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POPSSurrogate robotic arms for monkeys This may be old but it isn't any less exciting for that. Monkeys are able to use robotic limbs, they are able to tell the difference from their limbs, the precision at which they operate those limbs is high enough to be useful and it is expected to be increased. This means that humans that have lost a limb could use robotic prostheses, while humans that keep all their limbs could potentially use supernumerary limbs. SciFi may not be completely out of reach.
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POPSthe age of transitions stuff- just one of those little films i look at from time to time- and try and figure out - what it means- to me? and to the rest of us...............
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POPSPosthuman Stories Are Creation Myths Turned Upside Down An interesting perspective to ponder about: Are the posthuman & transhumanist movements the new belief-systems for scientific-mindsetted non-believers? Where lies that fine line between religion, belief, speculation & reality, naive optimism & depressive realism? How does our cultural heritage influence this reversal from past to future? And also a link to the free scifi ebook on this topic.
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POPSseven deadly things This is not a new article, nor new ideas, but it a good reminder as to how far and how close we are to achieving true healthy longevity
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POPSIntelligence and Empathy He stresses that the human mind does not qualify as a completely ‘General Intelligence’ but lies somewhere on the spectrum between AGI on one end and ‘Narrow AI’ on the other. This is one of several reasons why he does not expect AGI to be achieved by mimicking the workings of the human brain. He describes how our brains fool us into believing that we understand our actions and decisions when we don’t. And why modeling an AI too closely on the human brain might make it too, vulnerable to false notions. He also says, ‘I think virtual worlds are going to be absolutely critical to the development of Artificial General Intelligence.’ As well as ‘Right now connecting AI’s to virtual worlds is probably the best way to get an AI to have a general human-like embodied experience.’
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POPSThe error of conteporary ethics: values from nowhere?
Looking at the above list, we can see certain regularities; they don’t constitute a random collection of properties for a human life to have. One thing that comes to mind when browsing through the list is that a large number of these terminal values are also quite widely useful instrumental values. In fact, they remind me of my own idea: Universal Instrumental Values (UIVs) In attempting to answer the question “are there goals which are objectively good to adopt, and if so what are they?”, we should take note of the apparent regularity here: when choosing their notion of terminal value, people tend to opt for those qualities that also happen to be instrumental values for a wide variety of other goals. This observation supports the idea that there are objective values in our existence: - a priori, people can choose whatever terminal values they want, but a posteriori they usually choose UIVs; things that are just universally useful. And these things are, of course, dictated by the
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POPSBiocultural Evolution in the 21st Century: The Evolutionary Role of Religion My outline introduces the concept of biocultural evolution, particularly with reference to the Twentieth Century and the prospects for the Twenty-First Century. I then explore the concept of complex distributed systems to characterize all highly creative processes in both culture and nature. Subsequently, I turn to the problem of complexity horizons and the challenge that these present for traditional moral reflections. Humans are then characterized as a Lamarckian wild card in epic of evolution. I close by discussing the evolutionary role of religion. See source for the full paper: http://metanexus.net/magazine/ArticleDetail/tabid/68/id/8779/Default.aspx
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POPS Scientists: Humans and machines will merge in future The end result would be a new form of "posthuman" life with beings that possess qualities and skills so exceedingly advanced they no longer can be classified simply as humans. Bostrom declined to predict an exact time frame when this revolutionary biotechnological metamorphosis might occur. "Maybe it will take eight years or 200 years," he said. "It is very hard to predict."
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POPSTranshumanism vs. Trans-Systemism What exactly is this “human” that we are supposed to extrapolate into the future? Is it an individual animal? A member of a species? A self-aware “software” that resides in the fore brain of an advanced mammal? Several combined pieces of software? Software combined with external knowledge and information? Does it depend on nature? Can it be distinguished form the system in which it resides? Can it exist without the broader system? ******** Perhaps the most critical challenge of transhumanist philosophy is exactly this: To offer a vision of the future human, the human of beyond. Transhumanism will not grow into a mature philosophy without defining and describing the possible favorable directions of human evolution, both as individuals and as a specie.
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POPSDuality of Man & Our Responsibility to Our Species The careful task of becomming unbiased allows the course of balancing the self to run smoothly & unfettered. Those whom endeavor to seek only the positive (or negative, for that matter) will find disappointment in the face of objective truth. Pain is not an enemy to be evaded or eradicated. Suffering will come regardless of efforts to avoid it. Rather than to circumvent suffering, detaching the ego to step outside the self allows one to surpass it & learn from their mistakes, lest they foolishly relive them. Remember that the universe is impersonal, & will continue to unfold as it will with or without you. Only then can the subject detach from the moment holding them back (stasis) & develop into a more appropriate, thus more comfortable state. This is nature’s objective. Rising above the situation awakens our ability to create our own reality.
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POPSThe Hedonistic Imperative This manifesto outlines a strategy to eradicate suffering in all sentient life. The abolitionist project is ambitious, implausible, but technically feasible. It is defended here on ethical utilitarian grounds. Genetic engineering and nanotechnology allow Homo sapiens to discard the legacy-wetware of our evolutionary past. Our post-human successors will rewrite the vertebrate genome, redesign the global ecosystem, and abolish suffering throughout the living world.
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POPSI am a transhumanist, thanks I say, fear not. If you have clearly transhumanist beliefs, like the notion that human enhancement is coming in the next few decades and will be a big deal, then don’t be afraid to call yourself one. As Dr. Wittgenstein, one of my favorite philosophers ever, used to argue, words are just labels we fill with our own content. To think that a word has any inherent meaning aside from its use in language is absurd.
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POPSFAQ Front Page - OA ClipSeries Now, you can either go to one of the above pages, or scroll down for the Grand List of FAQs (so far) Yes, more are being added all the time...
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POPSGenetic Engineering.... (still...) I completely forgot until about 20 minutes ago that I had a discussion thread post due by midnight tonight, so I'm trying not to get sucked into the readings, but they're just SO damn interesting!
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POPSIntimacy In A Fluid World FM-2030 was a name adopted by the transhumanist philosopher and futurist Fereidoun M. Esfandiary (October 15, 1930–July 8, 2000), who professed "a deep nostalgia for the future."
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