Transhumanism and the technological singularity or death

[Escape Humanity]

Are there any members here that are trying to survive long enough to experience the benefits of transhumanism and the technological singularity? Many scientists and engineers agree that the decisions that we make during the next 3 or 4 decades will determine whether our species is headed for a quick extinction (or at least a societal collapse and a massive culling of the herd) or a technological transcendence that could lead to amazing possibilities beyond our comprehension.

Our species is approaching a point where we could fundamentally change what it means to be human. And there's nothing that I desire more than radical change. I suppose that death is the ultimate form of change, but suicide will always be a less desirable option for me. I would rather survive long enough so I could at least have the chance of using our science and technology to temporarily escape or possibly transcend the current human condition. The thought of using a combination of gene therapy, cybernetics, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence to escape most of the things that I hate about my life and our societies is my ultimate dream.

I would love to help create the technological and societal change that I would like to see in this world, but I'm sure that most of you are aware of how difficult it is to be a productive member of society when you're usually depressed and suicidal. Most of the things that I do are done from a position of weakness. I have a habit of thinking that I'm not half of the person that I could be, a quarter of the person that I could have been, and a tenth of the person that I would like to be. That's why I'm on a suicide forum, and I probably won't survive long enough to see the technological changes that could solve my problems.

 

[Caustic Cardinals]

Are there any members here that are trying to survive long enough to experience the benefits of transhumanism and the technological singularity? Many scientists and engineers agree that the decisions that we make during the next 3 or 4 decades will determine whether our species is headed for a quick extinction (or at least a societal collapse and a massive culling of the herd) or a technological transcendence that could lead to amazing possibilities beyond our comprehension.

Our species is approaching a point where we could fundamentally change what it means to be human. And there's nothing that I desire more than radical change. I suppose that death is the ultimate form of change, but suicide will always be a less desirable option for me. I would rather survive long enough so I could at least have the chance of using our science and technology to temporarily escape or possibly transcend the current human condition. The thought of using a combination of gene therapy, cybernetics, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence to escape most of the things that I hate about my life and our societies is my ultimate dream.

I would love to help create the technological and societal change that I would like to see in this world, but I'm sure that most of you are aware of how difficult it is to be a productive member of society when you're usually depressed and suicidal. Most of the things that I do are done from a position of weakness. I have a habit of thinking that I'm not half of the person that I could be, a quarter of the person that I could have been, and a tenth of the person that I would like to be. That's why I'm on a suicide forum, and I probably won't survive long enough to see the technological changes that could solve my problems.

who would be here if they wanted to live let alone survive ?! but I'd love to have the tech in GITS ghost in the shell.

 

[skitliv]

No

 

[Escape Humanity]

who would be here if they wanted to live let alone survive ?! but I'd love to have the tech in GITS ghost in the shell.

Exactly. Would you still want to die if you had access to the futuristic technology that could give some type of escape or radical change? With GITS I guess it would be a brain transplant / mind upload or a new body with your old memories.

 

[Caustic Cardinals]

Exactly. Would you still want to die if you had access to the futuristic technology that could give some type of escape or radical change? With GITS I guess it would be a brain transplant / mind upload or a new body with your old memories.

make me the Major I might think of sticking around more ,but I'm not holding waiting with bated breath

 

[Rollo]

The thought of using a combination of gene therapy, cybernetics, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence to escape most of the things that I hate about my life and our societies is my ultimate dream.

So what it is exactly that you're talking about? What do you hate about your life and society and how do you believe technology can fix it?

 

[satou]

To a person living two centuries ago, our current time would probably seem exactly as futuristic as the one you are describing:

Giant flying boats in the sky!
Cures for tuberculosis and polio! Almost all children survive!
Man on the fucking moon!
Talking to people on the other side of the earth!
Music and moving pictures in and from boxes of all sizes!
...​

Meanwhile we are all contemplating when and how to get out of here.

 

[nasblue]

We are insanely far away from gene therapy and cybernetics that wouldn't just cripple you.
If you'd ever actually been sick you'd know how primitive modern medicine still is.

