[p2p-research] the end of theory-driven science?

Mon Jun 30 09:42:30 CEST 2008

Thanks Sam, I created this entry based on your comments:
http://p2pfoundation.net/BOINC

On Mon, Jun 30, 2008 at 11:53 AM, Samuel Rose <samuel.rose at gmail.com> wrote:

> BOINC is an open source,  usable way to create massive parallel
> supercomputers. BOINC is an evolution of the software that was created to
> process SETI at home
>
> BOINC is now used by quite a few different projects to use volunteer spare
> computing time to  solve different problems, from studying malaria data, to
> predicting climate change, to exploring nanotechnology
>
>
> http://boinc.berkeley.edu/trac/wiki/VolunteerComputing is a good
> overviewof concepts. Howard talks about "Computation nations and swarm
> supercomputers" in smartmobs, too.
>
> For people like Marcin, Appropedia, Ohio Local Food Systems Collaborative,
> or anyone who is tasked with supoorting their own research and development,
> volunteer grid computing can be a powerful resource. it can give people the
> power to employ search through huge volumes of data in a small amount of
> time, for a low cost. A person could write some evaluation programs or data
> models, and send data to BOINC clients that users run like screen savers.
> see http://boinc.berkeley.edu/trac/wiki/VirtualCampusSupercomputerCenter
> The BOINC project provides both clients and servers under an open source
> license.
>
> So, let's say that you wanted to run very complex datamining models on
> sound data that comes from microphones placed in the outdoors around Europe.
> Perhaps you have developed an idea to create a baseline way to measure a
> healthy ecosystem based on the sound in the environment. BOINC would let you
> split up all of that data into chunks and analyze it for just certain sound
> signatures. Crunching all of this data might otherwise be too large for any
> average computing system to take on in a reasonable amount of time. Even
> more, software liek BOINC makes powerful supercomputing available to many
> people. It makes massive search available, as described by Kevin Kelly.
>
>
> On Mon, Jun 30, 2008 at 12:08 AM, Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi Sam,
>>
>> I think this comment is already excellent. Could you post it to the blog
>> with reference to Kelly's original comment and perhaps an added link too
>> http://p2pfoundation.net/Category:Science at the bottom?
>>
>> I think the title: Using Swarm Computing as an Open Social Utility, would
>> be excellent.
>>
>> For my own benefit: why is BOINC important?
>>
>> Michel
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Jun 30, 2008 at 12:20 AM, Samuel Rose <samuel.rose at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> It's worth mentioning that their is no science without theory. The human
>>> mind is wired for creating theories. That is why there is a neural network
>>> built into our brain/mind system. It was self-built to consider the
>>> un-manifested.
>>>
>>> That being said, what Kevin Kelly describes is a lot like Stephen
>>> Wolfram's "A New Kind of Science". Not exactly the same, but closely
>>> related.
>>>
>>> In both cases: a *search* based science. Not that science didn't already
>>> have "search". But now you can start to create billions of possible
>>> combinations of simulations and then search through them. So it is
>>> simulation/search based.
>>>
>>> This is what I was propsing in our discussion about circuit design:
>>> Evolutionary/simulation/search-based research
>>>
>>> You can compress thousands, or even millions of years or human trial and
>>> error into this type of research. Plus, you walk away with billions of
>>> potential variations on your design, and ready ways and building blocks to
>>> adapt and change your design, and data about how different variations work
>>> under different conditions. You have a design DNA.
>>>
>>> Right now, I use databases like google as a kind of bionic brain
>>> extension. So, I say bring on the new databases, the computer clusters, the
>>> algorithms. As long as we all have equal access to them.
>>>
>>> The question for me is: what comes after search? When knowledge bases
>>> reach the exabyte level, or higher, and there are algorithms
>>> searching/crunching through them and finding patterns, relationships,
>>> testing all of the possible combinations, etc, how do handle and process
>>> what the machines are outputting?  How do we avoid becoming a cybernetic
>>> society?
>>>
>>> An even more fundamental question is: what can you create with all of
>>> this data, and/or with the systems that are used to collect and analyze it?
>>> How can it be used as a medium for expression? What are the new ways to
>>> "see" and "feel" the data?  How can the data systems be grounded as an
>>> ecology that is self-balancing, so that it doesn't overrun our existence
>>> like a form of digital toxic pollution, and cause ill effects on living
>>> systems, like people being ruled by algorithmic output that is too much in
>>> one direction?
>>>
>>> Another consideration: When we see that entities like google are the only
>>> ones that can wield and harness resources like those that process and hold
>>> petabyte databases, then we still have the potential for a power imbalance,
>>> where those who can hold and process the most data are the "wealthiest" in
>>> terms of capability, adaptability, access to knowledge.
>>>
>>> I wonder how many people realize that existing technology possesses the
>>> building blocks to allow p2p networks to exceed the capability of any one
