Human memory is a famously tricky thing. We remember some things. We forget a lot more. And we shape and sculpt the memories we do have with a vengeance. But more and more, the actual events of our lives are being recorded electronically. In Facebook albums and Twitter posts and smartphone files, yes, but also in thousands of digital transactions we don't even think about. Now, two top Microsoft computer scientists are talking about an era of e-memory — "total recall" — as a revolution in what it means to be human. This hour, On Point: E-memory, total recall, and human nature.
Tagged with “human” (7)
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The Digital Human: Chance
Aleks Krotoski explores whether the web is killing serendipity? Is it reducing our opportunity for chance encounters? Or is it possible to engineer these 'happy accidents' in the digital world?
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The Digital Human: Conviction
Aleks Krotoski looks belief in a digital world; from traditional religion to behaviour that looks remarkably like it from even the most rational looking of groups.
Tagged with bbc digital human internet web technology twitter:user=aleksk aleks krotoski
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The Digital Human: Intent
Aleks Krotoski ask do we really know what our technology is for and more intriguingly what it wants?
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The Digital Human: Tales
Aleks Krotoski looks at how story telling has changed in the digital age and whether it is has more in common with how we told tales in the past than we might think.
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The Digital Human: Memory
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?
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When Cinnamon moved markets - Planet Money #148
Economist editor,Tom Standage, says if you want to get a good picture of world history, you should look at spices.
In his book, An Edible History of Humanity, Standage writes about how tall tales of carnivorous birds and flying snakes let Arab middleman charge Europeans inflated prices for cinnamon and pepper for years. Standage says it wasn't until an Indian ship went adrift in the Red Sea that the Europeans realized there was an easier route to get all those spices they had been craving.