One of these existential risks – THE IMPACT OF ASTEROIDS OR COMETS, as it happened before in the older or newer history of the Earth, has a lower probability… That is why it is not a prediction – it is only one of the possible options.. .
The Earth and the survival of our civilization are at great risk in this century, which could be the last in human history. There are several major threats and risks, some from natural causes that are difficult or impossible to prevent, others from human causes as a consequence of scientific, technological, social and cultural developments in human society. There are national and international research centers and institutes devoted to the study of Existential Risks, defined as “those threats that may result in the premature extinction of intelligent life originating on Earth, or the permanent and drastic destruction of its potential for future development”
Such Future Scenarios presents “WHAT COULD HAPPEN IF…”
So there is a degree of uncertainty and likelihood of some of the predictions made by some specialists coming true…
Please note that the data and information in these possible scenarios are at the level of the years in which each of them was realized (2012…2022)
They can be updated by consulting recent bibliographies in each subject area.
On March 16, 2024, we commemorated the 67th anniversary of Brancusi’s death.
In Romania a relatively small number of Brâncuș’s works are preserved, for known historical reasons, summarized in this quote from Ilarie Voronca:
“And suddenly I had the revelation of the creator’s solitude.
He who with his own hands made the world, was grieved to see that it was ungrateful and haughty, turning away from him and forgetting him. But just like any great artist, the creator continues his fantastic labor, without respite and never satisfied. My soul was filled with awe for the divine builder” ;
From an exegetical point of view, Brâncuș’s creation has known an extraordinary discrepancy of opinions.
Brancusi has been associated with the most varied artistic styles starting with Cycladic idols, African statuary, Greek archaic art, then the Egyptian, culminating with the rockets of the atomic age, after having previously been equally related to cubism, abstract art, Byzantine, oriental, Platonic spirituality and, last but not least, Romanian folklore.
This diversity of opinions is particularly evident at the stylistic turning point in the sculptor’s work, namely 1907-1910, the period in which the “Prayer”, “The Earth’s Rise” and “The Kiss” were created.
Many foreign researchers of his work point to elements of inspiration from our folklore (Paul Morand, Carola G., Welcker, Jean Cassou, Herbert Read); others such as Sidney Geist consider these elements to be of secondary value.
Romanian exegesis was oriented, naturally in a way, on the national specificity of Brâncuși’s creation.
These polemics around the work of the great Romanian sculptor seek to emphasize what is Romanian and what is universal in his creation.
His art has, without a doubt, renewed the meanings and orientation of sculpture, and therefore it must be received from the point of view of the cultural confluences that they reveal, which together make up a dialog with universal valences.
For an art lover open to the world of ideas and artistic currents that revolutionize the creation of artists and reshape the criteria of evaluation and perception/understanding of the public, the encounter with Brâncuși’s work is an overwhelming moment, entering a temple about whose symbols and artistic achievements have been written tens of thousands of pages in articles and volumes of presentation and analysis of the cognitive leap made by the father of modern sculpture.
There are authors who have devoted their entire lives to presenting and trying to explain Brâncuș’s works to the general public.
For some of his works that broke new ground in 20th century art, we have drawn on an extensive bibliography.
From these many volumes and pages, I have retained and synthesized what were for me some of the main ideas, in the Lecture Notes from the powerpoint presentations dedicated to the defining works of Brâncuși’s art.
We made these powerpoints on scientific topics that are rarely presented, based on an observation by the well-known scientist Stephen Hawking, who co-wrote “The Grand Design” with L. Mlodinow.
“It amazes me how disinterested we are today in things like physics, space, the universe and the philosophy of our existence, our purpose, our final destination. It’s a fantastic world out there. Be curious.”
I add another poignant formulation by another scientist, Steven Weinberg, winner of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics, who wrote, “The first three minutes, a modern view of the origin of Universe” “The effort to understand the universe is one of the rare things that raises human life a little above the level of a farce and gives it something of the thrill of tragedy.”
I dedicate these powerpoints to those who are curious, eager to find out what is currently known about how the world we live in began and how it may end.
Mr. Qfwfq, a very old gentleman, is the narrator and protagonist of stories written by Italo Calvino, collected in the volume COSMICOMICĂRII.
It’s about 13.7 billion years old.
And because he has lived so long and seen so much, he humorously tells us about the evolution, expansion and contraction of the Universe, time and space, stories about the transformation of matter, starting from current scientific notions and knowledge, mainly astronomical…
Due to some restrictions and particularities of the NICEPPS.ro website
where these Powerpoint presentations are hosted,
following the link mentioned for each of these presentations
that leads to the page where it can be found,
it is necessary to download them on your computer to watch them with music and text,
because on the NICEPPS website or on your phone, the music cannot be heard.
One of these existential risks – THE IMPACT OF ASTEROIDS OR COMETS, as it happened before in the older or newer history of the Earth, has a lower probability… That is why it is not a prediction – it is only one of the possible options.. .
Large solar flares can have a considerable disruptive effect on life on earth and the global telecommunications system. Large parts of the globe will remain completely in the dark due to the breakdown of electricity production and transmission systems.
The consequence of the power grid failure is the gradual total paralysis of all activities.
Not all at once, but in a few hours.
The huge damages, of thousands of billions of dollars, could be repaired only after a few weeks, months or maybe even years.
For modern civilization that totally depends on the existence of electricity, it would be an almost apocalyptic event.
It is discussed more and more in the world of specialists from different scientific, technological and social fields…
about the emergence of Robots, and about their place and role in today’s society.
