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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260407T120000
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SUMMARY:Chris Gray - The Fantasies Shaping Today’s AI
DESCRIPTION:All AI (algorithmic intelligence) companies claim they are pursuing the next logical step in digital—perhaps even human—evolution. But\, the development of AI is clearly shaped by a wide range of untethered belief systems from obscure German philosophy to The Lord of the Rings. There is nothing logical about it. It is unreasonable to make AI the dominant industry in terms of investment and valuation when it has produced little profit\, great social disruption\, and a worsening of most aspects of today’s polycrisis\, from climate change to military operations and genocide. \nThe forces trying to produce general purpose AI and super intelligence are multiple and almost all irrational\, even fantastical. The most rational is the hunger for wealth and power\, considered sacred by capitalist true believers\, for even if AIs never wins a war or produce real value\, they will make money and shape societies. \nTo explain today’s “Tech Lords” more than a simplistic “California Ideology” argument is needed. Accepting we now live under Surveillance Capitalism is only the context. Looking at the psychodynamics of Postmodern War is also helpful\, for today’s AI complex shares the same genealogy as contemporary high-tech militaries. A close analysis of key parts of the actual beliefs of AI billionaires\, from fantasy novels to fantasy altruism to dreams of immortality and divinity\, is also very helpful. \nTogether\, they might help begin to answer the real question—how do we transition from this clearly unsustainable socio-technological society into something better? \n\nThis event is presented by The Humanities Institute’s ± AI Initiative.
URL:https://thi.ucsc.edu/event/chris-gray-the-fantasies-shaping-todays-ai/
LOCATION:Humanities 1\, Room 210\, 1156 high st\, Santa cruz\, CA\, 95060\, United States
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SUMMARY:Central American Report Back: In Defense Of Land & Dignity
DESCRIPTION:Facilitated by SCC intern Rafael Revolorio\, this report-back features community members and organizers Ana and Allan Fisher\, Amy Argenal\, Lupita Alvarado-Sanchez\, and Cynthia Lopez-Fernandez who will reflect on their recent experiences in El Salvador and Honduras during a time of heightened imperialist escalation and right-wing shifts in Latin America. \n\nThis event is sponsored by the Center for Racial Justice and Santa Cruz in Color. Special thanks to the Dolores Huerta Research Center for the Americas\, the Resource Center for Nonviolence\, and the Bay Area chapter of Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) for their support in co-sponsoring this event.
URL:https://thi.ucsc.edu/event/central-american-report-back-in-defense-of-land-dignity/
LOCATION:Namaste Lounge – College 9\, Namaste Lounge\, Santa Cruz\, CA\, 95064\, United States
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260407T173000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260407T193000
DTSTAMP:20260407T033041
CREATED:20260225T011006Z
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SUMMARY:Nauenberg History of Science Lecture with Jennifer Derr
DESCRIPTION:World Wounds: The Damming of the Nile River and the Transformation of Medicine \nThe damming of the Nile River transformed agriculture and human health in twentieth-century Egypt. While dams enabled year-round irrigation and provided hydroelectricity\, the prevalence of parasitic disease also skyrocketed. Professor Derr explores the effects of damming the Nile on the health of Egyptians and the impact of large-scale environmental transformation on the knowledge and practice that made medicine during the twentieth century. \nApril 7\, 2026\nReception 5:30 p.m.\nLecture 6 p.m.\nMusic Recital Hall and Virtual\nFree and open to the public \n \n  \n Jennifer Derr is an Associate Professor in the history department at UC Santa Cruz. Her first book\, The Lived Nile: Environment\, Disease\, and Material Colonial Economy in Egypt\, won the Middle East Political Economy Book Prize. In 2019\, the National Science Foundation awarded Derr a CAREER grant to support her research on the “History of Science at the Interface of Biomedical and Environmental Concerns.” In 2024-2025\, she was a fellow at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute. \n\nNauenberg History of Science Lecture\nThe Nauenberg History of Science Lecture was established in honor of Michael Nauenberg\, a founding faculty member in the Physics Department at UCSC who came to the campus in 1966. During his distinguished academic career\, he contributed to a remarkably broad range of fields\, including particle physics\, condensed matter physics\, astrophysics\, chaos theory\, fluid dynamics\, and the history of physics in the 17th-18th centuries. \nAmongst Professor Nauenberg’s passions\, he deeply believed in the importance of interdisciplinary scholarship connecting the sciences with the humanities. Following his retirement in 1994\, he pursued his long-standing interests in the history of science\, writing books and articles about Joseph Banks\, Robert Hooke\, Christiaan Huygens\, and Isaac Newton. The Nauenberg History of Science Lecture Series features leading historians of science and highlights the significance of their work across disciplines for faculty\, students\, and community members. \nThe Nauenberg History of Science Lecture is presented by the UC Santa Cruz Emeriti Association and co-sponsored by the Science & Justice Research Center\, The Humanities Institute\, the Humanities Division\, the Environmental Studies Department\, the History Department\, and the Center for the Middle East and North Africa (CMENA). 
URL:https://thi.ucsc.edu/event/nauenberg-history-of-science-lecture-with-jenniferderr/
LOCATION:Music Center Recital Hall\, Santa Cruz\, CA\, 95064\, United States
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