I used to believe in the singularity, but there is just so much about the human mind and life in general that just completely baffles scientists. They can't make heads or tails of it. The singularity is also based on the idea that the human brain is really just a powerful computer, but there is far more to it than that. Biological life is still very much a big mystery, and far more complicated than we might be able imagine. Assuming that more and more powerful computers are someday going to 'wake up' as intelligent beings is a little fanciful. Of course, who knows, what future science will bring? I personally think that technological modification of living organisms could produce something comparable to another, more advanced species. Hell, we already are way different than people who lived two hundred years ago. Look at all the medications, steroids, caffeine, processed food, access to many different types of vitamins and chemical compounds- who knows what all this tinkering is doing to us and our offspring. But, as far as the idea of reproducing intelligence in an inanimate object that took billions of years to evolve on its own in our species goes, I'm skeptical.
To be fair, nature wasn't trying to create intelligence over billions of years, hence why it took billions of years. I wouldn't be surprised if we figured this out within a few centuries.
A number of labs have been working on biological chips for a while, the hunt is on New Transistor Bridges Human-Machine Gap | LiveScience MelT
Proof of concept quantum or cellular computing experiments prove nothing about the future, or about the timeline of the progression which the technology will follow. No one could predict after the Wright brothers flew their plane that, 100 years later, the USA military would be flying at mach 2. Similarly, we have no fucking idea what our nations are really up to, and we have no idea when these technologies will take off...or if we will become extinct before they take off. Edit: And don't say "the hunt is on". If you were a true scientist on the scenes, you would see the hunt is barely in its planning stages.
Nothing 'proves' anything about future technology, it's dependent funding, fads and general usage. But nothing is more certain than the appearance of quantum computers in the very near future. LOL! MmmmmmmMMMmmmm...you know, I think I'm going to stick with saying what I want, when I want to, if that's okay with you? It adequately describes the situation, and one of the articles (that you apparently didn't read) said that '...the race is on....' something far more emotive than 'hunt'. Oooooooooohhh, bad guess. Certainly it's in its infancy, but a commercial quantum computer is already available. 1) "...In 2009, researchers at Yale University created the first rudimentary solid-state quantum processor. The two-qubit superconducting chip was able to run elementary algorithms. Each of the two artificial atoms (or qubits) were made up of a billion aluminum atoms but they acted like a single one that could occupy two different energy states.[35][36] 2) Another team, working at the University of Bristol, also created a silicon-based quantum computing chip, based on quantum optics. The team was able to run Shor's algorithm on the chip.[37] Further developments were made in 2010.[38] Springer publishes a journal ("Quantum Information Processing") devoted to the subject.[39] 3) A team of scientists from Australia and Japan have finally made a breakthrough in quantum teleportation. They have successfully transferred a complex set of quantum data with full transmission integrity achieved. Also the qubits being destroyed in one place but instantaneously resurrected in another, without affecting their superpositions.[40] Photograph of a chip constructed by D-Wave Systems Inc., mounted and wire-bonded in a sample holder. The D-Wave processor is designed to use 128 superconducting logic elements that exhibit controllable and tunable coupling to perform operations. 4) In 2011, D-Wave Systems announced the first commercial quantum annealer on the market by the name D-Wave One. The company claims this system uses a 128 qubit processor chipset.[41] On May 25, 2011 D-Wave announced that Lockheed Martin Corporation entered into an agreement to purchase a D-Wave One system.[42] Lockheed Martin and the University of Southern California (USC) reached an agreement to house the D-Wave One Adiabatic Quantum Computer at the newly formed USC Lockheed Martin Quantum Computing Center, part of USC's Information Sciences Institute campus in Marina del Rey[43]. This made USC became the first academic institution to house a commercial quantum computer. The $10-million computer was purchased by Lockheed Martin Corporation with the intention of harnessing the technology to solve relevant problems that are hard to address through established methods in a "cost-effective" manner. 5)During the same year, researchers working at the University of Bristol created an all-bulk optics system able to run an iterative version of Shor's algorithm. They successfully managed to factorize 21.[44] Doesn't sound so far off to me, I have to be honest MelT
