Transhumanism is an exciting movement.  For those who have an allergy to technology and have not come across the movement, it is the school of thought that says AI (or at least AGI—Artificial General Intelligence), computing technology, robotics, nanotechnology and biotechnology are going to create a world beyond human comprehension.  There will be machines, or rather beings, who surpass us so greatly that we cannot argue or fight back.  Think of evolution and competition for niches. As we are creating our own competition, the pros and cons need some consideration.

Attitudes in the transhumanist movement vary.  I have no argument with continuing progress in technology.  In my view, despite inevitable drawbacks, technology has produced and will go on producing immeasurable benefits for mankind. 

But when the movement starts More...

Perhaps creativity and intelligence exist in different universes. Although I have had kind words to say about AGI (Artificial General Intelligence), I sometimes despair.  A new free online service, LifeNaut, allows you to build "mindfiles" to preserve your essential unique qualities.  By this, they mean your videos, photos, documents, maps of your trips.  Can anyone really think that this is their "mind"?  Your exact physical location when reading this blog is unique, totally and absolutely—but does it capture your uniqueness?  This outfit has created a robot that acquires new experiences and knowledge by interacting with videocams and voice-recognition software. Frankly, I feel embarrassed on behalf of humanity.

The crucial issue for these AGI researchers and their brilliant leader, Ray Kurzweil, seems to lie in their perception of More...

THEE is its own compact world.  Many webpages in TOP are equivalent to a book.  Sometimes a paragraph, occasionally even a sentence or two, summarize a whole textbook containing elaborate explanations and vast amounts of evidence.  But, for me, a sentence or two is all that is required because the matter is so simple and so obvious—and so important.  So very important and, as it is a sentence, so memorable.

The compression of knowledge in THEE is enormous.  For those used to scanning—which I am told is the whole Millennial generation—TOP webpages must be the essence of frustration.  Perhaps the solution, for them, is to More...