Watch this robot 'learning.'
fulltimestudent
JoinedPosts by fulltimestudent
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How a robot can learn without being programed
by fulltimestudent inin tomorrow's world, when robots replace humans in many activities, how will robots learn?.
self-learning may be the answer:.
http://www.kurzweilai.net/robots-master-skills-with-deep-learning-technique?utm_source=kurzweilai+daily+newsletter&utm_campaign=99386eaabc-ua-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-99386eaabc-282125545.
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How a robot can learn without being programed
by fulltimestudent inin tomorrow's world, when robots replace humans in many activities, how will robots learn?.
self-learning may be the answer:.
http://www.kurzweilai.net/robots-master-skills-with-deep-learning-technique?utm_source=kurzweilai+daily+newsletter&utm_campaign=99386eaabc-ua-946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-99386eaabc-282125545.
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fulltimestudent
In tomorrow's world, when robots replace humans in many activities, how will robots learn?
Self-learning may be the answer:
A brief extract:
Robots master skills with ‘deep learning’ technique
UC Berkeley researchers' new algorithms enable robots to learn motor tasks by trial and error
May 22, 2015
Robot learns to use hammer. What could go wrong? (credit: UC Berkeley)
UC Berkeley researchers have developed new algorithms that enable robots to learn motor tasks by trial and error, using a process that more closely approximates the way humans learn.
They demonstrated their technique, a type of reinforcement learning, by having a robot complete various tasks — putting a clothes hanger on a rack, assembling a toy plane, screwing a cap on a water bottle, and more — without pre-programmed details about its surroundings.A new AI approach
“What we’re reporting on here is a new approach to empowering a robot to learn,” said Professor Pieter Abbeel of UC Berkeley’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences. “The key is that when a robot is faced with something new, we won’t have to reprogram it. The exact same software, which encodes how the robot can learn, was used to allow the robot to learn all the different tasks we gave it.”
The work is part of a new People and Robots Initiative at UC’s Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS). The new multi-campus, multidisciplinary research initiative seeks to keep the advances in artificial intelligence, robotics and automation aligned to human needs.
“Most robotic applications are in controlled environments where objects are in predictable positions,” said UC Berkeley faculty member Trevor Darrell, director of the Berkeley Vision and Learning Center. “The challenge of putting robots into real-life settings, like homes or offices, is that those environments are constantly changing. The robot must be able to perceive and adapt to its surroundings.” -
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Spirituality
by Jonathan Drake inif you are a current practitioner of some religious faith i would appreciate it if you abstained from this thread entirely.
im curious if anyone has had what could be discribed as a spiritual experience.
i'm currently reading sam harris book waking up and it's very good so far.
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fulltimestudent
Xanthippe: Well there was an awakening if you want to call it that about 500 BC when the writings of Greek philosophers such as Plato and also ConfucIus and the teachings of Bhudda reflect that people were discussing treating strangers well and being just in dealing with slaves and people from other nations. See the 'Golden Rule' and particularly notice how Confucius used it 500 years before Jesus.
Perhaps, such issues were being discussed, but no written record has survived to our day.
Why across the world people decided to suddenly start using ethics in dealing with their fellow man we don't know.
One probable explanation is that these ideas were spread across the Asian continent (even the Pre-Socratic Greek thinkers were located in Asia Minor) by the huge trading network that's generally know as the "Silk Road." For example, in Richard Folz's, "Religions of the Silk Road," he describes how many religions 'borrowed' ideas from other religions and that the very first great missionary campaign was initiated by Siddartha Gautama (better known as the Buddha Shakyamuni ), he organised his community of followers (the sangha) so that the laity provided financial support to the monastic class and tied the spread of his teachings to the trading network that was spreading over the Euro-Asian continent.It seems contradictory, that this organisational system, based on the accumulation of wealth by the laity, was used to spread a religion that promoted self-denial (at least, to the point of choosing the middle way), but that it was so organised seems clear from this quotation from the Buddha's dialogues:
Whoso is virtuous and intelligent,
Shines like fire that blazes.
To him amassing wealth, like a roving bee
Its honey gathering,
Riches mount up as an ant-heap growing high.
When the good layman wealth has so amasssed
Able is he to benefit his clan.
In portions four let him divide that wealth.
So binds he to himself, life's friendly things.
One portion let him spend and taste the fruit.
His business to conduct let him take two.
And portion four let him reserve and hoard;
So there'll be wherewithal in times of need.
Dialogues of the Buddha. Trans: T.W. and C.A.F. Rhys-Davis, Oxford University Press
This amassed wealth eventually became the source of finance for the building of the numerous temples/monasteries that dot East and South East Asia.
But more importantly, because of the changes that Buddhism underwent as it moved through different cultures, it provides insight into what happened to Jewish thought as it came into contact with successive empires that dominated the Jews. Traces of Egyptian thought, Greek thought, Iranian thought, Assyrian thought etc, can all be found in Judaism and therefore in Christianity.
It is not, as the J.Ws claim, the one pure religion given by Yahweh.
