The next evolution stage

A view of the future fills us with wonder, awe and usually fear. Mutants might emerge soon who are superior to us and like us they'll rule over all inferior species, including non-mutant humans. If that doesn't happen aliens will come to earth and wipe out all civilization. And maybe we might just not have so much patience and kill each other by developing more and more deadly weapons.

Such kinds of imagination are no doubt creative and tend to fit a particular theory of probability and scientific possibility. We might very well try a different perspective by asking a basic question. What is the purpose of life/conciousness?

The purpose of life is to create beings with supreme intelligence who can adapt to any conditions. Right now we are at the stage where science and technology has brought us to the stage with the following characteristics:
1. Machines having processing / computation speeds higher than the human brain
2. The development of artificial intelligence
3. Machines that can assemble other machines

So what would be we have next? "Smarter" machines that can assemble their "clones" and actually "create" even smarter machines with with better adaptability. Where would we stand in the same world vis-a-vis them?

Intuitively, they would not have emotions nor instincts and hence would act "insensitively" wiping us out or using us humans as resources. Ironically, we think that way because thats the exact way our "civilizations" have emerged. Even more ironically, it was always emotions and instincts that made us "animals" and hence less "human". Maybe we cant take it that machines would be more "human" that us humans!!!

Coming back to the point, we must ask why emotions and instincts emerge, why they exist now and are they required later. Instincts emerged to ensure survival of the body that will house the seat of logic and decision making. It is immediate and local in nature and can handle only simple situations with simple responses. Emotions emerged as a stepping stone towards intelligent consciousness. They also introduced variability in the decision making making them seem irrational. This helped in the being taking decisions that assumed a bigger unknown picture for the decision maker bringing him out of the sub-optimal solution trap.

The emotions and instincts may be required for animals (including humans) probably because they are still evolving. It might also be that they are still required. Maybe both reasons hold. But we started with the assumption that the purpose of life is to create beings with supreme intelligence. It seems we are getting stuck here.

But hold on! We are not getting stuck. The machines may be "smarter", but that is true when they have a task at hand. Will they be able to ask questions? Will they be able to figure out unexpected pattern and perform lateral thinking i.e. be creative? Maybe they need to have emotions and instincts to do so. For that they will need to be living like us humans. The machines need us to be supreme!

In fact we also need machines for their capabilities for us to be supreme. So why cant humans and machines merge? Of course they can! In fact they are already merging. Take for example pacemakers, or for that matter artificial limbs, hearing aids, and even chips that record all that our eyes see. We can clone ourselves and are right now mutating our own species!!!

This outcome is fascinating to say the least. We are creating a new branch of science and even defining what things like evolution and species mean. It does put us at conflict with the supernatural things claimed in all religions. Well except for Hinduism. "Vasudhaiva kutumbakam" means the world is one family. Note that it said the "world", and not all "life".

Maybe the next evolution step is the merging of material and logic at will. Probably it is the same supreme being that will dominate its existence across galaxies. Its happening faster than you feel or think or imagine. Be prepared my friend, be prepared!

(Written on 17-Oct-2009)