Friday, January 31, 2014

Building Atop an Existing Conscience

We hear a lot about our attempts at building artificial intelligence. We have many talented intellectuals trying to come up with an entity that is smarter and more logical than we are and I commend them for their efforts and I really do hope it works out. I want more friends to spend time with and grow and learn.

But I wonder, shouldn't we also try enhancing an already consciousness mind? Us. Humans. We have brains. Most of us have learned to care and operate in a social environment. Yeah, sure we might have biases, and our brains may inherently be flawed, but it seems that if we were able to vastly increase our cognitive capacities we’d be certainly more useful and powerful and effective in solving our problems. What’s more, if we could vastly increase one of our humankind’s intelligence, we wouldn't have the public worrying about artificial intelligence going rogue and revolting against us. We would have a super intelligence on our team! Imagine people cheering for him/her.

It seems to me that while creating pure artificial intelligence is also an important thing, we should also try and vastly enhance our cognitive capacities to the point of meriting the label “super-intelligence”.

Yourself Amplified

There is a scene from A.I(2001) in which child-robot David, comes face to face with another David. He is surprised, astonished that this robot looks just like him. He even talks like me! Here’s the script for the scene.

I'm David! I'm unique!

DAVID: Professor Hobby? Professor Hobby? Hello? Hello?
Is this the place they make you real?
DAVID II: This is the place they make you read.
DAVID: Are you real?
DAVID II: I guess.
DAVID: Are you me?
DAVID II: I'm David.
DAVID: You’re not.
DAVID II: Yes, I am! I’m David!
DAVID: So am I.
DAVID II: Hello, David. Can you read? Can you sit down, and we can read together? Let’s be friends.
DAVID: You can’t have her.
DAVID II: I can’t hear you.
DAVID: She's mine. And I'm the ONLY one. I'm David! I'm David! I'm David! I'm David! I'm...(pause), I'm David! I'm David! I'm David! I'm special! I'm unique! I'm David! You can't have her! I'm David...I'm David...I'm David...
HOBBY: David? David!
DAVID: I'm David...I'm David...

Our poor David is afraid that he isn't unique. He wants to be. He craves it. He is the real thing. That other David, he’s an imposter. He’s fake! I am the one and only! Why can’t you see that!?

After having seen the movie several times, this scene always put me in David’s shoes. How would I feel if I were to wake up one day and find that there is another entity out there that looks like me, talks like me, and perhaps is me, to a certain degree? How would I react? How would I feel? What would I do? What should one do? Should I declare my uniqueness singular and wage war on all other versions of me? Or should I find it amusing, extend a hand, cooperate, and learn and go beyond what is currently me? 

Let’s imagine a scenario where we have the capabilities to make an exact copy of you, for whatever reasons there may be. 

If you were an individual who was against the idea of multiple copies of oneself, most likely that copy of you will harbor those thoughts, too. The copy will find you, the original an intruder, an imposter, a fake! Destruction will ensue, and in a system with multiple versions of the original who are against forking will be volatile and unstable.

But if you were an individual who embraced the idea of multiple copies, most likely the copies will do, too. Cooperation will be possible. Harmony will be amplified.

So perhaps it would be best to find the forking of one’s consciousness amusing, delightful. Go on. There’s a world out there to explore and learn about! Cooperate with yourself. It should be a wonderful experience.

Humanity's Focus


We, as a species, should have a focus on

  • Clean Free Energy for All
  • Radical Life Extension
  • Super Intelligence
  • Morphological Freedom
  • Reformed Social System
  • Universal Social Well Being


What say you?

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

The Illusion of Continuity of Self

Are you sure you're the one who went to sleep last night?

I am no philosopher, nor a researching scientist. At least not yet. But I have a piece of mind, and I’d like to share it with the world. Today I’d like to write about what’s been buggering me for quite some time. I've pondered on it on and off and it’s quite a fascinating idea. It’s on the subject of the illusion of continuity of the self.

