Some Thoughts On Transhumanism And The Synthetic Universe

No one who has ever attempted to hone their craft as a writer ever benefited from merely having praise heaped onto them constantly. In fact, there are some studiesshowing that those who take criticism well show better job performance in the workplace. Altogether, we can either choose to allow criticism to hinder or us, or as I have found in my own experience with writing as a profession, the challenge of criticism can afford us the ability to sharpen our argument and skill.

Earlier this morning, I received such a critique from someone who had listened to my recent appearance on The Russell Scott Show. Russell and I had an enjoyable conversation, and I recommend that others check out the interview as well, which I’ve linked in the window above. However, the critical viewpoint, posted by one of the users on the Godlike Productions Forum, actually provided a great opportunity to delve into the realm of technological singularity, and controversial subjects that include whether the Internet may eventually become “conscious”, in addition to the synthetic nature of reality.

I am not particularly a “proponent” of things like transhumanism or technological singularity. Instead, I merely feel that a strong case can be made that a link exists between the study of such things, and the growing body of knowledge pertaining to things like UFOs (which, perhaps at times like this, have come to be less interesting to me than the scientific potentials existent elsewhere… though I’ll never forsake the UFO subject like so many of the self-proclaimed “heady thinkers” out there). Below, in addition to encapsulating portions of that argument, I’ve also linked to a few articles and videos that help to further articulate the point that a case can be made for such things as consciousness emerging from the internet, in addition to what some liken to being a “synthetic” reality similar to that espoused in the Matrix films.

Also, you can view the original thread by clicking here.

↓ Read the rest of this entry

Reposted with permission.