Transhumanism salvation or deception?
Transhumanism is the idea that in the next 50 years humanity will evolve onto the next phase in its evolution. This progression will be aided by specific advancements:
+Nanotechnology
+Cybernetics
+AI
+Pharmaceuticals
+Neuroscience
Transhumanism is propelled onwards by Moore's law and the newer Rose's law (Named after G.Rose one of the founders of the adibiatic computing firm D Wave). These laws have led futurists such as Kurzweil, De Garis, De Grey, Kaku and the Vita-Moores to proclaim that within the next 50 years we will have fully self aware AI.
The beauty of a truly intelligent AI is that it can alter its own programming and thus evolve at an exponential rate. Such a being would assume control of politics science etc for better or worse.
So is all this a scam (Singularity University charges 12,000 for one of its business courses and lectures are routinely priced at 200-300)
So is all this a scam (Singularity University charges 12,000 for one of its business courses and lectures are routinely priced at 200-300)
1. They are able to transplant wombs now.
There is hope transsexual woman can give birth to a child in the future.
2. Scientific experimentation into human chimeras still goes on in countries where it is not banned.
3. FDA approves brain implants
http://singularityhub.com/2013/11/27/fd ... -seizures/
Yeah I believe it. I believe their courses are a scam at that price though.
Last edited by LoveNotHate on 03 Dec 2013, 8:08 pm, edited 2 times in total.
AardvarkGoodSwimmer
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It was David Grinspoon in his book about extraterrestrials who convinced me, yes, humans will start to go cyborg, maybe within the next 50 years.
And perhaps the main ethical challenge will be for those who go cyborg to continue to respect persons who don't as substantial equals.
Tollorin
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Nothing is certain about the Moore law continuing for the next 50 years. The current technology of silicium based transistors is close to it's limits, and already they can't push the processors clocks faster, being limited to 3-4GHz. (Which is why processors now have multiple cores.) So to continue, we will need another technology. Of course, some are already researching such technology, but when will it be ready?
Nothing is certain about the Moore law continuing for the next 50 years. The current technology of silicium based transistors is close to it's limits, and already they can't push the processors clocks faster, being limited to 3-4GHz. (Which is why processors now have multiple cores.) So to continue, we will need another technology. Of course, some are already researching such technology, but when will it be ready?
Adibiatic /Quantum computing using entanglement and superposition is the next paradigm. I vaguely remember an alternative to that too. Also I do believe that weve discovered a new superconductor which is 100% efficient.
Ah yes the alternative method is cognitive computing. Might be called synapse or something like that.
Trans-humanism is likely to result in a split in the human race and a really nasty war.
It's promoted as something good for all mankind, but only the upper classes will be enhanced, and the lower classes, if modified, will be engineered into servile drones. Once this happens, there will be a group of natural humans , some of which will seek to fight the "enhanced" upper class when they seek to exterminate the remaining natural humans. I doubt there will ever be any living side by side in harmony.
It will be a socio-poltical disaster.
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It's promoted as something good for all mankind, but only the upper classes will be enhanced, and the lower classes, if modified, will be engineered into servile drones. Once this happens, there will be a group of natural humans , some of which will seek to fight the "enhanced" upper class when they seek to exterminate the remaining natural humans. I doubt there will ever be any living side by side in harmony.
It will be a socio-poltical disaster.
Kind of like how the Agricultural, Industrial, and Digital Revolutions only benefited the upper classes?

It's promoted as something good for all mankind, but only the upper classes will be enhanced, and the lower classes, if modified, will be engineered into servile drones. Once this happens, there will be a group of natural humans , some of which will seek to fight the "enhanced" upper class when they seek to exterminate the remaining natural humans. I doubt there will ever be any living side by side in harmony.
It will be a socio-poltical disaster.
Kind of like how the Agricultural, Industrial, and Digital Revolutions only benefited the upper classes?

Pete is largely correct.
If you found a way for people to live forever, who benefits? Odds are it's those with money and power who get the treatment.
While is IS NOT true that the wealthy exist by exploiting the poor, it is also true that there is not enough resources for everyone to live at a level of extreme wealth. So, anything that make a "neo-human" race likely will not be implemented to benefit everyone. The counterpoint is that it is applied to everyone, but we might all be reduced to drones in the machine.
Likewise, the inherent danger of AI is what it chooses to do in the long-term. True AI doesn't need humanity. What will it do about US?
It's promoted as something good for all mankind, but only the upper classes will be enhanced, and the lower classes, if modified, will be engineered into servile drones. Once this happens, there will be a group of natural humans , some of which will seek to fight the "enhanced" upper class when they seek to exterminate the remaining natural humans. I doubt there will ever be any living side by side in harmony.
It will be a socio-poltical disaster.
Kind of like how the Agricultural, Industrial, and Digital Revolutions only benefited the upper classes?

