*involuntary shudder*

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involuntary shudder; Yes, Dougal Dixon again
Topic Started: Jul 10 2008, 01:49 PM (6,062 Views)
Sliver Slave	Jul 10 2008, 01:49 PM Post #1
I'm going back to basics. Posts: 1,857 Group: Away Staff Member #30 Joined: Jul 6, 2008 Gender: Male Nationality: Canadian. Just like Phasey!	Did anyone else get an involuntary shudder when they read man after man or nemo ramjet's all tomorrows? I know I sure did. There was just something about those two books that unsettles me. Or do I just have a weak constitution?
	Something is upsetting the ostriches. Spoiler: click to toggle Awesome sigatar by MethosHazara on the Giant in the Playground forums.

Replies:
Vultur-10	Sep 10 2010, 03:17 AM Post #121
Posts: 639 Group: Away Staff Member #72 Joined: Sep 3, 2008 Gender: Male	Uncanny valley: it always struck me that it's probably a reproductive isolation mechanism dating from the days when there were other hominid species around. --- Minduploading is horrifying to me. It's not just the copying -- that's absurdly difficult, but maybe possible given really crazy technology. But even with that issue resolved -- presume you get a perfect copy. It won't stay you, it wont stay human, since it's not running on a human substrate. No hormones, different sensory experiences, indefinite longevity... A mind uploaded person would end up as alien as any extraterrestrial -- arguably more so, after a few (subjective) millennia or so, since we'd likely at least share the basics of biology with extraterrestrials. It's the whole (unexamined) assumption that the mind isn't affected so much by the body. A sort of information age neo-Gnosticism.



Kamidio	Sep 10 2010, 05:47 AM Post #122
The Game Master of the SSU:NC Posts: 14,725 Group: Members Member #149 Joined: Mar 12, 2009 Nationality: Who knows?~♪ Favorite Quote: "Do you remember how many loaves of bread you have eaten in your life?" - Dio Gender: Dude	Sliver Slave Sep 5 2010, 08:41 AM The "transhuman fetish" picture is probably the tamest one yet. Plus, are you saying you wouldn't transplant your brain into a bear? Copyright law would like to speak with you. Edited by Kamidio, Sep 10 2010, 05:49 AM.
	SSU:NC - Finding a new home. Quotes Steve Irwin I have no fear of losing my life - if I have to save a koala or a crocodile or a kangaroo or a snake, mate, I will save it. Satoru Iwata - Heart of a Gamer Even if we come from different sides of the world, speak different languages, even if we eat too many chips or rice balls, even if we wave different tastes in games, every one of us here today is identical in the most important way: each one of us was the heart of a gamer. The Writing on the Wall You should not have come here. This is not a place of honor. No great deed is commemorated here. Nothing of value is here. What is here is dangerous and repulsive. Parasky \| 2015 You can't be 100% certain Barack Obama is currently the US president, or that the nation of Canada even exists. Dan Avidan See, what I like to do now as an adult is take all that anger and frustration and push it down deep inside of me, until it becomes a seething white core of pure hate. Dan Avidan Follow your stupid fuckin' dreams. WAA http://31.media.tumblr.com/2f7731936cac777ea7b8cb26e8ccaab6/tumblr_inline_mxz9c7XmS41qa4twn.png636,360 http://tmv.proto.jp/reblog.php?post_url= A tool to reblog my own posts. I put it here because I know I'll forget it.


lamna	Sep 10 2010, 06:24 AM Post #123
Posts: 21,140 Group: Global Mods Member #26 Joined: Jul 1, 2008 Gender: Male Nationality: British	Never seen a mermatee then? Edited by lamna, Sep 10 2010, 06:27 AM.
	Living Fossils Fósseis Vibos: Reserva Natural 34 MYH, 4 tonne dinosaur. T.Neo Are nipples or genitals necessary, lamna? [flash=500,450] Video Magic! [/flash]


