Transhumanism

370Z Purist · 02-27-2011, 06:30 AM

Okay, for some of you videogamers out there, you might have heard of a new game being developed by Eidos Montreal, called Deus Ex (3): Human Revolution.

I'm also a (self-declared) intellectual; which means that the idea of transhumanism in DE:HR is very intriguing to me.

If you search "transhumanism" on wikipedia, you'll learn a bit more, but here's the TL;DR version with some background:

An article in Time Magazine talks about the "Singularity," an event describing the first complete fusion of man and machine; memories uploaded into computer data. The author estimates it to be 2045.
Prior to reading this article I had already read another article on Ars Technica about a corporation that estimated that all the world's computing power is only equal to a human brain firing all its neurons for one second and that all the data in the world only equated to a single strand of human DNA.

DE:HR is set in a time where people are now divided along one central line, the purists and the ones that support human augmentation. Naturally, the purists would say that such a thing is messing with the natural order, and the opposite side saying it is just releasing the potential in human DNA.

Experts currently believe that by 2025 we'll have one computer that can surpass all the processing power of a single human brain. Where will we fit as a species and as an organic being in half a century? Are we going to accept the augmentations, becoming bionically enhanced individuals, or will we follow a theorist's (I can't remember this guy) "end game" scenario, where we build a monster capable of wiping out the human race? Will you accept the potential abilities of an augmented individual, who is stronger, faster, smarter, and practically immortal? What does that mean for jobs and work hours? Warfare? Communication?

All in all it's probably too serious for the Lounge but I like to probe the forums to see what people think, since I don't have many friends that can intelligently tackle these kind of ideas. It's also 5:30 in the morning and I didn't sleep too well...

Jordo! · 02-27-2011, 06:39 AM

At the moment there's been some breakthroughs such as wiring sensors into the occipital lobes of blind people that enable them to make out very blury shapes and also some headway (DARPA funded research, I think) on implanting sensors in the brain to remote control prosthetic limbs.

That said, I think it's going to take a bit more than another 14 years to get us to the point where there are serious man-machine fusions. Maybe in 2050.

I'm expecting major breakthroughs in gene therapy will come first.

370Z Purist · 02-27-2011, 06:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jordo!

At the moment there's been some breakthroughs such as wiring sensors into the occipital lobes of blind people that enable them to make out very blury shapes and also some headway (DARPA funded research, I think) on implanting sensors in the brain to remote control prosthetic limbs.

That said, I think it's going to take a bit more than another 14 years to get us to the point where there are serious man-machine fusions. Maybe in 2050.

I'm expecting major breakthroughs in gene therapy will come first.

Yes, I have heard of some basic bionic eye implants; they apparently implant something like a camera sensor into the back of the eye that is wired into the brain and powered by a battery on the hip. It's very impressive, especially seeing as we are getting closer and closer to nanoassemblies that could potentially mean computer chips smaller than a droplet of water would have more computing power than a home desktop. They've already started building experimental quantum computers using entangled quantum bits, so that could be a very real thing...

We've already got genetic screening. There's already a huge debate over that.

02-27-2011, 06:30 AM	#1 (permalink)
370Z Purist A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Zion, Illinois Posts: 1,873 Drives: '09 370Z-T BS M6 Rep Power: 19	Transhumanism Okay, for some of you videogamers out there, you might have heard of a new game being developed by Eidos Montreal, called Deus Ex (3): Human Revolution. I'm also a (self-declared) intellectual; which means that the idea of transhumanism in DE:HR is very intriguing to me. If you search "transhumanism" on wikipedia, you'll learn a bit more, but here's the TL;DR version with some background: An article in Time Magazine talks about the "Singularity," an event describing the first complete fusion of man and machine; memories uploaded into computer data. The author estimates it to be 2045. Prior to reading this article I had already read another article on Ars Technica about a corporation that estimated that all the world's computing power is only equal to a human brain firing all its neurons for one second and that all the data in the world only equated to a single strand of human DNA. DE:HR is set in a time where people are now divided along one central line, the purists and the ones that support human augmentation. Naturally, the purists would say that such a thing is messing with the natural order, and the opposite side saying it is just releasing the potential in human DNA. Experts currently believe that by 2025 we'll have one computer that can surpass all the processing power of a single human brain. Where will we fit as a species and as an organic being in half a century? Are we going to accept the augmentations, becoming bionically enhanced individuals, or will we follow a theorist's (I can't remember this guy) "end game" scenario, where we build a monster capable of wiping out the human race? Will you accept the potential abilities of an augmented individual, who is stronger, faster, smarter, and practically immortal? What does that mean for jobs and work hours? Warfare? Communication? All in all it's probably too serious for the Lounge but I like to probe the forums to see what people think, since I don't have many friends that can intelligently tackle these kind of ideas. It's also 5:30 in the morning and I didn't sleep too well... __________________ -Phil "Since one of my brake light bulbs just went out, the forum told me that my piston rings are about to blow."

02-27-2011, 06:39 AM	#2 (permalink)
Jordo! A True Z Fanatic Join Date: May 2010 Location: nirvana Posts: 6,394 Drives: 2023 NATM Rep Power: 418	At the moment there's been some breakthroughs such as wiring sensors into the occipital lobes of blind people that enable them to make out very blury shapes and also some headway (DARPA funded research, I think) on implanting sensors in the brain to remote control prosthetic limbs. That said, I think it's going to take a bit more than another 14 years to get us to the point where there are serious man-machine fusions. Maybe in 2050. I'm expecting major breakthroughs in gene therapy will come first. __________________ Enjoy it. Destroy it.