The Singularity.

[Sordid Saint]

We are so close to The Singularity that it is getting actually very scary. I used to have an attitude like "Yeah bring on the new technology!". But now I'm kind of thinking and now I don't know, I kind of like where we are right now. It's getting to the point where our technology is changing SO DAMN FAST that I could look at a podcast or a video from 2009, and name SO many things that are old in it, like computers and video game consoles. But that's just minor.

The main things that are predicted to cause the singularity, are Nano Bots, or tiny little self replicating robots that can do hundreds and hundreds of different tasks for us. AI (Artificial Intelligence) is also another predicted cause, which is just robots that are as smart - or smarter - than humans. The final prediction is control over the human genome. This just means that we can mess with our bodies and find ways to mess with the causes of us aging, and fix them, dramatically increasing the lifespan of humans (supposedly into the hundreds).

Holy shit. Those predictions actually sound more believable than unbelievable. Actually, I do remember something about us going into a mouse's chromosomes and taking off some of the wear and tear on it, increasing their life span? Something like that. That just proves how close we are to the singularity. The Singularity, for people who don't know, is basically the point of no return. Where we look back at present day and it's like what the middle ages to us today is like. Our technology is blasting off at insane rates. It's actually kind of scary. It makes me think that other things like 2012 and Armageddon will be human caused because of us doing some experiment on creating a mini black hole that will get out of hand and devour our whole fucking planet. It's insane.
Your takes on it?

Anyway, do you guys like sweet potato fries? :)

[Magus]

The main things... lifespan of humans.
The thing is. Nanobots, are perhaps nano-sized robots - with nano-sized transistors, capacitors, and digital receivers and emitters . But I don't believe they self-replicate and do things on their own will as if they are intelligent beings. In what scientific way do they self-replicate? I don't know, but whoever made that gray goo thing is an idiot.

A.I, yep - I hope I don't die without seeing that happen.

I hope I don't die at all. I see where you are going there. I like transhumanistic and posthumanistic ideas. However, modern science can help us reach Hundred years, if we follow a certain healthy lifestyle.

Yes, there will be a time where we might be true immortals and do not need a physical medium to manifest this world. Should even be this world?

Holy shit. Those predictions It's insane.Don't worry, most scientist don't want to go "Oops, we made a mini-black whole, we fucked humanity" instead "Yes, we found a way to increase lifespan", maybe that. And maybe make humanity a lot better and easy for us.
Somehow, I find it selfish. There are people who are still suffering from impoverished condition, and ever seen a sanitary landfill or an ocean garbage patch? -- first we should get rid of these kind of things and then let's think of increasing our lifespan(at the same time? It's aww right).

Anyway, do you guys like sweet potato fries? :)Sweet potato: Cooked, yes. Fried, no.

[Azunite]

Logically, robots can't be smarter than humans since humans program them, right?

[Magus]

Logically, robots can't be smarter than humans since humans program them, right?That means: you missed this whole thread. (http://www.virtualteen.org/forums/showthread.php?t=85859)

[Azunite]

I've read that thread, what is your point ?

[Scooby Dooby Drew]

Logically, robots can't be smarter than humans since humans program them, right?

Not even close;
A telephone can allow people to talk over much greater distances than they naturally could, and yet it was made by humans.
An industrial factory can produce goods much faster than a human artisan, and yet the factory was made by people.
A calculator can process a math equation way faster than a human could, and yet it was made by humans.
Just because something's produced by humans doesn't mean it can't surpass human boundaries, on the contrary, this is the main reason things are created.

[Magus]

I've read that thread, what is your point ?Exactly this:Just because something's produced by humans doesn't mean it can't surpass human boundaries, on the contrary, this is the main reason things are created.

[Azunite]

Not even close;
A telephone can allow people to talk over much greater distances than they naturally could, and yet it was made by humans.
An industrial factory can produce goods much faster than a human artisan, and yet the factory was made by people.
A calculator can process a math equation way faster than a human could, and yet it was made by humans.
Just because something's produced by humans doesn't mean it can't surpass human boundaries, on the contrary, this is the main reason things are created.

It doesn't mean they are clever, it means they process fast.
We humans are so lazy that we barely use %3 part of our brain, Einstein could use something like %7.
Robots are only programmed to what they must do and since they are MADE of chips, etc ( unlike humans ) they process at %100 potential therefore they are faster than us.
I am not talking about any mechanical / physical power, I am talking about brain force.

[embers]

It doesn't mean they are clever, it means they process fast.

Part of being clever includes processing things fast: a person in a maths class would be commended for working out an equation faster than the rest.

We humans are so lazy that we barely use %3 part of our brain, Einstein could use something like %7.

The 10% of the brain myth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10%25_of_brain_myth) is untrue (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=people-only-use-10-percent-of-brain).

[Scooby Dooby Drew]

It doesn't mean they are clever, it means they process fast.

Same difference really, if a brute force strategy works faster than "human cleverness" then it IS more effective.
For example, if you're trying to guess a friend's facebook password, you could get a supercomputer to guess every possible combination (I.E. aaaa, aaab, aaac.... zzzy zzzz.) at lightning speed, or you could use your own knowledge of that person to guess their password (like say, try their birthday).
Whichever method's faster is the one that's "smarter."
The trick is to try and combine both a computer's speed with a human's reasoning skills....
Therefore a computer could have reasoning skills on par (and probably above) with the programmer's, but also be thousands of times faster than them.

[Magus]

It doesn't mean they are clever, it means they process fast.
We humans are so lazy that we barely use %3 part of our brain, Einstein could use something like %7.
Robots are only programmed to what they must do and since they are MADE of chips

Chips is like a brain. We have a hundreds of millions of interconnected nerves that only sends electrical signals to and fro -- this is how man process, memorize, talk, see, hear, understand, and above all - gain knowledge.

Chips, like brain, has a thousands of interconnected electric circuits. Computer101 - it's what makes these chips to use machine language(digital signals). http://www.technologyuk.net/telecommunications/telecom_principles/images/digital_signal01.gif
(This, what brings out binary codes.)

What Riu-Chan wanted to say that: Machines can process and retrieve data a lot faster than humans.

The only problem with silicon, is that it lacks organic sensors -- which make it inert and a lot more stupid in a literal sense than an actual human. Because, unlike humans, they cannot percieve what's "out there".

However, they can collect data -- browse through them, retrieve them, use them and etc.

But scientist are field researching the stuff. So don't worry. Thanks to bioethics, we cannot further the researches using humans(to research machine immortality).

But I don't mind being used as a test subject. ;)