We are living in exponential times

This vid was creepy cool. But you know what's even scarier?

That ETs might be a million years more advanced than us.

Maybe this is why the NWO wants to control everything... maybe their cause is righteous... population control, yeah it's sick to want to kill a % of the population, and have control of everything.

However, if this is what lies in the future, a computer that will be more smart then the entire human race... maybe in their minds controling the population and total enslavement is better then this?

The end of the vid asked. "What does this mean?" My thought is that technology is out pacing human conscieness. Will we be able to control the monster which has been let out of the darkness of the mind, or in the end it will become us? Or will we merge and become something else? Interresting find OP.

Originally posted by Eye of Horus
The end of the vid asked. "What does this mean?" My thought is that technology is out pacing human conscieness. Will we be able to control the monster which has been let out of the darkness of the mind, or in the end it will become us? Or will we merge and become something else? Interresting find OP.

That lends evidence to the idea we stole tech from aliens, doesn't it?

reply to post by Karlhungis


Not sure if this has been posted before yet. But this video is very interesting and very applicable to this thread. The first 3 or 4 parts are pretty mind boggling. Part 2 is my personal fav..

"The Most IMPORTANT Video You'll Ever See (part 1 of 8)"


"The Most IMPORTANT Video You'll Ever See (part 2 of 8)"


-ChriS

The population scare is a bunch of crap. The population is stabilizing. It has been decreasing since the '90s.

The growth rate I mean, not the population itself.

[edit on 11-6-2009 by Donnie Darko]

I love discussion such as this because we're attempting to comtemplate that which cannot be known from this point in time, yet we're so close to this event something very deep within us knows a profound culmination of change awaits us. We feel as though we're hurtling towards a brick wall backwards with no brakes, or swirling down a drain to god knows where. Whatever is happening, we have no control, yet it's always been a crucial point in our collective timeline ever since we became conscious and aware as a species.

‘Within thirty years, we will have the technological means to create superhuman intelligence. Shortly after, the human era will be ended.’ Vernor Vinge, 1993

Intelligence will be more powerful than these impersonal forces (physics and cosmology). Once a planet yields a technology creating species and that species creates computation (as has happened here on Earth), it is only a matter of a few centuries before its intelligence saturates the matter and energy in its vicinity, and it begins to expand outward at the speed of light or greater. It will then overcome gravity (through exquisite and vast technology) and other cosmological forces (or, to be fully accurate, will maneuver and control these forces) and create the Universe it wants. This is the goal of the Singularity. –Ray Kurzweil

Supposing we can imagine what lies beyond this infinte boundary of change, one thing seems certain considering the exponential nature of our progress. This Singularity scenario is so utterly explosive and powerful that the expansion of the growing intelligence will not only reach the speed of light, but will overstep this boundary by inducing quantum mechanics and relying on entanglement to almost instantaneously convert all ‘dead’ matter to conscious material.

Given the above, I believe one of two things await all successful species that reach this threshold of advancement.

The first is that this has already happened and the universe was long ago saturated with a previous post-singularity consciousness, and once we reach a certain level of advancement we will be absorbed (or will force our way) into the collective universal mind. This would explain the connection we feel with the universe – it is conscious, and it eagerly awaits our merger with it.

The second possibility is that all societies reaching Singularity gain the ability to actually leave the 3-Dimensional universe. This would explain why the visible universe is not already teeming with life. They've gone to higher (or simply other) states of being.

Assuming we can actually guess what a super-intelligent race would do, it's likely post-singularity societies opt to leave this 'intelligence breeding ground' (called the Cosmos) rather than taking on the mammoth task of colonizing it. It's possibly much simpler (and would require less energy) to slide into a parallel reality.

It's my opinion that life's purpose is to evolve towards (or revert) to a god-like state, not to stagnate in a cooling cosmos where entropy reigns supreme. Intelligence fights entropy by building upon itself and creating new states of connectedness, which is actually opposite to what the rest of the physical universe has been doing for billions of years (expanding, cooling…dissolving).

Perhaps this is why we're all stuck here wondering where everybody is - they're all far, far away (or possibly only inches away - in another reality), but they're there. We're actually in a cosmic womb right now, waiting to be born. This perspective inevitably leads one to believe that there is no intergalactic community, only scattered eggs of intelligence hatching throughout the universe, awaiting transcendence towards new states of being.

M-Theory allows many levels of existence. Quantum Theory allows many possible realities/timelines to coexist. Imagine if there was indeed any level of truth in either theory - then imagine merely choosing to remain within one's dimension of origin. Our assumption that all advanced intelligences choose to reside in (or cannot escape from) 3-dimensional space is flawed. A truly intelligent race would move on, as we will also more than likely do sometime this century.

