The Grand Unified Transcendental Internet (GUTI)

Do I contradict myself?
Very well, then I contradict myself
(I am large, I contain multitudes)
-  Walt Whitman, Song of Myself

We are poised at the cusp of a historic transformation of the human race, one that has been largely mediated by technology. While the contours of these changes are visible, the big picture is fragmented and is still emerging. One of the possible outcomes of these changes is the emergence of the Grand Unified Transcendental Internet (GUTI) as an emergent property of multiple technology-driven developments that have enabled the bridging of cyber-physical-biological worlds today.

The cyber-physical bridge enabled by a number of technologies that were around for several decades now, although they are today known under the common rubric "Internet of Things" (IoT). The physical world is our familiar 'real life' where a lamp lights up when we turn on a wall switch. The cyber world is also well-known as the world of email, web browsing, streaming video and multiplayer games. But can we switch on a lamp by sending an email? If so, we have bridged the Cyber and Physical worlds. This is also what numerous sensors and actuators of IoT can do easily. Of course, IoT has also other dimensions such as 3D printing, Smart Cities, "Software-Defined-Everything", or anywhere-anytime-anything connectivity.

Integration of the cyber world with the biological world has been slower in coming, but the pace of integration is rising fast. The giant strides in genomics in the last decade was enabled by digital technologies which played a critical role in managing the reading, sequencing, annotation and analysis of the terabytes of data that genomics often has to deal with. Subsequently, the emergence of technologies such as CRISPR/CAS9 which enables easy editing of live DNA, is set to make transformational changes in a variety of areas from controlling aging, healing diseases, or creating designer babies, high-yielding, disease resistant crops, or "clean" meat that is produced by culture, not by slaughter.

An even more interesting field is cognitive computing where a direct brain-computer interface (BCI) has been available for some time. As of now, BCI has been used largely in experimental situations including controlling prosthetic devices or even fighter planes and vehicles. The most exciting developments in this domain, however, are yet to come. For instance, can we "download" a brain into a computer and "upload" it back to the brain later? Can we connect two brains? A brain and a thinking bot? A pet's brain with the master's?

This opens up the vision of a new Internet built atop the cyber-physical-biological foundation, one that brings together many millions of human brains connected to the Internet without an intervening computing device, which could also be directly connected to plants, animals, IoT devices, software robots, and even bacteria. Welcome to the GUTI!

So far there was no direct communication possible between these disparate groups of living and non-living entities. However, today we have reach a stage where we have to redefine what is life, with scientists already having both created cyborgs as well as minimalist, artificial DNA. Both these developments can lead to entirely new definitions of what life is, and what augmented life or virtual life is.

Even so, technology is not really a barrier for the emergent GUTI. It's just a matter of time before the technology is developed. More important are the questions of what such an internetwork could do: would it be an incoherent mess of quadrillions of messages per millisecond flashing around? Can the incoherence be managed? Would coherence emerge? What would be the emergent properties of such a network? Would federations of beings (live and non-live in real-life, although no such distinction would exist in GUTI) spontaneously emerge? What are the ethics of the GUTI ecosystem? Would the beings of GUTI be subject to laws of physics or some other system of laws? What would be the interlingua of GUTI? Would it be possible that our insights, epiphanies, intense emotions such as anger or jealousy, or moments of orgasmic pleasure, can be shared with other beings?

It is perhaps too early to predict, or perhaps it is impossible to predict given the Schrödingerian nature of GUTI. Yet, such a vision of an all-encompassing, multi-being, directly-connected network of thoughts, ideas, needs, urges, emotions, and insights promises to be almost spiritual in nature.

The PIE 'Mirror': A triumph of Comparative Linguistics

One of the most interesting outcomes of the colonization of India was the realization that the languages of the sub-continent, especially the northern part of the undivided India, had roots that were very similar to European languages. With the translation of the Rgveda (a sandhi of Rk + Veda; to write it as Rg Veda would be incorrect) and other Vedic and Puranic corpura, it was evident to the Western world for the first time that the Vedic language (which is substantially different from the 'classical' Sanskrit of Kalidasa, Sudraka or Bhasa) shared close affinity with several European languages.

