That reminds me of the whole affluence/technology issue, something I'm really a newbie at thinking of. I've gorged on Sci-Fi my whole life, my work and hobbies are all techie. And for most of my life, I now realize I have have had the bit of a disneyesque view of labor saving tech. All that AI, automation, robotics . . . it will do all the work right? We humans will be free from labor! We will ski, surf and chill out in hammocks while the machines do all the work! Humanity will have it made!

But . . . now I've realized. Its going to make the rich have even less to deal with, for even more money. And will widen the class divide even further. With most humans working even harder for less money to compete with machines in any niches they can. On a long enough scale, barring a planetary disaster, maybe technological access will even out? I don't imagine we'll see it.

My only frustration with mortality is my curiosity.

@Observer-Effect Absolutely. It's not going to be a utopia. Millions upon millions of jobs-entire industries-being eliminated. People get very desperate. It's not enough to say "Well, they'll find something else for a career" as some of the tech gurus have been saying. There's a real human toll. We're seeing some of that desperation now with coronavirus. Jobs give many people a purpose. Not everybody is equipped to be a software engineer.

I worry about mega corporations such as Google and Amazon dominating our lives from cradle to grave. There's literally nobody that can challenge the size and scale of those companies. They will amass wealth and influence unlike anything ever seen in human history.

As does compassion, modesty and a sense of humor apparently! <3

Как и сострадание, скромность и чувство юмора! <3

I'll laugh some, all's fair in love and war -- good for them! And the greatest compliment for a teacher is to be outdone by ones student, and it would be our child and student. Pretty awesome really if it gets so powerful so fast!

I love Transhumanism! Morally and logically it really blows away most other organized systems. It's hard for me in practicality because I feel that superstitions/religions alone have held humanity back a thousand years, and we could have already long ago have transcended our current biological limitations. That makes it hard, because it makes me angry. If humanity doesn't run up against some type of Fermi Filter, I think we will achieve those heights eventually - but it's frustrating because I won't see it And I've got just enough nihilism mixed in there that I don't really care all that much what happens after I die!

To see how humanity is behaving still here in 2020, and how we've soiled our nest, makes me think its still a long wait.

But again, I absolutely love Transhumanism!

@Observer-Effect Hang in there. Read the likes of Kurzweil, And de Gray. It's coming faster than you could ever imagine, and the future is quite bright... Granted, i'm speaking less Of AI, and more of transhumanist ideals. the revolution will not be televised...but the social disruption will be palpable and everpresent. Plan now. Keep your hopes up. We must will it into existence before the fermi filter, and before we each expire. I'd truly hate to be the last person to die of old age on earth. Speak about it as if it's possible, put your money where your mouth is, and keep hope alive.

Besides...there's a babyboom coming from covid. What happens 20-25 yrs past a babyboom? Social revolution. What will be the social revolution in 2040? It won't be hippies trying to work the land fighting mechanization... so... Plan accordingly.

@APaleBlueDot Ha, I'd not thought of a Covid babyboom! (There will be a Covid divorce boom as well I think!)

Despite my doubts about humanity, I'm not a doom and gloom guy! I keep busy and happy. I don't want to see or experience lots of suffering, but as long as my synapses are still clicking along I'm fine.

Right now - the windows in my lab are open and its perfect outside. And I'm doing sort of random anti-Covid art. I'd been reading about what types of energy, chemistry kills corona viruses, and decided it would be fun to pump every possible killing method I had into a space at the same time!

So, intense UV-B/C light (100w). A bunch of red, green, and blue lasers (many of them 1w+ burning lasers), high gain RF energy on several frequencies, and pretty strong ionizing radiation from several sources (alpha, beta & gamma).

The bright picture here is with it fired 1/2 of the way up, it washes out the camera above that. And I'm wearing dark, nearly welding, goggles to look at it when its at 100%.

And . . . its completely impractical to actually do much with. But I'm pretty damn sure it would kill Covid, or pretty much anything else you put in that little dish (which is uranium glass!). So, the only real purpose is fun, and cathartically venting at Covid!

----------- Yes, like most of us right now - I have way to much time on my hands! ----------

@Observer-Effect . Magnificent!! Sounds like a fun project!

@APaleBlueDot Oh man - I am just finding that no matter how absurd the project, the only way to keep relatively sane to keep keep goals and projects going. Sinking deeper and deeper into Netflix and the couch isn't healthy for me! What I am most psyched about at the moment - is that just about 10 minutes ago I got my new EMF meter! I have a couple of cheepies but this is a really nice multi-channel digital logging one. So . . . I'll be wandering around the area staring at that for the next couple of days.

@Observer-Effect That sounds fun.... bigboytoys! Next: metal detector and ham radio.

If you're on fb, please come follow the US Transhumanist Party. You're cordially invited! And, if you want to join The official party, and be part of crafting legislative platforms and such, [transhumanist-party.org]

@APaleBlueDot I just joined on FB thank you!

@Observer-Effect Right on! "Ray Kurzweil Singularity" is also a magnificent page to follow. I believe it is the page run by him. Otherwise...good to know another transhumanist! Nice to meet ya man!

@APaleBlueDot Yeah, its a cool thing to be checking out. I don't totally live in a cave, but I don't jump into group movements of any kind very quickly - but it really looks like a pretty remarkable match to where my head spends most of its time. So thanks for the nudge to check it out, and nice to meet you as well sir!

Maybe, I'm not claiming to know - its a fun discussion topic. It's clear that evolution has not stopped with us, or even slowed down. Natural selection and adaptation continues for all life just like it always has. Our lifespans are just too short to really notice much.

And so if we accept that evolution continues, and that later species are built on earlier species. The only real question becomes - does it have to be made of the same stuff we are to count as "intelligent"? I'm not sure, and perspective, semantics and ego make it hard for us to be objective here.

It is fun to have things to contemplate while trapped at home!

@Observer-Effect "I do know that evolution has stopped with us, or even slowed down." And how do you know this?

@jlynn37 Ah - I corrected that, thank you, it was to say has "NOT" stopped with us. And I suspect, you being rational and having caught that, that you agree!

That fucking Covid, like all those microorganisms - now they evolve FAST, we can watch that happen!