We often like to think of ourselves as the pinnacle of evolution, with our brains that can behold ourselves and plan the future. But we may not be the ultimate manifestation of natural selection which, theoretically, could progress until the universe ends. It may be the machines that we build to serve us that one day rule the planet, our solar-system and maybe even the universe. Imagine a vast artificial intelligence that links entire galaxies with beams of Tachyons, arranging the electro-magnetism of stars into hyper-networks. Even more amazing,our minds could be the ghosts in those machines!
Believe it or not there are those who would make this concept a reality. Collectively they are known as Transhumanists, and their progenitor is Ray Kurzweil, inventor of text to speech software and predictor of cloud technology. He foresaw the fall of the Soviet Union due to emerging decentralized electronic communication (which Gorbachev confirmed to Ray years later). He also lays claim to a list of tech-patents a mile long.
Now, the idea of becoming one with machine may seem far-fetched, but then so did the idea of wirelessly communicating around the world at the speed of light. Now, cell phones are more ubiquitous than people! Given the rate of technological progression as expressed in Moore's law, Ray predicts we will merge with machines sometime before 2050. Actually, we already do to a degree. When you drive your car you are interfacing with the machine to the point where you can 'feel' the road and know exactly where your wheels are. But Ray's idea is a little more of the kind where we can augment our brains with computer chips. He envisions a time when we upload our memories and brain patterns into a computerized data-base where we can live in a virtual world of whatever we program it to be. Or we could download into a waiting clone after we die (See last post), The possibilities are endless. This idea has also been featured in the popular TV series Battlestar Galactica (The New One) where the cylons, built by humans, have a "Resurrection-Ship" built solely for the purpose of getting a new body after the old one has been rendered useless.
Climate-change, Caused by humans or not (and I believe it is a result of pollution; you just can't pump trillions of TONS of crap in the air and expect nothing!), is progressing so fast that eventually, and soon, most biological life as we know it will find it hard to survive. Nano-tech based self-replicating machines with chips of human consciousness however, will be much more durable and can design their own upgrades, enhancements, and ultimately expand out into the universe itself.
This good-looking blonde chap on the right was actually built by roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro and is the latest of the geminoid line of androids his team has produced to study human-robot interactions. Again, bearing in mind the rapid progress of technology, think of what we'll be doing with these advancements in just the next 10 years!
What our technology will bring remains to be seen, but it's certain that it is growing exponentially and will absolutely have some unexpected surprises. It may be saddening to think that perhaps we are just a precursor to the ultimate living beings, that our tireless efforts at developing technology is simply driven by evolution with artificial intelligence the goal. But, as some have said, it's the journey, not the destination, so enjoy your corporeal body while you can.
Next post; "The Twisted Philosophy Of Ayn Rand", don't miss it!
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