 

[Escape Humanity]

We are insanely far away from gene therapy and cybernetics that wouldn't just cripple you.
If you'd ever actually been sick you'd know how primitive modern medicine still is.

I'm aware of how primitive it is. I'm not making any predictions about the future. Some of the most optimistic scientists and engineers think the human condition could be completely different within 20 or 30 years, and others think it will be pretty much the same with a few changes. I'm just hoping for the best and expecting the worst. And we have no way of knowing how fast things would advance when or if artificial general intelligence becomes a reality.

 

[Candour]

Absolutely no way. None of it is positive...watch Black Mirror

 

[Escape Humanity]

So what it is exactly that you're talking about? What do you hate about your life and society and how do you believe technology can fix it?

I'm a misanthrope, but it's not necessarily the people that I hate. I hate the current human condition. I hate the information (DNA, memes, Etc.) that's in you, me and everyone else. I hate our logical fallacies, the racism, the tribalism, and the political and economic policies that are designed to cause or maintain extreme levels of social inequality. I hate the fact that our actions and decisions are mostly driven by our emotions instead of logic.

And as for my life, I hate the health problems that I have and the social programming that I received as a child.

Change the information and you change the people. Transhumanism is different than any type of ideology or social movement that existed in the past. Through out all of human history, any type of technological and societal change was nothing more than a situation of the same human condition with better technology. Altering our DNA and creating a symbiotic relationship with AI could eventually lead to a new species of human. We would be changing the way we live, think, and communicate. It would be like dying while you're still alive.

 

[Miss clefable]

Let me introduce you to this song

 

[Escape Humanity]

Absolutely no way. None of it is positive...watch Black Mirror

I don't like Black Mirror. I prefer Sci-Fi narratives about the struggle to successfully transcend the current human condition. Its' something that's almost non-existent in films and television.

 

[Miss clefable]

I don't like Black Mirror. I prefer Sci-Fi narratives about the struggle to successfully transcend the current human condition. Its' something that's almost non-existent in films and television.

You must see Texhnolyze it's a anime

 

[satou]

And we have no way of knowing how fast things would advance when or if artificial general intelligence becomes a reality.

Artificial general intelligence will be just as stupid as human intelligence, only faster.

 

[Taylored]

I wouldn't want to be around when all that tech goes bad.

 

[worldexploder]

Noticed how assholes always tend to run things? I'm sure once transhumanism occures, rich assholes will find a way to make it suck.

 

[Escape Humanity]

Artificial general intelligence will be just as stupid as human intelligence, only faster.

That's speculation. "You think" that AGI will be just as stupid as human intelligence. We have a habit of anthropomorphizing the concept of AI. AGI's may be capable of understanding and mimicking human behavior but there's no reason to believe that the AGI experience will be anything like the human condition. And even if the first AGI's are just as stupid as humans, it probably won't be long before they evolve into our vague definition of an ASI.

 

[Escape Humanity]

Noticed how assholes always tend to run things? I'm sure once transhumanism occures, rich assholes will find a way to make it suck.

That's a real possibility, but I think things already suck. The dystopia is already here. I'm hoping for a future where we use our science and technology to change what we are at a fundamental level. I'm not dreaming about some kind of utopian fantasy where suffering is completely abolished and bad things never happen. But I do believe that we can create a set of social conditions that are significantly better than the present.

 

[satou]

That's speculation. "You think" that AGI will be just as stupid as human intelligence. We have a habit of anthropomorphizing the concept of AI. AGI's may be capable of understanding and mimicking human behavior but there's no reason to believe that the AGI experience will be anything like the human condition. And even if the first AGI's are just as stupid as humans, it probably won't be long before they evolve into our vague definition of an ASI.

You took my joke too seriously.
There is no way to know what will happen, but my guess is that no AI will vastly exceed our imagination. The reason I believe this is that natural evolution is extremely effective at finding good solutions to problems (even if it is essentially brute forcing with tiny changes), so it would surprise me if a self-evolving AI would come up with vastly superior methods to think.
I also think that in order to really understand the world (and universe) it is necessary to interact and engage with it. For example, I don't think having just data from internet is enough to create a superior intelligence (stupid in, stupid out). This would likely limit what is possible.
But I could be wrong on both counts.