Whenever we start talking about technology such as the Transporter from Startrek, or the act of uploading one’s mind, or downloading one’s mind into a new body, we start asking questions like “I’m not sure the guy who pops out of the other end of the Transporter is the same guy who went in.” or “How do I know it’s me that wakes up inside that new digital realm that I’m going to upload myself into?” or “What does it feel like to download myself into a new body? Does it feel like going to sleep and waking up the morning?” and I've asked myself these questions, too.

Having thought about it, I find that I have this urge to want to make sure that if I’m the one stepping into that Transporter, I want it to be me that wakes up on the other side of that teleportation device. I have this fear that it may not be me who wakes up the other side. I want to make sure that my consciousness is continued, like going to sleep and waking up the next morning. I’m pretty sure it’s still the same me that went to sleep last night, right? Right?

Ummmm…… I’m not so sure now.

Maybe these fears of ours’ is unfounded.

Perhaps the continuity of self is an illusion.


Let's try a thought experiment.

Let’s try a bit of an amateurish visual thought experiment.

Older … … … |A1|A2|A3|A4| … |B1|B2|B3|B4| … |C1|C2|C3|C4| … … … Newer … |Z9|

Each combination of letter and number between the 2 sticks represents a small enough time window in which nothing in our body has changed. So for example, during the discrete time of A1 no new neurons have fired, they are exactly where they were at the start of A1 and also at the end of A1. Your state of mind, everything inside your body, is slightly different from A1 when the time hits A2. The state of your body is slightly different in every discrete time window. As time progress, your state of body changes little by little, going through phase A1, A2, A3 … and finally you get to phase Z9 which is your current exact state of body and mind.

Now let’s say, you went to sleep at exactly the moment of A1 and you slept through A2, A3, … , B1, … , C4, … and finally you woke up and regained consciousness at Z9.

I wake up, it’s a new day, I don’t remember everything but I do remember enough to be able to fully operate in this society, my brain and physiology might be slightly different from the past but no problem, I’ve only changed slightly. Everything’s fine, really, I insist!

Now think back on how you went to sleep last night. Did you worry that when you were going to wake up the next morning someone else might wake up in your place? Not exactly, you were most likely pretty fine with going to sleep. But in reality, that’s exactly what happened. A1 went to sleep, and A1 never woke up. Instead, Z9 woke up. Right now you are Z9, and in a strict sense, you are not A1. Someone went to sleep last night, but he didn’t wake up, someone else woke up! You are Z9, but you also happen to think that you are A1 because you have most of A1’s relevant memories.

I guess memories are like glue. They bridge the conscious gaps and help create this illusion of continuity of self.

In a sense, that guy who went to sleep last night never woke up, and someone else woke up in his place, complete with his memories. The continuity of self is an illusion. You just happen to be the latest rendition of that neural storm inside your brain.

There’s a powerful quote by Sam Harris in his book Free Will(2012).
You are not controlling the storm, and you are not lost in it. You are the storm. 
So back to our transporter and mind uploading problem. You should be no more afraid of beaming yourself through the transporter or uploading your mind than you are of going to sleep at night. Will you be the one to wake up on the other side of dreamland? No. The guy who went to sleep will never wake up. But someone else will wake up and he will be you. You've been doing this countless times over the days ever since you were born.

You are not the A1 that went to sleep, you are the Z9 that woke up. So stop victimizing yourself. You are not the victim. You are the perpetrator. And soon, as soon as you go to sleep today, you shall fall victim to the next Z9 in line.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

The Principles of Extropy Translated

This is a rough translation of Max More's Principle of Extropy in Brief. Perhaps my fellow Korean friends could find it helpful in understanding Transhumanism. 
이것은 맥스 모어의 엑스트로피의 워칙에 대한 간단한  번역이다. 내 한국 친구들이 트랜스휴머니즘을 이해하는데 도움이 될거라고 생각한다.


