An abundance of links

I followed the link to that National Geographic article, but it wasn't titled 'Dream Catchers.'  Maybe the print edition has different titles, but the article 'Scientists Are Trying to See Our Dreams' by Nina Strochlic sounds like the one Mr. Beagles is referring to.  Anyhow, my understanding is that the computers themselves aren't dreaming; they are using pattern recognition algorithms to create a 'dreamlike' sequence out of millions of images.  So, no worries about an AI dreaming of electric sheep.  Uncle Ken mentioned the article is behind a paywall, which is true.  To get around it, right-click the link and open it in a new private window, if your browser supports that kind of thing.  I use Firefox and it works for me on other restricted sites like the NT Times and Washington Post.

Also, I found a new article that allays much of our concern about the rise of AI.  It's a long article and I didn't read it completely but here it is: https://backchannel.com/the-myth-of-a-superhuman-ai-59282b686c62.  Maybe AI is a threat, maybe it isn't; might as well flip a coin.  I'll have to read the article closely; some of it looks over my head.

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I don't know where Old Dog heard that planet-wise life has never been better, but I beg to disagree.

I've read it in a number of places, but this book sums it up nicely:
https://www.amazon.com/Progress-Reasons-Look-Forward-Future/dp/1780749503/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1493406241&sr=1-1&keywords=Johan+Norberg

The main criticism of the book seems to be that the author is too optimistic, but that is a minority opinion of the reviewers.  Again, we can flip a coin, but I think that things are better but certainly not as good as they could be.  Should we curse the darkness or light a candle?

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There hasn't been much talk of objective reality lately, and another recent article muddies the waters.  Some scientists are saying that the human brain is hallucinating and creating it's own realities: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2128725-a-guide-to-why-your-world-is-a-hallucination/

Jeez, no wonder things are screwed up.  Regardless of what you think there are equally compelling arguments against your point of view.  Maybe the future of human society will involve the aggregation of shared delusions, if it doesn't already.  We are the good guys and we are the bad guys, depending on the outcome of the coin toss.

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Is it the chicken or the egg?

Neither, it's the reptile (nyuk, nyuk, nyuk).