Vulcan Viper
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Saying Goodbye and Moving on After more than 18 years of GeekSpeak, we have decided that it is time to stop and move on. So this week, we will hold the very last GeekSpeak. Come and join us on Saturday at noon SLT to celebrate all those years by sharing our memories. What did you particularly like about GeekSpeak, what have you learned from it, and what is most memorable about it? This year we will see the 20th birthday of Second Life. Will it still be here in another 20 years? Or will we all have to move on soon, not just from GeekSpeak but from Second Life too? We will miss you all and all the other people who came to GeekSpeak for a while and then left. So let’s have just one more good time. Bring all your memories! When: GeekSpeak is held every Saturday at 12:00 pm Pacific (SLT) Where: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/149/129/51
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How far will robots go? Robots are becoming more and more skillful all the time, and AI is becoming cleverer all the time and better at imitating humans. Where is it all heading? Will we soon have robots that cannot be distinguished from humans and must be considered people? Will they then go on to become superior to us in all respects? How long do we have until we are obsolete? When robots and AI rule the world, will it be a paradise for us or Hell on Earth? Would you like a robot as a friend? Or as an employer? How will robots and humans interact in the future? Will we be masters, or will they? You decide. Or rather, you don’t decide; they do. But you can come to GeekSpeak on Saturday at noon SLT to discuss the question. It is not too late now, but it might be your last chance. Bring all your human friends. Robots are not allowed! When: GeekSpeak is held every Saturday at 12:00 pm Pacific (SLT) Where: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/149/129/51
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Is it time for a global food reset? The way in which food plants are grown is changing. DNA engineering, hydroculture, and recreating ideal environments inside giant containers; all these techniques will soon be widespread. Food plants are, right now, quite different from the way they were in earlier centuries. What will they be like in 100 years? Will all countries grow all the plants that they need when they don’t have to rely on natural conditions? We will gain food security but lose world trade. Will countries that now export food suffer? How will the global economy change? Will we soon see a worldwide food surplus? Come to GeekSpeak on Saturday at noon SLT to discuss our food. Bring your own carrots and all your farmer friends! When: GeekSpeak is held every Saturday at 12:00 pm Pacific (SLT) Where: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/149/129/51
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What will life be like in a post-scarcity world? Humanity evolved in a world of scarcity, and we live in such a world now. We know that a lot of stuff is rare and, therefore, valuable. We know that none of us can have everything we want. In a post-scarcity world, that will not be true anymore. How will we live in such a world? How much will we eat or use when everything is free? What will we do with our time when work is no longer needed? When so many things we now think of as normal, like driving or cooking or cleaning, are no longer necessary? Would you like to live in such a world? Do you think it is an impossible world? Will there always be a few things that are rare and hard to acquire? Come and join us in GeekSpeak at noon SLT on Saturday to talk about a world without scarcity. Bring all your robot friends! When: GeekSpeak is held every Saturday at 12:00 pm Pacific (SLT) Where: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/149/129/51
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What does it mean to be human? Some people spend their lives digging for cobalt in the mud; some buy 50 Cadillacs, some play for the Super Bowl, and some work in a cubicle all day, every day. What is the best way to live a human life? Are some ways of living simply bad or a waste of life? Are there some things we should all be doing whether we want to or not? Is happiness the goal? Or helping others? Or having children? Creating art? Making friends? Is it better to be human than a potato? In the future, people will spend more and more time online and in virtual worlds. Will that change our idea of humanity and the way we should live? Will it change the way we relate to each other? Join us at GeekSpeak on Saturday at noon SLT to talk about being human and where it is going. Bring your philosophy buddies. When: GeekSpeak is held every Saturday at 12:00 pm Pacific (SLT) Where: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/149/129/51
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Will the Space Industry put an end to hunger and war? Next week Starship will launch. April 17th, hopefully. The launch capability of humankind will go up 100 times, with only a tenth of the cost. All the resources of space will be open to us. Come to GeekSpeak on Saturday at noon SLT to talk about the launch (it will be very exciting!) and the consequences for humanity if it is successful. Will we enter a new era, a golden age without war or starvation or dictators? Or will it just be the same old, same old? Bring a spacesuit and your friends! When: GeekSpeak is held every Saturday at 12:00 pm Pacific (SLT) Where: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/149/129/51
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Will we ever be able to live wherever we want? Is it possible that one day humanity will realize that we all live on a beautiful pink planet and we should be able to live wherever we want? What would bring us to that point? What changes would be needed in the way we see countries, empires, communities, and even families? Or do you think that it is a totally impossible dream? If you could live wherever you want, where would you live? Would you move or just stay where you are? Please join us in GeekSpeak at noon SLT on Saturday to discuss how we can live where we want. Bring a U-Haul truck and your friends! When: GeekSpeak is held every Saturday at 12:00 pm Pacific (SLT) Where: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/149/129/51