I believe that it is inherently possible to continue evolving as a biological creature, to believe otherwise is to misinterperet the purpose of a biological creation, it has a purpose which can never be replaced; although technology may serve an alternative purpose, biology will always exist for one very simple reason, evolution occurs at the source; this means that life is a medium for change, and it adapts to the situation. The common belief held by people is that immortality is impossible, and I've heard those two words used often enough to agree, but I believe that it is possible to live forever; the argument against this is that our cells eventually stop reproducing, either because they no longer find eachother attractive P) or because they are living inside a body that is decaying beyond the point of being repaired; in reality there are many problems that contribute to death, including the inability to efficiently process new fluids. Take Li Ching-Yuen for example, the man who had supposedly lived for 256 years, Li had difficulty managing his biology at his older ages, growing to be over seven feet tall and developing massively long finger nails; what this proves is that longevity is clearly a factor of life-style. Li tells us his secret to longevity: Tranquil Mind Sit Like Tortoise Walk Sprightly Like Pidgeon Sleep Like Dog Maybe if you work until you retire you will most likely want to die, but you have to acknowledge that emotional healing is possible, and in considering the body as a whole, it is necessary for all of the seperate functions to be in fit condition to continue rejuvinating itself; is it really logical to believe that a woman could give birth to a perfectly formed new child, and not be able to cure her own body through process of metabolism? Think of your body as a game of free-cell, if you run out of moves you lose. The same thing occurs to your cells, which can suffer from a variable degree of conditions, from simple stretching of the skin, to exposure to radiation, which can eliminate the bodies ability to regenerate itself, infact, soap, commonly considered to be a healthy and sophisticated product, can dry up the skin and close its pours, preventing unwanted pollutants inside the body from escaping, effectively contributing to cancer; of course, none of this is scientific, but I can't get behind the pragmatic use of modern science anyway, which is mostly used as a tool of sociology and politics. To truly have an effect on your life, science must come from within ones self, and one must act according to ones own environment; regardless of the progress that we can achieve with technology, ones personal health depends on the life that surrounds one. There are difficult obstacles to overcome, such as digesting our incredibly long intestinal tract, but continuation of ones self is merely a puzzle that must be solved before moving on.
There are few organisms which are biologically immortal and they often accomplish this by creating new cells and getting rid of old ones. Maybe we can learn and then apply that to humans.
[quote name='"PeruvianDank"']There are few organisms which are biologically immortal and they often accomplish this by creating new cells and getting rid of old ones. Maybe we can learn and then apply that to humans.[/quote] Please name me ONE organism that is biologically immortal
The world's only immortal animal | Yahoo! Green Boom town. However for our own immortality if we want to remain in mostly human form we'll need to extend the hayflick limit to infinity and put nano robots in our blood stream to fight off infections and disease and to fix broken things. We can also maybe manipulate our genes so that our bodies better heal themselves and even possibly genetically manipulate our food to produce certain microrna that can be of great benefit to us. I just made the last thing up but you get the idea.
[quote name='"Brenjin"'] The world's only immortal animal | Yahoo! Green Boom town. However for our own immortality if we want to remain in mostly human form we'll need to extend the hayflick limit to infinity and put nano robots in our blood stream to fight off infections and disease and to fix broken things. We can also maybe manipulate our genes so that our bodies better heal themselves and even possibly genetically manipulate our food to produce certain microrna that can be of great benefit to us. I just made the last thing up but you get the idea.[/quote] It has "no natural limit to its life span"...but it can still be eaten and killed....NOT IMMORTAL BOOM TOWN
[quote name='"PeruvianDank"'] What a douche, lol. Read the biologically (as in living organisms) part of my sentence. [/quote] I'm a douche?? All I did was say BOOM TOWN back to the dude that said it to me,everything has the ability to die that's all I'm saying
Of course, but by me saying that there are organisms that are biologically immortal, I'm implying that there is a natural quality to it. Obviously they are not inviolably immortal.
Immortality is not a gift but a curse. But adding a persons lifespan is not that bad. Genome Study Reveals Why The American Cockroach Is Virtually Indestructible Get a DNA from a cockroach.
I think we're very close to the point where technology stops advancing exponentially and starts advancing logarithmically