The Principles of Extropy in Brief

간단하게 정리한 엑스트로피의 원칙



Perpetual Progress

끊임 없는 발전


Extropy means seeking more intelligence, wisdom, and effectiveness, an open-ended lifespan, and the removal of political, cultural, biological, and psychological limits to continuing development. Perpetually overcoming constraints on our progress and possibilities as individuals, as organizations, and as a species. Growing in healthy directions without bound.

엑스트로피란 더욱더 많은 지식, 지혜, 유효성, 그리고 개방된 수명을 추구하고 계속된 발전을 제한하는 정치적, 문화적인, 생물학적, 그리고 심리학적인 제한들의 제거를 의미한다. 개인으로서, 단체로서, 그리고 종으로서 우리의 발전과 가능성들을 제한시키는 것들을 계속해서 극복해나가려고 노력한다. 한계 없이 바람직한 방향으로 성장하는 것을 추구한다.


Self-Transformation

자기 변화


Extropy means affirming continual ethical, intellectual, and physical self-improvement, through critical and creative thinking, perpetual learning, personal responsibility, proactivity, and experimentation. Using technology — in the widest sense to seek physiological and neurological augmentation along with emotional and psychological refinement.

엑스트로피란 끊임 없이 비판적 사고와 창조적인 사고, 지속적인 학습, 개인적인 책임감, 주도성, 그리고 실험을 통해 윤리적인, 지적인, 그리고 육체적인 지속적 자기 개발을 긍정하는 것을 의미한다 넓은 의미의 기술을 통해 생리적, 신경적인 증강화(augmentation)를 따라 감정적인, 그리고 심리적인 정교화를 추구하는 것을 의미한다.


Practical Optimism

현실적인 긍정주의


Extropy means fueling action with positive expectations – individuals and organizations being tirelessly proactive. Adopting a rational, action-based optimism or "proaction", in place of both blind faith and stagnant pessimism.

엑스트로피란 긍정적인 기대를 갖고 행동의 불을 붙이는 것을 의미하며 – 개인과 단체들의 지칠 줄 모르는 주도성을 의미 한다. 맹목전인 믿음과 침체된 비관주의 대신 합리적이고 행동에 기반을 둔 긍정주의를 채택하는 것을 의미한다.


Intelligent Technology

지능적인 기술


Extropy means designing and managing technologies not as ends in themselves but as effective means for improving life. Applying science and technology creatively and courageously to transcend "natural" but harmful, confining qualities derived from our biological heritage, culture, and environment.

엑스트로피란 목적으로서의 기술들을 디자인하고 관리하는 것이 아니고 생을 개선 시킬 수 있는 효과적인 수단으로서의 기술들을 디자인하고 관리하는 것을 의미한다. 생물학적 유산, 문화, 그리고 환경으로부터 파생된 “자연적이지만” 해롭고 제한적인 속성들을 과학과 기술을 창조적이고 용감하게 적용시켜 초월하는 것을 의미한다.


Open Society - information and democracy

개방적인 사회 – 정보와 민주주의


Extropy means supporting social orders that foster freedom of communication, freedom of action, experimentation, innovation, questioning, and learning. Opposing authoritarian social control and unnecessary hierarchy and favoring the rule of law and decentralization of power and responsibility. Preferring bargaining over battling, exchange over extortion, and communication over compulsion. Openness to improvement rather than a static utopia. Extropia ("ever-receding stretch goals for society") over utopia ("no place").

엑스트로피란 의사소통의 자유, 행동의 자유, 혁신, 질의, 그리고 학습을 장려하는 사회 체계들을 지지하는 것을 의미한다. 권위주의적인 사회적 제제와 불필요한 계층을 반대하고 법규, 분산된 권위와 책임감을 추구하는 것을 의미한다. 전투가 아닌 거래, 강요가 아닌 교환, 그리고 충동이 아닌 의사소통을 장려하는 것을 의미한다. 정적인 유토피아가 아닌 발전에 대해 개방돼있는 것을 의미한다. 유토피아(“정적인”)가 아닌 엑스트로피아(“지속적인 발전을 추구하는 사회”).


