Right brain? Left brain? No, it's the same brain.

"Is a flower the same thing to an artist, as to a scientist? How about to a dog, or a bee? Is a flower still a flower when smelled by a cat? What if the cat can only define it with a meow? Is a flower then, “meow”? Does beauty only have one face? One eye? One definition? If so, which will it be?"

My answer:
The artist and the scientist are one in the same. We have two brains, our left and our right. It is up to us to use both of them. The artist is fascinated with the world, the scientist attempts to understand it. With both brains in motion, we achieve a wonderment that is decidedly human.
And that makes all the difference.

"For first we use machines, then we wear machines, then we become machines."
Kim William Gordon
LinkedIn
Facebook
www.bitnus.com 
www.kimwilliamgordon.com 

Mind Matters with Dr. Art Silverblatt - Part Two

The second part of the interview with Dr. Silverblatt, world scholar and known expert in the impact of emerging technologies on society and culture.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrcpUupfoYs&feature=c4-overview&list=UUNvaYqdVNY9L48aYTMECl_A

"For first we use machines, then we wear machines, then we become machines."
Kim William Gordon
LinkedIn
Facebook
www.bitnus.com 
www.kimwilliamgordon.com 

Mind Matters with Dr. Art Silverblatt - Part One

I was honored to have the world recognized Dr. Art Silverblatt, Professor of Communications and authority on Media Literacy as my guest. 

We are re-engineering the world as we speak.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unIXPs0tGJo&feature=c4-overview&list=UUNvaYqdVNY9L48aYTMECl_A

"For first we use machines, then we wear machines, then we become machines."
Kim William Gordon
LinkedIn
Facebook
www.bitnus.com 
www.kimwilliamgordon.com 

music is the cosmos waking up

The mathematics of the universe is embedded in the music of the soul.


"For first we use machines, then we wear machines, then we become machines."
Kim William Gordon
LinkedIn
Facebook
www.bitnus.com 
www.kimwilliamgordon.com

Ubiquitous. Everywhere, in everything. We are extending the neural net of our brain.

It won't be "SkyNet" it will be "UsNet" - the network will be us.

http://www.technologyreview.com/view/516486/todays-phones-and-tablets-will-die-out-like-the-pc/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20130627

"For first we use machines, then we wear machines, then we become machines."
Kim William Gordon
LinkedIn
Facebook
www.bitnus.com 
www.kimwilliamgordon.com

Robots in Space. The new frontier.

 I predict that our robot friends will understand and embrace our 30,000 year friendship with "mans best friend" dogs. "'Bot's best friends".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcuFk-QK5CM

"For first we use machines, then we wear machines, then we become machines."
Kim William Gordon
LinkedIn
Facebook
www.bitnus.com 
www.kimwilliamgordon.com

The Origin of Mathematics, or “How music gave us the stars”

I have developed a theory on the origins of mathematics.

Or at least, I think I developed it, my Google searches have not resulted in any similar thoughts, so I’d appreciate any commentary on this topic that folks have or discover.

I started by thinking about music.

One of the radio stations I listen to (KDHX.org – an incredibly interesting and eclectic public radio station) was interviewing a musician. I apologize that I do not recall his name. During the interview the musician mentioned that music is really composed of a lot of physics and math. From vibration and frequency, to the physical impact of air density and eventually including the math of music notation - which is full of ½ notes, ¼ notes, rests  (you get my point). It takes a lot of math to make music, even if you are not aware of it.

What I then started wondering about was the origin of the human experience with music. Music seems to have been with us since the dawn of our consciousness. The earliest known flutes date from 35,000 to 43,000 years ago. And these are the flutes that survived. The human voice has been with us all along (approximately 150,000 years) and we probably have been singing the majority of that time. Many suspect that instrumental music in some form (drums, hollow logs, vibrating gut strings, bone flutes) has been around since the very beginning, but evidence of these instruments has simply vanished, back into the earth.

Therefore, we seem to have been making music since our inception. Perhaps even before Homo Sapiens (us) with the human lines that came before us and even with our cousins, the Neanderthal. Music is part of what makes “us”, it really is part of our DNA.

Humanity, then, it seems, is not the toy maker, but the music maker.

