George Clemons

Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • R.I.P Alvin Toffler

  • The Singularity and Our Resistance to Change

    Ever since reading Ray Kurzweil’s books, I’ve thought about what will happen when we finally reach the technological singularity. There are many of us who believe in “the singularity” or the point in time where we can no longer predict what the future will hold for humanity. Most believers view this as the point in…

  • Does 3D Printing End Shopping as We Know It?

    Now that the frenzy of holiday shopping is over, I can’t help but think about how technology will change our shopping experiences. We know the way we shop has already been changed by technology, but it is about to get really interesting! We can look forward to more home assistants – think of the Amazon…

  • Too Late for the Singularity

    There’s a story about an old man who was forced to accept what was then common in his society, enhanced intelligence. He’d lived a long, full life, was married and had children, but was aware he was near his end, and he was fine with that. As life slowly left him, the knowledge of the…

  • Uplifting Our Pets

      Bear with me, and consider this scene provided to us by J.R.R. Tolkien: “Beorn said something to [the dogs] in a queer language like animal noises turned into talk. They went out again and soon came back carrying torches in their mouths, which they lit at the fire and stuck in low brackets on…

  • Impressions of Virtual Reality

    Impressions of Virtual Reality Imagine the reaction of someone transported from 1975 to the future now. They would be amazed by all of the advanced technology that we take for granted in 2016. That’s how I felt when I tried the Samsung Gear VR. Although I consider myself to be a technologist, I rarely invest…

  • Police Violate Azimov’s Laws with Killer Robot

    Last Thursday night as my children were getting ready for bed, 23.5 miles away from my home, Dallas police killed a man. This man, Micah Johnson, killed five policemen and was threatening to kill more. We were horrified. My father was a police officer. He worked narcotics and our nightmare was that he would not come home…

  • R.I.P. Alvin Toffler

    One of the books that most influenced the direction of my life was Future Shock by Alvin Toffler. Alvin died June 27, 2016. I read Future Shock in 1979, when I was a young man. The primary premise was to describe the condition of people and entire societies when they are stressed by rapid change.…

  • The Internet of Touch

    My oldest son is named Kirk. His nickname growing up as you can imagine was “Captain.” I know that I did this to him, but it’s because I’m such a fan of Star Trek! Many of the technologies highlighted on the show over the years were more fantasy-based than science fiction. Technologies like faster-than-light travel,…

  • Net Neutrality

    Net neutrality is the concept that companies which provide services through the internet, either should not be allowed to pay, nor forced to pay for faster access to the internet. Internet service providers prefer to present this issue from the point of view of consumers, and point out the potential problems with additional regulation of…

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