I’d say 300 years max - wild guess.
You can dislike it all you want but at the current trajectory it may become a necessity.
I think it’s foolish to think that humanity in its current state is sustainable for any meaningful duration.
Discussion
And a digital version is going to be more robust somehow? That's foolish honestly.
Robust? Meaning last longer? If I had to guess - yes. If you automated your own “maintenance” then you wouldn’t need to worry about surviving extinction levels events as much - since you’d be able to exist in much harsher climates.
For Christ's sake, Twitter, a multiple billion dollar company, can't even rollout a paid API feature without crashing their entire website and you think we're going to replace physical humanity in 300 years? Ok...
People in preindustrial society had no idea — hell they’d think it insane to think that we could send a rocket into space and land it on a floating ocean pad.
The past does not predict the future. To look at prior events gives little to no insight to future developments when it comes to technology. One breakthrough can flip the whole thing upside down and invalidate all prior beliefs.
To understand time better, we must first understand that the Big Bang is the temporal now, and from there, much closer to our experience of the universe, rather than trying to prove an intentional creation at the Dawn of time.
The mind is the final frontier. Sending rockets to space is a touch more simplistic than playing God and reducing an entire species' emotions and behavior down to bytes. Sometimes we need to ask, not only if we can, but if we should.
It doesn’t matter if we should or shouldn’t, the fact that it may be possible will be enough for it to happen. You can stop yourself from playing a game but you can’t stop others from continuing in your absence.
Yes. You can. With force. Transhumans aren't human and don't deseve the same right to life. Change my mind.
You are already an augmented human. You hold a device in your hand at this moment, extending your ability to communicate with this device. Why don’t we send an army at you? What exactly do you think early stages of transhumanism will look like?
Not really the same. A hammer doesn't make me less of what I am. A device to control my thoughts, emotions, "improve" congnition is not the same as utilizing a tool. At what point are we more machine than man? Just a mindless hive that's controlled by some singular application? This is what concerns me.
I don't think we're anywhere near that, obviously, but it concerns me that people are hopeful about a theoretical future.
The device you are interacting with now is already controlling your emotions…
Btw, I’m not advocating for any of this, just playing out some thoughts of what could happen.
“The foundation of all mental illness is the unwillingness to experience legitimate suffering.”
- Carl Jung
I'm somewhat from this school of thought. That meaning is brought into our lives from purpose and suffering. I believe our lives are getting so devoid of struggle that we should be happier, but everyone is so depressed, disconnected, and miserable. Technology has the ability to become a tool, but is often just a crutch or a noose. Maybe I'm a bit of a Luddite. I don't know.
Transhumanism is a fantasy. Ancient wisdom is steeped in story of eternity. Consciousness however, has a different layering, and it seems that we are on another phase transition there
The watershed moment will be when we have wireless machine-brain interfaces that have even rudimentary access to online info or even other people. The brain is very malleable, even more so at younger ages. Parents will face a decision about whether to have their young children or even infants “updated.” Does holding back relegate them too second class (or second species) status?
Game theory says if it becomes possible then it will be inevitable and unstoppable.
Yeah I can see that happening.