Philip
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Everything posted by Philip
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@FindingPeace Another similar question we can ask is : Why are you only aware of your conscious thoughts, feelings and sensations ? Why are you not aware of your subconscious ones ? To me, both conscious and subconscious thoughts are simply a cascade of electric signals in the brain. What makes them so different ? What structure or process in my conscious mind makes it "belong" to me ? Why doesn't it belong to no one ? Why doesn't it belong to someone else ? And furthermore, why couldn't your subconscious mind belong to someone else. Maybe there is another person in your head, only conscious of what you're unconscious of. Seeing what you can't see. Remembering what you can't remember. Making the thousands of decisions you don't have time to make in a day. Controlling most of you behavior since you're born. Maybe it totally knows who you are. That would be freaky...
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Rule #1 : Try to find what is morally right to do Rule #2 : If you found it, try to define rules for it Rule #3 : If you found them, try to adopt them Rule #4 : If you adopted them, try to teach them
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Self-actualization, nowadays, is reached using what I call "traditional" tools, like introspection, adopting more resourceful mindsets, improving daily habits or changing different aspects of our lives. But what if, during our lifetime, medecine, robotics and artificial intelligence became so advanced that personal development started taking on a new meaning. What if "developing ourselves" meant replacing or reprogramming parts of our body and brain ? How could brain implants, virtual reality, nanotechnology, mind uploading or machine learning help us change our personalities, our lives and our societies for the better ?
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@abrakamowse First of all, enlightenment can surely be reached through technology. We're not there yet, but as we're improving our understanding and mastery of the human brain, enlightenment will become as simple as a Windows update. So yes, transhumanism is an ego game, but it can still dissolve the ego. In fact, it is as much of an ego game as any other enlightenment method you could come up with. Enlightenment can only be reached through ego games, when you think of it. Secondly, I agree that transhumanism without enlightenment is dangerous. Thirdly, I'm curious about your arguments for this claim :
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Interesting, can you please explain why you chose the words "emotionally and pragmatically" ? And just to be clear, I'm not afraid of any god-like AI, as long as I'm invited to the party
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@Water You've just expressed the best argument I know against the development of AI. I totally agree. But I don't think it necessarily is an argument against transhumanism. Transhumanists don't simply wish to develop AI, they want to become AI. They know how dangerous it is to have super-intelligent self-programming nano-robot swarms flying around without human supervision. It's like creating gods. You create something that is, by definition, out of control. Instead, why not become a god. Then you're the one in control. Obviously, with this point of view, new issues are raised. Like "who will get the upgrades first ?", "will the transhumans stay compassionate towards humans ?", "will billions of people merge into one non-competing super-intelligence ?" But let's create another topic for that
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To the question "Does god exist ?" I would answer "Not yet" - Ray Kurzweil
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@clyI would say yes. Without getting in a whole conundrum about "what is control" and "does free will exist", I think we already control nature. We surely don't control a lot of it yet. And we often get unwanted results when we try to. But just by typing your question, you already showed how well you can take advantage of your brain, your fingers, your computer, the internet, etc. And each year, mankind is gaining even more control over nature. We create better conceptual models, better thinkers, better tools, better social structures. We're slowly and collectively learning how to deal with reality. So my question is not "can we control nature ?" My question is "what part of nature will YOU spend your life trying to control ?"
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A reason why I love this subject is because of how imaginative you can get while considering the ramifications of the idea. For example, Maslow's hierarchy of needs : What if nanotechnology and mind uploading made you immortal (health needs fulfilled) ? What if it gave you so much emotional and behavioral mastery that you would never feel insecure again (security needs fulfilled) ? What if communication became so efficient that you could merge with everyone else and never feel alone or unloved anymore (affective needs fulfilled) ? What if you became so good at contributing to this new society that you would always feel like you belong there, like you matter (esteem needs fulfilled) ? What would self-actualization mean then ? I certainly have my ideas on the subject, but a good starting point (picture below) is Malsow's extended needs, including needs like cognition, aesthetics, transcendence. But even then, when those get fulfilled, what's left to do ? Creating new needs ? It seems pointless. Restarting your life to climb Maslow's hierarchy again ? It seems pointless too. Making inanimate objects sensient, and then helping them self-actualize ? Okay, but when all the universe is sensient and actualized, what is left to do ? What is left to improve ? Usually at this point I tend to get ultra-speculative, almost to the point of poetry. With ideas like breaking the laws of physics, creating new universes, transcending the essence of existence itself... But I won't spoil it all for you. It's just food for thought, so bon appetit !
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Indeed. This kind of "self-actualization on steroids" can be quite destructive with the wrong motivation behind it. And you also raise the question : Is a self-actualized asshole still an asshole ? And my guess would be no. To me, it seems like most technological improvements would raise our consciousness. By that, I mean they would give us access to new truths (like X-ray vision, Google inside our minds) or give us access to hidden truths (like jailbreaking our subconscious mind, deleting our ego, disabling our human biases). And I tend to believe that raising someone's consciousness and aligning him with important truths will gradually reduce the harm he does around him. It seems like every bad habit, every destructive behavior and every violent act can be traced back to a certain lack of consciousness. A certain misunderstanding of one's impact on his surroundings, or of one's hidden desires. So, does consciousness lead to morality ? Is truth curative ? Does "evil" grow out of confusion and misunderstanding ? Could technology get rid of violence and destruction at its root ?
