How ATS Can Save the World

Many of the computer geniuses here are probably familiar with the revolution in supercomputing called a Grid Enabled PC Cluster (GEPCC). For those ordinary people like me, its harnessing the computational power of networked PCs into a grid to make a virtual supercomputer.

The coolest part is that individual computers are only used when they are at idle or under a small load. Users see virtually no difference in their computers eventhough they may be solving some incredibly complex problem or finding a new exoplanet.

By breaking up very complex problems into manageable chunks, these GEPCCs rival the fastest supercomputers and provide schools and labs a resource only dreamed of just a decade ago.

What if we applied this principle to our collective brains here on ATS to solve the world's problems in our spare time? I'm not kidding. I'm sure once a few of the computer geniuses here and the creators of this awesome website (my last true addiction) toss this idea around, it may get some traction.

Please consider the TARP bailout as an example. The 800 page piece of "legislation" that lead up to that abortion was cooked up in secret, authored in large part by lobbyists for the very banks it was designed to serve and placed into the hands of congressmen for the first time at 3:00 AM for a vote at 8:00 AM. Right.

The complete lack of transparency not only guarantees corruption at the expense of the many but it cannot take advantage of the most brilliant revelation of the Age of Enlightenment: Every human being has an innate capacity for discernment due to some inexplicable connection to the collective unconscious. Every problem facing a group of people is solved most equitably, efficientyly and innovatively when as many perspectives as possible are brought to bare on it.

Now imagine if at 3:00 AM the same bill was broken up into 1,600 2-page sections and sent out to ATS for its first pass through. If each recipient were to distill his section into highlights, rate it for potential problematic language, constitutionality, etc as well as identify if that section seemed to be the middle, beginning or ending of a certain larger line item, in a couple more passes individual line items could be assembled into their correct length and posted with an initial rating of relevance (TBA) so threads could be started using the existing system of stars and flags.

I guaranty that in the five hours preceeding the vote we would have identified the most egregious examples of congressional malfeasance and obvious pork. Consider how different that is from the fatalistic thought of any one of us attempting to speed read that 800 page document. The congress, by their own admission doesn't bother reading it either. Who is running this country?

In an instant we go from being a fractious collection of powerless individuals victimized by the capricious hand of fate to becoming empowered citizens no longer willing to let congress slide anything past us. The secret to power is its recognition. We have handed it over and now we are taking it back.

Way more inspiring to me than keeping congress honest is the virtually unlimited potential of creativity and innovation by tapping into our collective intelligence, life experience and knowledge. On a practical level, imagine if a piece of legislation having to do with education was broken down for discussion by a group containing even a few retired great teachers and school administrators. Think if they could simply weigh in on a discussion in their idle time with a simple thought, suggestion or idea. "We tried that. It didn't work but this did..." No more reinventing the wheel.

Often its just the kernel of a new idea that can change the entire direction of a conversation yeilding real innovation. How many of us here on ATS were propelled into some entirely new conception or new line of thinking after reading a short post by another member?

I would like to humbly propose an experiment. What if we get a piece of pending or old legislation and try it out? I think for efficiency's sake, if there were some way to pre-identify certain areas of interest or experience with respect to individual members and the legislation is sent through the first pass of the grid in a fashion dependent on expertise then broken down into laymen's terms for the rest of us, it may work better?

I don't know but that's the beauty of this concept. There is bound to be people here on ATS that do know and are experts in building the grid. All I know is I think others will see the potential and together we can really change the world. F'n A!

I would sign up for a program to give ATS spare CPU cycles of my desktop computer, not too sure how much spare brainpower I can give you. I have an Ontario Secondary School Diploma, not that it makes me any better than other High School grads but it's a fairly good amount of software to work with, mathematics and science, history and geography at the Academic level, rather than the 'Applied' level of learning that most of my peers had.

Probably one of the best posts I've read lately.

