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The year 10,000

ihateecstacy said:
This technology could enable us to us %100 of our brain. Think about it. It seems logical. The human race would be a sort of living, breating, super computer.
We do use 100% of our brains, no part of our brain is "redundant". That particular myth springs from the fact we use only a portion of our brains at any one time. I cannot think and talk 2 different things properly, nor can I write a paragraph while singing while watching TV properly. Seperately I can do those things (though I can't sing very well ;)), but together I (and I'd wager you) cannot do them all. Our brains do not need to do those 3 things at once, and hence different areas of our brains turn on and off (though never truely off) as the different abilities are required.

I suppose technology could have us being able to use all our brain's different functions at once, but I doubt it would be of much use, and would be terribly energy consuming (our brains use 25% of our energy intake!).
 
Interesting. You learn something new everyday. Especially on bluelight.

I just thought the whole d.n.a. thing was an interesting concept. But thanks for that tid-bit of knowledge.
 
In relation to your DNA comment, you are correct, we've already made advances in that area. I think it was a few years ago a group of Israeli scientists got a blob of DNA to do 100 million calculations in a second with 99.9% accuracy. Thats not good enough to be practical, but its only the first tentative step.

I don't know if they sell New Scientist in America (being a British publication) but this week's edition has an cover story about advances made in biochemical robots. They've already created robots which use chemicals sensative to light to track a light, and automatically steer a little robot towards it. There are new chemicals which allow waves to propogate through them in straight lines (rather than spreading out in circles like usual), and can be used to create chemical logic gates. At the moment its only a "proof of concept" and is nothing like as powerful as silicon CPUs, but I imagine with future advances things could be looking promising. These chemical CPUs would offer the advantage of having no wires, but instead are completely reconfigurable (literally stirring the chemical!) which means the CPU can reconfigure itself to be tailored for a specific problem/algorithm making it much much more efficent! If you are interested, see if you can find yourself an issue :)
 
if we create something with smarter than human intelligence, then its gonna start a never ending feedback loop, where that will lead to I don’t really know, but I could imagine something being so intelligent, so aware that it would be aware of all of existence all at once.
 
but I could imagine something being so intelligent, so aware that it would be aware of all of existence all at once.

Sounds a bit like the monotheistic G_d.
 
Hyperion said:
Sounds a bit like the monotheistic G_d.
I was thinking of more along the line of everything is one, because if something was aware of all of existence at once I don’t think it could ever be self aware in the sense of having some sort of individuality
 
AlphaNumeric, we are "using" every part of our brain at every moment in time- that is the cells are physiological alive and contributing to our mind's consciousness. There might be increased blood flow or metabolic rates or potentials, but the brain is still functioning in its entirety.

I think the urban legend that we only use 10% of our brain comes from the earlier belief that neurons were the thinking part of the brain, while the myelin sheath just passively conducted the messages of the neurons. The neurons make up about 10% of the brain while the myelin sheat and glial cells make up almost 90% if im not mistaken. Now we know the brain functions as a messy, complex, chaotic, modulated, self-regulating, streamlined, but definitely holistic system.
 
I see two possibilities:
1. Peaceful Social evolution and the force of cooperation will lead us to conquer the chains of our minds and harness responsible control of a sustainable global economy. Utopia is within our grasp.

2. Our world will continue to be raped into submission by our industrial system of narcissistic, militaristic, materialistic, and animalistic capitalism. The human organism will fail to merge with the planetary and universal organism. Destruction of all life will eventually become reality, through our actions fueled by distorted beliefs and desires.
 
I think that we need to think more positivly, we already heard all these things about the world being shriveled up into a polluted sun-dried raisin (over exaggeration). So lets try a different approach to things, starting with today. And imagining what good we can do to change the world into a place where we would feel good to live in.8)
 
maybe we'll continue to grow but will never have any sort of breakthrough into utopia. thus, it'll always be like it has always been

maybe doomsday scenarios and utopian dreams wont be reached at all
 
Slaughterhousefive42 said:
AlphaNumeric, we are "using" every part of our brain at every moment in time- that is the cells are physiological alive and contributing to our mind's consciousness. There might be increased blood flow or metabolic rates or potentials, but the brain is still functioning in its entirety.
I did say "never truely off", because if the cells aren't functioning on some level, they are dead. By "using" I mean in an active sense. At the moment I'm not using my calf muscles. They are alive, and functioning slightly, but I'm not using them in the same sense as if I were standing up or running, which is what their primary purpose is for. Our brains are always "on", but different areas are not all used for their main function at the same time.
 
Even if the cells arent functioning on some level, they don't have to be dead...They could just be frozen to near 30 Kelvin in hopes of being rejuvenated. There is still a possibility of life.
 
In a living person freezing part of your body while you're still up and about isn't exactly practical is it?
 
If you are talking about putting someone in suspended animation then true, but I was not talking about that, I was talking about someone who is alive and active. I never said our cells fully stop when you're up and about, just reduce their level of activity. You're trying to be a pedant at nothing. Mind you, its a subjective experience arising from a quantum non-locality collapsing so its neither here nor there is it ;) 8(
 
I see the civilization on Mars poking around on Earth, wondering if this planet ever had water on it.
 
i read this recently and this thread reminds me off it....there's an english scientist who talks about how by the time the sun is going to supernova, we will be like bacteria compared to what we are now. So us at that time will be so far evolved, we have no idea what they'll be like...

so granted that we don't kill ourselves, it seems that per our evolution that there's alot to be wondered about where we'll be at......

that's all i got.. =)
 
Well if I don't exist except as infinitely changing yet anchored thought states, then the label of pedantic seems a bit impertinent, as our collapsed consciousness are transitory and can never truly preach because it is never the same river, the grass is always growing.
There is no border between life and death, only a continuum of self-organization and fighting entropy.
 
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