***edit***
I added this video link in hindsight because it represents an often overlooked viewpoint that is in opposition to this runaway technological acceleration we all seem to be hungry for (or at the very least accepting as normal and necessary progress).

Bill McKibben is of the opinion that this acceleration is NOT necessary, and it is not normal, and that we should all step back, take a breath, and actually think about where we're all going before stomping on the accelerator even harder.

And although I find the idea of the Singularity intriguing and exciting, what he says makes sense, is very true, and should bring about a sense of caution in the most steadfast singularists out there. I do believe we're beyond the point of doubt and cautionary measures, but it is worth considering nonetheless.

Bill McKibben - Singularity Summit at Stanford

[edit on 11/6/09 by Evasius]

reply to post by Karlhungis


cool ..... freakin ..... video ..... man.!



very eyeball opening

i think it all means that every doom and armagedon prophecy for the last 5,000 years is full of...guano (bat poop)

and the human race will continue to grow and exceed our predecessors' expectations.

thanks for sharing. star and flag

I think around or after the whole 2012 thing, there is a possibility that the face of our current reality could be changed, through many different means. It is possible that nanomachines could change the makeup of conscious organisms, what if consciousness merged with nanomachines which held infinite potential for change, spitting out dreamscapes and new lifeforms that exist beyond the current rate of physical reactions. I always thought AI and post human lifeforms to be a better explanation than rising to other dimensions or the "2012 DNA upgrade" and blasts of energy from the center of our galaxy. Though really it could all be the same thing, and our human consciousness could end up being absorbed into the global network, as it becomes self conscious and creating biological lifeforms in the form of the worlds collected imaginations.

reply to post by Evasius


Alot of it also depends on whether or not Moore's Law can continue at the pace it is at now. Right now, the rate of technological advancement with relation to Moore's Law is pretty staggering. It has followed a pretty impressive bell curve of exponential growth. Noone knows if we'll be able to continue that trend. Alot of people don't think it's scientifically possible. Even Moore, himself, foresaw this inevitable dilemma.

It all depends on how minitarized we can make integrated circuits. Atomic, subatomic, smaller than that? Who knows. If we could build a microscopic factory to push these things out, that's one feasible way of doing it. We could even build factories to build smaller circuit factories.. ETC.. Until what we're left with is a liquid comprised of subatomic circuit goop. (much like the black liquid used by the Aeon in the game "Supreme Commander). Eventually, we might even be able to use gravity to compress the technology into a smaller and smaller area. Who knows!

Of coarse, in all this we reach a point at which computing power has the capability of destroying all life on earth pretty easily. I'm not even really talking about the typical "Skynet" scenario from Terminator (which is quite plausible). I'm talking about nanotechnology. One way of producing nanobots is to create nanofactories capable of automatically producing them on a miniature assembling line. If the bots can figure out how to build these tiny factories themselves, who knows how many would actually be produced.

It would be like an unstoppable airborne virus. Scientists call it "Grey goo" where clouds of these nanobots might one day destroy everything in their path by injesting the material as a source of constant energy.. Similar to what we see in the new version of "The Day the Earth Stood Still" with Keanu Reeves (I liked the older version better).

Nanotechnology is pretty scary stuff because..

1- Most people don't understand the very simple natural logarithm of 2 with relation to exponential growth over time. Therefore, people don't really understand how exponential growth is, itself, exponential in alot of ways. Would nano-engineers even think to consider this?

2- Forces at work designing and producing this kind of technology (governments and militaries) might not have the world's best interests at heart (DUH!). If the nanobots become inadvertantly or purposefully released as a weapon, they could multiply, etc..etc.. Pretty horrific possibilities here.

3- Nanobots used for medical applications would inevitably communicate with each other somehow. Therefore, if they decide to attack the human body from within rather than healing it or removing tumors, they could do it very quickly in an extremely organised and efficient way. Noone knows what might happen.

4- AI. Nanobots with Artifical Intelligence might just go off the chain and find away of telling all other nanobots to attack humans (sort of like a miniature skynet). They would inevitably build bases, weapons, be able to form themselves into complex mechanical devices like missiles and bombs. They would probably even research and develop faster, better, smaller, smarter versions of themselves. That would be a force we would have no way of stopping.

-ChriS

reply to post by Karlhungis


ok - first question :

what are these ` top ten jobs ` that did not exist 6 years ago ?????

second question - actually more of a obserevation -

you can look at almost any decade in the 20th century and see exponential growth

embrace the future

Originally posted by BlasteR

Alot of it also depends on whether or not Moore's Law can continue at the pace it is at now. Right now, the rate of technological advancement with relation to Moore's Law is pretty staggering. It has followed a pretty impressive bell curve of exponential growth. Noone knows if we'll be able to continue that trend. Alot of people don't think it's scientifically possible. Even Moore, himself, foresaw this inevitable dilemma.

