The researchers also discussed the possibility that thinking machines might be a threat to human jobs, but honestly, having my job threatened was starting to seem like a relatively minor problem by then.

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That kind of thinking requires a belief in possibility, and the idea that our future is what we choose to make of it.

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They did this by thinking outside the box, evaluating the possibility of an alliance or a merger.

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Indeed, the spectacle of public, often impassioned criticism and the very possibility of choice appear to have opened up new ways of thinking, focused minds on real issues, and emboldened activist groups that were already pressing for reform.

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The thinking seems to be: If there's no possibility of compromise, why not just take potshots and try to win the news cycle?

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If your loved ones are getting up there in years, it makes sense to plan ahead for the possibility that one of them could become impaired in his or her thinking.

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If the resignation is not to be Sir Martin - and most shareholders will be thinking "bathwater" and "babies" at the possibility of him quitting - then presumably it will have to be one or both of the individuals who set his pay, Mr Rosen and Mr Lader.

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