The Evolution
Arthur C. Clarke's three laws of science fiction
- When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right.
When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
- The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
- Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Accelerating growth
When you would have asked a person only 100 years ago whether a person can be alive when their heart stops beating, they would have said no. They would consider a person with a pacemaker unnatural. Today many human beings have a prolonged quality life because of such appliances, completed by the evolution of artificial hearts.
We now are certain we have lost a person completely when he or she is braindead.
We now are certain we have lost a person completely when he or she is braindead.
Combining all this new technology to dig even deeper is what makes this acceleration exponential, for example by using computational growth and advanced nanotechnology to faster understand neuroscience.
As a society, medicine remains one of the biggest goals, to find a cure for all diseases, in fields such as nanobiology, neuroscience, genetic research, space exploration, physics and quantum mechanics, computation, nanotechnology and so many others we see accelerating growth in discoveries, deeper understanding ourselves and the universe we live in. |
picture: exponential growth is camouflaged and underfunded
until it's too late to change course. |
These combined advancements allow creations beyond imagination. People in the late 60's said: a computer would be as smart as a human when it could play chess. They then invent a computer that plays chess and everyone says "No, that's not a human being". I know we've already discussed the jumping jesus phenomenon, so I'll stop boring you by repeating myself. The public opinion on GMO's, evolution and technology are not synchronised with the evolution of our species. What we will do next is finding tresholds in society which are of great value for the positive outcome of our species.
These can be found on that same exponential timegraph;
These can be found on that same exponential timegraph;
Tresholds of progress
Intelligence
The mother of all tresholds is intelligence. The human brain is only but to ponder what it can grasp. Evolutionary biology hasn't stopped, education and tools for accessing information evolving, the upper graph doesn't lie; the average person is getting smarter. By the rather sensitive subject of 'selective' breeding over the course of hundreds of generations, evolutionary biology is possible to cure, rule out and/or improve much diseases or 'undesired features', as already demonstrated in animal breeding.
Through this process it takes a very very long time before intelligence improves. But then there was artificial intelligence.
Our brains are generally very good at learning new motorskills, memories and social interactions that make daily life easier since millenia. We have only recently developed biological ability as the need rose to do math, logic reasoning and analysis. A human can on average remember 9 numbers in his/her short term memory, where computers are completely the other way around.
Through this process it takes a very very long time before intelligence improves. But then there was artificial intelligence.
Our brains are generally very good at learning new motorskills, memories and social interactions that make daily life easier since millenia. We have only recently developed biological ability as the need rose to do math, logic reasoning and analysis. A human can on average remember 9 numbers in his/her short term memory, where computers are completely the other way around.
Let's flip that comparison. What computers are very good at are computations, yet on a human level they lack all but 2 aspects of the neocortex (see picture), all functions of the mammalian brain are currently impossible to program and A.I. would require a lot of mirroring self assessment to be ethically in favor of existing if considering artilects as Hugo de Garis would name articial intelligence.
On evolution's oldest side of the brain, by means of electronic robotic sensors and electric stimulation, computers have a very high simulated programmable skillset equal to the lizard brain. Temperature is easy. Balance can be translated to robotics by smart gyroscopics, hunger/thirst could be a metaphor for solar energy and reading out batteries, territoriality would be gps. |
picture: executive functions of
the three largest brain categories in human neuroscience |
By learning and giving a robot a memory also avoidance/survival is possible to tackle and that leaves us with an analogy for the reproductive drive: having the robot to selfimprove or design evolvable hardware versions of itself shall be an ethical and mathematical struggle, yet inevitable.
Ways to integrate the computational power we harvest through processor circuits with our brain has endless potential.
"Cochlear implants are the only medical technology able to functionally restore one of the five senses. Unlike hearing aids, which amplify sound, cochlear implants are electronic devices that bypass the damaged part of your inner ear so that you can hear your best."
- Advanced Bionics (see video) People who have never heared in their life suddenly are able to associate this new impulses to the brain with what they see and feel. They can hear their own voice for the first time. |
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This adding of a sense to the brain looks like it would be a beautiful experience, what will come next?
New senses added to the brain's hardwire is also a form of enlarging intelligence directly by enlarging awareness.
If one could sense all earthquakes on earth, maybe certain patterns or intuition through the mammalian brain helps understanding them better than computers can today. What if you could hear colour? If it occurs neurologically undesired it's called synesthesia. But what if you really want to experience more senses? Neil Harbisson beat you to it.
Since 2003 he hears color through a neural implant at the back of his head and a color sensor in his line of colorblind sight, he hears sounds through vibrations on his cranium through bone conduction (see video).
New senses added to the brain's hardwire is also a form of enlarging intelligence directly by enlarging awareness.
If one could sense all earthquakes on earth, maybe certain patterns or intuition through the mammalian brain helps understanding them better than computers can today. What if you could hear colour? If it occurs neurologically undesired it's called synesthesia. But what if you really want to experience more senses? Neil Harbisson beat you to it.