So here’s my theory – since Music is based upon mathematics, it was Music itself that configured the human mind to conceive of mathematics to begin with. It re-engineered our brains (as all technology does) to understand the fundamental characteristics of the universe (what better way than with harmony, eh?). Music led us to perceive the mathematics that constitute the fabric of space and time itself. We did not “invent” math, we “discovered” it, and Music was the ship that got us there.

And once we discovered the universe of math, we re-engineered the world. Math is in everything we do - - it’s in our houses, our cars, our communications, our medicine, our energy our space station, our economy, our moon and Mars exploration and anything else you can think of that has a technology basis to it. Math allows us to peer into the heavens and understand the stars. And one day, math will take us to the stars as well.

I wonder what kind of music we will be playing along the way?

"Across the Universe" by the Beatles?

"For first we use machines, then we wear machines, then we become machines."
Kim William Gordon
LinkedIn
Facebook
www.bitnus.com 
www.kimwilliamgordon.com

Mind Matters 4 - Social Media: re-enginnering how we communicate

Episode 4 of Mind Matters - the impact of social media on interpersonal communications and the perception of "privacy" and "self identity".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObyTxdT9-uQ


"For first we use machines, then we wear machines, then we become machines."
Kim William Gordon
LinkedIn
Facebook
www.bitnus.com 
www.kimwilliamgordon.com

Mind Matters 3 - Cloning

 The third in the series, Mind Matters - Cloning
Discussion on the impact of humans genetically controlling our own DNA destiny.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkePrmJ6qTY&feature=em-upload_owner


"For first we use machines, then we wear machines, then we become machines."
Kim William Gordon
LinkedIn
Facebook
www.bitnus.com 
www.kimwilliamgordon.com

Mind Matters 2

 Second in the series of 1/2 hour shows on the impact of emerging technologies on our society and culture.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SnXLFGkogw&feature=youtu.be


"For first we use machines, then we wear machines, then we become machines."
Kim William Gordon
LinkedIn
Facebook
www.bitnus.com 
www.kimwilliamgordon.com

Indiegogo Crowd Funding appeal

Come help me fund an ongoing video / web / app dialog about emerging technologies, the advent of Human 2.0 and it's impact on society and culture.
This is your future.
Kim

http://igg.me/at/futuremoment/x/3426929


"For first we use machines, then we wear machines, then we become machines."
Kim William Gordon
LinkedIn
Facebook
www.bitnus.com 
www.kimwilliamgordon.com

More Human than Human.

"Commerce is our goal here at Tyrell. More human than human is our motto. Rachael is an experiment, nothing more. We began to recognize in them a strange obsession. After all they are emotionally inexperienced, with only a few years in which to store up the experiences which you and I take for granted. If we gifted them a past, we'd create a cushion, a pillow for their emotions and consequently we can control them better." (Tyrell)
"Memories. You're talking about memories." (Deckard)

The Blade Runner Universe is near.

http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/513681/memory-implants/

"For first we use machines, then we wear machines, then we become machines."
Kim William Gordon
LinkedIn
Facebook
www.bitnus.com 
www.kimwilliamgordon.com

Mind Matters - Part One

"Mind Matters" is a half hour show which inspects the impact of emerging technologies on society and culture from a variety of perspectives.

This first edition views the rapidly evolving world through a conversation with Michael Carper - philosophy professor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdTs0TkRimU


"For first we use machines, then we wear machines, then we become machines."
Kim William Gordon
LinkedIn
Facebook
www.bitnus.com 
www.kimwilliamgordon.com

Webformation you should be monitoring.

WorldFuture Conference 2013: Exploring the Next Horizon
http://www.wfs.org/worldfuture-2013-exploring-next-horizon

World Future Society
http://www.wfs.org

MIT Technology Review
http://www.technologyreview.com/

Kurzweil AI
http://www.kurzweilai.net/

3D Printing
http://www.shapeways.com/

Nasa - the final frontier.
http://www.nasa.gov/

The Space Elevator
http://lunarscience.nasa.gov/articles/the-space-elevator-concept/


"For first we use machines, then we wear machines, then we become machines."
Kim William Gordon
LinkedIn
Facebook
www.bitnus.com 
www.kimwilliamgordon.com

What is reality?

