Human, all too human

[OdinGrunherze]

WOW MAN, I need to put on my hipwaders, gettin kinda deep in here!!!:rofl

OG

[Dadano]

Originally posted by lasersailor184
You do know what Eugenics is, right?

Sure, eugenics is the study of hereditary improvement of the human race by controlled selective breeding. Do you know what trans-humanism is? I'm still learning, but from what I can gather it is not about selective breeding of the human race. It is about the enhancement of the human via technology.

[lasersailor184]

Originally posted by Dadano
Sure, eugenics is the study of hereditary improvement of the human race by controlled selective breeding. Do you know what trans-humanism is? I'm still learning, but from what I can gather it is not about selective breeding of the human race. It is about the enhancement of the human via technology.

So you think it's different because of how it is achieved?  That the end result is different, because of the process?

[Dadano]

Originally posted by lasersailor184
So you think it's different because of how it is achieved?  That the end result is different, because of the process?

They are different processes altogether. Although, they are both seeded in our longing to grow, to overcome ourselves and our adversities. Where do find the correlation other than at the root?
The end result of trans-humanism is a superhuman. The end result of Eugenics is a human.

[moot]

The thing about moving your brains to electronics is that any EMP zaps those electronics dead.
I don't know enough about EM and quantum computing to know that the latter is at least as safe from the former as our brains are, but if it wasn't, it is just a house of cards waiting to collapse.

dismantles Jupiter and constructs a Dyson Sphere...all before lunch.

Hehe.. better have a plan for the planets whose orbits will soon decay into the sun..

[Dadano]

Originally posted by moot
The thing about moving your brains to electronics is that any EMP zaps those electronics dead...
Hehe.. better have a plan for the planets whose orbits will soon decay into the sun..

No sweat. With an intelligence that processes information billions of times quicker than the human brain, I am sure those problems will be easily solved:)
Now if we can only survive our unintelligent irrational selves for the next 100 years or so...thats the fun part.

[moot]

Another semi-related work in progress is SENS.  De Grey gave a talk on TED like Kurzweil did, it should be on the TED talks website.
Something like SENS would probably make for a more paletable transhumanist alternative to some people.

Either way, I got influenced into changing from bioengineering (towards neuroscience in general) to biochemistry (where the only pioneering work I could see was SENS), but as soon as I'm back in North America I'll drop everything to get into neuroinformatics research.  It's going to be the work of my life.
I can't wait.

[Sundowner]

Here is an interesting read on the topic of Emergent Intelligences and accelerated change.

 THE RETURN OF THE KRELL MACHINE

Nanotechnology, the Singularity, and the Empty Planet Syndrome

by   Steven B. Harris

What will happen when humans gain the ability to manufacture nearly anything we want, and when our machines surpass our own intelligence? We had better hope the results are better than we see in science fiction, because, in a few generations, both these situations may well be upon us........

Full Text:
http://www.grg.org/charter/Krell2.htm

Regards,
Sun