Transhuman Singularity

Excellent talk radio conversation with John Smart, highly recommended.

evodevouniverse.com/wiki/John_Smart

NASA's budget for a human return to the Moon and exploration of Mars may not be enough.

I was very disappointed to hear this and wish that NASA will ask for more money from the President and Congress, possibly working with other nations to make it back to the Moon and on to Mars together.

I believe that two frontiers which will advance our personal growth as a human species exist equally in virtual reality and in space exploration done simultaneously.    I'm not giving up hope just yet!

Here are a few interesting video links borrowed from www.space.com

Bigelow

Constellation and ISS

Space Hotel

Space Tourism

Recently saw the movie District 9 (and go here) and I must highly recommend this movie despite its violent nature because it showcases the admirable redeeming human quality of (alien) altruism.    It reminds me of another oldie but goodie Enemy Mine (1985) and the TV series Alien Nation.

The only noticeable problem in the plot for District 9 is the unlikely combination of the change agent and the ship fuel as one single compound with a dual purpose in plot.    How do you explain that one?    Except in possibly reducing story complexity and cost.    A-/B+.

Also, for those looking forward to the holiday season, we may have a science fiction treat in store in Avatar (trailer above).

It is now becoming quite obvious that the Internet (with a capital "I") will change the nature of collaboration and communication in our increasingly global society.    Writing a blog has changed my life on a very personal level.    Its difficult to image what the impact will be even in a short 20 years time.

What would an uploaded human mind be able to do?
 
Assuming hypothetically that we could achieve such a feat, and that we don't digress into arguments of whether it actually has a soul, or the same identical fidelity as the original.  Or just how long it would take to do such a thing? Or whether we should do it, and many other such debates.

I ask again, what would just such a human uploaded mind be capable of? What are it's parameters?  Maybe it’s possible to guess. We do understand ourselves somewhat given our evolutionary history.  That in of itself is a somewhat frightening thought! But I will continue . . .
 
Well let's also assume it (a human mind) is uploaded to a significantly powerful computer system, or cloud infrastructure capable of simulating thought at least at real-time speeds, allowing it to converse and interact normally with other humans (say in virtual reality) without significant delays.
 
First thing comes to mind is it would be able to slow itself down.  You may ask what advantage is this?  Well, it defeats boredom, for one.  Allowing the mind to perceptively experience time dilation at high speed.  I can think of many uses, one of them long duration space travel.
 
Okay you say what about speeding things up?  Well it might be possible to get speeds many factors above real-time, and then of course everything in the physical world would be moving in slow motion.  Flesh and blood humans would seem tediously slow to experience.  Uploads might find they would have to slow some parts of themselves to even relate effectively to us.
 
Now let’s talk about increasing our upload's capabilities.  What about spawning (instantiating) multiple copies for complex tasks out onto more processors and then reintegrating for the results.  This assumes the architecture of such a system could enable this, and then integrate the separate memory experiences in a coherent fashion.
 
Maybe instead of dreaming we would spend most of our time dreaming new capabilities, solutions, and further questions as our abilities grew. 
 
What would be involved in using multiple uploads of different individuals?  Would we be able to integrate experiences from multiple individuals into each other or a new persona?  A massive group mind persona?   
 
Our society would become considerably different from what it is now.  Would there be those who refused to upload?  How would the uploads treat the physical humans and vice versa?
 
Immortality of memory and experience would result.  Would this be bearable?  Or would we have to periodically edit down our minds, or allow us to selectively forget things? Can a digital brain become too smart for it's own good?

How would a design based on human evolution work in a electronic computer network? Would it require a significant re-design? And would that in of itself endanger positive qualities of humanity, love, compassion, empathy, generosity, altruism, creativity, the quest and struggle to know and understand?
 
So many questions arise from the new potential of these abilities and post-human digital computational beings.