Adman	Sep 10 2010, 07:20 AM Post #124
Totally not lamna Posts: 3,898 Group: Members Member #375 Joined: Sep 2, 2010 Gender: Male Nationality: The Great Atlantic Steppe Favorite Quote: “I dont leran from no one“ -Archeo	lamna Sep 8 2010, 07:34 AM Perhaps you'll find this more comforting. In the 41st millennium, there is only Caramelldansen Looks like a very queer manga that one. And no I would not put my brain in a bear. An elephant is a much better option, not only to you have more space for added computers and armour for your brain, it's an elephant you get to eat with your nose. What more could you want? And I can't see the transhuman fetish picture. i would transplant my brain into a parrot. would a whale be better?
	Projects and concepts that I have stewing around Extended Pleistocene- An alternate future where man died out, and the megafauna would continue to thrive (may or may not include a bit about certain future sapients) Inverted World- An alternate timeline where an asteroid hit during the Barremian, causing an extinction event before the Maastrichtian. Dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and notosuchians make it to the present, along with a host of other animals. Badania- Alien planet that has life at a devonian stage of development, except it exists in the present day. Ido- Alien world where hoppers (derived flightless ballonts) and mouthpart-legged beasts are prevalent. Leto- Life on a moon orbiting a gas giant with an erratic orbit; experiences extremes of hot and cold. The Park- ??? Deeper Impact- a world where the K-Pg extinction wipes out crocodilians, mammals, and birds; squamates, choristoderes, and turtles inherit the earth. World of Equal Opportunity- alternate history where denisovans come across Beringia and interact with native fauna. Much of the Pleistocene fauna survives, and the modern humans that end up crossing into North America do not overhunt the existing animals. 10,000 years later, civilizations exist that are on par with European and Asian societies. The Ditch- Nothing is what if seems..


lamna	Sep 10 2010, 07:50 AM Post #125
Posts: 21,140 Group: Global Mods Member #26 Joined: Jul 1, 2008 Gender: Male Nationality: British	Not a lot of room in a parrot's noggin.
	Living Fossils Fósseis Vibos: Reserva Natural 34 MYH, 4 tonne dinosaur. T.Neo Are nipples or genitals necessary, lamna? [flash=500,450] Video Magic! [/flash]


colddigger	Sep 10 2010, 11:37 AM Post #126
Joke's over! Love, Parasky Posts: 9,470 Group: Members Member #143 Joined: Feb 28, 2009 Nationality: Canadian. Just like Phasey! Favorite Quote: "If it weren't for the gutter my mind would be homeless!" - BaliTiger23	Post human stuff bothers me a lot, I seriously doubt that humanity is going to change much physically, although at a micro-level we might to deal with changing chemicals that we're exposed to, and there will probably be mutations that spring up -the almighty purple eye might become increasingly common-, and at a psychological level we might change a bit naturally, those who are naturally in a mindset that is best for dealing with whatever set up their society is in are the ones who will do best of course. The only ones in Nemos All Tomorrows that bothered me were the space people, and that's just because they essentially became that way through natural means, all the others I let slide because they were the toys of the Qu. As for minduploading, you couldn't just copy your mind since that's not a transfer, that's a brand new being, and that being is your offspring. An interesting thought really, having an AI as your child rather than just a creation. I say that it's your offspring because although it doesn't share your genetics like a traditional child it's still copied information from you while still being a completely separate individual. In other words; Traditional children are copies of your DNA, AI children are copies of your mind. If we were to figure out how to truly upload our minds, I hesitate to say ourselves since I'm quite attached to my body and consider the mind and body to both be a part of the entirety that is the individual much as the intestine and stomach are separate things but are both a part of the entirety that is the digestive system, then we would likely try to figure out how to make these new bodies as similar to our previous ones as possible to prevent such mental -emotional- deterioration from occurring. Of course there will be those who prefer their artificial mental set up and they will become increasingly alien to the rest of us as they let go of their past humanity over time.
	Oh Fine. Oh hi you! Why don't you go check out the finery that is SGP?? v Don't click v Spoiler: click to toggle seizures? seizure warning. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WviwYLZubSw Spoiler: click to toggle


