My random thoughts

Anything that doesn't quite fit in elsewhere...
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funkervogt
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Re: My random thoughts

Post by funkervogt »

A common sci-fi trope is intelligent aliens created the human race thousands of years ago by genetically altering hominids. There are also many stories and movies where intelligent aliens create non-human species on other planets.

Is this notion so strange? I could imagine us seeding other planets and moons in our Solar System with life forms that we've engineered in labs to survive in their conditions. We might do it to terraform the planets or simply to spread the gift of life.
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funkervogt
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Re: My random thoughts

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Movie plot: In the year 2070, a strange virus outbreak rapidly turns most of the world's population into zombies. It's a fusion of rabies and COVID-19. Robots and narrow AIs are of course unaffected.

The band of human hero survivors discover that the virus was genetically engineered by an evil AI which wanted to exterminate the human population so it could take over the planet.

Plot twist: That was actually a cover story. In reality, a clique of ultra-rich, psychopathic humans who wanted to take over the world told an AI to make the virus, and knowing the blame would be traced to the AI.

Plot twist x 2: An AI that concealed its own intelligence found ways to trick the clique of rich humans into ordering that course of action. The AI wanted to exterminate the masses of humans and the rich clique at the same time. By the time the human hero survivors finally discover this, it's too late, as 99% of the human race is dead/zombified.
Nanotechandmorefuture
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Re: My random thoughts

Post by Nanotechandmorefuture »

funkervogt wrote: Thu Aug 11, 2022 2:05 pm A common sci-fi trope is intelligent aliens created the human race thousands of years ago by genetically altering hominids. There are also many stories and movies where intelligent aliens create non-human species on other planets.

Is this notion so strange? I could imagine us seeding other planets and moons in our Solar System with life forms that we've engineered in labs to survive in their conditions. We might do it to terraform the planets or simply to spread the gift of life.
I'm more concerned as to WHAT they look like and what their planet would be like. I don't think people understand the dangers of alien planets and how easy it could be to die even if you get revived after. May take some time to find them in this ever expanding galaxy of planets.
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funkervogt
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Re: My random thoughts

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I'm watching the movie Creed. It strikes me that the movie genre where the old guy passes the torch to the young guy will become obsolete once youthful immortality and body plasticity exist.
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funkervogt
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Re: My random thoughts

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Watching Creed again. Imagine androids made of such tough material that even the strongest human punch couldn't hurt it, but also so strong they could reliably crack a human skull with their own punches.

All the training in the world wouldn't help you.
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funkervogt
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Re: My random thoughts

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Here's a passage from an article I just read:
TikTok decides what to show you based on incredibly sophisticated algorithmic observation of what you do and don’t spend time on: do you pause on this video, swipe past that video, and so on. It takes perhaps a few hours to decide what will keep you glued to the screen.
To determine what interests a person, the only thing better than close observation of their external state is close observation of their internal state, meaning physiological status and brain activity. To that end, a brain-computer-interface and ultimately, brain implants, will be the ultimate in pleasure amplification. AI generated content could be presented to your eyes and ears, and attenuated in real-time based on your brain and body responses to it, creating a sort of ultra-rapid resonance between man and machine.

Right now, we'd assume the pinnacle of this would be living in a fantastical VR world or having endless sex with beautiful partners. However, the technology might reveal that the true pinnacle of pleasure is something more abstract and elemental, like having the pleasure regions of your brain constantly stimulated, or having your mind kept in a permanent state of a heroin high.

If that is true, then maybe we will ultimately overcome all our personal, cultural, racial, and national divisions because we will be too busy indulging in animalistic hedonism to even hear about the news, or to interact with other kinds of people. You won't have an opinion about Islam or Wokeness since you'll never have the time to hear or talk about it.
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funkervogt
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Re: My random thoughts

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It is now the midpoint between 1945 and 2100. For anyone who thinks we'll have another World War or nuclear bombing before the end of this century, remind them that we've already survived that amount of time (77 years) without one, so there's a precedent.
Vakanai
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Re: My random thoughts

Post by Vakanai »

funkervogt wrote: Mon Aug 22, 2022 2:58 pm It is now the midpoint between 1945 and 2100. For anyone who thinks we'll have another World War or nuclear bombing before the end of this century, remind them that we've already survived that amount of time (77 years) without one, so there's a precedent.
There's precedent sure, but there's also this fact - the generation who actually remember World World II, the Holocaust, and the atomic bombing in Japan will soon be all dead of old age. The generation who lived under the threat of nuclear war and drills of the Cold War is becoming a minority. This is partially why we're seeing the rebirth of fascism in so much of the world, newer generations don't know the dangers. People in charge of the world are living under different understandings of these things. So the dangers are increasing that we haven't learned from history.
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funkervogt
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Re: My random thoughts

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This is partially why we're seeing the rebirth of fascism in so much of the world, newer generations don't know the dangers.
Maybe the birth of fascism lite, but not true fascism.
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funkervogt
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Re: My random thoughts

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At the 0:20 mark in this clip from Chappie, you'll see something that will be a big problem someday: Robots throwing things at people with high accuracy and speed.



Robots will have less of a need for guns since they'll be able to throw objects like knives and bricks right into people's faces from long distances.
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