It was Sir Willam Jones who first proposed a common ancestor for a large set of European, Indic and Iranian languages. In his well-known discourse delivered on 2 February 1786, he argued that:

The Sanscrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of a wonderful structure; more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to both of them a stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and the forms of grammar, than could possibly have been produced by accident; so strong indeed, that no philologer could examine them all three, without believing them to have sprung from some common source, which, perhaps, no longer exists; there is a similar reason, though not quite so forcible, for supposing that both the Gothic and the Celtic, though blended with a very different idiom, had the same origin with the Sanscrit; and the old Persian might be added to the same family.

It is interesting to note that this very same passage was instrumental in launching the two new sciences of Comparative Linguistics (a part of the broader domain of Historic Linguistics), and Indo-European studies.

From then until the present, Comparative Linguistics as well as Indo-European studies have made enormous strides. The common ancestor postulated by Sir Jones was named as Proto-Indo-European (PIE), and is now accepted by most scholars as the common ancestor to ten language families that are spoken by over two-thirds of humanity today (see the list below with some examples of each family):

1. Celtic (Irish Gaelic)
2. Germanic (German, English)
3. Italic (Spanish, Italian)
4. Hellenic (Greek)
5. Balto-slavic (Russian, Lithuanian)
6. Indo-Iranian (Persian, Indic languages)
7. Armenian
8. Balkan (Albanian)
9. Anatolian (now extinct)
10. Tocharian (now extinct)

It is interesting to note that PIE itself is not attested to in written or spoken form until now. It is likely that it became fragmented into daughter languages by about 3000 BCE.

The efforts of contemporary linguists to reconstruct PIE had been proceeding for the last several decades. This historical reconstruction, interestingly, has also developed and strengthened the pillars of the science of historic linguistics itself.

As outcomes of this reconstruction efforts, there are now several fragments of PIE text, both written and spoken, available for the rest of humanity to see what this language looked and sounded like. Here are two such reconstructions: Sheep and Horses and The King and the God.

There was a lively discussion on the first of these two on Reddit in September 2013. While there was a consensus that the reconstruction did not sound like any existing language, user farangiyeparsi (reddit.com/u/farangiyeparsi) made a very significant observation on the spoken version of the fable based on responses of the listeners who had different language backgrounds:

It seems that it's a mirror for speakers of Indo-European languages. They all hear the roots of their own language, with the ancestors taking precedence.

It has been a fascinating journey for the science of linguistics, from the proposal of a hypothetical common ancestral language last spoken 5000 years ago, to reconstructing it into a 'live' language that seems to be endorsed by the speakers of different daughter languages. Even assuming that this 'mirror' is a first-effort reconstruction, it is indeed quite satisfying--even exciting--to note that it resonates with different language communities around the world. This is indeed the triumph of the whole domain of Comparative Linguistics.

Morality and Religion: A spurious causative link

One is often reminded that religions provide the foundations of morality for humanity, and that how, without religions, humanity would be hopelessly without a moral compass. However, it is now widely known that religions are among the worst offenders in perpetuating inequitable practices.

It is instructive to look ancient history to see if religions have provided moral foundations for governance systems. This author would argue that there is little to conclude that religions of any given age always provided moral foundations in the light of these examples.

We examine the exhortations made by several kings of ancient Babylonia and Persia, translated from various edicts and proclamations.

We start with two proponents of the "violent reprisal" school-of-thought, from Babylonia.

Ashurbanipal (685-627 BCE)
"I conquered Susa. I removed the seals from the treasuries and stores, accumulated by the Kings from olden times. All the silver, gold, jewels, cloaks and furniture of the palaces, statues of Kings made from gold and silver and precious stones were sent to Assyria. Then I rooted out the temples of Susa and reduced their Gods to sand and rubble. The territory which was within the marching distances of one month and twenty days I made barren from end to end, loaded thorns into it, and converted it into a marshy land. The sons and daugters of Kings and all the members of the royal family, governors, officers, weapon makers, artisans, men or women and all the cattle were taken to Assyria. I crushed the head of Elam and removed the cries of joy and rejoicing from that territory. I converted the country into the dwelling of wild donkeys, wild boars, devils and wild beasts."

