Douglas Coupland and William Gibson discuss culture, technology, and the craft of writing. Communications technologies are a global memory prosthesis, says Gibson, and aspire to an experience in which distinctions between the "virtual" and the "real" are dissolved. We are already the borg, Gibson says.
http://www.kwls.org/podcasts/douglas-coupland-william-gibson/
Aleks Krotoski explores when captivates and beguiles and asks if the digital world can measure up to the real one.
Alex Krotoski asks what the digital world tells us about ourselves. This week: Memory. How are digital devices changing our memories and our perception of intelligence?
James Bridle asks how computer networks will affect cultural memories.
Tagged with bbc four thought technology culture memory twitter:user=jamesbridle
Our brains are filled with billions of neurons. Neuroscientist Sebastian Seung explains how mapping out the connections between those neurons might be the key to understanding the basis of things like personality, memory, perception, ideas and mental illness.
http://www.npr.org/2012/02/29/147190092/the-man-working-to-reverse-engineer-your-brain
ZZ Packer reads Stuart Dybek’s "Paper Lantern," and discusses it with The New Yorker’s fiction editor, Deborah Treisman. "Paper Lantern" was published in the November 27, 1995, issue of The New Yorker, and was reprinted in "The Best American Short Stories 1996." ZZ Packer is the author of the short-story collection "Drinking Coffee Elsewhere."
In case you don’t read The Journal of Neural Engineering, here’s the news: scientists have created a brain implant that restores lost memory function and strengthens recall.
A brain implant. Now, it was in a rat. But it’s proven what can be done.
And offered a glimpse of what’s coming for humans. There is lots of talk about the “bionic brain.” To repair injuries, like Gabby Giffords’.
To supplement brains like yours and mine. Check out this headline: “Intel Wants Brain Implants in Customers Heads by 2020.”
It’s exciting, and it’s scary.
What is a memory? Science writer Jonah Lehrer tells us is it’s a physical thing in the brain… not some ephemeral flash. It’s a concrete thing made of matter. And NYU neuroscientist Joe LeDoux, who studies fear memories in rats, tells us how with a one shock, one tone, and one drug injection, you can bust up this piece of matter, and prevent a rat from every making a memory. LeDoux’s research goes sci-fi, when he and his colleague Karim Nader start trying to erase memories. And Nader applies this research to humans suffering from PTSD.
Tagged with jonah lehrer science neuroscience memory
Evolving digital technology has provided a steady aid for people in their quest to remember virtually everything. Social networking sites remind you of friends’ birthdays, digital calendars send you reminders, and photos posted online preserve memories indefinitely.
But Viktor Mayer-Schonberger, author of Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age, argues that now is the time to reintroduce our ability to forget. The indelible digital memory can be as unforgiving as it is helpful. Mayer-Shonberger suggests an expiration date for information.
Mayer-Shonberger talks about his book, Delete, with Neal Conan, and makes his case for why forgetting is essential.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114045279
The march of computer technology continues. But as silicon chips and search engines become faster and more productive – can the same be said for us?
The creator of Wolfram Alpha describes how his new “computational knowledge engine” is changing – and improving – how we process information. Meanwhile, suffering from data and distraction burnout? Find out what extremes some folks take to stop their search engines.
Also, the Singularity sensation of humans merging with machines… and, why for the ancient Greeks all of this is “been there, done that.” A deep sea dive turns up a 2,000 year old computer!
Guests:
Jo Marchant – Freelance science journalist and author of Decoding the Heavens: A 2,000-Year-Old Computer—and the Century-Long Search to Discover Its Secrets - Stephen Wolfram – Mathematican, computer programmer, and founder of Wolfram Research and Wolfram Alpha - Fred Stutzman – PhD student at the University of North Carolina School of Information and Library Science - Peggy Orenstein – author and contributing editor to the New York Times Magazine, which is where we found her article “Stop Your Search Engines” - Ray Kurzweil – Inventor, futurist and author, most recently, of The Singularity Is Near: When Humans
Page 1 of 2Older