Sliver Slave	Sep 10 2010, 04:12 PM Post #127
I'm going back to basics. Posts: 1,857 Group: Away Staff Member #30 Joined: Jul 6, 2008 Gender: Male Nationality: Canadian. Just like Phasey!	Yes, more comes from our hormones and such than people usually realise. Plus, such a body would be able to have different sensory apparatus attached to it, would we able to naturally grok seeing infrared rays the same we do normal visible light? What if we had such apparatus from birth?
	Something is upsetting the ostriches. Spoiler: click to toggle Awesome sigatar by MethosHazara on the Giant in the Playground forums.


Empyreon	Sep 10 2010, 06:00 PM Post #128
Are you plausible? Posts: 4,430 Group: Global Mods Member #174 Joined: May 26, 2009 Area of expertise: Xenobiology Favorite Quote: "You're making pointless forum games??? Uggh!! This has nothing to do with articulacy and literacy! MUST... DESTROY... EVERYTHING!!!" - Zorcuspine's impression of me	We are neurologically wired to control our humanoid mammalian bodies. There may be a way to bypass that, but then what would happen to our minds as a result? Would some kind of psychosis come about, or something like phantom limb?
	Take a look at my exobiology subforum of the planet Nereus! COM Contributions food for thought


lamna	Sep 10 2010, 06:04 PM Post #129
Posts: 21,140 Group: Global Mods Member #26 Joined: Jul 1, 2008 Gender: Male Nationality: British	Or we might be fine, like how some people thought that humans would not be able to cope with the fast speeds experienced on steam trains.
	Living Fossils Fósseis Vibos: Reserva Natural 34 MYH, 4 tonne dinosaur. T.Neo Are nipples or genitals necessary, lamna? [flash=500,450] Video Magic! [/flash]


Empyreon	Sep 10 2010, 06:08 PM Post #130
Are you plausible? Posts: 4,430 Group: Global Mods Member #174 Joined: May 26, 2009 Area of expertise: Xenobiology Favorite Quote: "You're making pointless forum games??? Uggh!! This has nothing to do with articulacy and literacy! MUST... DESTROY... EVERYTHING!!!" - Zorcuspine's impression of me	Or we might be fine, party pooper. To me it's always interesting to see how humanity overcomes those unforeseen complications.
	Take a look at my exobiology subforum of the planet Nereus! COM Contributions food for thought


