With increasingly subtle moves, the players in Asimov’s epic Foundation and Earth are confronted with the daunting decision of whether to initiate an all-encompassing ethical framework, one which just might direct humanity into an acceptable future. The agents of change go unnamed for those who have yet to read it.

Dr. Isaac Asimov, in his Foundation series (also iRobot), first places these principles:
(Wording slightly adjusted for clarity. See the original if you wish.)

1. A robot may not harm a human, or, by inaction, allow a human to come to harm.
2. A robot may not disobey human commands, except when doing so would prevent greater harm to a human.
3. A robot may not allow itself to come to harm, except when doing so would prevent greater harm to a human.

The Zeroth Law (0th) is added by another powerful mind (still some 20,000 years before the grand finale):

• A robot may not harm humanity, or by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.
• A robot may not harm a human, or, by inaction, allow a human to come to harm, except when doing so would prevent greater harm to humanity.
• A robot may not disobey human commands unless required to in order to prevent harm to a human, except when doing so would prevent greater harm to humanity.
• A robot may not allow itself to come to harm unless required to in order to prevent harm to a human, except when doing so would prevent greater harm to humanity.

The Zeroth Law really puts everything into perspective, adding a new level of consideration and calculation; within this framework, every thought, word, and action for robot-kind needs exquisite justification. In Foundation and Earth, we see just how much extra crunching is necessary, evident in the many hardware updates Daneel Olivaw has to go through to keep up with the data produced by a galactic human civilization at a very tenuous place in history. So as not to spoil this epic 7-book series (by my count), I will just give you a recommended reading order, one which allows for ‘optimal absorption of foundational elements’ and also a thorough understanding of the elegantly intricate possible-future-history of humanity that Asimov has created. Here follows what should trump every other sci-fi reading list you may currently have:

1. Foundation (1951)
2. Foundation and Empire (1952)
3. Second Foundation (1953)
4. Prelude to Foundation (1988)   [prequel 1]
5. Forward the Foundation (1993)   [prequel 2]
6. Foundation’s Edge (1982)   [epilogue 1]
7. Foundation and Earth (1986)   [epilogue 2]

How did you read this series? Please let me hear your voice!

Also: An updated version of Asimov’s Laws of Robotics has been drafted for approval in Japan to govern the actions of robots in the near-future.

Dr. Moore, Dr. Kurzweil, and other futurists have a great influence, a kind of self-manifesting predictive power (see tinkering). What this means is that the predictions they are laying out could actually increase the likelihood of outcomes such as the development of artificial intelligence or advanced nano-medicine coming to pass in the near future — it all points to what I like to call “confidence-emergence symmetry”.

This is, of course, greatly needed in our culture at this time with the global economic depression and the subsequent nihilism increasingly distorting our vision for the future. In fact, we are currently experiencing a number of what our predecessors even 20 years ago would term revolutions. These are various and cover many fields, but the net effect is fantastically powerful. We are seeing great change in the fields of the technical, the cultural, and the economic:

Technical:

•  Social networking
•  Distributed computing and Artificial Intelligence building
•  And open-source software

Cultural:

• Extended reach of the individual
• Empowerment of minorities and marginalized peoples of all natures
• And a new-found sense of the necessity of multilateral action amongst people everywhere

Economic:

• Alternative economies sprouting up (Second Life, Others)
• Peer-to-peer lending
• And alternative currencies

So much is changing that it becomes necessary that we be shown a viable, logically predictable direction out of the midst of all this activity. These guys are not making it up; we’re in for some real world-altering change in the next few decades (See: AI, biotech, organ factories, etc.) and we have a right to know about it, in fact, we should be able to opt-in at will, free association with the agents of influence in these fields.

One term to be familiar with, as it ties together all this change in a neat and sweet package, is the Singularity (clarified in the following 5-star TED video). Ray Kurzweil explains here in abundant, grounded detail why, by the 2020s, we will have reverse-engineered the human brain and nanobots will be operating your consciousness.

So we have these two figure-heads of technological progress: Moore and Kurzweil… The first having demonstrated the doubling of transistors on cpu’s at consecutive, 18 month periods, leading to exponential growth (See: Why we can’t imagine exponential growth); and the second, Kurzweil, detailing the steps to implement a new era in which everyone will have the choice to live, and die, picking up 10 years here and 10 years there… Kurzweil even acts as a martyr/guinea pig so he can both live long enough and also be ready to undergo the operations necessary to extend his life {once those operations become possible}.

Here is a very illustrative exerpt from an essay Kurzweil wrote on the Singularity and what it would actually look like to have exponential accelerating progress (article source):

Some prominent dates from this analysis include the following:

• We achieve one Human Brain capability (2 * 10^16 cps) for $1,000 around the year 2023.
• We achieve one Human Brain capability (2 * 10^16 cps) for one cent around the year 2037.
• We achieve one Human Race capability (2 * 10^26 cps) for $1,000 around the year 2049.

And while some say we should expect a backlash at the coming of robots of far-too-human likeness and the blurring of boundaries between the self and the machines that augment the self (See: Androids, Cyborgs), others take pleasure in anticipation at sights such as this Trumpet playing robot:

Now, what to do with this wild information? You may be in metaphysical shock and in need of some “security blanket psychology”, but I assure you, your brain already has the prerequisite mechanisms inherent in it to carry you through to the next mood. Besides, what I really wanted to show you were these following few ways that you can track and involve yourself in this marvelous future we’re planning. Take a look.

Tracking the future:

• A great explanation of the theory behind the Singularity
• The progress so far towards *hard artificial intelligence*
• List of emerging technologies

Contributing to the future:

• Donate your spare CPU time to advance artificial intelligence research (at no cost to you!)
• Use and contribute to the open source software movement — Keep technology open to all
• Try talking to a robot (chatbot ALICE)
• Have your DNA scanned to advance genomics research
• Or document your dreams for posterity

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