Klara and the Sun is a science fiction story of a future in which people can purchase an Artificial Friend, an AI humanoid robot, as a companion. It is told from the viewpoint of Klara, who is an Artificial Friend (AF), who is bought as a companion for Josie, a young girl with a health… Continue reading Klara and the Sun
Category: Regulation
I use the term regulation largely in an engineering sense, as a system of feedback loops which provide stability in a system. I view the legal system in democratic countries, and the genuine open standards as coming under this too.
Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?
Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? is a book by Michael Sandel. It deals with some of the philosophical thoughts on justice, such as utilitarianism and libertarianism, and links them to real life issues (mostly American). As with my other Book Reviews, this is partly a guide to what is in the book, and… Continue reading Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?
Good Economics for Hard Times
“Good Economics for Hard Times: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty” is an economics book aimed at the general reader by two MIT professors of economics who specialise in the economics of poverty, social and political equality, migration and globalization. Economics is important to be as one of the mechanisms to… Continue reading Good Economics for Hard Times
Mr Acid Rain and our Interconnected World
My father, Roger Lines, was a research forester, working for the Forestry Commission. When, in the early 1970’s, I did my Statistics O-Grade I was fortunate to be able to help with some real research at the, then fairly newly established, Forestry Commission Northern Research Station. I was chopping young Sitka Spruce trees, grown under… Continue reading Mr Acid Rain and our Interconnected World
How do we decide ?
This is very much a work in progress, which I intend to refine, but published in this incomplete form to link other posts into a wider context. Choices can be tricky – important ones always are, and for each choice we (as individuals, groups, societies and humanity as whole) make there will be an alternative… Continue reading How do we decide ?
The reasoned feedback loop
The reasoned feedback loop is central to human progress. Feedback loops are everywhere, but the key element introduced by people is the Reason step. It is core to the way that science works, and engineering, and good (I wish I could think of a better word here), legal, moral and political systems. In such loops… Continue reading The reasoned feedback loop
Diversity and Regulation
The intertwined themes of Diversity and Regulation are in my thoughts a lot at the moment, so this post acts as an anchor from which I expect to expand on in other posts. Diversity We are surrounded by diversity – among people, in the objects in our daily lives, in culture and knowledge, in fortune… Continue reading Diversity and Regulation
On Isolation, being prepared and the NHS
As I write this we are in self isolation, in response to the Coronavirus. The situation is exposing the risks of much of the ‘Just in Time‘ world wide flow of goods and people which we normally take for granted to view. As the situation is unusual, many people have panicked and stockpiled things they… Continue reading On Isolation, being prepared and the NHS