Michael Shermer - Transhumanism, The Singularity and Skepticism

[apersonwhoknows24]

Im mean Im not saying that robots are bad or whatever. but Im just wondering if their hearing other sides of the account. of what might other people would wanna see, that is.

[TheRationalFuture]

@apersonwhoknows24 I think that when robots / AI approach a level of intelligence to humans, it will become increasingly obvious that we should design them to take our considerations seriously. This is not an easy problem, especially if the robots/AI can modify their selves, and their own preferences.

[apersonwhoknows24]

@TheRationalFuture hi, thanks for the response. but the thing I was referring to was taking an account and hearing other peoples ideas what they would like to see in the future. is what Im getting at exactly.

[TheRationalFuture]

@apersonwhoknows24 Sure, everyone should know about this sort of thing earlier rather than later. It is a complex issue, nothing exactly like this has really happened before, so it would be good for people to hear about this so they can develop mature and well considered opinions on the subject (instead of knee jerk responses) by the time AI reaches our level. There may be a conflict of ideologies surrounding these issues, perhaps around the issue of Species Dominance!

[apersonwhoknows24]

@TheRationalFuture oh I agree, people should know about these kinda of things. I agree. its nice to know that there are transhumanists out there that support change. thank god!

I don't how many there are here on youtube and all (I would assume quite many I would think).

the thing is, do they discuss about anything about merging w/ the animal kingdom at all? (sense trans/posthumanism is in its self a form of change to oneself)

[apersonwhoknows24]

such an interesting topic trans/posthumanism is. wow. the thing is, sense they talk about the singularity, robots and such plus living longer. you know, robots are fine and all, but do they even take other peoples ideas into consideration? like such as what other people might wanna see and all?

[tehdouglas1]

How about these "futurists" get their heads out of their asses and work on something that will actually help improve our world and its people instead of talking about robots and exploring mars.

[RestInPieces777]

@tehdouglas1 They are working on things that will improve our world. Nanotechnology, neural implants, and AI will improve our world tremendously, and futurists are working on them as we speak. You are unforgiveably ignorant.

[DerivedEnergy]

@RestInPieces777 ''They are working on things that will improve our world.''

People have been saying that for millenia.

''Nanotechnology, neural implants, and AI will improve our world tremendously''

Those tools in the hands of selfish and emotionally driven primates with a large limbic system spell disaster. Humanity is screwed. It's only as strong as its weakest link and that link is brittle beyond belief.

[TheRationalFuture]

@DerivedEnergy I agree, hopefully the decisions on how to use these transhformative technologies will be regulated by a system that can filter out cognitive biases and the darker ape like motivations.

[DerivedEnergy]

@TheRationalFuture For that, I would argue that you need a faith every bit as strong as a theist. The writing's on the wall as far as I can see. Fairy tales with happy endings only belong in the realm of fiction. We're little more than glorified bacteria and the product of unintelligent design to boot. In a world of cause and effect and out of control technological capabilities that has deep underlying ramifications that are normally swept under the carpet by pithy declarations of 'optimism'.

[TheRationalFuture]

@DerivedEnergy I miss your point. You need theistic like faith for...?

[jabajabajaba12345678]

is it Dr Tyson laughing in the background

[TheRationalFuture]

@jabajabajaba12345678 Yes he was there

[JaytheOstrich]

Flying cars actually have been made, but with people being sooo stupid at driving, imagine the catastrophes that would happen if they were flying.

[TheRationalFuture]

@JaytheOstrich It would be a great way of reducing the population, and start handing out the darwin awards!... same goes with jet-packs.

[CrixMakin]

Jeez- never knew the guy was so keen on the private sector. And yet he's all for free encyclopedia and books?

[szabi76]

great interview, thanks for doing this!

[kytosht]

Trains causing brain damage is a new one to me. lol (11:27) It's always great to hear the ideas of someone in another field.

[jakestollery]

Great Interview Adam, I love Shermer's description of Singularity and futurism being in the 'grey area'. So true! ^_^ - Jake OX

[Deathinmusic]

I love this guy. I also share his view on the singularity. When have futurists ever gotten it right? Remember those people back in what, 60's, 70's, who predicted we would have flying cars by 2000? Futurists still keep making the same mistake. People's imaginations and wishful thinking run away with this stuff too easily.

[TheRationalFuture]

@Deathinmusic "When have futurists ever gotten it right?" - If you think they have never gotten anything right then you haven't done much reading. Flying cars and Jet Packs would be a great way to keep the population down methinks...

Like what Shermer said, keep an open mind, but not so open your brains fall out.

[hmspinaforethisisspa]

@Deathinmusic Errr dude I don't think you listened to what he was saying - he was largely supportive of the theories of Kurzweil etc, he just thought they'd take a bit longer. He agreed with pretty much every "Do you think mind-blowing technology X will happen?" question that the interviewer threw at him...

[MrAdvancedAtheist]

@Deathinmusic Look up Murray Leinster's science fiction story, "A Logic Named Joe," published in 1946. He predicted the internet and Google-like search engines.

[shade1978x]

@Deathinmusic I think the problem is that many futurists make predictions on what the TECHNOLOGY will be capable of at some future date, in which they're typically spot on. The problem is that many of them are blind optimists who don't take into account the political/economic/corporate obstacles that are artificially placed in the way of progress to impede the natural state of technological evolution for the sake of profit for some corporate interest.

[HawkmanWalker]

@Deathinmusic The job of a futurist is not to predict the future exactly (who can do that?) but rather to think about scientific and sociological changes and how the future might look like but never to predict it

[screenflicker1]

he muffled his yawn so many times lol

[genzeb]

Mike, I am a fan of yours. A fellow skeptic and scientist. But the stuff you are talking about here is obviously way over your head. To include this in today's eSkeptic edition was nuts. This conversation maybe okay with your friends and family but to have it published is reckless and stupid--makes you lose credibility in other areas.

[Meowbay]

Fascinating to hear his view on things. Indeed, he is refreshingly naive and bold-ish as well as ignorant in some parts, but not without merit. I don't share his more pessimistic view regarding the timed predictions by Kurzweil and the like, I would rather say they are quite modest and will probably be beaten by factors we can't predict.