Quotes

[» Darkluna]

Be thy intents wicked, or charitable,
Thou com'st in such a questionable shape,
That I will speak to thee.
-William Shakespeare

Words saturated with sincerity, conviction, faith, and intuition are like highly explosive vibration bombs, when set off, shatter the rocks of difficulties and create the change desired.
-Paramhansa Yogananda

Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love.
-Albert Einstein

[» doktorj]

""Playing God" is actually the highest expression of human nature. The urges
to improve ourselves, to master our enviroment, and to set our children on
the best path possible have been the fundamental driving forces of all of
human history. Without these urges to "play God", the world as we know it
wouldn't exist today. A few million humans would live in the savannahs and
forests, eking out a hunter-gatherer existence, without writing or history
or mathematics or appreciation of the intracacies of their own universe and
their own inner workings." - Ramez Naa

"Our machines will become much more like us, and we will become much more
like machines." - Rodney Brooks.


"-= A Panoply of Imacts. =-

What will be the nature of the human experience once nonbiological
intelligence pre-dominates? What are the impications for human-machine
civilization when strong AI and nano-technology can create any product,
any situation, any enviroment that we can imagaine at will? I stress the
role of imagination here because we will still be constrained in our
creations to what we can imagine. But our tools for bringing imagination to
life are growing exponentially more powerful.

As the Singularity approaches, we will have to reconsider our ideas about
the nature of human life and redesign our human institutions. We will explore
a few of these ideas and institutions in this chapter.

For example, the intertwined revolutions of G,N, and R will transform our
frail version 1.0 human bodies into their far more durable and capable
version 2.0 counterparts. Billions of nanobots will travel through the
bloodstream in our bodies and brains. In or bodies, they will destory pathogens,
correct DNA errors, eliminate toxins, and perform many other tasks to enhance
our physical well-being. As a result, we will be able to live indefinitely
without aging.

In our brains, the massivly distributed nanobots will interact with our
biological neurons. This will provide full-immersion virtual reality
incorporating all of the senses, as well as neurological correlates of our
emotions, from within the nervous system. More important, this intimate
connection between our biological thinking and the nonbiological intelligence
we are creating will profoundly expand human intelligence.

Warfare will move toward nanobot-based weapons, as well as cyber weapons.
Learning will first move online, but once our brains are online we will be
able to download new knowledge and skills. The role of work will be to
create knowledge of all kinds from music and art to math and science. The role
of play will be, well the create knowledge, so there won't be a clear
distinctions between work and play.

Intelligence on and around the Earth will continue to expand exponentially
until we reach the limits of matter and energy to support intelligent
computation. As we approach this limit in our corner of the galaxy, the
intelligence of our civilization will expand outward into the rest of the
universe, quickly reaching the fastest possible speed. We understand that
speed to be the speed of light, but there are suggestions that we may be able
to circumvent this apparent limit (possibly by taking shortcuts through
wormholes for example)." - Ray Kurzweil ( The Singularity is Near )

[» lunaya]

"There are four questions of value in life... What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for, and what is worth dying for? The answer to each is the same. Only love."
~Don Juan deMarco (1995)

[» erik]

Matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration
We’re all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively
There’s no such thing as death
Life is only a dream
And we are the imagination of ourselves

 

~Bill Hicks

[» lunaya]

"effective magic

is transcendent nature"

 

- george eliot middlemarch 

[» agape]

"If the eye of the heart is open,

In each atom there will be one hundred secrets."

 

~ Attâr

[» agape]

"Wrath breeds from thwarted desires..."

 

~ Swami Sri Yukteswar

[» agape]

"When we practice listening,

we become intuitive."

 

~ Sri Sri Babalahooti Yogi Tea

[» kalurz]

I always liked this one... it's more than a simple quote... 

 

-- written by Max Ehrmann in the 1920s -- 

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, 
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender, 
be on good terms with all persons. 
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; 
and listen to others, 
even to the dull and the ignorant; 
they too have their story. 
Avoid loud and aggressive persons; 
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others, 
you may become vain or bitter, 
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. 
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. 
Keep interested in your own career, however humble; 
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, 
for the world is full of trickery. 
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; 
many persons strive for high ideals, 
and everywhere life is full of heroism. 
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. 
Neither be cynical about love, 
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, 
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, 
gracefully surrendering the things of youth. 
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. 
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. 
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, 
be gentle with yourself. 
You are a child of the universe 
no less than the trees and the stars; 
you have a right to be here. 
And whether or not it is clear to you, 
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, 
whatever you conceive Him to be. 
And whatever your labors and aspirations, 
in the noisy confusion of life, 
keep peace in your soul. 

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, 
it is still a beautiful world. 
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

[» air]

"I believe a quote should be bite sized, something one can memorize without great effort.  Anything bigger needs its own thread."

 ~ Aaron Rix

 

example:

"A physicist is just an atom's way of looking at itself."

 ~ Niels Bohr

[» agape]

"A totem is any supposed entity that watches over or assists a group of people, such as a family, clan, or tribe (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary [1] and Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition).

Totems support larger groups than the individual person. In kinship and descent, if the apical ancestor of a clan is nonhuman, it is called a totem."

 

-~- Wikipedia

[» Aaro]

"There is something at work within my soul, which I do not understand..."
~~~~~~~~~~~Mary Shelley (1818)

[» sufkop]

"The unwise man 
is awake all night
worries over and again.
When morning rises
he is restless still,
his burden as before."

~ Odin (a Norse god),

from Hávamál; "the sayings of the high one".