tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post5087918038633869..comments2023-11-22T01:14:54.298-08:00Comments on amor mundi: Hannah Arendt on FuturologyDale Carricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811055279887722298noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-83909965627429564872009-04-21T13:06:00.000-07:002009-04-21T13:06:00.000-07:00> -- Knowledge is precious. . . Any loss of thi...> -- Knowledge is precious. . . Any loss of this knowledge is tragic.<br />> <br />> . . .<br />> <br />> -- Death is a tragedy. . .<br />> <br />> -- A primary role of traditional religion is deathist rationalization. . .<br />> [T]he Singularity will. . . make life more than bearable; it will<br />> make life truly meaningful.<br />> <br />> -- [T]he purpose of life. . . is to create and appreciate ever-greater<br />> knowledge, to move toward greater "order". . .<br />> <br />> -- [T]he purpose of the universe. . . is to move toward greater<br />> intelligence and knowledge. . .<br />> <br />> -- Having reached a tipping point, we will within this century be<br />> ready to infuse our solar system with our intelligence through<br />> self-replicating nonbiological intelligence. It will then spread<br />> out through the rest of the universe.<br /><br />http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/If_You_Could_Hie_to_Kolob<br /><br />If you could hie to Kolob In the twinkling of an eye,<br />And then continue onward With that same speed to fly,<br />Do you think that you could ever, Through all eternity,<br />Find out the generation Where Gods began to be?<br /><br />Or see the grand beginning, Where space did not extend?<br />Or view the last creation, Where Gods and matter end?<br />Me thinks the Spirit whispers, “No man has found ‘pure space,’<br />Nor seen the outside curtains, Where nothing has a place.”<br /><br />The works of God continue, And worlds and lives abound;<br />Improvement and progression Have one eternal round.<br />There is no end to matter; There is no end to space;<br />There is no end to spirit; There is no end to race.<br /><br />There is no end to virtue; There is no end to might;<br />There is no end to wisdom; There is no end to light.<br />There is no end to union; There is no end to youth;<br />There is no end to priesthood; There is no end to truth.<br /><br />There is no end to glory; There is no end to love;<br />There is no end to being; There is no death above.<br />There is no end to glory; There is no end to love;<br />There is no end to being; There is no death above.jimfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04975754342950063440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-16144440166964120102009-04-20T10:47:00.000-07:002009-04-20T10:47:00.000-07:00> The logical flaw in these hypothetical constr...> The logical flaw in these hypothetical constructions of<br />> future events is always the same: what first appears as a<br />> hypothesis -- with or without its implied alternatives,<br />> according to the level of sophistication -- turns immediately,<br />> usually after a few paragraphs, into a 'fact,' which then<br />> gives birth to a whole string of non-facts, with the result<br />> that the purely speculative character of the whole enterprise<br />> is forgotten.<br /><br />The last thing we need is another dogma, nor do we need<br />another cult, but apparently we need a new religion. :-/<br /><br /><br />_The Singularity Is Near_, by Ray Kurzweil<br />p. 371<br /><br />Being a Singularitarian has often been an alienating and lonely<br />experience for me because most people I encounter do not share<br />my outlook. . . [P]eople typically evidence the common wisdom<br />that human life is short, that our physical and intellectual<br />reach is limited, and that nothing fundamental will change<br />in our lifetimes. I expect this narrow view to change as the<br />implications of accelerating change become increasingly<br />apparent [by 2025, is it?], but having more people with whom<br />to share my outlook is a major reason that I wrote this book.<br /><br />So how do we contemplate the Singularity? As with the sun, it's<br />hard to look at directly; it's better to squint at it out of<br />the corners of our eyes. As Max More states, the last thing<br />we need is another dogma, nor do we need another cult, so<br />Singularitarianism is not a system of beliefs or unified<br />viewpoints. While it is fundamentally an understanding of<br />basic technology trends, it is simultaneously an insight that<br />causes one to rethink everything, from the nature of health<br />and wealth to the nature of death and self.