Author: Toby

Non Human Rights

Corporations are disembodied, cold legal constructs. Despite their alien nature, and their tendency to exhibit psychopathic behaviour, they are classed as people with freedom of speech, and even some form of freedom of religion.

Whereas Chimps are warm bodied, emotional primates who share 98% of our DNA, and like us love, grieve and care for their infirm. They even look like us – yet are have no rights and are often kept in appalling conditions.

Recently there have been signs that as a society we might be ready to broaden the concept of personhood to include our cousins. In a sense this is the extension of civil rights to other entities.

As a Sci-Fi author future developments in this direction are fascinating. A porous boarder between various types of people: human; animal; algorithmic; (and alien), is great world building and back story.

http://www.wired.com/2015/04/chimpanzee-rights-may-become-reality/

Support: http://www.nonhumanrightsproject.org
(image: http://benmauro.deviantart.com/art/Primate-Anatomy-tutorial-439863842)

Basic Income – Teaching a Robot to Fish

Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, he eats for life. Build a robot to fish and…?
As I have said before, this world is increasingly bleak and hostile to standard v1.1 Homo Sapiens – Corporations exploit both customers and employees. Unemployment soars. The gap between rich and poor grows. Science and tech are increasingly beyond understanding. Its all Bladerunner and Aliens. 
The ‘Basic Income’ movement is the blue eyed future as it should be. It feels like something out of a Star Trek utopia: 
“What is this ‘Money’ you speak of?” or 
“You mean on your planet people have to work? Here people work because they want to…”
(Pic: https://www.reddit.com/r/biv/comments)