarding COVID 19, it took less than 24 hours for half a million people in the country to volunteer.
This is the first time the entire world has faced the same problems, regardless of race, gender, or background. Although tragic, it is a tragedy that unites us. Our nation came together in a moment that could have broken us. We face a common enemy through our challenges and difficulties, one that we all want to vanquish. This is why scientists are combining a Russian and British vaccine to produce results better than any one of them could alone. This is why the World Health Organization, along with dozens of developed countries, is directing COVAX, a program aimed at fair and equitable vaccine distribution to countries that need it most, despite lack of resources or funds. It is an incredibly rare opportunity to see over 173 countries unite to produce something that benefits everyone.
We have gained some very costly experience over the past year, but this marks our rapid and forced transition to a new age of humanity; an age of virtual humanity. It’s a “sink or swim” situation, and humanity as a whole has always been tenacious.
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19
Jan
2021
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution: A period of great change throughout the world, and one which- unlike some others, can never be reverted, altering the course of history forever. With this change came developments, good, and bad.
Why The History Lesson?
While interesting for some, a lot of people aren’t looking for a trip down memory lane back behind a cramped desk in class.
The importance of the Industrial Revolution lies in its effects today. The continued and increased rise of slavery across the Western World, the unprecedented and exponential rate of development of technology leading to the following second, third, and eventual fourth Industrial Revolution in quick succession compared to the centuries- if not millennia of little development.
All of these changes set the stage for the current atmosphere and many aspects in the daily lives of people in “the first world”. Racial dynamics, technology, culture, and behaviors are all at least partly attributed to one of the biggest and most important changes in history.
05
Jan
2021
Killing the Reaper
We are all born, we all grow, we mature, and we grow old, and ultimately, everyone dies. No matter your background, your wealth, your feelings, morals, skin color, or any other factor.
Unavoidable, impossible to prevent, an unchanging and natural truth, Death acts as the great equalizer. It would be unnatural and immoral to ever try to ruin something that humanity depends on.
There would be no life without Death.
That’s what He tells you. After all, he reaps what YOU sow. He wins every time one of us departs this world. Your experiences, accomplishments, effort, it all goes away with you once you go, another footnote in history, if you’re lucky.
Like a shadow, always waiting, telling us that our time will come some day.
But everything natural is not good . No reasonable person wishes for the return of previous pandemics or diseases, or to destroy the technology or medicine which prolongs and extends our lives, which saves us from the fate of our ancestors dying to the common cold.
We all imagine our last moments to be ones of content, surrounded by family (hopefully with our grandchildren or even great-grandchildren present), having accomplished everything we ever hoped we would, everything we could ever dream of, and perhaps just a little tired of a long and plentiful, but perhaps boring life.
But what if that wasn’t the case? What if you still thought it was too early? That you still had years of work or dreams left? What if you couldn’t live to see those great-granchildren, or even your grandchildren?
If your life was cut short prematurely by whatever unfair cause?
Did it all have a purpose? At that moment, would you think there is a reason for everything?
Life expectancy in the majority of countries and continents increases nearly every level, but not equally. Many third world countries experience significnatly lower lifespans and higher mortality, especially in children.
Would saving them from death be worth the potential moral and scientific implications of a death pill?
When people imagine immortality, they often think of their own selves living to two hundred years old, not the children dying at seven, or the people not making it to twenty.
So let’s suppose He’s not right. Imagine that death, like any other ailment, can be slowed, prevented, and perhaps even cured. What if we could kill the reaper, and find a cure to death, a way to indefinitely extend our lives, an immortality pill?
While not a new idea, by any stretch, and one that has been thought of, researched, tried, and failed millions of times, the concept of an immortality pill in an imaginary world allows us to visualize and symbolize a number of different scenarios and concepts.
First of all, would “the people” have access to such a miracle? Even assuming that such a cure is possible, and that it’s possible to mass produce it in such a capacity to satisfy even some portion of the immense demand it would have, the issue of cost and availability would remain.
In a world ruled by capitalism and a possible monopoly on the drug, the prices could skyrocket similar to how epi-pens cost thousands of times what they should.
Despite the remarkable progress the world has made in the last decades, almost fifteen thousand children die every day mostly due to preventable causes.
Now imagine how many wouldn’t get saved by an immortality pill.
The billionaire self proclaimed philanthropists might not want to risk the couple thousand doses entitled to them to help a mass of nameless people.
The insurance sector, medicine sector, and millions of jobs would be in danger, even ignoring the likely incredible pushback from both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill.
What would they do if the people they serve didn’t have any ailments? If there truly was no obstacle left to face?
After all, the most valuable currency we have is time, and it’s the only one that can’t be replenished or bought, saved for another time, or taken back once lost.
For the sake of humanity, some changes need to be made if scientists are ever going to discover the secret of the fountain of youth.
22
Aug
2020
A Beacon of Color
A Beacon of Color: By Purusha Shirvani
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Sitting behind a desk, painted white,
an extension of the settled snow on the ground,
separated only by a window
looking out into the starry night.
A snow loader slowly advances,
blinking red lights
bouncing off the milky snow
overcoming the faint light of the half-moon
Looking down,
I see my keyboard lights
painting the top of the desk
with a myriad of colors.
Colors mean so much to us.
From our clothes,
the world we see,
our nations’ flags
to our skin colors.
When the Sun shines,
casts its light on the Earth,
one ray, one shade, everywhere,
our barriers are the only things
dispersing it into separate colors;
rupturing the light
in our mind’s prism.
We label them
categorize them,
same way we do to each other.
Forgetting that a rainbow
could only be beautiful
when all the colors are together.
Looking at the lights
dancing on the wall
A festival of colors
Blending together
I’m snatched out of my thoughts
Back into my room
by the screeching sound
of the snow loader plow
Dragging on the street
Locked in my room on a winter night,
Behind a desk, painted white
Isolated but not divided
My keyboard like a window
A link to the outside world
typing away on the lighted keyboard
brighter and brighter
Shining like a beacon
“RGB keyboards for gamers at Corsair’s booth at Gamescom 2018” by marcoverch is licensed under CC BY 2.0