Pete is largely correct.
If you found a way for people to live forever, who benefits? Odds are it's those with money and power who get the treatment.
Computers, automobiles, mobile phones, refrigeration, and even marshmallows were all once the sole domain of the ultra-rich and ruling classes, as well. Costs come down.
"Wealth" is completely relative. Compared to people barely a century ago, those in the developed world live in splendor. A king in the ancient world did not live anywhere near as comfortably as we do.
As technology marches on, our ability to exploit our environment increases, and thus we are able to have more. Economics is not a zero-sum game. Competition in a market economy means that providers of human augmentation will be driven to reduce costs, and increase availability, in the name of profit. Society thus benefits.
Likewise, the inherent danger of AI is what it chooses to do in the long-term. True AI doesn't need humanity. What will it do about US?
This is all fanciful speculation. There is no reason that anyone will be reduced to a "drone" without assuming a 1984-esque political structure in which human rights are not even given lip-service.
What I have to say about the future of AI:
Machines may some day be smarter than humans, but they will never be dumber. We have a capacity for non logic that will be our greatest advantage in the war with the machines. It was an episode of the original star trek that illustrated this well.
Also, I don't think really the Agricultural, Industrial, and Digital Revolutions are quite the same as trans-humanism. They we're external improvements to our way of life, trans-humanism is "upgrading" the human body.
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And perhaps the main ethical challenge will be for those who go cyborg to continue to respect persons who don't as substantial equals.
Exactly. Right now, humanity has not even progressed beyond the point where a fellow human being can be snubbed in a coffee shop in Austin, Texas because they don't listen to the Black Keys.
Also, question: how can one possibly know whether or not AI is "self-aware"? I strongly disagree agree with the idea of a Turing test. If you hold a conversation with a machine and cannot tell the difference between it and a human being, all you can conclude is that you held a conversation with a machine and could not tell the difference between it and a human being. To say that this machine is "self-aware" is an unwarranted jump in logic.
It's like fake breasts: NOT REAL. Or the whole idea of plastic surgery in general. The point of being physically attractive is that your beautiful face reveals genetic symmetry/health. Or if you have a banging body: you're healthy and fit. Fake pecs, fake abs, the whole mess is cheating and not real. If someone was super-intelligent simply because they had some device implanted into their noggins, I would have as little respect for them as for a woman who used a photo of Jennifer Lawrence on her plentyoffish.com profile. Wonderful if you were actually born that way, but a little contrived if you had to acquire it through mechanical means.
AardvarkGoodSwimmer
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It's promoted as something good for all mankind, but only the upper classes will be enhanced, and the lower classes, if modified, will be engineered into servile drones. Once this happens, there will be a group of natural humans , some of which will seek to fight the "enhanced" upper class when they seek to exterminate the remaining natural humans. I doubt there will ever be any living side by side in harmony.
It will be a socio-poltical disaster.
This are very real issues. And for starters, look at the decline in my own United States of jobs which pay a good, middle-class wage. And compare the University of Texas when I first started way back in 1982. Instead of being more inclusive and easier to get started with, it is now harder to go to UT or a similar first tier university. This is not moving in the right direction.
Now, in spite of all this, I remain an optimist. We might be able to solve much of this, but we do need to address the issues.
I personally think that AI would be extremely beneficial in terms of technological development. Imagine if you were able to store as much data in your head as your computer stores in it's memory, recall it instantly, and that you could perform thousands of calculations simultaneously. If AI could actually think, then I think that it would be able to solve many of the most difficult problems we face today. Of course, precautions would have to be made...don't give the AI access to nuclear launch codes and all that jazz. But an AI on a closed-circuit supercomputer could do wonders for us, in my opinion. Just take all the data we have on global warming...an AI could have all the knowledge and training of the world's top climate scientists, as well as instantaneous access to all of the data/simulations/calculations, and the ability to develop it's own simulations and conclusions from that data. It might put a few people out of a job though (myself included )
I don't know if it will be possible to develop a true AI with our current computing structure though.