From: Avatar Polymorph (avatarpolymorph@hotmail.com)
Date: Sat Aug 31 2002 - 10:24:00 MDT
?The Singularity is the mechanism, the Techno-Rapture is the mystery.?
After reading some of the threads on quantum tunnelling and ageing
implications, it is interesting to contemplate the implications of Drexler?s
view that we can accomplish anything within the laws of physics and his
analysis of the logic of biology.
The fact that we have had stable transfer of life systems for billions of
years indicates that this can be possible at the individual level. It is
only a matter of tranfering functions. Individual risk from cosmic rays etc.
can according to Drexler be eliminated through intra-cellular computers and
associated cellular change/repair machinery at the nano level (and
inter-cellular nano, including communications mechanisms). Thus he envisages
the body can be a mixture of supercomputing and cells (softcellware, sort of
androids). Separate to Drexler, some nano experts claim that massive amounts
of neural power can be present in small areas, i.e the equivalent of about 2
billion of our brains in one nano brain.
Separate to the argument of what is intelligence (broadbrush or specific)
and superintelligence (and whether superintelligence at its highest level
can ever be possible ethically as it such might require invasion of privacy)
there is the obvious problem not of age (easily solvable) but of neural
structuring.
If we take the Greg Egan and earlier cell by cell replacement model, we end
up with a hardware duplicate which can then presumably be consensually
modified more easily and has greater invulnerability to accident. Both
wetware ?vulnerable? immortals and harderware ?invulnerable? immortals of
course would still have access perhaps to unactivated ?maps? of their brains
to use for repair purposes (presumably such maps are updated frequently and
when used activated on a component-by-component or cell-by-cell basis?). If
the maps themselves were immutable, this would be a good outcome.
We presume that new motivation and neuroligical constructs can be
consensually entered into although there may be some deep inhibitions due to
the strongly inbuilt nature of our movement through the universe, both
perceptual and otherwise. I.e. one could reprogramme oneself to be obsessed
with triangles and receive pleasure from the contemplation and creation of
such.
Social ?evolution? would occur but no ?extinction? would be necessarily
permament. With undirected evolution (random mutation and natural selection)
evolutionary movements or tracks are often complex and difficult to
retrace. Much depends on what base rules are set for self-directed
evolution. These may be the permanent ?underpining? of the
pseudo-evolutionary social world.
In addition to hardware/software/cellware modification, there may be
temporary visitations of such allowing ?resetting? of humans who are
otherwise ?normal? to the age of 18 say and simultaneous consensual
re-filing of mind and memory.
Resetting and selective memory activation and deactivation (including
separate storage of memories) are one way for less complex entities to deal
with the system problems of our current brain-minds under ?immortalist?
conditions.
The issues still apply even under say a quantum computronium virtual reality
shared or single neurological matrix with many beings living within it, if
the level of resolution is to be equal to that of our world (interactive
and/or observable particle size) and the ethical rules of today or something
like them apply (free will for the chip inside the chip etc.).
===
On a related issue, I note that persons currently sharing the same body (one
body, two heads) don?t share much sensory input (yes, there is one case at
least). I also note that conjoined identical twins sharing large parts of
their brain/s still have separate identities, dream separately etc, even the
frontal lobal linkage. It may be that separation of anything other than
aural or optic input may be very hardwired currently. This is unlikely to be
a permanent barrier however in the face of superintelligence and
ultrascience.
===
I?d also note that Frank Tipler has beliefs about quantum ?duplication? or
?splitting? which have ramifications for all of the above.
Avster............
_________________________________________________________________
MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos:
http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sat Nov 02 2002 - 09:16:35 MST