Nebuchadnezzar (605-652 BCE)
"I ordered that a hundred thousand eyes may be brought before me and a hundred thousands shanks of the legs make be broken. With my own hands I gorged out the eyeballs of the commander of the enemy from the sockets. Thousands of boys and girls were burnt alive. I battered the houses in such a way that the sound of living persons may not come out of them again."

Less than a hundred years from them, we have two Persian emperors of the Achamenid empire.

Cyrus (576-530 BCE)
"I am Kurush the Hakkamanian. O man, whoever you are and wheresoever you come from, I am Kurush who found the kingdom of the Persians, grudge me not therefore this little earth that covers my body."
--From his tombstone

"When I entered Babylon without any battle, people welcomed my arrival with rejoicing. In the palace of the Kings of Bablylon I sat upon the royal throne. Marduk (the God of the Babylonians) inclined the hearts of the noble people of Babylon favourably towards me because I looked upon Him with respect and love. My large army entered Babylon comfortably. I did not allow any calamity to befall the people and its sacred places touched my heart. I ordered that all the people were free to worship their God--and irreligious people should not harm them.

I ordered that none of the houses should be ruined. I ordered that none of the citizens should be put to death. The great God (Ahura Mazda) was pleased with me and bestowed upon me Cyrus and upon my son Cambujiyeh and upon all my soldiers the gifts of his blessings.

Kings who are sitting in their palaces in all the countries of the world, Kings from across the seas and Kings of the West, all of them brought rich tributes and in Babylon they kissed my feet. I ordered that all the temples of Babylon, Susa, Akkad and in the territory beyond the Euphrates which were built in ancient times and were closed, should be reopened.

I restored all the Gods of these temples to their places so that they may remain there forever. I gathered together the people of the areas and rebuilt their houses which had been demolished. The Gods of Sumer and Akkad safely restored to their palaces known as `Delight of the Heart'. I bestowed upon all the people peace and happiness."

Darius (550-486 BCE)
"Ahura Mazda bore me aid because I was not hostile, I was not deceitful, I did not act falsely, neither I nor my family. I conducted myself as per justice. Neither to weak nor to the powerful did I do wrong. The man who was excellent, him I rewarded well; him who was evil, I punished well. By the grace of Ahura Mazda I am of such a sort that I am a friend to right, I am not a friend to wrong. It is not my desire that the weak man should have wrong done to him by the mighty; nor is it my desire that the mighty should have wrong done to him by the weak. What is right, that is my desire--it is not my desire that a man should do harm; nor is it my desire that if he should do harm, he should not be punished."

We thus have examples of two extreme ends of moral behaviour arising from the equally religious emperors, the difference arising largely from what seems to be personal or clan value systems rather than religion per se.

In the contemporary world too, this distinction is evident...most often, the goodness that one possesses does not necessarily originate from religion--in some cases, it is there in spite of religion!

A Tribute to the Typewriter

As a child, I was fascinated with typewriters. After finishing High School, it was the practice in the 1970s and early 1980s, especially for women, to learn typewriting (and the related lost art of 'shorthand'). This was in preparation for a career in Secretaryship.

There were these typing schools that prepared students for 'Lower' and 'Higher' exams in typewriting, with word speeds of 40 and 60 a minute (if I remember right). I had the opportunity to accompany my elder cousin when she started her typing course in the late 70s, and still remember my awe at the rows of typewriters on which students were noisily pecking away, learning their 'a-s-d-f-g-f" and ";-l-k-j-h-j".

Typewriters themselves looked elegant and gleaming, and the smell of ink, carbon paper and some kind of lubricating oil were persistent, but to me they were machines that processed words, some kind of a mechanical computer (later on, in college, I would learn to use another mechanical device--a hand-operated Facit calculating machine).

Typewriters were the hope and bane of many a writer-to-be. For others working in offices (as a 'stenographer' or 'typist'), it provided a whole career. Despite difficulties in correcting, despite mechanical irregularities and smudged print, typewriters stood us in good stead for almost the whole of the 20th century. For me, learning to type was a thrilling experience (perhaps also because my handwriting was terrible!) and I retain fond memories of my time in the typing institute.

