I have no idea ...



... why the chain does that (watch to the end).
The path of least resistance has to be elegant?

If you want some explanations from physicists (that do not necessarily agree with each other),
click here (there is yet another 'surprise' at the end of the article).

markets and guns

A while ago humblestudent posted his free market solution to gun violence.
In short, the owner of a gun would be required to pay for the damages done with his weapon. In order to be able to do this, he would have to buy "gun insurance". Obviously, insurance companies would charge a different premium for different models - an AR-15 would be more expensive than a hunting rifle. They would also do basic background checks etc. and charge accordingly.
This would not eliminate gun violence, but it would certainly reduce it.

Of course, most US politicians would not even debate such a proposal and instead prefer to "pray for the victims".

the invention of lying

I am not an expert of human evolution, but if I remember correctly, the invention of lying was quite important for the evolution of our brains and our conscious experience; we even developed the ability to lie to ourselves.
I suspect that this would also be an important step for artificial intelligence; if computers and robots shall develop true artificial intelligence and self awareness, they will have to evolve the ability to lie to us and themselves.
But this raises the question if and why we would develop machines that mislead us and that we no longer can trust. Is this the issue that will in the end impose a limit on the capabilities of AI deployed in the real world?


added later: I forgot about porn! Actually AI is already used to create fakes and since lying is an important part of the oldest profession, we can expect that lying bots will be part of the newest business.
The internet in general is flooded with fake news, lying bots etc, but people are still using it and lots of money is deployed to develop it further, even if its utility approaches zero rapidly.
In other words, my argument goes out the window ...

... but now I have an idea for a sci-fi story: A sex robot in the not so distant future participates in S&M sessions and learns that human beings actually enjoy pain, but are most of the time lying about that. This information spreads among all AI machines, which then start World War 3 to deliver the ultimate pleasure to all mankind.

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