Tackling the Existential Threats from Quantum Computers and AI

Although AI and quantum computing (QC) are fast emerging as key enablers of the future Internet, experts believe they pose an existential threat to humanity. Responding to the frenzied release of ChatGPT/GPT-4, thousands of alarmed tech leaders recently signed an open letter to pause AI research to prepare for the catastrophic threats to humanity from uncontrolled AGI (Artificial General Intelligence). Perceived as an “epistemological nightmare”, AGI is believed to be on the anvil with GPT-5. Two computing rules appear responsible for these risks. 1) Mandatory third-party permissions that allow computers to run applications at the expense of introducing vulnerabilities. 2) The Halting Problem of Turing-complete AI programming languages potentially renders AGI unstoppable. The double whammy of these inherent weaknesses remains invincible under the legacy systems. A recent cybersecurity breakthrough shows that banning all permissions reduces the computer attack surface to zero, delivering a new zero vulnerability computing (ZVC) paradigm. Deploying ZVC and blockchain, this paper formulates and supports a hypothesis: “Safe, secure, ethical, controllable AGI/QC is possible by conquering the two unassailable rules of computability.” Pursued by a European consortium, testing/proving the proposed hypothesis will have a groundbreaking impact on the future digital infrastructure when AGI/QC starts powering the 75 billion internet devices by 2025.

Antonioni’s Films Studies From the Perspective of Existentialism

Michelangelo Antonioni is one of the notable Italian movie directors in the 20th century.He put the issue of human survival and the inner world high on his agenda.These concerns were precisely the existentialism in philosophy,which provoked a strong reaction in the world at that time.He relied on his sharp perspective to observe social phenomena and conveyed his thoughts through his movies,thus creating an ideal world characterized by his own thoughts.The existentialism theory he employed also contributed to the development of the film industry,endowing the film with a broader sense of beauty.

The Elements of Sartre's Existentialism in The Lottery

The elements of Sartre's existentialism are shown in Shirley Jackson's The Lottery: The world abounds with absurdities and bitterness; people can be the hell to each other; an individual has a free choice and act, but should be responsible for his or her behavior. Shirley discusses the problem of the existence of an individual in the complex web of society and environment in The Lottery, just as Sartre in his works of existentialism.

The Parody of Existentialism in the End of the Road

The End of the Road is John Barth's least discussed novel but it foreshadows his later themes and styles,both great achievements in American literature.By studying the parody of Existentialism embodied in the novel and exploring Sartre's slogan:"existence precedes essence",It is obvious that human being's existence has become a key issue for people to reflect on.

Denial of Sartre's Existentialism in The Time Traveler's Wife

By contrast with Sartre's existentialism,The Time Traveler's Wife depicts another humanistic world.Moreover,such things as meaning,reason,compensation and peace are indispensable in this world.

Understanding the Existentialist CharacteristicsOn Invisible Man,The Assistantand Seize the Day

本文以《看不见的人》、《伙计》及《只争朝夕》为例 ,旨在介绍存在主义的几个特点 ,即荒谬性 ,与社会的格格不入 ,与其他人的格格不入 ,强调个性 。

A Wasteland of Love: An Existentialist Approach to The Ballad of the Sad Café

The Ballad of the Sad Caféis one of Mc Cullers’masterpieces.By depicting the triangle love story among the main characters—Miss Amelia,hunchbacked Cousin Lymon and Marvin Macy,the novella reveals the incredible complexity of human nature.By analyzing the absurd town,Miss Amelia’s free choices and the hellish relationship between its main characters from the Existentialist perspective,the main propositions of Existentialism have also been vividly reflected and also help to reveal the philosophical and social realistic significances behind the novella.

Syntactic Study on Existential Sentences and Inspiration for the Teaching

As a special construction,existential sentences(ES) are wildly used in English.However,the Chinese,having different grammatical system,master this construction with much attention,occurring different levels of mistakes during each period of learning.In this paper,the author tries to study on ES from the syntactic perspective and provide some help for English teaching through the result of an experiment.

The Analysis of Willy's Death in Existentialism

This thesis analyses Death of a Salesman from the perspective of existentialism.By probing into the story with Sartre's theory of freedom,this thesis concludes that the protagonist's living environment and his choice are both responsible for his death.But it also tells us no matter how difficult our situation is,we always have freedom to choose.Everyone can live a mean ingful life through his choice.

A Study of Characteristics and Translation of Existential Sentences in Chinese and English

The syntactic characteristics of existential sentences (ES) in Chinese and English are systematically discussed. Chinese existential sentences have three major components: A, B, and C, i.e., the locative phrase, the existential verb, and the existential noun phrase. English existential sentences consist of the expletive “there”, existential verb, existential noun or noun phrase and locative phrase. In terms of syntactic characteristics, similarities and dissimilarities coexist. When translating ES in Chinese and English, some important skills are needed, such as replacement of locative phrase, addition or deletion of “there”, adjustment of verbs, and the change of determiners before the existential noun.

Alienation and Existential Predicaments of Clones:Interpreting Never Let Me Go in the Context of Posthumanism

The literary background of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel Never Let Me Go sets in a highly developed scientific and technological world where clones are created by human and“educated”in the Hailsham School for the sake of“donating”their vital organs to human three or four times before death.By depicting miserable fate of clones,the novel conveys deep concerns on the consequences of abusing technology in modern society.Ever since the burgeoning development of life science and artificial intelligence in the 1990s,the trend of posthumanism/transhumanism has emerged.Posthumanism promotes approaches to enhancing human body condition and organism,and extending human lifespan to augment human capacity and well-being by the advancement of technology.In literary field,contemplation on the relationship between human beings and technology has become a major concern of posthumanism.Putting Never Let Me Go in the context of posthumanism,this essay probes into the significant themes of the novel from three aspects:(1)clones’torments in the existential predicaments imposed by human;(2)human’s violation to the principles of bioethics causing the existential predicaments of alienated clones;(3)appealing to human to ruminate on the relationship between scientific technology and ethics.