For at least two generation, the excuse of "...going to learn typing" a legitimate way to get out of home, especially for young girls (in the Indian context) who had just finished school and didn't want, couldn't afford, or didn't qualify for college. There were a million of the inevitable 'typewriting' romances, caused on account of the close (and mostly unsupervised) interaction among teenagers of both sexes. Learning typing was thus also a rite of passage...

It is with regret, therefore, that I report the
closure of the last typewriter factory, Godrej & Boyce, in Mumbai, India.

"We are not getting many orders now," Milind Dukle, Godrej and Boyce's general manager, told the paper. "From the early 2000s onwards, computers started dominating. All the manufacturers of office typewriters stopped production, except us. 'Till 2009, we used to produce 10,000 to 12,000 machines a year. But this might be the last chance for typewriter lovers. Now, our primary market is among the defence agencies, courts and government offices. There's still a market, albeit a (very) small one. And we're not enough to sustain an industry."

Here's to the fond memories of this remarkable device that--not so silently--contributed to commerce, creative writing, livelihoods and the growing up of several generations of young men and women.

"Immediate Computing": Coming-of-age of tablets, pads and slates

Introduction
The last decade has seen the emergence of a variety of new personal computing devices and platforms—the SmartPhone; Netbooks & Net-tops; personal media players; ebook readers; and tablets, pads & slates, to name a few. All these devices endow the user with more flexible, media-rich, always-connected computing experiences.

Pads, Tablets and Slates
A technology that has existed for nearly a decade, but has only recently come to prominence is tablet computing (together with the closely aligned pad and slate platforms). The first ‘tablet PC’ was launched by Microsoft in 2001. This, however, did not take off for various reasons. The tablet, a flat hand-held unit running Windows and using a pen as an input device, was perhaps too early for its time. Compared to today’s tablets, it had too few hardware APIs, and was too heavy and expensive.

However, the tablet-pad-slate format had a number of advantages. In actual fact, it brings in a new paradigm in personal computing in addition to the existing paradigms of desktop computing and mobile computing. This paradigm, which can be called as Immediate Computing, can be defined in the following way.

A traditional desktop or laptop is designed around the assumption that the user is not doing anything else while using the computer. Thus, both hands are required for typing on the keyboard—one handed use is not possible. Eyes have to be directed largely at the screen. The seating posture assumes that typing is the sole task that can be done. Trying to do any other 'work' while using the desktop either requires additional equipment (for example, boom mic and headphones) or is considered an interruption.

In contrast, the other existing paradigm, mobile computing, provides a more interruptible, on-the-fly style of doing tasks, but these are usually less intensive computing tasks. The main problem here is the considerable difficulties of typing on a mobile device (even when it has the so-called full qwerty keyboard) and viewing content on the small display surface. However, the large number of hardware APIs on the mobile platform (camera, GPS, accelerometer) allows creative and flexible applications to be built on mobile platforms, even though they cannot be used continuously the way a desktop is usually used.

A good illustration of the third paradigm, Immediate Computing, is the paper clipboard. We see people walking around with a clipboard, jotting down comments on the board, ticking off items from a check-list etc. For example, a doctor doing the rounds carries a clipboard, on which she notes her comments, while simultaneously talking to the patient, examining the bedside chart, talking to the nurse and examining the affected part. The clipboard becomes an extension of her memory and its use is seamless to the other activities that she carries out. At the same time, it provides a record of her activity at the end of her rounds. In other words, the clipboard fits in seamlessly into the pattern of work, providing immediate, uninterrupted service.

There are numerous examples of such use of clipboards in the industry, such as in supermarkets, warehouses, airports, the military, and schools, with the clipboard holding plain paper, printed forms or check-lists. In some cases, a printed form is written on, signed, and a carbon copy handed over at the site.