Self-Direction

자기-방향


Extropy means valuing independent thinking, individual freedom, personal responsibility, self-direction, self-respect, and a parallel respect for others.

엑스트로피란 독립적인 사고, 개인적인 자유, 개인적인 책임감, 자기-방향, 자기 존중, 그리고 남을 대하는 동일한 존중을 가치 있게 생각하는 것을 의미한다.


Rational Thinking

합리적인 사고


Extropy means favoring reason over blind faith and questioning over dogma. It means understanding, experimenting, and learning, challenging, and innovating rather than clinging to beliefs.

엑스트로피란 맹목적인 믿음 대신 이성, 신조 대신 질문하는 것을 장려한다. 믿음을 고수하는 것이 아니고 이해하고, 실험하고, 학습하고, 도전하고, 혁신하는 것을 의미한다.


Friday, January 24, 2014

Personal Identity and Change

I've always been fascinated with the idea of self, and those big questions we ask ourselves once in a while. Who am I? What am I? What makes me different from all the other fellow humans? And I would try to define myself, you know, I thought that would help. All those attempts at trying to define “me”. No doubt it was a mind boggling question, a question that seemed to beg for an answer, yet a question that was ever receding, over the hills, far far away…



Then after I graduated high-school I had much more time and energy to look into things. The internet was a great help. Thanks, internet, you deserve it. I started uncovering all kinds of new ideas like the ship of Theseus, swampman, technological singularity, etc. More questions arose. The more questions I had, the more hungry I got, the more energetic and optimistic about life I became.

There’s a wonderful dialogue from the Ghost in the Shell(1995) between Major and the Puppet Master.
Major: You talk about redefining my identity. I want a guarantee that I can still be myself.
Puppet Master: There isn't one. Why would you wish to? All things change in a dynamic environment. Your effort to remain what you are is what limits you.
There’s another quote I’d like to share by David Zindell from his book The Broken God(1992).
What is a human being then? 
A seed. 
A...seed? 
An acorn that is unafraid to destroy itself in growing into a tree.
The dialogue between Major and the Puppet Master was one of the most thought provoking words I have ever heard from a movie character.
Your effort to remain what you are is what limits you.
Ah, how bold is that, eh? I love it.

Many Versions, Many Iterations

Looking at the Android Version History we've gone through, let’s see, Android 1.0, Android 1.1, Android 1.5, Android 1.6 – now we've just passed Android 4.2, Android 4.2.1, Android 4.2.2, Android 4.3 and now finally Android 4.4. Each android different from its predecessor, perhaps better, more stable, faster, more efficient. Our smartphones carry numbers behind them, perhaps to signify how much they have changed, to show the world how better they have become.

Should I put numbers behind my name? You know, to emphasize the fact that I am clearly a different person than when I was born? When I was younger? I’m 20 year’s old now. I’m pretty sure I am vastly different from who I was 5 years ago, let alone 20. And yet, everyone that I know of insists on calling me by the name I was given 20 years ago. Don’t you understand people? He doesn't exist! He’s been replaced… by me.

Have I killed him? Oh, dear. I… I don’t know. Did I? I certainly don’t remember me physically killing him. But he is no longer, and I am. Perhaps I could say that I’ve overwritten him. Yes, that sounds better. I didn't kill him, I just overwrote him.

Transcendence(2014) Trailer



There’s a scene in the trailer for the movie Transcendence(2014) starring Johnny Depp where Max(Paul Bettany’s character) says (at the 1:18 mark) :
“Assuming that this works, if we missed anything, a thought, a childhood memory, how will you know who you’re dealing with?”
Well, Max. You forgot your own childhood memories, at least most of them or some of them, decades ago. Does this mean we should no longer consider you… you? (On second thoughts, that’s a great idea. We should consider you a different being. Everyone should call you Max 2.0 now. Or maybe Max 2.01.7) We do this every single day, Max. We forget things here and there, we go to sleep, we wake up, we only remember a couple of things from the day before, does that mean your significant other wakes up next to you and screams that you’re no longer Max?