One of the existential risks, which is discussed more and more in the world of specialists from different scientific, technological and social fields, is the place and role of Robots in the future society
Another possible scenario explores another type of existential risks existing in the 21st century.
Since 1997, several Global Climate Change Assessment Reports have been published, regarding the causes and effects of global climate change, as well as the forecasts and scenarios based on
the use of climate models. The main conclusions of these documents can be summarized as follows
• The concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere currently exceeds the values recorded in the last 650,000 years, and forecasts indicate an unprecedented increase;
• In the absence of adequate measures, until 2100, the global temperature will increase by 1 to 6.3 C, and the level of the planetary ocean may increase by 19 to 58 cm;
• The decrease in the thickness and extent of the glaciers in the arctic area (by 40% in the last 30 years) and the possibility of their complete disappearance by 2100.
• The reports recommend the urgent establishment of policies and measures at the national and global level to reduce greenhouse gas emissions whose growth is directly influenced by human activity.
• It is necessary to limit the increase in the average global temperature, until 2100, by a maximum of 2 C above the pre-industrial value and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% until 2050.
What will happen if global warming continues at the pace of recent years?
A series of studies launch Predictions and Warnings regarding the continuation of the current economic model, based on the consumption of fossil fuels and the increase in greenhouse gas emissions.
At the Paris Conference in December 2015, 200 governments pledged to make the necessary efforts to limit the increase in global temperature by 2100 to a maximum of 2 degrees C compared to the pre-industrial period
Many internationally known and recognized scientists and experts warn of natural dangers or those caused by human activities out of control in the 21st century.
Some of them believe that humanity and our civilization are at a critical moment, facing several global crises, some of them even triggered and in the course of evolution, with serious or even destructive effects on the Earth, the environment and our species.
One of the most interesting and discussed scenarios regarding the evolution of human society, in the 21st century, under the conditions of the acceleration of scientific and technological progress. The idea that the future of humanity can be approximated by a mathematical solution – a unique event called a "singularity" – has attracted the attention of theorists since the last century.
Some believe that the emergence and development of ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE and SELF-REPLICATING MACHINES, HUMAN-COMPUTER SYMBIOSIS and the EXPANSION OF HUMAN CAPABILITIES THROUGH BIOTECHNOLOGIES will trigger an accelerated technological development, which will lead to the TECHNOLOGICAL SINGULARITY and to hard-to-predict changes in human civilization.
We live on a tiny pale blue dot, and indeed most of our planet is covered by oceans.
Seasteading is the project to create permanent homes in the high seas, outside the territory claimed by any government, called seasteads.
Throughout its existence, human society and, later, the civilization it created, was threatened with extinction several times.
The Doomsday Clock is a symbol that represents the probability of a global catastrophe caused by man.
The clock measures the seriousness and imminence of major existential threats to the existence of civilization and human society and even the human species, as a result of uncontrolled scientific and technical advances.
The clock shows the estimated number of minutes remaining until a possible planetary catastrophe, marked hypothetically and symbolically at “midnight”
A pamphlet starting from a quote – Einstein’s warning…
“I fear that the day technology overtakes our ordinary human interactions, the World will become a world of idiots.”
In the absence of measures to limit the increase in the average global temperature, until 2100, with a maximum of 2 C above the pre-industrial value, recommended by specialists and politicians from all over the world at international conferences in recent years, it may reach approx. 6 C until the end of the XXI century. With dramatic consequences for humanity.
However, some leaders in some big polluting countries do not heed the warnings of specialists.
It took GRETA THUNBERG, a Swedish schoolgirl aged just 16, to draw the world’s attention at several UN Climate Change Conferences through speeches, messages and appeals to politicians and world leaders, vehemently and emotionally asking them to take take climate change seriously and do something to stop the dangerous trend of global warming.
16-year-old Greta Thunberg has become the symbol of climate change activism and the promoter of local and global climate strikes.
With time, the scope of VR (virtual reality) has increased and is expanding rapidly.
From Games on electronic support, to Tourism (travel destinations, museums, exhibitions) Education (virtual visual information from different fields, training and professional training, interactive lessons), Real Estate Sector (buying/selling. Architecture, Interior Design, to Medicine (interactive training, medical interventions and post-traumatic therapies) and even preparing for the trip to Mars.
The changes determined by the acceleration of scientific and technological progress and the demands of competitiveness require a continuous updating of knowledge and revolutionize the education and training system, requiring the adoption and merging of new concepts, e-learning (distance learning) and life-long learning (learning on throughout life – continuous education).
The new economy and the Digital Economy are based on LEARNING, this being one of the defining characteristics of the new types of economy and society.
These concepts have reached the attention of decision-makers at all political and economic levels and will become permanent components of education and training systems.
Today, almost any device we use in our homes, offices, factories, or wear on our bodies can be connected online, hence the name “Internet of Things” (IoT).
The multiple possibilities offered by the IoT, as well as the ever-increasing number of devices, technologies and platforms, result in its expansion into many areas of the economy and society, which will allow the transition to a new stage of our civilization .
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the defining technology of the last decade and perhaps the next, as it involves the development of algorithms and models that can mimic and even surpass human capabilities in many areas of work and life.
With the creation, evolution and exponential development of AI we are in the midst of an ongoing revolution that will have a much deeper economic and social impact than the previous two – the agrarian and industrial revolutions.
The evolution and advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), in the future, and after the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, with the developments realized in 2023, and those announced for 2024, are presented synthetically in this powerpoint. I add that I HAVE USED ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MODELS to systematize some texts and create images that better illustrate, than those found on the Internet, this introductory presentation of artificial intelligence