When you look at the singularity movement, written about in last months Time Magazine, there are so many questions that come to mind. There are moral implications that have to be explored, social issues and a host of other questions. Some religious people will go so far as to say that it must mean God is coming soon, because he would certainly never grant man eternal life.
For those that don't know what the singularity movement is, I suggest you pick up the article and check it out. In short, it had a prediction by the man Bill Gates says is the foremost authority on the future of transistors and computers - the very same kid who invented the first computer that created its own music. His prediction was that humans would create real AI within 40 years, and that we might be able to download our brains into androids. Could it be true?
This was something only thought about in scifi novels and movies, right? Time Magazine said we better start thinking a little differently. There are universities devoted to bringing us just this kind of future.
What happens when our brains can be mapped? Mice are already being studied for dreams, their brains are being mapped out and reconstructed with computers. We are getting close to being able to recreate an animals brain - without any tissue. What does this all mean?
We talk about how imperfect humans are all the time. What happens when our brains can be sifted through like an index? Who controls what? Will thoughts be outlawed? Who decides who can have this? Does this solve our problems with space exploration? Is race forgotten? Will things be like Singularity, the movie? Or will humans surpass our prejudices and move onto thought crimes and brain mapping?
Do we want to live forever, and could we even deal with it, if we did?
Our brains are being mapped out as we speak. Soon, scientists hope to be able to decode the way we think and, perhaps, what we think. What does that mean to you? What will that change in the world?
This can't be true, I thought so, at first. But in a world where companies patent life, mess with the DNA of animals and plants, then pass it on to us without long-term testing, what won't science do?
For those that don't know what the singularity movement is, I suggest you pick up the article and check it out. In short, it had a prediction by the man Bill Gates says is the foremost authority on the future of transistors and computers - the very same kid who invented the first computer that created its own music. His prediction was that humans would create real AI within 40 years, and that we might be able to download our brains into androids. Could it be true?
This was something only thought about in scifi novels and movies, right? Time Magazine said we better start thinking a little differently. There are universities devoted to bringing us just this kind of future.
What happens when our brains can be mapped? Mice are already being studied for dreams, their brains are being mapped out and reconstructed with computers. We are getting close to being able to recreate an animals brain - without any tissue. What does this all mean?
We talk about how imperfect humans are all the time. What happens when our brains can be sifted through like an index? Who controls what? Will thoughts be outlawed? Who decides who can have this? Does this solve our problems with space exploration? Is race forgotten? Will things be like Singularity, the movie? Or will humans surpass our prejudices and move onto thought crimes and brain mapping?
Do we want to live forever, and could we even deal with it, if we did?
Our brains are being mapped out as we speak. Soon, scientists hope to be able to decode the way we think and, perhaps, what we think. What does that mean to you? What will that change in the world?
This can't be true, I thought so, at first. But in a world where companies patent life, mess with the DNA of animals and plants, then pass it on to us without long-term testing, what won't science do?
