Alex
Administrator
welcome ipso... great first post! I think James Corbett was trying to make a similar point in this interview when he talked about the impact of the technology/surveillance grid on the one world state issue. I agree with you, it's a lot more scary when you factor in the changes that are right around the corner (and/or already here).Firstly, newb here and thanks to Alex for letting me on board. :)
These kind of discussions about a 'future' always has me wanting to natter on about a very important (to me anyway) sort of side/complementary/parallel issue. That is, how the role of technology (if continued rather unabated on its present course) is going to make the future pretty much unrecognizable to us human beings in the here and now.....and that includes what it'll mean to even be a human being in the first place.
Whereas all of history up till a 150 years or so was fairly static, we've entered into a science and technology explosion that doubles on itself in an ever accelerating fashion.
Talk about inevitability. Tech combined with the increasingly complicated management of all these systems plus huge populations that need managing, I believe will lead to, what to us in the here and now, would view as a dystopia. However, to those 'living' in those times, they will be perfectly adapted to it and be their normal.
This whole 1984-ish, brave new world-ish thing will also come about with the fervent consent and demand by most of the population. Whatever the tech is that'll get them there will be marketed appropriately and consumer devoured accordingly.
Right around the corner is genetic modification and sped up evolution of humans at the hands of humans. Who can afford to have engineered super kids? You guessed it. Where does that leave the other 99%? Here you'll see the whittling down of the population by attrition which would be the most 'kindest' way, I suppose.
At some point will be the ridding of the biological human all together. However, the issue of where consciousness truly comes from would probably be needed figuring out by then, be it from the duality or brain epiphenomena or even something else.
Obviously I leave a lot out during all these societal transitions. That would take a book no doubt.
However, somewhere along the route will be that one world gov't thing probably.
I mean... take a look at star trek. Humans piloting a spaceship a few hundred years from now??? Hell, what once was called a human being WILL be the spaceship ITSELF! lol
then again, our history with technology (even pre-PC) would suggest that we can only embrace, adapt and move forward... there's a reason Luddites have such a bad name :)
I still think the issue of strong AI and consciousness is separate (although related). I accept that there will be a lot of folks with chips in their arms and memory enhancers in their skull, but I suspect all this will be a tiny spec on the larger canvas of human consciousness.