What is reality?

Stop, sit down, take a deep breath and think.

Who are you?

What is this universe?

What is this thing we call “reality”?

According to Newtonian physics, we are a cog in the machine.

According to Quantum Mechanics, we are a fluctuation in the space /  time continuum.

What is interesting, is that we seem to be both.

So, what is reality?

What does it mean to be human? 

And are these different questions?

Yes they are.

In the trials and tribulations of our daily human connected strife, we loose sight of the fact that we are more than the components of our immediate lives. We seem to be the ghosts in the machine. 

And that, I believe, is a good thing.

Kim


"For first we use machines, then we wear machines, then we become machines."
Kim William Gordon
LinkedIn
Facebook
www.bitnus.com 
www.kimwilliamgordon.com

A Future Moment Part 3

Where are we going?
There are five possible scenarios for the future of humanity. Which one do you think will be the likely outcome?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AOnn5OWOjk&feature=youtu.be 


"For first we use machines, then we wear machines, then we become machines."
Kim William Gordon
LinkedIn
Facebook
www.bitnus.com 
www.kimwilliamgordon.com

A Future Moment Part 2 -

Future Moment Part 2 -
Technology Changes us, it always has.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPgAmsbf3M4&feature=youtu.be


"For first we use machines, then we wear machines, then we become machines."
Kim William Gordon
LinkedIn
Facebook
www.bitnus.com 
www.kimwilliamgordon.com

Future Moment - Part One of a video series

Part One of an ongoing series on the rapidly accelerating advent of new technologies, new economies and new ways of being human.
Ready or not, Human 2.0 is upon us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz_wZgO64p0&feature=youtu.be


"For first we use machines, then we wear machines, then we become machines."
Kim William Gordon
LinkedIn
Facebook
www.bitnus.com 
www.kimwilliamgordon.com

Centralized IT - an obsolete notion?

Where do IT decisions now belong?
We are now into our second decade of the 21st century. This is the decade of social media, a BYOD in every pocket, of robust applications (very mature open source and proprietary solutions), of HTML5, IPv6 and the Internet of Everything. This is the decade when IT is in the plumbing of every organization, it’s the tick to their tock. Each organization has a unique need and use for advanced technologies, a requirement to power the business of their own IT DNA. But as we look around, many organizations are still functioning as if it’s Prince’s 1999.

Technology has not only changed in the last 13 years, it’s morphed and evolved into a new ubiquity. A good analogy might be the utility known as electricity. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was common for large businesses to have their own power plants. They had large organizations dedicated to maintaining generators and stringing lines to meet the demands of the manufacturing process. Today such a notion would be considered silly. Electricity became ubiquitous. There is now an outlet in the wall that you seldom give a second thought about.
I’m proposing that we are now in a similar place with IT here in the 21st century.

An obvious example is your Marketing department. Marketing has significantly different IT needs than even twelve months ago. Marketing needs to manage the enterprise’s web / portable / social network presence. This is about messaging, branding and customer contact. It’s about positioning and market share, it’s about outreach and inbound allegiance. It’s about communication. Both internal and external. It’s about being agile and responsive. The fact that these requirements are sitting upon an IT infrastructure is secondary. To use another utility analogy, IT is the plumbing – Marketing is the elaborate fountain display.

Or, what about Finance? Their IT needs have gotten as sophisticated and demanding as the Marketing arm. They have very unique requirements for government reporting, risk management, asset management, security, Human Resource Management as well as shareholder communications and financial management. Finance does not see the need to underwrite its own insurance, and seldom would they ever consider even owning a fleet of vehicles in this age. It’s the same as owning your own printing plant to print your annual report. Might be fun, but it does not make sense.

We could spend time in each department – and I propose that here in the 21st century we’d discover the same in each. Departmental demands are unique and becoming more so. Managing them from a central authority is not only no longer required, but is actually detrimental to being responsive in a fact (and fast) paced market. I believe being centralized impairs the ability to succeed.