Q : Is it within the T's & C'c ?
Q : Would this be considered . . . . as positive ?

"Let's put our heads together, c'mon! Trust me, it'll work! Why wouldn't it?"

Half the people here don't agree with each other, and the other half doesn't know what it's talking about.

That's why.

reply to post by zarp3333

I'd be willing to give it a try, I've looked at a few laws in my time.

What you are describing is not quite what you are proposing. Projects like SETI use CPU cycles if idlying computers to perform mathematical modeling operations and automatically send the results back to the "mothership." No operator intervention is needed. What you are proposing is 100% operator intervention. It isn't really using the computer at all except as a medium of exchange. To do this you would need the following:

1. Coordinator(s) You need people to take apart a large bill into parts, then make those parts available to users on ATS. If you took a 1,000 page bill and parsed it into 500 pieces, you'd have to have to have people to do this.

2. Server(s) You have to put those pieces somewhere. Since ATS is self-contained and we don't know people's email addresses, that means the pieces need to be parked on ATS.

3. ATS buy-in. Given the above, ATS buy-in is required. Thsi is not without precedent. They have the Blue Book UFO project as an example.

4. What to do? Then the question becomes, how is this all to be interpreted? If I find a passage in a bill that requires us all not to wear white shoes after Labor Day, how do I communicate that and to whom? How do you first, ensure I haven't screwed up my interpretation of legalese and second, how do you disseminate it?

Seems to me this would take a lot of physical work. It's nowhere as easy as SETI. I'm not opposed, mind you. Just pointing out a few issues.

This idea has been germinating in my head for a while. It took me a long time to finally express it succinctly. It all started with a desire to help with the local school system. It has many challenges of a typical inner city.

I read about the success of the schools in the Harlem Children's Zone in New York City. Their achiement proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that human beings often dismissed as incapable, or undeserving in spite of facing the most difficult challenges have unlimited potential. It's simply a question of belief in ones self.

Our govt has conditioned us to become dependent on them as if they were the all powerful supercomputer controlling all of our resources at enormous expense while neglecting the potential we offer.

I hope this makes sense. My 2 year old is screaming. The dog is barking. Could the MIB have come here that fast?

reply to post by schuyler


Of course it would be a lot of work. Much of the separation of data could be automated as could the moderation. Cost of servers and architecture is really insignificant relative to the budgets of even a modest city.

I'm glad you mentioned another request to divide the ufo records released by the govt. I found it interesting yet did not offer to help.

The difference is the stakes are so much higher. Half the posts on this site worry about the devolution into fascism. The only hope is transparency and participation.

Originally posted by zarp3333
reply to post by schuyler

 

Of course it would be a lot of work. Much of the separation of data could be automated as could the moderation. Cost of servers and architecture is really insignificant relative to the budgets of even a modest city.

I'm not seeing the automation here. Who is going to do it? You're going to automatically divide a 1,000 page doscument into 500 pages and parse it out? How could that be done technically?

The difference is the stakes are so much higher. Half the posts on this site worry about the devolution into fascism. The only hope is transparency and participation.

But then you get into the politics of the matter. Fascism? And that's why it is unliklely ATS would agree to do this, either to grant server space or sponsor the project. First, you have to work out the technical details and second, you have to find a way to make the project as dispassionate as possible without a political agenda.

Of course it does no harm in asking.

One possibility might be to pull together your team of volunteers. When there is a bill that needs to be looked at you will find that they always follow a similar format. Often they start off with a "definitions" and "purpose" section. Divide the volunteers in to sections, "You two take definitions" You three take section 1, etc."

Within each section the volunteers decide what is significant and post it on the thread for that bill. Yeah, there will have to be some coordination and discussion, but with U2U, it should be possible.

At least those are starting thoughts, build something good from them, or start over.

ATS can contribute to saving the world by assisting in the spread of information. I love sites like this they ensure the survival of pertinent facts we all deserve to know and debate on.