PS: The greatest Chinese exponent of Universal love (as opposed to the more limited teachings on love with distinctions, by Kongzi, also known in the west as Confucius), was Mozi, who lived between 470 and 391 BCE. Mozi's views on 'love' are really quite modern, and clearly (if you study them) more advanced that then teachings of Jesus.
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Should I Shun My Dog?
by snugglebunny insome background:josie the miniature schnauzer is now 12 years old, so she's old enough to know the difference between right and wrong.
however, she insists on peeing in the middle of my beautifully tended lawn, which, as a consequence, is now covered in brown patches.
i've remonstrated with her a number of times and each time she purports to show a diplay of repentance, that is, she slinks away on her belly with her ears flattened down tightly to her head.
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fulltimestudent
There are no dogs in the New Jerusalem - so no true Christian should ever own a dog (Revelation 22:14).
So get rid of the bitch now, before she entices you into sin.
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What are the 240 million young Chinese, born between 1980 and 1990, really like? They are now rising to leadership positions.
by fulltimestudent inyoung chinese born in the early 1980's, numbering about 240 million, will soon start to rise to senior positions in business and government (if not already there).
as china's influence increases, so will their influence.
think about that number of 240 million, compare it to the total population of the usa (approx.
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fulltimestudent
This is a series of six 15 minute videos that look at different aspects of this rising generation of young people in China.
Remember this, the current generation of leaders, from President Xi down, grew up during the Cultural Revolution. Xi, like so many other young Chinese of the time, was sent to the country side to learn from the peasants.
For those born in the 1970's the scars of Mao's attempt to institute perpetual revolution, still marked life. But by the 1980's Mao's ideas were left behind as his hated "capitalist-roaders," took charge in China.
Watch these videos to see how the changes have affected those now rising to leadership positions.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/video/2014-10/15/content_18741111.htm
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What are the 240 million young Chinese, born between 1980 and 1990, really like? They are now rising to leadership positions.
by fulltimestudent inyoung chinese born in the early 1980's, numbering about 240 million, will soon start to rise to senior positions in business and government (if not already there).
as china's influence increases, so will their influence.
think about that number of 240 million, compare it to the total population of the usa (approx.
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fulltimestudent
Young Chinese born in the early 1980's, numbering about 240 million, will soon start to rise to senior positions in business and government (if not already there). As China's influence increases, so will their influence
Think about that number of 240 million, compare it to the total population of the USA (approx. 320 million). That igves us an idea of the influence they may exercise.
What will "their" China be like?
They belong to a generation that has seen unprecedented changes in Chinese life and thought. Many have finished their education in foreign universities in the western world, many have stayed in western countries, if you watch the results of scientific research, Chinese names crop up more often, and patent applications increasingly have Chinese names attached.
People in this age group will also (increasingly) form the bulk of service men and women in China's military.
If they, or their families have migrated, they will form influential social groups in countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK, Germany, France, Greece etc.
This generation is also diverse, China has some hundreds of minor ethnic groups that have been grouped into more than 50 main ethnic groups. The main grouping, known as 'han' are also diverse, representing not just an ancient ethnic group from more than 2000 years ago, but many other subgroups that became part of the dominant group, and whose original ethnicity is lost.
This series of photographs gives an idea of the ethnic diversity.
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2015-05/04/content_20613759.htm
Selecting one group, as for example, these young people from Yunnan and close by areas belong to the Yi ethnic group. And over the border in Myanmar, they will have close and distant relatives.
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What do you think? Should chimpanzees be granted 'personhood'?
by fulltimestudent inthere's a current court case in ny which is hearing that question right now.
the precise issue is the continued captivity of two chimpanzees, (leo and hercules, names bestowed by humans) in a medical research laboratory at stony brook university.. i suggest that the application has some merit.
are not all of us "animals?
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fulltimestudent
The human family tree, from the Smithsonian Institute
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Coping With Atheism (Long-ish Post...sorry!)
by humblepotato inlong time lurker (2009-ish), first time poster.
first of all, i want to say thank you everyone who contributes to these boards and provokes stimulating conversations and thought processes.
all the opinions and different perspectives are very enlightening.
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fulltimestudent
cofty.
Change the subject when faced with reason as usual.
Yes! and not a trace of shame at mishandling someone's statements. -
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Polytheism in the Book of Daniel, a late second temple religious document
by fulltimestudent inas jehovah's witnesses we committed ourselves to a blind belief in a monotheistic judaism that was automatically transmitted to a new religious organisation, started (we were taught) by jesus.. that's the premise which this thread will discuss.
i suggest that sufficient evidence is available to throw doubt on both those beliefs.
so this thread will argue (over about a week-hopefully) that:.
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fulltimestudent
jhine: How a Jew would explain this figure I do not know , it would be interesting to read Jewish commentary on this . Did Boyarin do that ? I am not familiar with his writing . As I said before the only meaning of a word or passage that is helpful is the one used by the writer , and the closest we can come to that surely is in the thoughts of his fellow Jews .
