Archive for the ‘governance’ category: Page 27
Aug 1, 2015
So — what is Ethereum; and, how does it relate to Law?
Posted by Rob Chamberlain in categories: automation, big data, complex systems, disruptive technology, economics, ethics, governance, human trajectories, information science, law
Quoted: “Traditional law is a form of agreement. It is an agreement among people and their leaders as to how people should behave. There are also legal contracts between individuals. These contracts are a form of private law that applies to the participants. Both types of agreement are enforced by a government’s legal system.”
“Ethereum is both a digital currency and a programming language. But it is the combination of these ingredients that make it special. Since most agreements involve the exchange of economic value, or have economic consequences, we can implement whole categories of public and private law using Ethereum. An agreement involving transfer of value can be precisely defined and automatically enforced with the same script.”
“When viewed from the future, today’s current legal system seems downright primitive. We have law libraries — buildings filled with words that nobody reads and whose meaning is unclear, even to courts who enforce them arbitrarily. Our private contracts amount to vague personal promises and a mere hope they might be honored.
For the first time, Ethereum offers an alternative. A new kind of law.”
Read the article here > http://etherscripter.com/what_is_ethereum.html
Jul 31, 2015
The Seasteading Institute announces 2015 Floating City Project – Architectural Design Contest winners
Posted by Odette Bohr Dienel in categories: architecture, governance, innovation
The Floating City Project – Architectural Design Contest held in the Spring of 2015 was organized in partnership with DeltaSync (Netherlands) and judged by an international panel of experts.
Tags: design, Seasteading
Jul 20, 2015
We May Look Crazy to Them, But They Look Like Zombies to Us: Transhumanism as a Political Challenge
Posted by Steve Fuller in categories: defense, futurism, geopolitics, governance, government, life extension, philosophy, sustainability, theory, transhumanism
One of the biggest existential challenges that transhumanists face is that most people don’t believe a word we’re saying, however entertaining they may find us. They think we’re fantasists when in fact we’re talking about a future just over the horizon. Suppose they’re wrong and we are right. What follows? Admittedly, we won’t know this until we inhabit that space ‘just over the horizon’. Nevertheless, it’s not too early to discuss how these naysayers will be regarded, perhaps as a guide to how they should be dealt with now.
So let’s be clear about who these naysayers are. They hold the following views:
1) They believe that they will live no more than 100 years and quite possibly much less.
2) They believe that this limited longevity is not only natural but also desirable, both for themselves and everyone else.
3) They believe that the bigger the change, the more likely the resulting harms will outweigh the benefits.
Now suppose they’re wrong on all three counts. How are we to think about such beings who think this way? Aren’t they the living dead? Indeed. These are people who live in the space of their largely self-imposed limitations, which function as a self-fulfilling prophecy. They are programmed for destruction – not genetically but intellectually. Someone of a more dramatic turn of mind would say that they are suicide bombers trying to manufacture a climate of terror in humanity’s existential horizons. They roam the Earth as death-waiting-to-happen. This much is clear: If you’re a transhumanist, ordinary people are zombies.
Tags: development, zombie
Jun 30, 2015
The Millennium Project’s “2015−16 State of the Future” report on the Prospects of the Global Outlook to be released July 31st
Posted by Odette Bohr Dienel in categories: futurism, governance, policy
Washington, DC (PRWEB) June 30, 2015
Another 2.3 billion people are expected to be added to the planet in just 35 years. “By 2050, new systems for food, water, energy, education, health, economics, and global governance will be needed to prevent massive and complex human and environmental disasters,” explains Jerome Glenn, CEO of The Millennium Project. As Pope Francis said in His Encyclical Letter, “Halfway measures simply delay the inevitable disaster.”
The “2015−16 State of the Future” reviews the global situation and future prospects in a broad range of areas from environment to business and technology, and global ethics. Its executive summary states that:
Jun 23, 2015
Accelerated modern human–induced species losses: Entering the sixth mass extinction | Science Advances
Posted by Odette Bohr Dienel in categories: education, environmental, ethics, governance, law enforcement, science, security
“The evidence is incontrovertible that recent extinction rates are unprecedented in human history and highly unusual in Earth’s history. Our analysis emphasizes that our global society has started to destroy species of other organisms at an accelerating rate, initiating a mass extinction episode unparalleled for 65 million years. If the currently elevated extinction pace is allowed to continue, humans will soon (in as little as three human lifetimes) be deprived of many biodiversity benefits.”
Jun 11, 2015
United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space: 2015
Posted by Odette Bohr Dienel in categories: governance, policy, science, space, treaties
“The fifty-eighth session of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space will be held from 10–19 June 2015 at the United Nations Office at Vienna, Vienna International Center, Vienna, Austria.”
Jun 2, 2015
The Arctic’s Internet Is So Expensive That People Mail the Web on USB Drives — Via Motherboard
Posted by Odette Bohr Dienel in categories: business, computing, economics, finance, governance, hacking, policy, strategy
“Canada’s domestic digital divide, with the North as its epicenter, has been a point of growing concern over the last several years. Much of the internet in the northernmost regions of the country is still beamed down by satellites, but a plan to link Europe and Asia with fiber optic cable via Nunavut is currently being negotiated by a Toronto-based company called Arctic Fibre.”
May 29, 2015
New York State Governor Cuomo Announces Living Breakwaters Project Launch via bfi.org
Posted by Odette Bohr Dienel in categories: architecture, economics, education, energy, engineering, environmental, governance, government, policy, water
“Living Breakwaters is a comprehensive design for coastal resiliency along the Northeastern Seaboard of the United States and beyond. This approach to climate change adaptation and flood mitigation includes the deployment of innovative, layered ecologically-engineered breakwaters, the strengthening of biodiversity and coastal habitats through “reef streets”, the nurturing and resuscitation of fisheries and historic livelihoods, and deep community engagement through diverse partnerships and innovative educational programs. The transformative educational dimension amplifies impact to the next generation of shoreline stewards while leveraging the expertise of the members of the SCAPE Architecture team, who are making groundbreaking inroads into state and federal agencies, setting new precedents for multi-layered and systemic approaches to infrastructure planning.”
LINK: Governor Cuomo Announces Living Breakwaters Project Launch