So – here’s the point of discussion: instead of a central CIO – perhaps there should be a “Marketing Technology Subject Matter Expert”, and a “Finance Technology Subject Matter Expert”, “Operations Technology Subject Matter Expert” etc. who are responsible for assuring the departmental IT demands are being met. They also maintain a viewpoint into emerging systems that should be considered for incorporation into the departmental tool set, and are held accountable for the coordination of enterprise wide of technology decisions. Then there is an “Enterprise Security Expert” who is held accountable for maintaining security physical and virtual security – this function coordinates with all departmental SME’s.

I believe that this group of SME’s becomes a “virtual” CIO. The “utility” requirements are then outsourced to the cloud, or to the local electric utility, or the water company or….

"For first we use machines, then we wear machines, then we become machines."
Kim William Gordon
LinkedIn
Facebook
www.bitnus.com 
www.kimwilliamgordon.com

A brief history of the interface: We become the ghosts in the machine.

We have undergone numerous stages of interaction between humans and computers - we are getting closer to actually "being inside the machine" as opposed to being on the outside looking in. 

The ways in which individuals interact with computers has changed dramatically.

·      Keyboard Interface – the initial means of interaction with machines was exclusively through keyboard commands (or via such keyboard secondary means as punched tape, cards, magnetic tapes). Computers at this time were expensive, and required extensive training and complex programming knowledge in order to interact with them.

·      Mouse Interface – at the beginning of the “personal computer” era, keyboard input was augmented with the now common “mouse”. This allowed individuals to interact with the machine in a more free form manner, and allowed the development of computer based analogs to the real world, such as “folders” and “files”. This input interface allowed the development of such disruptive technologies as Photoshop, 3D Computer Aided Design / Computer Aided Manufacturing as well as the commonly known word processors, spread sheets and other digital replacements for traditional business, engineering and creative systems.

·      Touch Input Interface – now very familiar to most, touch screens allow direct manipulation of the information within the computer via “touch, click, squeeze and drag” maneuvering. Generally, there is no mouse component to this interface, however the ability to use a digital keyboard is common. Recent innovations in this input method include “raised” interface and “touch screen modification”, where the touch screen changes physical characteristics (such as, becoming “rougher” or “dimpled” based upon the application’s requirements.

·      Post Touch Input Interface – this is the new horizon for machine interaction. Composed of both voice and gesture recognition, this emerging means of machine interaction allows the machine to recognize basic human communication efforts and respond to them. Voice recognition systems are part of this environs.

·      Wearable computation devices – although technically not a human interface method, the development of machines which monitor individual human performance telemetry (i.e. tools to measure a persons pace, their GPS coordinates, their heart rate, blood pressure, etc.) as well as their immediate environmental conditions, are already commonplace as add on apps within many smart phone systems. Utilization of Radio Frequency Identification Tags, Face recognition systems and crowd shared data (best friends, common interests, favorite restaurant, etc.) all add bulk to this “cloud” of data accumulated per person. Think of Charlie Browns cartoon character Pig Pen - the cloud that follows a modern human around is not of dust and dirt, but of personal data. A cloud following the individual around 24 hours a day, accessible instantaneously.

·      The Internet of Everything – in 2008 the number of “things” (devices, lights, heating systems, traffic systems, the list is inexhaustible) outnumbered the number of humans connected to the Internet. This vast and growing amount of data can be and is captured and included in the human – computer interface. 

·      Computer Augmented Human Systems – the sheer volume of human augmentation systems coming to the market is incredible. Brain implants designed to assist Alzheimer patients memory retention and implants designed to reduce or eliminate elliptic seizures, are here and being integrated into the human cranium. Computer assisted replacement limbs, optical sight enhancements and computer directed blood borne nano technology is no longer in the realm of science fiction, but science fact. To quote Arthur C. Clarke “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

·      Augmented Reality Interaction – combined with the Post Touch Input Interface means of interaction, wearable computation and the Internet of Everything (above), this interaction places the individual within the computing environment itself, Google Glass project and the Apple equivalent are charting this new territory. 

As we dive deeper into the bowls of the machine, the concept of “reality” will begin to blur. We will be looking at the universe from within the interior of the computer – and will being to have difficulty determining where “reality” ends and “augmented reality” begins. At this point, we truly become the Ghosts in the Machine.

"For first we use machines, then we wear machines, then we become machines."
Kim William Gordon
LinkedIn
Facebook
www.bitnus.com 
www.kimwilliamgordon.com