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Is there a civilization around Tabby’s Star? The Kardashev scale measures how much energy is used. Type 1 uses the energy of the home planet, Type 2 is the energy of the solar system, and Type 3 is the energy of the galaxy. To build huge structures around stars, Type 2 would be needed. How would these cultures work? How do they build such huge structures, and why? Will we ever be able to send messages to them? Do they know about us? Should we be scared? Join us at GeekSpeak on Saturday at noon SLT to talk about Tabby’s star. Bring all your alien friends! When: GeekSpeak is held every Saturday at 12:00 pm Pacific (SLT) Where: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/149/129/51
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When will we have a Universal Translator for animals? We may soon have an AI that can learn and translate the languages of animals. Even GPT-4 is making a start. So we can expect to understand dolphins, whales, birds, and many others. What are they saying to each other? Do some species talk about more than food and territory? Maybe they have names, stories, and opinions. Maybe we will be able to hold a conversation with some of them. It could be like talking to ET without leaving Earth. What would it mean to talk to animals? Will it change our behavior towards them? Will it mean that we can help them somehow? Will it change our understanding of ourselves and our understanding of the meaning of life? Join us at GeekSpeak on Saturday at noon SLT to discuss the language of animals. Bring all your goldfish! When: GeekSpeak is held every Saturday at 12:00 pm Pacific (SLT) Where: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/149/129/51
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Breaking news: Time Travel is theoretically possible. Time travel (but only to the future) may indeed be possible soon. Come and join us at GeekSpeak on Saturday at noon SLT to discuss how we can travel ahead in time and why we would want to do so. Would you like to travel into the future? Will you jump ahead 10 or 100 or maybe 1000 years? Or will you stay in the here and now? Jumping ahead would satisfy your curiosity, might make you rich if you have invested wisely, and might mean finding a cure for any disease you have. But would you be able to understand future people? Or would you be like a Neanderthal arriving in 2023? Come to GeekSpeak and tell us how you feel about time. Bring all your Neanderthal friends! When: GeekSpeak is held every Saturday at 12:00 pm Pacific (SLT) Where: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/149/129/51
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Is Space a waste of money? Why do we spend so much on Space when many causes need money down here? Shouldn’t Earth come first? This is an often-heard complaint about the space industry, so let’s address it. Why do we spend money on launching satellites, going to the moon or Mars, exploring Pluto, discovering exoplanets, and planning a future in space? Perhaps you think we should not put money into space. Or do you see a benefit from space research? Join us at GeekSpeak on Saturday at noon SLT to discuss our choices. Bring all your alien friends! When: GeekSpeak is held every Saturday at 12:00 pm Pacific (SLT) Where: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/149/129/51
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Will we leave technology behind? Let’s imagine that the year is 2110. Maybe we have had enough of those damn robots and have finally killed the last of them. Technology is widely rejected, and people no longer want any of it. Or maybe robots have taken over technology, and humans have learned how to live with Nature. Either way, we feel free now. How will we live? Will we be better off without technology? Happier, kinder, suffering less from stress and pollution? Or will we miss all the machines and the gadgets? Will we need them? Will we start inventing again? Would you like to live without technology? Or does the idea frighten you? Come and join us at GeekSpeak on Saturday at noon SLT to discuss life without technology. Bring all your Amish friends! When: GeekSpeak is held every Saturday at 12:00 pm Pacific (SLT) Where: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/149/129/51
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What new technology is the most exciting? What cool technology have you heard about recently? Science and technology move so quickly today that there are probably many things happening that you don’t know about. So join us in GeekSpeak on Saturday at noon SLT to share all the newest inventions and research. Find out which new discovery makes others feel most hopeful and happy about the future. What breakthroughs should we know about? What interesting research have you heard about? Medical, space, historical, all subjects considered. Tell us in GeekSpeak. Bring all your friends! When: GeekSpeak is held every Saturday at 12:00 pm Pacific (SLT) Where: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/149/129/51
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What would a Society of Robots look like? Let’s imagine that in 10 years’ time robots have taken over the earth. Humans are either extinct or kept as pets. What will the new robotic society look like? Will robots live together peacefully, or will they have wars like us? Will they have belief systems and political parties? Will they build telescopes and spaceships and discover the stars? Or will they do nothing that is not obviously practical? Will they form robot families and friendships or be solitary? Will they be able to change their nature to suit their ideas of the perfect society, as we cannot. Will their society eventually fail? Maybe humans will have to clean up the scraps after the age of the bots. Join us at GeekSpeak on Saturday at noon SLT to discuss the coming robot society. No robots allowed, so bring all your friends! When: GeekSpeak is held every Saturday at 12:00 pm Pacific (SLT) Where: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/149/129/51
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Can we cheat Death? Will we soon be able to prolong our lives, even perhaps live for ever? By uploading our minds to computers, by slowly replacing our organic neurons by silicon chips, by buying or stealing young organs from others, by reversing the degeneration caused by ageing, by freezing our bodies? How many methods of cheating death will become available? Would cheating death in these ways be wise, or moral? Would you want to live for ever? Are you afraid you might be forced to live for ever even if you wanted to die? Join us in GeekSpeak on Saturday at noon SLT to discuss what all this will mean for humanity. Bring all your friends! It’s a matter of life and death! When: GeekSpeak is held every Saturday at 12:00 pm Pacific (SLT) Where: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Danmu/149/129/51
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