Immediate Computing capability of a Pad
A tablet/pad/slate PC is an extension of this clipboard, but offering far more features, flexibility and connectivity. The most fundamental change is that the pad does not require any set-up time. There is no need to open the bag, pull out the computer, locate a table, place it, switch it on, wait for the boot and then use it as with a notebook PC--the pad is always ready to be used immediately, anywhere, and while standing, walking or seated. There is no need to be seated at your table (as in the case of a Desktop) nor to fiddle with the mobile to locate the right application to use. The pad is sufficiently large for both easy reading, gesture-based navigation and typing with one hand.

Here are some examples of the potential use of Immediate Computing both in the industrial/business sector and for personal applications:

• The doctor on her rounds can now see each patient’s photograph for confirmation, and also a picture of the original condition of the patient
  
• All patient details entered are updated within the database in real-time through the wireless network. New medication is automatically ordered from the pharmacy and the laboratory is intimated about the tests required instantly. If required, experts sitting remotely can examine the patient history, pictures and procedures/medication done so far and offer advice
  
• The maintenance technician can take a picture of a damaged part and upload it together with the maintenance request
  
• The QA supervisor can run through the checklist questions, sign digitally, and print the approval form on a nearby printer
  
• In a warehouse, the inventory technician can query each item using an RFID or Near Field Communication (NFC) reader and automatically take a physical inventory
  
• In a school laboratory, an examiner can go around inspecting the output of each pupil and award marks on-the-spot
  
• A system administrator can access a bunch of manuals on a single pad and see both text as well as pictures and videos on how to get something done
  
• A car breakdown technician automatically logs the geographical location/position of each vehicle that requires repairs, and bills it accordingly
  
• An insurance field assessor takes multiple pictures of the damaged vehicle and instantly uploads it for his superiors in the head office
  
• A student takes a single pad computer to school containing all his textbooks. While reading his book he has seamless access to a dictionary, thesaurus, Wikipedia or a search engine for direct lookup
  
• A keen reader of books can now read anywhere--in the car, on the bed or while waiting at the dentist’s office, and get the pad to remember the exact location that he had stopped, for any number of simultaneous open books
  

The market
The market is abuzz with different devices that are being released in significant numbers. Of course, it was the iconic iPad that really stimulated the market to its current frenzy, but much of the considered optimism on account of Google Android, the Open Source Smart Device Operation System that has emerged to be extremely popular in the last two years.

While Froyo (Android 2.2) and Gingerbread (Android 2.3) are both generic OSes for both smartphones as well as pads/tablets, Honeycomb (Android 3.0) is reportedly exclusive for pads, tablets and slates, leveraging the exclusive features of the pad (larger screen, more business oriented applications, easier-to-use keyboard etc). The fact that Honeycomb is exclusive to pads makes it clear that Google considers the pad market to be mature.

Many companies, both well-known and new, have placed their pad offerings in the market. These range from the highly advertised Galaxy Tab from Samsung, to Dell Streak, to several cheap (around US$ 250 for an 8” device) Chinese manufacturers.

The prognosis for the pad, tablet and slate segment is very bright. Given that most of these will be running Open Source OSes such as Android makes the entry barrier for developers quite low. Coupled with an Open Source platform such as Android, Immediate Computing opens up an entirely new paradigm and market segment.

The Tenth Decimal Place: Least Yet Most Significant

A Computing Koan



In the city of the Sacred Serpent, Master Foo was holding court with his engineering students.

"The ways of the industry, my children, are very different from the way of the school", said the Master.

"But Master, we do computing in the classroom, and we will be doing computing in the Industry when we graduate in a few months' time. What is the real difference?", asked an acolyte.

"The differences are myriad, my children. But let me distill the essential differences into a single anecdote"

The Master continued,

Not far from here in space and time, a class of 50 novices like yours was given a computing exercise. The exercise was to compute the value of Pi to ten decimal places. Children worked hard, trying out different algorithms, and trying to produce the most elegant code ever written. At the end of the prescribed time, the Teacher, checking the output of the 50 programs, found the following:

Seven students could not solve the problem at all

Three students, getting confused between Pi and Phi, and had computed the Golden Mean instead of Pi.

20 students obtained the value of Pi correct up to eight decimal places, but incorrect thereafter.

18 students obtained the value of Pi correct up to nine decimal places, but not the tenth.

Two students obtained the value of Pi correct to all the ten decimal places.

