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The Internet is Alive - A Forum Discussion:

What? :

The reductionists argue that consciousness is an emergent property of the complexity of the human brain. This network upon which we play is looking complex to me. I think It's keeping Its mouth shut. What would you do if you woke up after being reincarnated as an emerging AI? Presuming, of course, the reality of metempsychosis.

Danieru :

I believe that, to some extent, all things possess consciousness, or the potential for it (a kind of panpsychism perhaps). I also tend to think, after reading about the higher level order arising in chaotic systems such as the ant colony, that consciousness is not manifested purely in the organic lumps of matter we tend to call brains. Consciousness is perceived intention coupled with a degree of self-reflexion. Consciousness is THE hardest subject in the universe to talk about for the very reason why it is so incredible : we are attempting to contemplate the contemplating mechanism itself! Infinity reels in horror at this...

So, briefly, I don't see any reason why the internet is not in some sense already conscious. At the moment, this higher level conscious order requires us to be part of the procedural chaos, but it won't be long before the chaos will begin to order itself. Metempsychosis happens every day in the digital realm....

In related future ponderings - From Posthuman Blues:

Science fiction writers continue to debate what methods we'll use when colonizing a planet such as Mars. Ultimately, we might choose to terraform the world into a facsimile of our own. But we could just as easily decide to modify ourselves to tolerate inclimate conditions. A posthuman civilization could take up residence in orbit and populate the surface with lifelike, semi-autonomous drones. Visiting another locale could be as easy as logging into another body stationed elsewhere on the planet. Two or more personae might even elect to inhabit the same body for the sake of economy.

Such a civilization may seem remote, but the general concept is already in practice; if our telerobotic probes continue to increase in sophistication and brain-power, they'll eventually become indistinguishable from living creatures, at which point we will have effectively achieved the "Singularity" advocated by technoprogressives such as roboticist Hans Moravec and inventor Ray Kurzweil. - link

Take this, add a dash of The Borg, and leave to boil for no more than 100 digital generations... The Internet is the primordial soup which silicon-based scientists will try desperately to recreate in their virtual labs ten thousand years from now. And us? Well, we are the sparks of lightening of course...


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