The Launch

Silent. It took off, the rocket. I could see it first. From a few kilometers away. And then I could hear it. The shockwave hit me, and it was wonderful. Green. I was atop a tree. Blue skies. Smoke roaring. The birds took flight. And the rocket went away. Flew up, and up, and up. “Help me up, will you?” someone said from below. I looked down. She held out her hand. I helped her up and looked towards the sky again. The rocket had disappeared. Among the clouds. Leaving behind a trail of smoke. “It’s beautiful…” she murmured. I agreed. Silence started to return. One step at a time. Pushing away the roar. And the sky was as blue as ever. I could see beyond it. The stars. Planets. The void. And we were lost in awe. We were both lost in grandeur. And we both looked forward to it. 

Part Man, Part Machine, All Cop

So here are some unregulated stream of thoughts that flew past me as I walked out of the movie having just watched Robocop (2014). Let me just say that I’m a big fan of the original Robocop (1987), and to tell the truth, I wasn't looking forward to the remake. Boy, was I wrong. I loved the new remake. It had some flaws, some problems with the villain, but overall it was a great experience, especially the sound design(the effects) and Joel Kinnaman's portrayal of our Alex Murphy, the Robocop.

Movie poster for Robocop(1987)

There was a scene where Robocop is being fed data from the police. All the files, footage, and reports needed to bring justice to Detroit. Tons and tons of it. Tons of information to bring crime down to its knees and blow its head off. Imagine how that must feel for a cop, who is filled to the brim with a sense of justice, motivated, strong, and driven. The ultimate cop. He says “I have to do something.” So eager. And I could really feel it. Inside, I was going “Oh, man… this is what all cops should be like.”

Raymond Sellars, the head of Omnicorp, is at trial trying to let his robots loose on American soil. The people of American won’t have that. They don’t like it. Why? According to one of the largest proponents of this anti-robot movement in America, it’s because robots can’t feel. According to this guy, they don’t have what we humans have; morals and feels. It’s all about the feels man. And that’s why we can’t have fast, efficient, lifesaving robots on American soil. They don’t have the feels…

And there I am, shaking my head, cocking it sideways. So typical. I mean, movies, come on, can’t you come up with something more compelling against the use of robots in law enforcement and military use. All you can come up with is ...“Because feels?”

Movie poster for Robocop(2014)

Why would you want a robot with unnecessary emotions to do the job of law enforcement? Why would you want an emotional doctor doing open heart surgery on you son? Why would you want an emotional soldier go into battle and have all of his teammates killed? Sure, emotions have their uses, and it’s perfectly fine to have them. However, you do not want them to hinder or cloud your judgment in certain situations such as law enforcement, military operations, or medical procedures.

There was also a scene of a protester holding up a sign reading “Robot’s can’t love like we do.” Here’s a question I’d like to ask that person. “Do you have any idea what love is? Come on, you seem to know all about this thing called love. What is it?”

A question I've always pondered on came up again. What does it mean to be human? It this even a valid question to ask? Does it have an answer?

And people seem to cling to this idea of emotion. They just love the fact that they can feel. They can’t seem to let it go. They just can’t. Emotion. Is it really that special? Or is it way overrated?

Intelligence Achieved Through Digital Evolution

I was lying in bed, and I started thinking about evolution and artificial intelligence. Biological evolution and artificial intelligence. Hmmmm….

Could we perhaps evolve intelligence by starting with simple self-replicating codes let loose on the internet? And maybe those codes, like biological life, reproduce, make copies of themselves with slight variations in their codes. Could a program write and repair her own code? Add more to it? Shed unnecessary code? Just like biological evolution. Maybe further along the line, after many generations and iterations of those self-replicating codes, some of them could start clumping together, building survival machines. Modular survival machines. What if those codes could communicate with each other? Swap this module out for something better suited to the job or environment.

A code that writes its own code, makes mutations to it, replicates, and propagates throughout the internet. A digital evolution.

A Conversation Between Me and Me

"I want to experience what no human has ever experienced before. I want to feel emotions what no human has ever felt before. I want to know things what no human has ever known before. " I say.

I hear silence.

"And you will accomplish this, how?" I ask.

"By becoming more than human. By becoming transhuman. Eventually, maybe even posthuman."

"And what does it mean to be more than human? " I ask, intrigued.

I look back at me, with a nervous smile. " I... I don't know. I don't know."

I pause for a moment and return my gaze to the window.

"I guess we should find out."

Focus

A while back I wrote the things I thought would be good to focus on as a species.