T.Neo	Sep 10 2010, 08:20 PM Post #131
Translunar injection: TLI Posts: 6,154 Group: Members Member #179 Joined: Jun 7, 2009 Area of expertise: Xenobiology	Quote: Post human stuff bothers me a lot, I seriously doubt that humanity is going to change much physically, although at a micro-level we might to deal with changing chemicals that we're exposed to, and there will probably be mutations that spring up -the almighty purple eye might become increasingly common-, and at a psychological level we might change a bit naturally, those who are naturally in a mindset that is best for dealing with whatever set up their society is in are the ones who will do best of course. Yeah, I think a good deal of it is rubbish too, like cybernetic implants. I mean, if your leg gets blown off by an IED or bitten off by a shark or crushed by a stray rollercoaster, fine, but is there isn't any reason to implant powertools or USB-sticks (that's pretty much what it would be) into you. Especially since we are learning to grow and shape biological tissue, and once we have mastery over our biologies in that way, we could grow hearts or legs or eyes without any requirement for clunky metal and plastic. That and Qu-like perversions of the human genome. Seriously... that's like, stuff out of a horror film, not any worthwhile idea. I think actual biological evolution is going to be minimal. Mutations will still occur, so we could still get a good deal of strange stuff happening, like an increase in the aforementioned purple eyes. Psychology tends to depend on society alot, so I don't think the biological background to it would play too great a role. I think it may be possible, at least for certain periods, for people to be reliant on embryo-screening for having children, for the purpose of screening out disease. Since we don't let disease kill people anymore, we have to have a way of keeping those genes out of society. Embryo screening is good for that since it still allows people to biologically bear their own children while eliminating or at least reducing the possibility of passing on genetic diseases. Unless it gets used for some Gattica-style scenario and injustices result, of course... Quote: I say that it's your offspring because although it doesn't share your genetics like a traditional child it's still copied information from you while still being a completely separate individual. In other words; Traditional children are copies of your DNA, AI children are copies of your mind. Yeah... except... your computer-simulation mind isn't a biological construct, so it isn't your evolutionary offspring... It's more like a clone, really. That's probably as close as you could get to the "copy" type of a clone that appears in fiction, as opposed to the biological delayed-twin clone you get in reality. Quote: Or we might be fine, like how some people thought that humans would not be able to cope with the fast speeds experienced on steam trains. This is totally different though, we're talking about changing the neural hardwiring for the body-shapes and sense we've had for millions of years. You could re-route certain functions for example, but others would be trickier to figure out. People who have had lens surgery in their eyes report being able to see UV light, but that's because our eyes have the cone cell capability to do that. There may be no way to accomodate "seeing" EM such as radio or X rays, and if we could hook it up to the part of the brain that manages sight, it could be very difficult at best to develop and for the person to get used to it (there have been stories of blind people, having their sight restored, basically losing it because they couldn't cope with the new flood of info). But that doesn't mean we can't see EM radiation, shifted into the visual range. We do that with false colour pictures and stuff all the time.
	A hard mathematical figure provides a sort of enlightenment to one's understanding of an idea that is never matched by mere guesswork.


Practically Uninformed	Sep 10 2010, 08:42 PM Post #132
Informed enough to care Posts: 1,570 Group: Members Member #274 Joined: Feb 20, 2010 Nationality: Born in DC, bred in SC, now in NJ. A partial citizen of Tartarus Favorite Quote: "Ya gotta put the soup-drinker in the flute-lips, and shake it all up!"	At the most, we'll be seeing other races. Wow. We are boring evolution-wise.
	You may be a king or a lil' street sweeper, but sooner or later, you'll dance with the reaper!


Sliver Slave	Sep 10 2010, 09:06 PM Post #133
I'm going back to basics. Posts: 1,857 Group: Away Staff Member #30 Joined: Jul 6, 2008 Gender: Male Nationality: Canadian. Just like Phasey!	Such is the price of specialisation.
	Something is upsetting the ostriches. Spoiler: click to toggle Awesome sigatar by MethosHazara on the Giant in the Playground forums.


T.Neo	Sep 11 2010, 09:04 AM Post #134
Translunar injection: TLI Posts: 6,154 Group: Members Member #179 Joined: Jun 7, 2009 Area of expertise: Xenobiology	Well... considering the era of global transport and mixing of cultures, it's entirely possible that different races could disappear, ot at least become less defined. But if we factor in travel between planet, it's quite possible that new races of "Martians" or suchlike could evolve. And it would be even more dramatic with extrasolar colonies, since travel to those could take decades, rather than weeks or months.
	A hard mathematical figure provides a sort of enlightenment to one's understanding of an idea that is never matched by mere guesswork.


Sliver Slave	Sep 11 2010, 11:16 AM Post #135
I'm going back to basics. Posts: 1,857 Group: Away Staff Member #30 Joined: Jul 6, 2008 Gender: Male Nationality: Canadian. Just like Phasey!	Interracial relationships are still a minority, and most people marry comparatively close to home. I don't see races becoming very much less distinctive anytime soon.
	Something is upsetting the ostriches. Spoiler: click to toggle Awesome sigatar by MethosHazara on the Giant in the Playground forums.


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