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Transhumanists wet dreams..

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hmmm.... i'm not too sure about a lot of those ideas... it seems to be a continuation of control over nature... which IMO is *not* the way forward.
I think the future should be about harmonizing ourselves with nature, accepting death and the transient nature of life. We have the most amazing technology available to us already... we just take it for granted.

I read an article recently about some guys researching nanobots... saying that one day they could manufacture food for us... and I thought, wait a minute, we already have things to make food for us... they're called plants!!

Its like this human delusion of grandeur that seems to infect certain scientific types. It is IMO the result of a very materialistic view of the world.
 
I think we just need to find sustainable technologies..certain aspects of technology can actaully lessen environmental impact..VR for instance..in the future I think alot of things like business meeting can be held on some type of virtual environment..alot of office space might be freed up that way which can equate to less construction..

The more compact and intereactive the web becomes the less need there will be for us to use up resources for communications etc..I think that way we can turn the planet into a huge eutopia..and eventually leave earth as a giant paradise garden as our home base..that prob wont be for a long time though and things like social inequality will have to improve so noone is left behind etc..

Obviousily there is still alot of things to improve and all this stuff is specualtion but technology is not going away..

I actaully think that using nano technology to grow food is not a bad idea..who/what does that hurt?..of course we cans till grow plants as a food source..but it makes sense when taking into account environmental sustainability..do you know how much plant based food is used up to feed cattle and other animals?..tons. You could eaily feed more mouths with the food they feed the cattle than by eating the animals themselves..it doesnt make sense if they can use tanotech to grow the meat..as long as it is healthy than whats the problem? It also causes less suffereing among the animals..the meat they are growing has no nervous system to gernerate a state of sufereing..Sure some people will go vegetarian..but honestly that is not healthy for everyone it depends on your blood type..I cant see everyone deciding to not eat meat..

I dont think any of this is really domination over nature..or unnatural..I think technology is a natual progression among our species...

Some scientists really do seem arrogant about it and dont give a shit about the planet, which is stupid..but this movie was good beacaue if you watch the whole thing it portrays both sides of the story, the good and the bad and the fears that people have about this type of thing..we could relly fuck this place up with these technologies..or we could make things a hell of alot better..its not the machines, but the peopel that wield them..
 
"I think the future should be about harmonizing ourselves with nature, accepting death and the transient nature of life."


Is the nature of life really that transient?..if so..Why/how do we know? How can we know that we are not sopposed to aid in our own evolution this way if we never try?

Part of me agrees with you..but another part of me sees this as an attempt to define ourselves or limit ourselves out of simple human presuppositions..

Should a man with limited hearing not use a hearing aid?..or someone with a bad heart not get a pacemaker?..where do the moral boundries lie between how far we go to use our technologies to extend/better the expereince of life? People use technologies such as medicine every day to extend their own lives..200 years ago people only lived to like half the age on adverage as they do now..as we got there through our technologies..how is this really that diffeent?

This would bean interesting discussion I think..becasue this seems to be what the future holds for us..
 
Fractal, you may like these BBC documentaries. I have not watched the one you posted yet, but judging by what you said I'm sure you'll like these :) My fav of the three is the quantum revolution (part 3) hope you like 'em. I find them fascinating.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
 
I hold a similar position to you on this Fractal. On one hand I want to see balance with nature and us to recognise our place within it. On the other, what can be achieved with harbouring new technology is truely staggering, and I for one would like to see some of it achieved. The key is sustainability and responsibility. Both of which are massive challenges.

I do also think that we can limit ourselves by saying man made things or new technologies are "not natural", but how can we be not natural? We, and our ideas and technologies have risen out of a natural state. How can we be anything other than natural? I don't mean that destroying eco systems / pollution etc is not a bad thing, just that it is a part of the natural world as everything else is.

We wouldnt call an asteroid hitting the earth unnatural, despite its devastating effects. I guess the diffrence is that we have the ability to choose our future (to some degree). Technological development is a part of that IMO, I just hope we choose to develop in a way that maintains the beauty of this earth, and does not jeapordise the delicate and intricate systems within it.
 
This section of the movie and the 2 before it are particularily interesting beacause it covers robotics, science and transhumansim in the east..where they have a more animistic mindset thaninthe west..even the dali lama here states that he would give up his religion if science he had evidence that science contradicted it..and that he would incarnate into a machine if and when possible..


Thanks for the links 1664 I will check those out!
 
I do agree with you guys in that we should not limit ourselves... Its just that most of the time, technologies that make some peoples lives easier make other peoples lives more difficult or harm nature, drain natural resources. I used to be really into sci-fi and futuristic visions of technology. But now I am more into the wonders that we have already...

I am all for technologies that are sustainable. The problem is that technology is very often connected either to money or war. Greed seems to take over a lot of the time and whole ecosystems trashed... just so a handful of people can get rich. Development of technologies with a wider perception of humanity and nature is the way forward, IMO. And I think it is happening, gradually.

I just thought stuff like designer bodies and brain transplants... I dunno... its taking things a bit far I think. People need to get over their fear of death.
 
Think we are all saying similar things really. I agree technology advancing is normally to get a few people rich, but it does filter down and benefit most people at some stage. As the link fractal posted suggests, there is no stopping technological advancement. It will happen, like it or not. The only things that will limit it will either be huge global political will, or global society regressing due to massive financial collapse or a massive disaster of some kind.

I know what you mean about people needing to get over their fear of death. The western world seems to have a lack of understanding of death, and most don't see death as part of life. Personally I feel very removed from it, death is still a largely taboo subject here and there is very little dialogue about it. This is part of the reason psychadelics interest me so much, as they give you clues about the other side, and maybe clues as to what happens when we do die.
 
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