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

I had a particular interest in morphological freedom and super intelligence. I've now narrowed down on what sort of field I should think about entering. I would love to do all of them, but sadly, I doubt my brain isn't good enough. I have to focus on things, at least until I develop some kind of super intelligence.

• Biomechatronics
• Neuroengineering
• Aerospace Engineering

Now, I just have to trim some of these candidates, too. Or do I? I dunno, I really want study all of them. I'm gonna have to sit on this for some time. Hmmmmmm....

Future Haven

The haven of my future. A place where I might be able to call home. Where I might feel at rest. Sort of like a vampire’s haven from World of Darkness. What would it consist of?

The Cold Room

An environment not connected to the net. It’s detached. Unconnected. It’s all alone. No wireless signals. No digital gadgets. Just old, comfy furniture. A place only I can access. This is my safe house. Or at least, as safe as can be. A place to hide. A place to disappear from the grid. From all the chatter.

Information Hub

Science Fiction Server Room by user Grimmsorg

This is where I ride the waves of the information sea. I take dives here and there. I look at the horizon. I take in information. Analyze them. Make sense of it. Learn new things. Try new ideas with other conscious beings. Collaborate on projects. Help the world. Help myself. Grow as an individual.

Intermission Hub

A strong capsule to protect me from the outside world while I'm unconscious.

This is where I disappear. I go unconscious. I die. I turn myself off. For whatever purpose there might be. Perhaps I want to be nostalgic about sleeping. Perhaps I have nothing better to do than sleep. Maybe I want to speed things up. Let the world roar by me while I stay in deep frozen sleep. I tell my muse to wake me when it’s time. Maybe I’d leave that time up to my muse.

Entertainment Hub

Steammachine. Not exactly what I had in mind but...

A place to play around. Maybe play games. Socialize. Be competitive. Be social. Easygoing. Relax and be playful.

The View

View from up above. Sci-fi City Downtown by Jadrienc.

A place high up in the clouds. Where I can look down. Or up maybe. Depending on the circumstances. I see other buildings. Clean air. A place where I can say, “Nice view” and be satisfied. I feel a breeze. Wind. Ah.

Personal Med Bay

Medical Pod from Prometheus

To keep me healthy. Why go to the doctor when I can have it all diagnosed by my fellow AI friend. Clean. Free of germs. Top of the line technology.

Morph Room

Future clothing room. I line up all my shells. My morphs. My bodies. I pick and choose what I want to be that day. Genderless mechanical shell for Monday? What about a hot girl with life like synthetic skin tomorrow? And the day after that? Let’s go flying in my Aeromorph. Visiting mars a week from now? We got a morph for that too.

Death, Sleep, Acts, and Intermissions

Death & Sleep

Lately I've been thinking about the similarities between death and sleep. When I go to sleep at night I disappear. My neural storm is still quite active, but the essence of me, my consciousness is gone. I do not exist. Isn't this exactly what death must be? A lot of people think that when they die, if they don’t go to an afterlife they imagine that there will be eternal, cold darkness. This is most likely not the case. When you’re dead, you will not exist, just like when you are sleeping.

I see the wall between death and sleep crumbling. We do not fear going to sleep. Yet, we fear death. Perhaps it’s because of what comes before the moment of death. Pain. Suffering. Torment and anguish. Perhaps these things that precede death is what we are actually afraid of.

Death personified - The Grim Reaper

Imagine a future, where we can turn off our pain receptors off as we wish. At the moment of death, or maybe seconds or minutes before, we can turn our pain receptors off. In a future like this, which I think is technologically possible, death will be exactly like going to sleep. In a future like this, what would death mean to us as individuals? Trivial, perhaps. If the technology of mind uploading and backups were to exist, death would mean nothing but an unexpected nuisance. You were walking down the street and got hit by a passing bus. You calmly think ‘dam bus’ as your body gets shredded and your head goes flying off onto the road side. You close your eyes, just like you’re going to sleep. And soon you awake in your backup morph. It’s a fresh new day. Let’s start living again!

Death will be nothing but an extended sleeping session. Waking up after death will be like going to sleep and waking up the next morning. Just like we always do.

Acts & Intermissions

With death and sleep no longer differentiated, I think I’d like to call the time I am awake and conscious as Acts, and the time I don’t exist, when I am unconscious, as Intermissions. Like a play. One unbroken thread of conscious stream is an Act. The moments for when I don’t exist, an Intermission. Though getting rid of Intermissions entirely would be quite a new experience worth aiming for, do not worry about the occasional Intermissions you might have to go through. Sleep, death... they're just that. Intermissions. That's all they are.