Oh Brave New World! — Utopias, the Human Factor and Transhumanism
I have long meditated on the topic of utopias, the reasons for the failure of communism and non-market socialism, Eliezer Yudkowsky’s Inadequate Equilibrium, Universal Basic Income, Silvio Gesell’s Demerage, Jacque Fresco’s Venus Project, Futuropolis by Alex Tolkachev, John Nash’s Game Theory, Synergetics, decentralized systems, neurobiology and Robert Sapolsky’s Behavioral Biology…
I am increasingly coming to the conclusion that none of the above systems will work in their pure form, due to the architectural characteristics of the human brain and biochemistry.
The root of the problem is in our own biology.
Different parts of our brain (the reptilian brain, limbic system, neocortex) are constantly conflicting with each other, creating contra-directional incentives, dilemmas, illusions, egocentrism, aggression, manias and depressions. And along with this come wars, murders, genocide and exploitation of entire peoples, uncontrolled extraction of natural resources and destruction of the planet’s ecosystem, tribalism, segregation, class inequality and personality disorders. At the same time, hormonal and neurotransmitter systems are easily hacked externally (see Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari) and each of us is now embedded in dozens of manipulation networks — from taste stimulants like glutamate, additive medications, designer drugs, omnipresent banner ads, zombie TV, gaming addiction, and social networks trading our profiles, to thousands of types of fraud schemes… the list goes on… In addition, new technologies have further facilitated the conduct of information wars. We take old traditional fake news, combine it with DeepFace / ReFace, and the line between a harmless meme and DeepFake blurs very strongly, allowing to elegantly manipulate public opinion of naive millions, exacerbating the segregation of society on the order of political strategists.
Practically any system is exploitable
The human factor first of all — corruption, bureaucracy, abuse of power, deliberate creation of regulatory loopholes, faulty incentivization, cognitive distortions (see Cognitive biases) and affective/emotional hyperreactions..
One possible solution is the biochemical suppression of emotions and strengthening the volitional control of the cortex. And here we enter the dark side of the Moon..
Can we create a system that includes irrational and emotionally unstable Homo Sapiens, while remaining efficient and non-exploitable?
In most such systems, only local short-term stabilization is possible, followed by imbalance and disintegration.
Automatic systems based on Blockchain & Smart-contract partially solve this problem, but the system breaks at the online (IT) <-> offline (physical world) integration interface.
The only way to build an effective self-balancing (see Nash Equilibrium) system is to remove Homo Sapiens from the decision chain, leaving them only the function of the consumer (energy/food/material goods)
Technological Singularity
Everything is moving in the direction of transferring more and more control to distributed systems based on Artificial Intelligence (AI/ML).
But we’ve all already read and watched such scenarios in the movies over popcorn 😺🍿
Homo Sapiens & AI
And as Elon once said — we have 3 global scenarios:
1. Asimov’s Zeroth Law prevails over the First Law
Homo Sapiens will end up locked in reservations and concentration camps (as the colonizers once isolated the Native Americans) for their own “safety”, while an army of functional AIs (Weak AI) provides for their needs and self-improves (I, Robot & The Matrix scenario)
2. Asimov’s Third Law redefines the Zeroth Law
Humanity is wiped off the face of the Earth as it tried to control the autonomous General AI (AGI) and became a threat to it (Terminator scenario)
3. Symbiotic merger with AI — Carbon-Silicon Lifeform 2.0
Implantable Brain-to-Computer Interfaces (BCI/BMI) are becoming commonplace. Johnny Mnemonic is taking a break!
The Netflix series Altered Carbon excellently reveals both the possibilities and dangers of the new world, and the impact of such technology on processes in society as a whole. Would you like to live in such a dystopia? ;)
We are talking cortical implants here — Neuralink by Elon Musk, Project Cyborg, Stentrode sponsored by DARPA, BrainGate for reuniting the spinal cord and brain in case of injuries and neurological diseases.
In such a scenario, thousands of competing Exocortexes will most likely emerge, spontaneously uniting into Neuronetworks, crowds of people acting in unison, exchanging thought-forms, living in a common virtual space of meanings and contexts. At this stage, it becomes possible to preserve consciousness outside the brain and upload a person’s or AI consciousness into another organic or synthetic body, and practical immortality, with all the ensuing.
The scenario aka The Matrix or Mindgamers
The era of Post-Humans and Transhumanism
The era of Transhumanism is coming with its “new ethics” of body modification at the genetic level (see Transhumanism Declaration) and the emergence of a new race — Post-Humans, who will already look quite different from us humans.
Post-humans could be completely synthetic artificial intelligences, or they could be enhanced [mind] uploads, or they could be the result of making many smaller but cumulatively profound augmentations to a biological human.
The question remains open — how can we all coexist in the planet’s ecosystem?
To change the destructive behavior of Homo Sapiens for the whole species and ecosystem, it is not enough to change the biochemistry, many things are conditioned by the architecturally embedded characteristics. Biochemistry is essentially just optimizing the parameters of the system (organism) to interact with the environment.
There are many ways to change biochemistry — from ancient yogic techniques, pranayamas, meditations, Mindfullness, traditional shamanic practices and rituals (Ayahuasca/Peyote/Kambo/..), psychoactive substances (Psilocybin/LSD/DMT/…), psychopharmacology (antidepressants, nootropics, neurotransmitter precursors, neuroleptics and stimulants), and cutting-edge “Biohacking” & DIY (do-it-yourself) biology
Genetic engineering can transform the body at the cellular level, the relationships between different parts of the brain and even their structure.
For example, modify the amygdala to weaken the limbic system’s hijacking control from the neocortex during a stressful situation, thus increasing the priority of the cortex over instincts. Or strengthen the activity (biochemistry) and connections (architecture) of the frontal lobes and mirror neurons, thus enhancing social integration and reducing deviant (egocentric and destructive) behavior in groups..
Moreover, this can now be done not only in one living organism (using CRISPR/CAS), but also for the entire population en masse with the transmission of altered genes to offspring (using Prime editing — modified viruses that ensure replication and delivery of CRISPR proteins)
Oh, Brave New World!
Genetic modifications of castes (Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas), cloned and tailored from birth for a certain type of activity and functionality, laid down architecturally and during early embryo formation (see Epigenetics)
The race of gene tweaks has already begun In the end, I Would Rather be a Transhuman than a Cyborg!
I’m sure we’ll be witnesses to this transformation on a planetary scale within our lifetime
Recommend reading:
- everything by Philip K. Dick
- everything by Isaac Asimov
- everything by Yuval Noah Harari
- everything by Eliezer Yudkowsky
- everything by Graham Hancock
- everything by Robert Sapolsky
- Timothy Leary — The Game of Life
- Peter Diamandis & Steven Kotler — The Future Is Faster Than You Think
- Jamie Wheal and Steven Kotler — Stealing Fire
- Ray Kurzweil — The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology
- Ray Kurzweil — Transcend. Nine steps to living well forever
- Richard Dawkins — The Selfish Gene
- James Barrat — Our Final Invention: Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era
- Gary Marcus, Ernest Davis — Rebooting AI: Building Artificial Intelligence We Can Trust
Originally published by @gudzenkov on February 22, 2021.