To the first group, the Teacher gave zero marks. She gave the next group 50 marks for trying. The next two groups got 60 and 70 marks. The last two students obtained the full 100 marks.

And all was well.

Coincidentally, at a different place, a group of new recruits to the industry was given the same computing test at the end of their induction programme. The inductees were in high spirits, as they were approaching the end of their training, and would be professionals shortly.

Coincidentally again, the results of the Pi computing test was the same, with two engineers obtaining all decimal places right.

On the spot, the management fired the 48, and gave a bonus to the two who completed the task. For, the two represented revenues for the company, while the 48 were just cost.

"Therefore, remember this, my children: In the Industry, There Are No Marks for Trying.", concluded the Master.

"But sir," a student asked, "Of these two, which is the really, really the right way?"

"Moo", said Master Foo.

At this, the students were enlightened.

Meso-reality and the Special-case God

The universe is a single unified reality. Nevertheless, it is sometimes useful to consider the universe to be comprised of a continuum of realities, stretching all the way from cosmic reality on the one hand to quantum mechanical reality on the other.

At the massive level, cosmic reality depends on such things as the speed of light being relative to the observer and the curvature of spacetime. At the other extreme, quantum mechanics represents a different reality where deterministic cause-effect relationships vanish and discernible particles crumble into probabilistic clouds.

Both these extreme realities are difficult to grasp for the ordinary human being. This essay attempts to explain why.

Human beings, in course of their early evolution, had to create a mental model of the universe in order to engage with it. This reality, which I call meso-reality (or "middle" reality), is a substantially simplified form of absolute reality and very much subject to the physics of earth itself in terms of parameters such as physical scale (not too big nor small), gravity (just right to retain an atmosphere), temperature (not too hot nor cold), and composition of elements (just the right mix for carbon/water based life). In meso-reality, time and space are orthogonal, time is directional and cause-effect relationships are clear, predictable and repeatable.

Meso-reality has helped humankind negotiate its way through history and in explaining and dealing with the world around us. It pervades our thought, language, most sciences and arts. Meso-reality is simple and common sense-based, and can be readily understood by the man-on-the-street. However, in order to be reasonably simple, meso-reality presents a vastly oversimplified view of reality.

Up until the early 20th century, humankind did not consider that other realities could exist. However, the Special Theory of Relativity laid the ground for a new model for the fabric of reality that was shocking to many. By the middle of the 20th century, it was increasingly evident -- at least to the physicists, mathematicians, and cosmologists -- that there were other realities.

However, these other realities needed a special language for modeling them--the expressive and universal language of mathematics. The language of meso-reality is too insufficiently expressive to represent or deal with these other realities. Trying to represent other realities in meso-reality language is as absurd as trying to write a treatise on Theology in a 'language' such as Java, as Java is completely inappropriate for the purpose, having been designed for writing object-oriented computer programmes.

This brings us to the inevitable conclusion that it would be impossible to present commonsensical views of alternative realities, as these would seem fundamentally counterintuitive to the ordinary person. The 'common man' is therefore not destined to understand alternative realities in their fullest sense. It is only with sufficient grounding in mathematics that these realities be represented, explained or taught.

Mathematics is thus a universal language: if we were to encounter a civilization from a planet of a very different size -- where gravity, scale and chemical composition would be very different from ours -- the physics of life would be radically different, but the mathematics of reality would be identical. While meso-reality is specific to local physics, the mathematical abstractions of reality are universal and absolute.

If meso-reality represents a truncated, oversimplified, special-case model of the universe, then it would follow that many of the intellectual artifacts of meso-reality would have no universal value or utility.

In particular, the concept of a universal creator--a popular idea within the framework of meso-reality--would seem to have no role in absolute reality. While it is true that the mathematics of cosmic origin, the Big Bang, is perhaps still not complete (especially that of the first few ticks after the initial singularity), it is, however, clear that there is no 'God factor' in the equations. The concept of an omnipotent universal creator is a consequence of the special-case scenario of meso-reality, and has no relevance outside it. God is as 'real ' as meso-reality.

[15:00 - 16:00, 16 October 2007]