[Deepwater6]

I was reading the article below about how SETI should be looking for intelligent machines not biological systems. It got me thinking what people on this website would think we might evolve into a few thousand years from now? Let's assume for the sake of argument we don't exterminate ourselves before that, and no astreroids hit us in the mean time.

I have always assumed that we would all get smart chips in our bodies and be able to talk to each other by thought alone, but beyond that can we expect to have medical devices that will turn us into machines for the sake of immortality? Will we be able to walk into a convenience store and pick up a new liver after a hard night of drinking?

In the movie "Bicentennial man" (which is great movie by the way) The leading counsel tells the robot who has become human from implants in his entire body except for his positronic brain. I beleive the quote goes something like this "Humanity can tolerate a eternal machine, but it will never tolerate an eternal human. It arouses too much suspician and jealousy."

I can't say I agree with that statement, but I would have to give it some additional thought. I guess having a coworker who has hundreds of years of experience on me would put me at a disadvantage when applying for a job. I myself don't think I would like to live that long. What say you?





http://www.popsci.co...seti-astronomer[/media]

[granpa]

a few thousand years? Not much change.

we will be smarter. Our brains will be plugged into huge computers.

Healthier too.

the real question is what will we become in a million years.

[Deepwater6]

Yes I agree, on the series "Through the wormhole" a computer engineer said that not only are computers getting more intelligent they are getting smarter at an accelerated rate. He asked the question "If you have two boxes one containing a computer and one containing a brain. If you ask them a question and can't tell which is which then what's the difference"?

[Raghavendra Bsrg]

Good post,

I think the human evolution in the future will have a bit from the "technology" and from "biology" too.
By saying technology, i mean, - implanting exo-skeletons, plugging your brains to a super computer, or getting yourself a space-armor to shield from the radiation....
By saying Biology, i mean, - we will be able to make efficient clones, and produce good synthetic proteins, or hopefully make a "always alive" syrup, which will keep all your cells active as a kid,even if you are 170 years old, make a biological flubber* out of yourself, or you may be interested in getting yourself turned into a hybrid animal(which i think will be a big craze in the future.. like the craze of I-phone today..) LOL.. i think the hybrid between "natural-biology(naturally occuring proteins)" and "synthetic-biology(example: synthetic liver)" is inevitable.....

Talking about the natural evolution.. hell we humans are too intelligent to leave nature take over us.. we take over nature...

If you want to discuss more.. do reply. or add me Facebook.

Have a nice day!
-Raghavendra bsrg

[geko]

I'll take that immortality pill please! I'd love to know what we'll be like in a million years. I think becoming cyborgs is inevitable. It's just an natural progression of present technology. Take telephones. 20 years ago big cumbersome things. Now people put buds in their ears and a receiver around their necks. Technology will get smaller smaller and we'll just end up sticking it in our heads, why won't we? Other technology is just the same. Internet from a desktop monitor to a tablet to a contact-lens to grafting. Body parts will be a dime a dozen, a prototype kidney was 'printed' about 18 months ago, using a standard desktop printer. In fact we can't even imagine what we'll be and be able to do because we only have a present day perspective.

I think the interfacing is the problem at the mo preventing crosstalk between biological and mechanical? Although i'm not sure. Some people won't like the idea of cyborg humans obviously in which case humanity will visit them in museums.

Evolution will obviously continue for as long as we mix our genes for the sake of progeny.

[SextonBlake]

Evolution happens out of necessity and over very long periods of time. It is a survival mechanism and seems to give us just enough to survive. Since we make our own environment and use medical care to help children up to breeding age, why would we need to evolve?

It is possible that we could make ourselves smarter, alter our genes to give us benefits, even implant technology inside us to enhance us in some unnatural ways. Any stories about humans connecting to computers and the internet usually quickly move on to hacked brains and people being forced to do wrong things.

To live even to 200 would need major changes in us since even with our present life spans we literally wear out, physically and often mentally in our later years. Probably an artificial body and an artificial mind with our brain patterns would be needed for very long lives, though we could end up leaving our humanity behind.

