Oldest Man Alive - Born in 1896

[Brian Peacock]

Indeed. Turing's paper on computable numbers has led to a paradigm shift in how we live our lives in our lifetime, but it didn't change everything we thought we knew. One might say that Einstein's work led to one of those paradigm shifts, but he was only a rung on the ladder of scientific progress and, as science goes, may still be overturned. You never know though. The discovery of life on Mars or Titan, or something gene-related might yet surprise us in a fundamental way. I'd love to be put to sleep in a box and woken in 100 years time to find out.

[pErvinalia]

He witnessed a number of seismic shifts in science in his lifetime. The size of the known universe changing size to enormous proportions. Relativity. The big bang theory. Quantum mechanics. Genetics.

Although there have been interesting discoveries in my lifetime, they've all added to these established sciences, and a few more before. There has been no paradigm shift in my life. Nothing that has changed everything we thought we knew. And I don't know that I'll ever see one.

Waiting for a neurological Darwin to give us a naturalistic view of the brain and kicks out one of the last remaining pillars of religion.

In our lifetime we should see conscious machines (and the possibility of uploading our own consciousness), cure for cancer, possibility of immortality, almost unlimited and cheap power from fusion, near enough to 100% recycling of all waste, quantum computing, quantum gravity aka grand unifying theory aka theory of everything. That's if we don't fuck it all up with ecological collapse and/or nuclear/biological annihilation in the meantime, which is an almost certainty if you ask me..

[NineBerry]

That's the science version of "Jesus will return in our lifetime"

[Brian Peacock]

Transhumanism is bunkum.

Just saying

[pErvinalia]

That's the science version of "Jesus will return in our lifetime"

Lol. But you just see if I'm not right. I'll see you back in here in 40 years time and we'll compare. If we're not dead yet, that is, from ecological collapse and/or pestilence and/or nuclear annihilation and/or intergalactic warfare.

[pErvinalia]

Transhumanism is bunkum.

Just saying

You don't think we'll interface with machines? We already do.

[Brian Peacock]

You didn't just say 'interface with machines', your said "In our lifetime we should see conscious machines (and the possibility of uploading our own consciousness)". It was the prophetic parenthetical part in particular I was calling bunkum.

[Animavore]

I don't get the concept of "uploading" consciousness. What is there to "upload", exactly? And if embodied cognition is correct then an uploaded consciousness without a body would be as disconnected and distorted as a person under extreme sensory deprivation.

[pErvinalia]

You didn't just say 'interface with machines', your said "In our lifetime we should see conscious machines (and the possibility of uploading our own consciousness)". It was the prophetic parenthetical part in particular I was calling bunkum.

In English?

Transhumanism is about interfacing with machines, among other things.

[pErvinalia]

I don't get the concept of "uploading" consciousness. What is there to "upload", exactly?

A brain state. That's all consciousness is. Unless you believe in some sort of ineffable stuff.

And if embodied cognition is correct then an uploaded consciousness without a body would be as disconnected and distorted as a person under extreme sensory deprivation.

If we get to the point where we can upload consciousness then I'm pretty sure we'll be able to simulate a body to go along with it.

[Brian Peacock]

You didn't just say 'interface with machines', your said "In our lifetime we should see conscious machines (and the possibility of uploading our own consciousness)". It was the prophetic parenthetical part in particular I was calling bunkum.

In English?

Prophetic: relating to or characteristic of a prophet or prophecy.
Parentheses: a pair of round brackets ( ) used to mark off a parenthetical word or phrase.
Bunkum: nonsense, rubbish, balderdash, gibberish, claptrap, blarney, guff, blather, blether, hogwash, rot, baloney, tripe, drivel, gobbledegook, bilge, bosh, bull, bunk, hot air, eyewash, piffle, poppycock, phooey, hooey, malarkey, twaddle, dribble,cobblers, codswallop, cock, stuff and nonsense, tosh, double Dutch, flannel, bollocks.

Transhumanism is about interfacing with machines, among other things.

What? Like we are now? Sounds like an equivocation to me.

[pErvinalia]

Given I was the first to mention it, I can't see how it's an equivocation.

Ok, thanks for the English translation. Why do you think it is bunkum?

[Brian Peacock]

Given I was the first to mention it, I can't see how it's an equivocation.

It sounds like equivocation because you were predicting conscious machines and consciousness uploads but then said it was about interfacing with machines - like we're doing now.

Ok, thanks for the English translation.

It was always English. But I'm more than happy to school you wherever your comprehension of English falters and you can't be bothered to go to the dictionary yourself.

Why do you think it is bunkum?

Perhaps we should start a fresh thread on it, but what Ani said.

[Svartalf]

You didn't just say 'interface with machines', your said "In our lifetime we should see conscious machines (and the possibility of uploading our own consciousness)". It was the prophetic parenthetical part in particular I was calling bunkum.

In English?

Transhumanism is about interfacing with machines, among other things.

interfacing at the direct neural level... for which we don't have quite the tech

[Rum]

Granted all the changes and the incredible steps in science and our understanding of how things work, I was coincidentally talking with my 91 year old mother the other day about the changes she has seen since her birth in 1926 and her recollections of people, habits ands the life of her parents.

Her grandfather operated a water mill which local farmers used to grind wheat into flour. He lived in West Cumbria - a remote spot even today by UK standards. His nearest town was Whitehaven about five miles away and the next nearest, and the furthest he ever traveled in his life was Cockermouth about 15 miles away. He went there once a year to buy a goose for Christmas, walking there and back.

Her view was that the biggest changes since that time have been social. The loss of formality is social relations, individual liberty, the freedom that women have won, sexual liberation or even license if you will, the social and physical mobility of people and the instant communication. Her grandfather would not have believed you could get in a tin box with wheels on it and drive at 80 miles and hour to London in three or four hours - or that you could listen to music (and what music it is!) all the way on a radio actually in your tin box.. He would not have believed women could be doctors and wear trousers - or very little at all - and that what doctors can do is so amazing now.

Also, she added - the colour in our world is a huge change. Clothes were drab and conservative, Bright colours except in nature were rare. Colour is everywhere now. She says as far as she is concerned for the most part the world is a far better place today than it was then.