<br /><br />To me, being a Singularitarian means. . .<br /><br />-- We have the means right now to live long enough to live<br />forever. . .<br /><br />-- In this spirit I am aggressively reprogramming my biochemistry. . .<br />Taking supplements and medications is not a last resort to<br />be reserved only for when something goes wrong. . .<br /><br />-- My body is temporary. . . Only the pattern of my body and brain<br />have continuity.<br /><br />-- . . . Ultimately, we will be able to vastly expand our<br />mental faculties by merging with our technology.<br /><br />-- . . . Once we incorporate MNT fabrication into ourselves,<br />we will be able to change our bodies at will.<br /><br />-- Only technology can. . . overcome the challenges with which<br />human society has struggled for generations. . .<br /><br />-- Knowledge is precious. . . Any loss of this knowledge is tragic.<br /><br />. . .<br /><br />-- Death is a tragedy. . .<br /><br />-- A primary role of traditional religion is deathist rationalization. . .<br />[T]he Singularity will. . . make life more than bearable; it will<br />make life truly meaningful.<br /><br />-- [T]he purpose of life. . . is to create and appreciate ever-greater<br />knowledge, to move toward greater "order". . .<br /><br />-- [T]he purpose of the universe. . . is to move toward greater<br />intelligence and knowledge. . .<br /><br />-- Having reached a tipping point, we will within this century be<br />ready to infuse our solar system with our intelligence through<br />self-replicating nonbiological intelligence. It will then spread<br />out through the rest of the universe.<br /><br />-- . . . The primary problems we cannot solve are ones that we cannot<br />articulate and are mostly ones of which we are not yet aware.<br />For the problems that we do encounter, the key challenge is to<br />express them precisely in words (and sometimes in equations). Having<br />done that, we have the ability to. . . resolve each such problem.<br /><br />-- We can apply the enormous leverage provided by the acceleration<br />of technology. . . This offers us a way to live indefinitely<br />**now**, even though we don't yet have all the knowledge necessary<br />for radical life extension. . .<br /><br />Contemporary philosopher Max More describes the goal of humanity as<br />a transcendence to be "achieved through science and technology steered<br />by human values." More cites Nietzsche's observation "Man is a rope,<br />fastened between animal and overman -- a rope over an abyss." . . .<br /><br />More also worries about a cultural rebellion "seduced by religious<br />and cultural urgings for 'stability,' 'peace,' and against 'hubris'<br />and 'the unknown'" that may derail technological acceleration.<br />In my view any significant derailment of the overall advancement<br />of technology is unlikely. . . But the reflexive, thoughtless<br />antitechnology sentiments increasingly being voiced in the world today<br />do have the potential to exacerbate a lot of suffering. . .<br /><br />BILL GATES: I agree with you 99 percent. What I like about your<br />ideas is that they are grounded in science, but your optimism is<br />almost a religious faith. I'm optimistic also.<br /><br />RAY: Yes, well, we need a new religion. A principal role of<br />religion has been to rationalize death, since up until just now<br />there was little else constructive that we could do about it. . .<br /><br />BILL: . . . We need a charismatic leader for this new religion.<br /><br />RAY: A charismatic leader is part of the old model. That's something<br />we want to get away from.<br /><br />BILL: Okay, a charismatic computer, then. . .<br /><br />--------------------------<br /><br />Ah, well. And adieu, J. G. Ballard<br />http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8007331.stm<br /><br />"Looking out from the hotel balcony shortly after eight<br />o’clock, Kerans watched the sun rise behind the dense<br />groves of giant gymnosperms crowding over the roofs of<br />the abandoned department stores four hundred yards<br />away on the east side of the lagoon. . .<br /><br />So he left the lagoon and entered the jungle again,<br />within a few days was completely lost, following the<br />lagoons southward through the increasing rain and heat,<br />attacked by alligators and giant bats, a second Adam<br />searching for the forgotten paradises of the reborn sun."<br /><br />-- J. G. Ballard, _The Drowned World_jimfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04975754342950063440noreply@blogger.com