[MENTION=4489]zago[/MENTION] - I am actually interested in hearing how's human more unique than bacteria and how do you define uniqueness. Not that it's crucial for this topic, but it is a valid question. -1 for attacking someone's persona rather than the question.
Seriously? A human is more unique in every possible way. Bacteria exist on this planet by the quintillion and they are all virtually the same - single celled organisms with extremely low complexity, 0 intelligence, and virtually no experience, which do nothing but feed on simple nutrients and replicate via binary fission into 2 identical copies. Meanwhile humans UHHHHHH lemme think... are able to fucking communicate complex ideas to each other using things in their neck that rapidly modulate the air pressure in a way such that a sensory organ called the ear can transmit to an interpreting mechanism we call a brain? We can see? We have senses? We have the ability to conceptualize and create meaning? We can write books, play sports, compose music, feel pleasure and pain, talk about god, and we like to make things like ohhhh, you know, smash protons together at the speed of light in 20 mile underground loops kept at pretty much the coldest temperature nature can afford... send robotic spacecraft to explore Mars.... explain what happened 13.7 billion years ago when the universe was born..... And that's not even the tip of the tip of the iceberg. Your own life is rife with meaning. You have parents who love you. Friends. Achievements and failures. Curiosity. Romance. Wisdom. ETC.
It's embarrassing that I should even have to explain that. My only response is that people take stuff for granted all the time, and it amazes me. You might be a nihilist if..... lol. It just blows my mind how people continually fail to recognize the obvious. You practically have to smack them on the head to get them to even realize that, yes, change actually will continue to happen. No, however important you feel, we don't
actually live at the apex of history. Life will go on, it will change into something you don't even recognize. Get over yourself. Get over your stubborn belief that you actually KNOW anything. What you know is NOTHING compared to what has been and what will be. Once you can appreciate that,
then you can appreciate what you actually are.
Also, there IS a gap between the poor and the rich in terms of technology too. Do you really think that people in Africa can really study MIT courses online? From what I've read, only 15% of mobile connections in Africa come from Smart Devices. And having a smart device is not enough, you'll need stable and somewhat fast connection to enjoy video lectures or interactive video chats. They do have some kind of access to knowledge yes, but it's far behind ours.
What so it will never progress? That's just one tiny example, anyway. Ever hear of stuff like wikipedia? Lol. Information is out there for those who want it. It wasn't before. It will continue to become more available. Did I say things are perfect? No. They are getting better though. "There's still a gap." Lol. What do you expect here? Perfect equality? Hold your horses, ok?
The nice thing is, the wikipedia I read is the same wikipedia Bill Gates reads. That's some pretty damn good equality right there, especially if you consider the past. Access is here and it is getting cheaper all the time. How much more do you want, and how much faster do you expect it to be delivered? What, exactly, is your solution, anyway? You don't think our natural technological progress is going to help make things better on this planet? What will? Global totalitarianism?
Again, how do you take what you have for granted?
My best guess is that you have created a belief system that actually resists positive change because you have concentrated so hard on trying to accept things as they are. That's the case with a lot of people. It's how they cope with the shittiness of life. They convince themselves that they actually want death and various forms of suffering because those things must give life its meaning. To abolish those things would be to destroy what makes us who we are! Na. Those things suck, plain and simple. Life itself pretty much sucks. Seriously. Fuck this stupid world where you get sick, lose everyone you love, and then die yourself. If you stand for anything at all, you should stand for the elimination of those things. Well guess what: it's happening. Are you really going to sit here and complain?
Now imagine if we are going to augment ourselves with machines, who'll get the least powerful tech? The poor. Whatever it is, capitalism makes sure that the poor gets the short sticks and makes sure they stay behind. I personally believe we are moving away from capitalism, into some form of (more or less) global socialism.
My neighbor makes 17 bucks an hour working as a school bus monitor. She just got a Samsung Galaxy S3, which as far as I know is pretty much a state of the art smart phone. The poor get the same internet the rich get. SOOOOOOOO much stuff is free these days, it is INSANELY RIDICULOUS lol.
Irrationality does not equal evil. Irrationali actions can cause damage and pervert greater whole, but it also one of the features that differs us from the machines. Am I being evil because I drink soda? It isn't that healthy, it's more expensive to produce and less nutritious than say orange juice. Am I evil if I prefer using down-to-earth colors, regardless of the expenses of these particular dyes? We are all driven by the irrational nature of human emotions, but guided by our rational thoughts.
I already said, emotions are good but irrationality is bad. They are separate and distinct. It may well be rational to appease your emotions. Never said it wasn't. If you like doing something, there is value in doing it. Having false beliefs is a different story. If someone had actually educated those crazies who burned witches at the stake, they wouldn't have done it, and a lot of misery would have been spared. You really can't compare that to drinking soda. Sorry.
Still wondering how the fuck they are going to convince the first healthy individual to upload their mind to a machine.
I don't think that would be a major hurdle. Countless people who are about to die would do it readily.