by This is the third entry in a mini series (first “Earth was made for man” and second was “Work is essential to human nature”). Again, I’m using myth here in the sense foundational stories about “the way things are” (not mythical fairy tale).
| The Myth | The story | The challenge | Current state of challenge |
| The essence of human nature is something unique that could not be duplicated or surpassed. | This challenge is not quite in the mainstream just yet, but technological developments are pushing it onto the agenda. | Could it be that humanity may not be a special as we think we are? We say machines are programmed and we are not. Well, not exactly! It could be argued that our programming is just biological instead of silicon. | Singularists and Transhumanists are among those suggesting an alternative of embracing the merger of silicon and biology. |
I was joking with some friends recently about the burden of my programming, repetitive behavior patterns that defy logic and my best efforts to overcome. It’s part of “who I am,” –so, am I just a victim of programming errors? No. And I don’t think it’s one or the other in term of the “nature vs nurture” debate.
What is clearly coming, I suspect, is a pretty profound discussion on the essence of human nature as we not only learn more about ourselves, but our “competition” as well. In my view we’re already on a “merger” pathway with machine intelligence, but the extreme views at each pole of the continuum should make for some robust debate. Stay tuned. Andy Hines
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