Since 2003 he hears color through a neural implant at the back of his head and a color sensor in his line of colorblind sight, he hears sounds through vibrations on his cranium through bone conduction (see video).
At a sudden point his consciousness of the sound became a perception, aware without being focused on it, and later on it even became a feeling, part of himself as an extension of his senses. Explaining this allowed his ID card picture to include the sensor.
He now has dreams in colorful sounds, where the brain recreates daily experiences including his new sense. It made him perceive beauty differently, where a supermarket makes him feel good because of the variation in colors and he dresses what sounds good, how weird that might look. |
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He finds associations and similarities no one could before, new forms of art.
Later on he even added infrared and ultraviolet waveforms as new sounds he can perceive, something no human can.
The eyeborgapp let's you yourself experience daily life with his new sense. What would your cybernetic augmentation be?
Neil Harbisson's cyborg foundation in Barcelona attempts to assist other people with their own inventions and applications.
His goal now is helping people become cyborgs:
Later on he even added infrared and ultraviolet waveforms as new sounds he can perceive, something no human can.
The eyeborgapp let's you yourself experience daily life with his new sense. What would your cybernetic augmentation be?
Neil Harbisson's cyborg foundation in Barcelona attempts to assist other people with their own inventions and applications.
His goal now is helping people become cyborgs:
360º SENSORY EXTENSION The project consists in extending human perception to 360º by adding sensors at the back of choreographer Moon Ribas' head that vibrate when someone approaches her from behind. The first prototype consisted of a pair of earings with movement sensors at the back. The earings allowed her to feel a vibration on her left ear if someone was standing somewhere behind her left, and a vibration on her right ear if someone was standing somewhere behind her right. |
FINGERBORG The fingerborg project consists in extending the senses of a multimedia student who lost a finger in an accident. The first fingerborg prototype consisted of a prosthetic finger with a miniature camera inside that allowed him to film and take pictures. The aim of the project is to upgrade the current fingerborg to one that allows him to receive direct feedback from the camera to his hand. |
SPEEDBORG Internal radar that allows you to perceive the exact speed of movements in front of you via vibrations. First prototypes were attached to the hand (2007-2009) followed by others attached to the earlobes. source: cyborg foundation |
Still on the subject of intelligence, these implants and inventions are offering more data and awareness to the brain.
The first version of the 'eyeborg' were two computer speakers and a sensor. You design at full capacity and functionality when you know you want to proceed with the implant.
It is just one step further to anticipate memory and feed knowledge directly to the brain.
Such advancements and types of cyborgs are to be discussed on our next page, paradigms.
The first version of the 'eyeborg' were two computer speakers and a sensor. You design at full capacity and functionality when you know you want to proceed with the implant.
It is just one step further to anticipate memory and feed knowledge directly to the brain.
Such advancements and types of cyborgs are to be discussed on our next page, paradigms.
Biology: Organs
We can consider everything but the brain an organ these days. A transplantable organ I mean.
You want to bet me not? We already discussed the advancements in artificial hearts on the top of this page.
By 2017 - the medical world says - they'll be functionally ready in terms of knowhow and surgical tools to transplant a head onto a new body. Stephen Hawking would be pleased, I would not be surprised seeing him finally undergo days worth of operating.
You want to bet me not? We already discussed the advancements in artificial hearts on the top of this page.
By 2017 - the medical world says - they'll be functionally ready in terms of knowhow and surgical tools to transplant a head onto a new body. Stephen Hawking would be pleased, I would not be surprised seeing him finally undergo days worth of operating.
The soul you say?
In 1970 there has been a head transplant with monkeys that prove survivability if not for the body to reject the monkey head after 7 days, the monkey could move, breathe and swallow. With human transplantations, surgeons are far more careful to make sure the probability of rejection is reduced as much as possible, or they wouldn't operate. |
It is a trend to arch an eyebrow over and take a deep breath;
the brain and the head don't necessarily have to remain together either.
the brain and the head don't necessarily have to remain together either.
Uploading a brain
In 2004, a breakthrough in neuroscience really showed the world the potential technology has for us.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/10/041022104658.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/10/041022104658.htm
Longevity?
Aging doesn’t just cause many deaths (100.000 a day), it is also the source of many debilitating illnesses like Alzheimer’s disease, cardiovascular diseases, muscle wasting, decline of vision and hearing, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, ...
If a person lives for a longer period of time, more research, discoveries, activities, events, studies and projects could be accomplished in one lifespan. A new wave of people interested in longevity starts to participate in human's evolution.
Hit next for more information on advanced cyborgs, longevity and the paradigm we live in.
If a person lives for a longer period of time, more research, discoveries, activities, events, studies and projects could be accomplished in one lifespan. A new wave of people interested in longevity starts to participate in human's evolution.
Hit next for more information on advanced cyborgs, longevity and the paradigm we live in.
© Wout D