OFFLINE

Originally Posted by Scott Terry:


It's called "transhuminism."

yeah, they're replacing the concept of god with machines. the creator worshipping the creation. this is dangerous stuff. if the servant becomes more capable than the master, then the servant becomes the master. particularly if the master puts all of its hopes and faith in the servant, which is what these people do. in their reckoning, the machines will help us overcome the human condition.

think about it though. if we created machines intelligent enough to replace and surpass us, there would no longer be a real need for us to exist. if you were to look at humanity from a purely rational perspective, you would see us as a dangerous parasite.

just say neanderthals were still around, and their population was unchecked, growing so much and demanding so many resources, that it was unsustainable in the long run. say they were also warlike, prone to creating mass destruction. we would not only see them as a threat to us, but as a threat to the physical world we both inhabit. if this were the case, would we see a need to keep the neanderthals around? would we humor them and their whims, or, being more intelligent than they, would we take control and shape the world to our own, more rational vision? we would either eradicate them, or we would suppress their ability to self-determine, because, after all, they frequently made bad choices.

who knows, from a purely rational standpoint, this may not be such a bad thing, but from an emotional, feeling, empathetic standpoint, it would be a great tragedy. regardless, there's only room for one master.

OFFLINE

and here's something that will blow your mind. at some point in the not so distant future, we will have computers capable of processing a real-time, photo-realistic simulation of the entire earth, and we will be able to place human-like artificial intelligences in that world, believing it to be reality. with the ability to manipulate that world, will we not, in effect, be god to those intelligences? basically, it would be a high powered version of the sims.

and here's the kicker. if WE are nearing that point, is it not also a possibility that we are in such a simulation? is this the equivalent to what we call reality? couldn't it be said that to god, we are just one big simulation?

look at it this way. in a video game, what happens when you zoom in? no matter how good the graphics are, there comes a point when it all just becomes pixels, right? well what happens when you zoom in on matter? it pixelizes in the form of molecules, atoms, and subatomic particles. also consider that everything in the universe can be explained through mathmatical equations.

here's an interesting article.

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.12/holytech_pr.html

also look up "digital philosophy"

OFFLINE

Originally Posted by Dødherre Mørktre:
and here's something that will blow your mind. at some point in the not so distant future, we will have computers capable of processing a real-time, photo-realistic simulation of the entire earth, and we will be able to place human-like artificial intelligences in that world, believing it to be reality. with the ability to manipulate that world ...

It won't happen in our lifetimes.

But I like the idea ... especially the manipulation part.

OFFLINE

I remember fantasizing about the Terminatrix testing my, ahem, DNA.