Will everything become obsolete?

Discussion in 'Free Thoughts' started by Norsefire, Jul 13, 2010.

  1. Norsefire Salam Shalom Salom Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    11,529
    In my opinion, the coming technological advances of the 21st century will radically change society as we know it, to the point where modern society may not be recognizable by the turn of the century.

    Many of the issues we fight over today - government; rights; abortion; homosexual marriage; et cetera - will become entirely irrelevant. Why? Humanity itself will change, and probably to the point that government and modern social structures will become obsolete and non-existent in the post-singularity world.


    What technologies will change the future?
    For one, intelligent machines; Ray Kurzweil, a world-renowned scientist and futurist, predicts that the computing power of machines will grow exponentially in the coming decades, to the point where machines will be able to perform many more calculations per second than they are now, enabling us to do more than we ever could. Intelligent machines could reach a point where they'd be self-sustaining, and they'd continue to build on themselves. They would also replace government, as they would be able to do a better job at organizing society; and they would replace arbitration services (instead of judges, we have intelligent machines).

    Biomedical technological applications with nanotechnology should be able to lengthen our lives, eliminate diseases, eliminate aging, and enhance our human abilities.

    We may also be able to learn enough about human consciousness that we could build simulations that could be indistinguishable from reality; this could have many uses. People could choose to live in these simulations and have no memory of the real world. We could create a paradise like this. We could even have all new-borns hooked up to such machines from birth, in order that they may grow in the universe we design.


    Gender may also become irrelevant, eliminating gender disputes and gender issues.


    Predictions made by Kurzweil:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predictions_made_by_Ray_Kurzweil
     
  2. Guest Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  3. superstring01 Moderator

    Messages:
    12,110
    Everything.

    There will come a time when we will either begin to remake ourselves to remain relevant in a rapidly changing world or will be left behind, probably destroyed outright.

    This time is maybe a century away. People think that possession of the knowledge of the universe is many millennia away. I happen to think it's about 200 years away. With each layer of technological skill and ability, we become capable of advancing quicker by a significant factor. Generation after next the increase of knowledge and ability increases exponentially. Either we, or what we create, will reach the limits of technology in about two centuries, IMO.

    ~String
     
  4. Guest Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  5. Norsefire Salam Shalom Salom Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    11,529
    I agree. The thing about technological growth is that it not only gets faster, but the faster and better it gets, the faster and better it has the potential to become, while building on what has been previously achieved. It grows faster and faster at faster rates. I seriously think that the world will be unrecognizable in only 1 or 2 centuries from now.

    I just hope I'm young enough that I will be able to witness it.
     
  6. Guest Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  7. superstring01 Moderator

    Messages:
    12,110
    I think we can feel it in our bones. We sense that the strictly biological era is over. We know "something" is on the precipice. We may have always sensed that we were standing at the foot of history, and maybe we were, but now we can see its edge and--with at least a modicum of accuracy--predict where it will take us. We understand on a fundamental level the mechanics of the universe. We know the "limits" of the elements and the four basic natural forces. There is still a significant amount we need to learn, and maybe we've only learned 1/10 of 1% of what there really is to learn, but the fundamentals are there.

    We can see where the technology is taking us. It's funny, but I don't believe in a "grand plan" of the universe, but I believe that all biological life is drawn, inexorably, to improve upon itself. Even on a non-intelligent level, sexual practices and the picky-ness of females has led to ever stranger and stranger animals. Sometimes that oddness ultimately dooms the species, but in many cases it improves them.

    We cannot stop what is coming. We physically lack the ability to cease tinkering with technology. Eventually we will reach the singularity and who knows what will come after that. Hopefully enough of us survives what proceeds from that moment. If find it totally unbelievable that the emergence of AI will stop us from existing, but eventually it will leave our hands and become fully automatic. At that point, I hope we find a way to keep ourselves on par or that it becomes empathetic enough to live symbiotically.

    Either way, technology is obviously the next stage in our evolution. Organics can only take you so far. Wouldn't it be interesting to find out that the universe programmed all life to find a way to evolve wherever it was. In our case, we stopped evolving when we stopped killing off the weaker human beings. Now, it's up to our ability to tinker with genetics and technology to take us to our next level of evolution.

    ~String
     
  8. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    54,036
    On the contrary, although incredible advances are being made and will continue to be made, our economy, which is based on inputs of energy, will not continue in the same pattern as it has since the industrial revolution. In many ways, we will go backward. The end of cheap energy will mean society will contract and be more locally oriented. We will have to make do with what energy and cropland there is available. We will probably rebuild old technology; the cobblestone street, the train, the windmills and waterwheels of the past. There will be less money available for scientific research. Wars will become less grand and more like terrorism. Ethnic strife will replace conflict between nations. The ultra rich will close themselves off from the hordes in guarded gated communities. Governments will collapse.
     
  9. Norsefire Salam Shalom Salom Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    11,529
    I can't agree. Energy production is going to become only more abundant and cheaper, so I don't see what you're saying.

    As for local communities, I take that as a positive.
     
  10. superstring01 Moderator

    Messages:
    12,110
    Hah! Right.

    Spider, that's a pretty poor prognostication. Money for research will always be there.

    We are a generation away from self-replicating technology. No more money for research is needed. Already, companies like Motorla and Intel design chips with little human interference. Building them takes little more effort.

    ~String
     
  11. Anti-Flag Pun intended Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    3,714
    Or surely we may learn renewable energy is the way to go?
     
  12. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    72,825
    Eventually
     
  13. Stryder Keeper of "good" ideas. Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    13,105
    While I respect Ray Kurzweil's attempts to gain the acclaim necessary to push for some of the "imagined" directions for the future. I am pretty sure that some of his ideals will fall short, the main reason for this is because I think we are on the verge of discovering the truth of the makeup of the universe and this will undermine his theories on strong AI, because We already are!
     
  14. scifes In withdrawal. Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    2,573
    http://www.multivax.com/last_question.html
    || Please do not copy & paste such huge articles.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 13, 2010
  15. Norsefire Salam Shalom Salom Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    11,529
    I don't really care whether or not we develop strong AI; it doesn't matter if the AI is self-aware or conscious as long as the system is intelligent.
     
  16. Stryder Keeper of "good" ideas. Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    13,105
    I was purposely cryptic Norsefire and it being so unfortunately means you wouldn't actually get what I was getting at, so I will put it bluntly.

    There is a likelihood that you, I and everyone else is already Artificial Intelligence and the universe is emulated, which definitely does John Lennon's quote of "Nothing is real" justice.
     
  17. soullust Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,380
    according to one of the world calenders mans advancement will slow down,

    The last day of the Calender, i wish I could remember which one....

    Will end in 2012 sometime..hmmm yes another major calender ending, Odd how so many events are taking place during one time in history/future..
     

Share This Page