Most of the risks are obvious: global war, ecological disasters (isn't there a massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico right now???), pollution, oppression, etc etc. It seems like things are heating up very quickly on the Korean pennisula right now...
The point was superhuman psychopaths are not...
Good catch on my use of "psychotic". I edited my original post to remove that mistake.
What makes the concept interesting to me is when you consider the entire company / government / religion as a single entity. Regardless of the behavior of its individual parts, through the pursuit of its...
I find the concept of superhuman psychopaths very interesting. In Joel Bakan's book "The Corporation", he asks the question what if corporations were people and what sort of people would they be? A psychologist would likely classify them as a psychopath because corporations are singularly...
Thanks for posting that link. Very interesting.
Maybe someday they will send a probe or something up there to drill through the ice and see what is underneath.
The creation of free-thinking, sentient machines might settle a few questions related to religion...
1. Would these AI's develop their own set of "religious beliefs" different from our own? If so, would that prove that religion is a by-product of intelligent thinking?
2. Would these AI's...
I am all for transhumanism and believe it is a necessary step in our evolution.
In one sense, it has already started. How many people do you see everyday with a Bluephone stuck in their ear? How many people are walking around with various implants, artificial limbs / bones / organs...
Extraterrestrial - originating, existing, or occurring outside the earth or its atmosphere.
The Bible does talk about an alien, God.
Belief in aliens or God is all based on faith. No hard evidence of either.
Personally, I believe aliens exist but I do agree with Hawking, we don't want to...
No one will ever be able to provide the OP with the "evidence God exists" that he is asking for and we all know it. For those that believe in God, their evidence is rooted in faith. For everyone else, God would need to step out of the heavens and go door-to-door performing miracles (and even...
People will be blowing themselves and others to pieces for one cause or another for the foreseable future, whether you eliminate radical extremism or not. All part of the wonderful "human condition". If we were to ever cause our own extinction, you can simply blame human nature.
If there is...
There is another theory out there that describes our universe as a "bubble" of sorts. Think of air pockets caught in gel, only the "gel" is something else, perhaps dark matter. The dark matter is constantly flowing and shifting (I imagine an infitely large lava lamp) and when enough of this...
So, you believe that God gets the credit for all our scientific discoveries? Forgive me for being arrogant, but I just have more faith in our intelligence, creativity and ingenuity than you do.
Yes, the scientific community alters its viewpoint when new discoveries lead to a better understanding of the facts. Religion isn't based on "facts" but on "faith". So that is the difference I believe.
And to your second point, it does make sense to me which is why it's interesting when you...
I suspect your response would have gotten you burned at the stake a few hundred years ago. What has changed between then and now with respect to the Bible?
It is interesting to see how people reconcile and then alter their religious beliefs in the face of scientific progress over time.
I...
Assuming that scientists will continue to make progress in this area and eventually be able to create life (some scientists believe they will be able to do this within a few decades)...
How do you think the religious community will, or should, respond to this? What message will be given to the...
Jose, here ya go.
Life As We Know It Nearly Created in Lab | LiveScience
Scientists create artificial self-replicating RNA! - Science News
Scientists Create a Form of Pre-Life | Wired Science | Wired.com
Just read a brief article stating that some scientists at the University of Manchester, UK, created a ribonucleotide. Creating a building block of RNA is a feat that has never been performed. The ribonucleotide was created from simple chemicals under conditions that might have existed on earth...