Change is Everything

Change. That’s all there is to it. Really. I think. And I feel liberated. Liberated I am indeed. I feel no need to strictly define myself. I am not a static hunk of unchanging meat. I am in constant motion. Perpetual change. Numerous iterations. Many versions. So don’t be afraid to nod your head when someone comes up and says you've changed. Nod your head. Bang your head in agreement. Yes! I have changed! Isn't it awesome!? Embrace the change. Welcome it. And you shall be... liberated.


Thursday, January 23, 2014

Accelerated Learning Hub


What is it?

A system, environment, area, that is dedicated to enhancing one’s mental abilities to learn, absorb, and apply information and knowledge by boosting efficiency, creativity, processing speed, accuracy, attention, focus, and analytical power via technology and methodology.

Laughing Man's Library - I just love books, and the thought of being able to spend day after day in the midst of all that information sounds awesome.

Why do I want it?

With so much information out there, both in print and on the internet, I feel that my current knowledge is very limited compared to the existing information out there. Everyday tons and tons of new data and information is created and yet, I am not able to absorb that information, much less make it a part of me and be able to apply it. In short, I want to learn and know everything, at least everything that we humans currently know. I want to ride the waves of this vast and infinite sea of information and not drown, and sink like we are doing now. I want to go beyond what my current brain allows. I want to vastly increase my cognitive capacity. I want super-intelligence.

This is Ishikawa at work on collecting information from the net. He seems to be able to "traverse the landscape" of the digital world and poke around here and there.

Where did you come up with this idea?

The idea is probably not new, and I’m pretty sure other people have thought about it, too. I’ve always enjoyed learning, and knowing, and understanding. I’ve also recently seen the Ghost in the Shell series, and a couple of scenes lit a few bulbs inside my head. There was the Laughing Man’s Circular Library in Stand Alone Complex, Ishikawa’s Net Explorer, and Subconscious Kusanagi’s Info Hub in Solid State Society. These rooms, systems, were used to process and amass information, to gather clues, to navigate the net, to monitor activity and so on. I also vaguely remember a talk I’ve heard somewhere, about how we human’s create our environment, and our environment gives us feedback, affecting our way of creating, and we go into this kind of perpetual cycle of constant creation and positive feedback.

Subconcious Major's...errr...watcha-ma-call-this shit? But most definitely used for amassing information and data collection.

What should it consist of?

Perhaps, electrical devices such as projectors, monitors, thought-to-text converters, motion trackers, personal computers, and so on. Neural implants should probably play a big role in these systems. I want to take multiple Coursera courses at the same time, do multiple discussions, I want multiple everything. Perhaps, AI’s that can help me in my journey, a muse like AI from Eclipse Phase, an OS like Samantha from her, someone like Jarvis from Ironman. Nootropics and tDCS could probably help, too. Furniture to comfy up the surroundings, perhaps? Virtual Reality could probably open up endless possibilities.

What do you envision?

I envision the entire human race, where all individuals are super intelligent, whom all have super cognitive functions, enhanced compassion and reasoning, every single one of us vastly superior than we are now. Imagine how nice it would be for the entire race to be super intelligent. Hey, near zero information latency; that would be awesome. An entire race of scientists and artists, and engineers, and all sorts of occupations, where everyone is everything and nothing holds us back. No boundaries, no bottlenecks, no nothing. I seem to have derailed myself into some sort of rambling mode.

I want the entire human race, as a whole species, and also as individuals to be less selfish, less bigoted, less angry, and less evil, and be smarter, more reasonable, more compassionate, and more empathic.



This is my first blog post. In this blog I will write whatever I want, whenever I want. No obligations, just a couple of my musings. It will be more of a repository than a showcase or presentation. Enjoy.