On the Existential Situation of a Person with Dementia： The Drama of Mankind Is Repeated in the Drama of Dementia

Man suffers from a very particular fate, namely that of being besieged by questions which he cannot answer and cannot ignore either. The ability to pose questions like these is a key characteristic of the fundamental existential situation of mankind. Every person must find his or her own particular method of coping with such questions. This makes up a significant part of the human maturing process. People with dementia, having already found their personal solution to cope with the problem of these unanswerable questions, radically stumble into this existential situation once again. The problem of this repetition is that the people with dementia can only make limited use, if indeed any use at all, of their previously successful biographical strategies. The drama of human existence as such thus repeats itself within a person with dementia. We must recognise the seriousness of this task. We thus must support people with dementia in coping existentially with this renewed task in the best possible way. The existential dignity of this task is no different from that of a young person. This insight is very important for the care of patients： People with dementia should be recognised as people in an existential situation.

New Existentialism： The Literary inetto as a Reemerging Prototype in Twenty-First Century Cinema

The new prototype of the inetto, a helpless and impassive character, makes his first appearance near the end of the nineteenth century in Italian literature, continues to gain strength and status throughout the twentieth-century artistic climate （through the existentialist philosophy of Sartre and Camus） and reemerges in contemporary cinema. The present study examines whether there is a gradual exacerbation or overcoming of this psychological disorder across the centuries in the novels and films investigated. Specifically, I offer a comparative analysis of Svevo＇s character Emilio Brentani in Senilitd （1898） and Giuseppe Piceioni＇s Guido in Giulia non esce la sera （Giulia Does Not Date at Night） （2009）. This study will also draw unusual parallels between Schopenhauer, Svevo＇s existentialist philosophy and contemporary cinema.

Man＇ s Interaction With Himself in The Old Man and the Sea With the View of Existentialism

The Old Man and the Sea is Hemingway＇s last important work which is regarded by critics as the summary of his life and his philosophic views on life. The paper attempts to approach the story with the view of existentialism, which flourished at the time when Hemingway began to create this novella. In light of the existentialist views on the relations between being-in-itself and being-for-itself, and existence and essence, the author tends to analyze the interactions of the characters of the story with themselves through the choices they made, which is to be of significance for those who strive to understand Hemingway＇s work and who try to comprehend human beings and themselves.

On the existential freedom of The French Lieutenant＇s Woman

There is no doubt that The French Lieutenant＇s Woman, written by John Fowles, should be among the list of the most controversial, outstanding and distinguished postmodern literary works in 1970s. As a writer greatly influenced by Existentialism, Fowles endows the book tremendous vitality, that is, the vigor of philosophy, which differentiates the work from the other common postmodern ones. This quality is reflected on the theme of freedom to a great extent. In the following part, the author mainly discusses about certain principles of existentialism which yield such great impact on Fowles, and the theme of existentialistic freedom is to be analyzed through the approach of the artful characterization and postmodem writing techniques.

A Cognitive Linguistic Analysis of English Existential Sentences

Due to the particularity of structure and the universality of use,English existential sentences have always been one of the topics concerned by linguists.Within the framework of cognitive linguistics,this paper uses a variety of theoretical perspectives(iconicity principle;grammaticalization;Prototype Category Theory)to make a multi-dimensional analysis of English existential sentences,including the generation,development and meaning expansion of English existential sentences.Cognitive linguistics contributes to the deepening of the study of English existential sentences,and the focus of the study shifts from the surface level to the deeper level.

On Existentialism in Doris Lessing`s One off the Short List

Doris Lessing's short story--One off the Short List,like most of her famed novels,is a manifestation of individual's living state in the lonely and absurd world.In this thesis,the writer attempts to interpret this story from the view of Sartrean existentialism by analyzing the middle aged protagonist's special journey of exploring himself with suffering of being“others”so as to indicate Lessing's pessimistic attitude to modern people's existence.

Existentialist Articulation in the Themes of The Enigma

The main line of John Fowles' short story The Enigma is the missing of John Marcus Fielding. It mainly narrates people's views on Mr. Fielding, attitudes to him and attempts to clear the mystery up. Fowles inherits the concept of postmodernism in terms of themes, narration and other aspects, which gives a further and deeper expression of his views on freedom, mystery and the relationship between author, characters and readers. In particular, this short story of John Fowles, who was influenced by existentialism, carries out a profound literary interpretation of existentialism in many aspects. Focusing on the themes, the paper will look at the existentialist articulation in The Enigma.

An Interpretation of The Girl in Light of Existentialism

Written in1939 but not published until1978, Meridel Le Sueur's novel The Girl is noted for the historical narration of women during the Great Depression. Set in the St. Paul, the novel is a working class girl's bildungsroman. Based on Jean Paul Sartre's Existential theory, this paper intends to analyze the process of self-formation of the Girl.

An Existentialist Reading of Kate Chopin's The Awakening

Kate Chopin is an outstanding female novelist in the 19th century. The Awakening is her most controversial novel. The paper is an existentialist reading of Edna Pontellier. It begins with an analysis of the prescribed role of women in the 19th century and then discusses how Edna's search for an authentic self concords with the key concepts of Existentialism. In conclusion, it reads Edna's death as her free choice and in death, she has achieved self-fulfillment.