Have you read Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom?

 

[2CropcircleUNeedHelp]

I think it has already happened. We are the robotic survivors. We have spiritual capabilities, this is what makes our species able to harness the power of positive energy in a free world.

 

[Escape Humanity]

Have you read Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom?

Yes.

And I agree with a part of what you wrote. But there's no clear definition about the architecture of an AGI or an ASI. Is it nothing but software on a computer chip, or would it be getting sensory information from different bodies / vessels, and running on different substrates with some type of synthetic endocrine system? And there's also the possibility that humans and other biological life forms could have some type of symbiotic relationship with AI.

 

[weedoge]

Absolutely no way. None of it is positive...watch Black Mirror

Scary program and some of the episodes are cringe and also the plots give themselves away but I will recommend this show too. He makes some pretty interesting thought provocation like in the episodes where prisoners are tortured for a perceived eternity etc etc. Scary shit.

Fun fact the make character in the grain episode is how I imagine myself in such a future. Paranoid to the point where ird drive me completely insane with such technology. With the internet I'm already bad enough. I can see black mirror type effects in myself and people around me that they don't see or refuse to see lol. Its easy to admit when death is around the corner though.

 

[Slacker]

I hate the information (DNA, memes...

Why do you hate memes?!?!?

 

[Ben]

Are there any members here that are trying to survive long enough to experience the benefits of transhumanism and the technological singularity? Many scientists and engineers agree that the decisions that we make during the next 3 or 4 decades will determine whether our species is headed for a quick extinction (or at least a societal collapse and a massive culling of the herd) or a technological transcendence that could lead to amazing possibilities beyond our comprehension.

Our species is approaching a point where we could fundamentally change what it means to be human. And there's nothing that I desire more than radical change. I suppose that death is the ultimate form of change, but suicide will always be a less desirable option for me. I would rather survive long enough so I could at least have the chance of using our science and technology to temporarily escape or possibly transcend the current human condition. The thought of using a combination of gene therapy, cybernetics, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence to escape most of the things that I hate about my life and our societies is my ultimate dream.

I would love to help create the technological and societal change that I would like to see in this world, but I'm sure that most of you are aware of how difficult it is to be a productive member of society when you're usually depressed and suicidal. Most of the things that I do are done from a position of weakness. I have a habit of thinking that I'm not half of the person that I could be, a quarter of the person that I could have been, and a tenth of the person that I would like to be. That's why I'm on a suicide forum, and I probably won't survive long enough to see the technological changes that could solve my problems.

Oh man I feel you on that. It's not my reason, but god damn do I wish I'd be here to see what they could even have in MY lifetime.

There would be so many technologies and medical advances that a lot of people's suffering could be ended without being forced to KTB

The toys we would have would be enough of an escape from the real world to finally be able to justify staying here..

I think we will outlive the earth. I've heard people go "oh the sun will die out in 5 billion years" or species ending scenarios like it. By that time, if we haven't aren't began inhabiting another planet, there will be a portion of our species indefinitely living in space itself.

Maybe I'll turn into a ghost so I can stick around and see the latest game boy haha

 

[Slacker]

Absolutely no way. None of it is positive...watch Black Mirror

Just watched s01e01... this would definitely never happen lol.

We do not negotiate with terrorsits.

 

[weedoge]

Just watched s01e01... this would definitely never happen lol.

We do not negotiate with terrorsits.

First episode was a bit if an outlier IMO. Second episode is awesome though I loved it, main actor from Get Out in it too.

 

[Slacker]

First episode was a bit if an outlier IMO. Second episode is awesome though I loved it, main actor from Get Out in it too.

Watching it right now.

 

[2CropcircleUNeedHelp]

Just watched s01e01... this would definitely never happen lol.

We do not negotiate with terrorsits.

It has happened. I remember a boat siege where a large sum was paid many years ago. With so much money available without accountability in large governments, it is likely that it is possible to make a payment to a terrorist.

 

[zzz919]

Artificial general intelligence will be just as stupid as human intelligence, only faster.

I was wondering when someone would finally figure that out.