>>> entity like Google, etc?
>>>
>>> I can see the possibilty of something simple, and elegant on a basic
>>> scale, that can scale-up easily, that provides a social utility for anyone
>>> who accesses it, using the combined resources of millions, or possibly even
>>> of people for storage and processing, that cannot be controlled for any
>>> specific exclusive purpose by any one person, and that could be controlled
>>> democratically by people opting out of participation should they not like
>>> the direction things are going in. We could have this today, and some people
>>> have already done it on a limited basis with things like SETI at Home, etc.
>>> What we need is more evolution in this area, more ways to use swarm
>>> super-computers, ways that are accessible by many people. A way to turn
>>> swarm super computers into an open social utility. This would is not out of
>>> our reach right now. We don't have to wait until networks are totally
>>> decentralized to build this into our social systems. We all have computers
>>> and operating systems, free cpu cycles, internet connections with extra
>>> bandwidth, and likely ideas about what we could do with those resources.
>>> There are already clients like http://boinc.berkeley.edu/, and systems
>>> like http://ceph.newdream.net/ or even http://www.bittorrent.com/ as
>>> building block upon which to improve. http://www.bittorrent.com/ could
>>> even work if enough people participated.
>>>
>>> The point is, a p2p social computing/data utility could exist today even
>>> with just BOINC and bittorrent. I am now in discussion with communities,
>>> like http://socialsynergyweb.org/oardc/startpage about how they could
>>> apply evolutionary computing, simulation, datamining, and other modelling
>>> and search to local food systems. (see
>>> http://socialsynergyweb.org/oardc/local-food-systems-computer-modeling-gis-datamining-group
>>> )
>>>
>>> A BOINC/bittorrent system could be used with applictions like
>>> http://www.urbansim.org/, http://code.google.com/p/optimaes/  and
>>> countless other open source simulation systems, not to mention datamining,
>>> GIS analysis, etc This can give local communities access to pwoerful
>>> research and development facilities. It could also be used to render and
>>> crunch numbers on design/ FEA (finite element analysis) etc.
>>>
>>> The question is, why isn't this already happening? Probably primarily
>>> because we get a minimum of what we need from free/ad-based systems like
>>> Google. But we could have a lot more, even right now. There is a huge amount
>>> of inherent wealth and untapped commons available right now.
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sun, Jun 29, 2008 at 7:17 AM, Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/06/the_google_way.php
>>>>
>>>> --
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>>>>
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>>>>
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>>>> at
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>>>>
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>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Sam Rose
>>> Social Synergy
>>> Tel:+1(517) 639-1552
>>> Cel: +1-(517)-974-6451
>>> AIM: Str9960
>>> Linkedin Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samrose
>>> skype: samuelrose
>>> email: samuel.rose at gmail.com
>>> http://socialsynergyweb.com/services
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> The P2P Foundation researches, documents and promotes peer to peer
>> alternatives.
>>
>> Wiki and Encyclopedia, at http://p2pfoundation.net; Blog, at
>> http://blog.p2pfoundation.net; Newsletter, at
>> http://integralvisioning.org/index.php?topic=p2p
>>
>> Basic essay at http://www.ctheory.net/articles.aspx?id=499; interview at
>> http://poynder.blogspot.com/2006/09/p2p-very-core-of-world-to-come.html
>> BEST VIDEO ON P2P:
>> http://video.google.com.au/videoplay?docid=4549818267592301968&hl=en-AU
>>
>> KEEP UP TO DATE through our Delicious tags at http://del.icio.us/mbauwens
>>
>> The work of the P2P Foundation is supported by SHIFTN,
>> http://www.shiftn.com/
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Sam Rose
> Social Synergy
> Tel:+1(517) 639-1552
> Cel: +1-(517)-974-6451
> AIM: Str9960
> Linkedin Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samrose
> skype: samuelrose
> email: samuel.rose at gmail.com
> http://socialsynergyweb.com/services
>
>
> Related Sites/Blogs/Projects:
> OpenBusinessModels: http://socialsynergyweb.net/cgi-bin/wiki/FrontPage
> http://p2pfoundation.net
> http://blog.p2pfoundation.net
> http://www.cooperationcommons.com
> http://barcampbank.org
> http://communitywiki.org
> http://openfarmtech.org
> Information Filtering:
> http://ma.gnolia.com/people/srose/bookmarks
> http://del.icio.us/srose
> http://twitter.com/SamRose
>

-- 
The P2P Foundation researches, documents and promotes peer to peer
alternatives.

Wiki and Encyclopedia, at http://p2pfoundation.net; Blog, at
http://blog.p2pfoundation.net; Newsletter, at
http://integralvisioning.org/index.php?topic=p2p

Basic essay at http://www.ctheory.net/articles.aspx?id=499; interview at
http://poynder.blogspot.com/2006/09/p2p-very-core-of-world-to-come.html
BEST VIDEO ON P2P:
http://video.google.com.au/videoplay?docid=4549818267592301968&hl=en-AU

KEEP UP TO DATE through our Delicious tags at http://del.icio.us/mbauwens

The work of the P2P Foundation is supported by SHIFTN,
http://www.shiftn.com/
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