Boyarin, does attempt to analyse prior Jewish usage of certain expressions, for example the two expressions used about the messiah, 'son of man,' and 'son of god.'
I'd attempt to summarise, except that means I have to go to Sydney University to access Boyarin's book (My own university is not holding the book, and I have to complete my trip organising (- will sleep in Shanghai on wed. night- Aust. and Chns time -smile).
If it interests you, look around your local libraries for a copy (some university libraries will let you read on their premises). Details of the book are in the first few posts of this thread.
Attempting to reconstruct beliefs is a complex matter, more so because of the commonly held belief that Yahweh is the real author of the Bible.
As we have observed, by some 70-80 years after Jesus died, Justin Martyr could call Jesus, 'god.' Did any other early Christian object to that statement? If they did, and the document is extant, I have yet to read it.
And yet, as Geza Vermes observes ( Vermes, Christian Beginnings-From Nazareth to Nicaea, AD 30-325, Allen Lane, 2012. pp 106-113), in a sub-section he names, "The Status of Christ in the Pauline Religion."
" Paul never envisaged Jesus as fully sharing the nature of the deity. When compared to God the father, 'the son' always occupies an inferior position in Pauline thought. ... The co-equality of the divine persons is a concept that is still centuries away."
Vermes' analyses the prayers (formulas) of the writings attributed to Paul and notes that in general the prayers are directed to "God" as the father and not to Jesus.
Its impressive to read his list of prayer extracts and see that point clearly.
Clearly that buys an argument, and I want to say its all immaterial to me, I am as personally distant to the emotions of the argument, as I am in (to use a non-religious example) any arguments concerning prejudice that may be evident in the writings of Ammianus.
So enjoy your intellectual journey through the maze of first century religious thought. I think in the end you will probably arrive at the same conclusion as many modern scholars, which is:
That there was a great diversity of beliefs in both first century Judaism and Christianity.
Therefore. the idea that there was a common "truth" taught by Jesus, and handed on to the apostles. is quite mistaken.
Which leads is to another conclusion, the idea that the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses today is both the custodian and transmitter of that truth is also erroneous.
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Polytheism in the Book of Daniel, a late second temple religious document
by fulltimestudent inas jehovah's witnesses we committed ourselves to a blind belief in a monotheistic judaism that was automatically transmitted to a new religious organisation, started (we were taught) by jesus.. that's the premise which this thread will discuss.
i suggest that sufficient evidence is available to throw doubt on both those beliefs.
so this thread will argue (over about a week-hopefully) that:.
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fulltimestudent
SS: Interesting concept, brainwashed only to be brainwashed by someone else equates free will.
Well, its your concept SS, so stick with it mate.
The majority of our beliefs are shared, inherited in some way. Your teacher at school, endeavouring to instill an understanding of geometry in your precocious brain, learned his understanding from others that stretches (in part) to a time before Jesus walked the earth. (although, we have no evidence that Jesus understood anything about geometry).
The idea of this thread was rather simple. That although Judaism is seen as monotheistic (and you spent a lot of time in a concordance picking out texts to cite that), Boyarin proposed that Daniel 7 (written after the Hellenisation of Palestine) indicated that the author(s) of the Daniel manuscript was prepared to envision two gods, though he depicts both through symbols.
I'm reasonably confident that even you, will see the first 'god' in Daniel 7:9, the 'ancient of days' who comes to sit on his throne, as representing the 'Yahweh' god figure. And, I'm sure that most Christians will see the other figure, the 'son of man' as representing (in Christian theology) the 'Messiah.'
Boyarin's contention is that this second person, arriving on the clouds of heaven, must also be a 'god,' so he asks, was Jewish monotheism so pure and straightforward as you seem to think.
Of course, if like the JWs, you want to believe that ALL the Bible, (every word of it) was written under the guidance of the "ancient of days, and that the "ancient of days," was a jealous god that would brook no rivals, then you will reject Boyarin's suggestion, and go on spouting proof texts, that to you indicate only one god.
If there are demigods in existence and Jesus was a demigod, then that may provide you with and intellectual escape clause.
But then I guess, you'll turn around and say that the Greeks were polytheists, because they believed in more than one god, when it is clear that there was one supreme god, Zeus/Jupiter, (just as in Daniel's ch. 7 vision, there was one supreme god), who gives the other god, supreme power over the earth. To be consistent, should you say that this is also evidence of polytheism?
Did Jesus believe that he was this 'other god?'
Luke 21:27 seems to suggest that the author of the Luke document thought that he did, as he portrays his version of the messiah saying, "And then they will see the son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory."
And, irrespective of your own conclusions concerning the grammatical construction of John 1:1, in some way the author of the John document thought that his version of the messiah was divine.
It the time of writing of the John document is as late as some think, it ties in well with Justin Martyrs' belief that Jesus was his God. (written circa 110 CE).
So is Boyarin so wrong, when he suggests that the Daniel document is pointing to a contamination of Jewish monotheism by the introduction of a second divine figure?
