Transhuman Singularity

2010 . . . hard to believe when I think about. I recently saw the movie "Avatar" twice in 3D (first in the IMAX, then in a more conventional theater) and really really enjoyed it! Although there is a lot of marketing hype already out there, I must recommend it to all.

The thing that struck me as the most interesting was that the animals, plants, and people of Pandora all had neural interfaces to "mentally speak" to each other and to the mother of their planet. Questions come to mind. How did that evolve? Or was it engineered?

This idea is prevalent in many science fiction stories in the form of a group or global mind, a conscious Gaia. An entity which is a collective composite of all the minds of living things and memories of those that have died connected into it. An emergent collective consciousness. You even see it in a darker sense in the Borg of "Star Trek" (by the way another great movie released this year on DVD).

Two other science fiction movies impressed me this year, "District 9" and "Moon".

I would like to also say to those Americans who may not follow "Doctor Who" that you are missing out on a brilliant science fiction television series, give it a try. It has also spun off "Torchwood", which I like as well.

As the year comes to a close I am making a serious effort to create some very new material for this blog and I want to say I really appreciate all of you who read it. Even though I hardly ever hear from you, I know you are out there from the visitation counts (sorry to be so Big Brother, but how else would I know?).

I wish you all the Happiest of Holidays with a Great New Year to come!

Here lies what remains of the human species totally consumed by our own doings. Don't touch visiting aliens, some very toxic radioactive stuff, oh and please excuse the heat and all the greenhouse gases. We were blessed with such great potential and a planet of vast natural resources, but squandered them all in our inability to get along with each other, too slow to change our ways, to adapt, so sorry . . . all gone now.

What a discouraging and depressing epitaph for human beings! War, disease, poverty and hunger, overpopulation, pollution, nuclear proliferation, multiple-species extinction, and what now looks like catastrophic global warming.

Compounded problems of a world pushed to the precipice of extinction by 6.7 billion breathing, eating, and defecating people all wanting consumer goods beyond the planets capacity.

Hold on there you say! Why so pessimistic? Not all is bleak and dark. What about the human survival instinct? We should be able to solve these problems, we are millions of evolved years old. Even if we created these problems ourselves, we are now developing the tools and knowledge to solve them as well. If proper action is taken by a majority of humans, we can do this. We can survive! However, we should redefine our definitions of “prosper” and our goals for survival.

There are so many of us human beings and we can hardly agree on anything . . . What levels of survival are we willing to accept? Can we balance our personal limitations of greed, anger and ignorance against those of compassion, understanding and compromise for all? Is love for our fellow humans enough? I hope so, because our survival as a species may well depend on it.

Now I would like to say something about the Technological Singularity.

The Technological Singularity is prophesied by some to be a cure for all our ills. Technological snake oil sold as a scientific nirvana. A time of unlimited information and possibilities with artificial super-intelligence, boundless energy, and great opportunities for whom? What about us humans?

Creation of artificial intelligence must be coupled with the extension of our human brains to elevated our very understanding of this complex society we have created and live in. Through eventual “neural-integration” with the Internet we may ultimately produce a technological “Group Mind” encompassing the whole planet and filled with productive thoughts for humanity. This is what I personally believe the Internet will ultimately become in our not so distant future.

Our problems may become more solvable as a result. I leave you with these hopeful thoughts for the alternatives: extinction, a reset of civilization, hostile AI('s), maybe too horrible to consider.

Science Fiction has done more than entertained and informed, it has invented. There are a number of imagined devices in science fiction stories which have become reality. The value of a form of entertainment which inspires new things is incalculable.

Thanks to reader Kathryn for the link which list 15 such devices.

Can you think of anymore?

-Michael Blade

I just finished reading "The Prefect", by Alastair Reynolds and recommend it to those who like hard science fiction space operas.

I especially like his references to the extensive use of "Abstraction" which is a form of augmented virtual reality that is depended upon by some habitats inside the Glitter Band. Hyper-Pig, Conjoiner, Aurora and the Clockmaker are also interesting characters in a satisfying plot.

The idea of alpha and beta level human copies is also provocative.

Finally a confirmation from NASA that the moon (yes that's our moon, the one you see up in the sky every month) has water on the South Pole in its shaded craters.

This opens the possibility for moon bases on the poles which could mine these craters for water. Water can be used to support life and make rocket fuel for propulsion. Where there is water, life such as ours can survive.

This is major and has been suspected for a while now. This is clear confirmation that the moon has water! This opens a whole range of possibilities for space habitats and travel.

Now let's hope human kind has the vision to establish an International Lunar Base.

P.S. I'm sure it would look considerably different than Moonbase Alpha in the Space 1999 British TV Series. Check out Shackleton Crater as a possible site.

-Michael Blade

I really hope Carl Sagan or his family doesn't mind, because he is my hero. Same goes for Stephen Hawking. However, I really love this video, and those who know who he Sagan, Carl is-and-was will probably as well! Also, if your hearing dual combined audio, please pause the blog radio post 2 down (Sorry, I don't fully control that audio embedded plug-in).