Manufacturers are actually forcing themselves to conform to Moore's law, thus we now have multi-core processors!! It's partly a prophecy but mostly a manufacturer's goal. I think it's no longer a prophetic vision but a manufacturing standard!

I have to disagree though that these are bright days for humanity. I know technology very intimately but high tech only serves to dumb people down unfortunately. Yes we have the internet but look at what most are using the internet for! It's nothing but mindless chatters . We don't even try to ponder what goes under the hood.

Originally posted by BlasteR
reply to post by Karlhungis

 

Not sure if this has been posted before yet. But this video is very interesting and very applicable to this thread. The first 3 or 4 parts are pretty mind boggling. Part 2 is my personal fav..

"The Most IMPORTANT Video You'll Ever See (part 1 of 8)"

"The Most IMPORTANT Video You'll Ever See (part 2 of 8)"

-ChriS

Why I have to move beyond such luminary posts is beyond me 0

absolute quality.

THANKS.

Originally posted by ahnggk

Originally posted by BlasteR

Alot of it also depends on whether or not Moore's Law can continue at the pace it is at now. Right now, the rate of technological advancement with relation to Moore's Law is pretty staggering. It has followed a pretty impressive bell curve of exponential growth. Noone knows if we'll be able to continue that trend. Alot of people don't think it's scientifically possible. Even Moore, himself, foresaw this inevitable dilemma.

Manufacturers are actually forcing themselves to conform to Moore's law, thus we now have multi-core processors!! It's partly a prophecy but mostly a manufacturer's goal. I think it's no longer a prophetic vision but a manufacturing standard!

I have to disagree though that these are bright days for humanity. I know technology very intimately but high tech only serves to dumb people down unfortunately. Yes we have the internet but look at what most are using the internet for! It's nothing but mindless chatters

. We don't even try to ponder what goes under the hood.

Stupid question...lets say they came up with a very small device that a person could use via his "thoughts" to search for information...sort of like a "FUTURE google" but internal, and this device is powered in the same way as a pacemaker, so the device could be implanted at birth......would this system eventualy become a self enforcing system in the same way Moores Law is?

when 2012 hits we must find the one so he can save us all

This is funny because I just wrote a paper which dealt with Moore's Law and the exponential growth of technology. Some supplemental reading for those interested would be just about anything by Ray Kurzweil. He has written extensively about 'singularity' where machine achieves the capabilities of the human brain. As things are right now, computers are still far away because the human brain is capable of massively parallel computation. It is only a matter of time though.

Some counter this argument with the notion that the size of logic gates will reach a minimum thus slowing the doubling rate but that is proving to be untrue because the increasing capacities are leading to innovations to further shrink the pathways.

No matter how you slice it, it is a grand time to be alive. We will witness something big: either our transcendence or demise.

Excellent vid. Don't believe the hype ppl; the reports of humanity's demise are greatly exaggerated! :-)

Thanks to people like Ray Kurzweil and a host of others a new movement is taking route... singularitarianism. Think positive and help make the future the great place that it will be. :-D

S&F Thanks for the post.

As with all science it is a dual edged sword. I see no great advantage nor disadvantage to "progress".

The more intelligent the "Matrix" the more dangerous it becomes.

Will they shut it down??? Will man finally realize his potential and end greed and violence?

Are the machines themselves the next step in evolution thus making humans redundant and useless??

I always liked William Gibson's "Neuromancer" as the model dystopia. What about bio warfare on a level never forseen??

A dual edged sword that can cut both ways. But I am excited to take the ride!

[edit on 11-6-2009 by Leo Strauss]

Originally posted by Leo Strauss
S&F Thanks for the post.

As with all science it is a dual edged sword. I see no great advantage nor disadvantage to "progress".

You don't see an advantage to genetics making aging obsolete?

Or that nanotechnology will be able to destroy disease and optimize your biology and/or replace it alltogether by building it molecule by molecule?

Or that increasing intelligence either using genetics or technology (or both) will allow for more progress faster to become smarter faster so on and so forth until the world completely changes and we solve our problems... :-)

reply to post by miragezero


The idea that we can solve our problems with technology is very valid. But to think technology will always be innocent and subservient to us a stance that assumes alot about things we don't yet understand. Things like artificial intelligence, how it will all really work in whatever application it is designed for, how it will be programmed, etc..

Whenever you have AI writing code for different applications and for more advanced versions of itself, whose to say the AI wouldn't insert an engineered virus towards its own ends (one we could never detect)? There just isn't any way to feasibly predict what such an advanced AI would really think, do, what code it would write in the background, etc..

Humans don't exactly have a clean record when it comes to design flaws and engineering disasters. Anything could happen.

-ChriS