[arKane]

As long as I can have a young healthy body, I wouldn't mind living a 1000 years or more, and I can honestly say when I'm several hundred years old the 20 year old won't be competing with me for jobs, or there will be something really wrong with me. Next, anyone that thinks they could ever download their minds into a robot is in for a very rude surprise. I'm sure the robot could have substitute senses, but I very much doubt they would be close to what you would have had in a real body and the difference would make you insane in short order. But I wouldn't mind being augmented by technology. It would be nice to have a bettor memory and the ability to think much faster, and I wouldn't mind being stronger and faster, with much better vision say on the order of a hawk, to see clearly at a distance and use a wider range of the spectrum like ultraviolet and inferred.



Everything I just described might not be that far off in the future, baring any unforeseen distractions like rising sea levels and the end of cheap oil to name a couple.

[Deepwater6]

That's a profound statement SextonBlake "We could end up leaving our humanity behind" That's what I was trying to zero in on when I started this thread.

At what point would we deem someone no longer human? As our technology gets good enough to start compounding our technology at faster and faster rates where will it end? obviously the threshold would vary between people, cultures, and religions. You'll always have those people that can't just have one tattoo they have to cover their entire bodies with ink. Where would the supreme court say you can no longer call yourself human.

One thing is for sure, If we start living 2-300+yrs on social security the US congress will have a hell of a time with that debt ceiling.

[arKane]

Deepwater6, on 01 August 2011 - 04:46 PM, said:

One thing is for sure, If we start living 2-300+yrs on social security the US congress will have a hell of a time with that debt ceiling.

Are you kidding? Congress wouldn't waste any time raising the age limit to collect SS. Can you imagine paying in to SS until your 200 to 250 years old. That's a damn long working life. Hope I like what I'm doing and have made some good investments.

[Moontanman]

Future human evolution?

WE ARE THE BORG, SURRENDER YOURSELVES, RESISTANCE IS FUTILE, YOUR CULTURE WILL CHANGE TO SERVICE US....

[arKane]

Moontanman, on 01 August 2011 - 07:36 PM, said:

Future human evolution?

WE ARE THE BORG, SURRENDER YOURSELVES, RESISTANCE IS FUTILE, YOUR CULTURE WILL CHANGE TO SERVICE US....

I had the same thought, but decided not to post it. The group mind bothered me a bit.

[belovelife]

that would be gnarley if humans were a brain in a huge machine, where each brain cell is a human

like a billion years in the future



i would prefer being free and having a wife

[Deepwater6]

As soon as I hit the post button that is exactly what went through my mind arKane. They would just love to raise the age limit for SS. I'm surprised it's not over any reasonable life span already. Just keep reaching out for that carrot boys and girls.

That's not the only issue for the government to deal with as we evolve, can you imagine being behind a road full of 180yr old people on the turnpike driving 40mph with the turn signal on? Or someone collecting welfare for 200yrs? I can't wait to see a shriveled up head of Sarah Palin attached to a floating mechanical spinal cord spewing her crap. Like fingernails going down a blackboard.

[arKane]

Deepwater6, on 02 August 2011 - 07:21 AM, said:

As soon as I hit the post button that is exactly what went through my mind arKane. They would just love to raise the age limit for SS. I'm surprised it's not over any reasonable life span already. Just keep reaching out for that carrot boys and girls.

That's not the only issue for the government to deal with as we evolve, can you imagine being behind a road full of 180yr old people on the turnpike driving 40mph with the turn signal on? Or someone collecting welfare for 200yrs? I can't wait to see a shriveled up head of Sarah Palin attached to a floating mechanical spinal cord spewing her crap. Like fingernails going down a blackboard.

If they figure out how to make us live longer, they damn well better see that we don't have to live all those extra years in an old body. At 180 years old, you should still be middle aged and at the top of whatever game you had. How's this for a gruesome thought? Being paraplegic for almost 300 years or maybe a very long lived Stephen Hawking as he is now.

[sigurdV]

So far its the short view... What will happen far away in time when we have consumed most of the available energy in the universe...
Near the end of,say, the life of the universe? (While we are at it we might as well begin "selling tickets" to a review of Time. The Serious Event... coming soon