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Newer page: version 4 Last edited on Saturday, September 3, 2005 8:43:32 pm. by VectorHermit
Older page: version 2 Last edited on Friday, August 22, 2003 9:38:11 am. by VectorHermit
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 !!Introduction 
  
 What is a man? A man is an intelligent, self-aware[1] animal. What is a Spirothete[2]? A spirothete is an intelligent, self-aware machine. There are, at this time, many many men, some few of whom no doubt meet this definition. To the best of my knowledge, spirothetes do not yet exist. The first section of this document deals with the likelihood that they will exist. And, I will argue, far sooner than people anticipate. 
  
-This article attempts to provide a partial foundation for some of the propositions expressed in [http://virus .lucifer .com /bbs/index.php?board=54;action=display;threadid=28871 | "Jobs and Human History", Church of Virus, Reply 1, Hermit, 2003-07-24 ], and in particular the development of spirothetes and their interaction with mankind: 
+This article attempts to provide a partial foundation for some of the propositions expressed in ["Jobs and Human History", Church of Virus, Reply 1, Hermit, 2003-07-24 | http://www .churchofvirus .org /bbs/index.php?board=54;action=display;threadid=28871], and in particular the development of spirothetes and their interaction with mankind: 
  
-Energy should already be close to "free", only our short sitedness has stopped this from happening. Eventually, somebody will get a clue, and it will be. At which point fresh water and most raw materials will be extracted from sea water and the cost will tend towards zero. 
+Energy should already be close to "free", only our short sitedness has stopped this from happening. Eventually, somebody will get a clue - and it will be. Possibly space solar collection and concentration to drive MHD generators, likely turbines in ocean currents, probably hydraulic or pneumatic transmission of ocean pressure changes to land or platform based generators, or maybe, just maybe, fusion . At which point fresh water and most raw materials will be extracted from sea water and the cost will tend towards zero. 
  
 Nanotechnology will be a reality within 20 years. At which point the production of raw materials and processing and assembly of manufactured goods will tend towards zero. 
  
 The combination of almost free energy and almost free manufactured goods will result in the cost of transport and distribution dropping towards zero. 
@@ -105,44 +105,43 @@
 Yet no change means no development, and man is far from perfect. 
  
 A third issue would be the likelihood that 
  
-[1] Self-awareness. Measured using the "mirror test". Gordon Gallup, Jr. began development of the mirror test in 1969. The mirror test involves marking the faces of animals or other parts which the animals cannot see with red dye, and determining whether the animals touch the marks on themselves or those appearing in a reflection in a mirror. Most animals treat mirror images as they would peers. Humans generally behave much the same way until 18 to 24 months, after which they start to recognize themselves in a reflection and also begin to use personal pronouns. Gallup proposes that the self-awareness demonstrated by this test might indicate the ability to empathize with other animals. "What an Elephant Sees in the Mirror", Jessica Clark, Brittanica.com, 2000-08-30. http://www.mindspring.com/~samizdata/britannica/elephant.htm. It should be noted that in "Self-Awareness" in the Pigeon", SCIENCE, VOL. 212, 1981-05-08, Robert Epstein, Robert P Lanza, BF Skinner, http://www.k.tsukuba-tech.ac.jp/ge/people/katoh/katohJ.html, produced a nonmentalistic model of this test which perhaps reduces the value of this test. However a great deal more work based on the "mirror-test for self awareness" is in the literature subsequent to the publication of "Self-Awareness" in the Pigeon" suggesting that the "mirror-test" is still consider a valid test.   
- 
+[1] Self-awareness. Measured using the "mirror test". Gordon Gallup, Jr. began development of the mirror test in 1969. The mirror test involves marking the faces of animals or other parts which the animals cannot see with red dye, and determining whether the animals touch the marks on themselves or those appearing in a reflection in a mirror. Most animals treat mirror images as they would peers. Humans generally behave much the same way until 18 to 24 months, after which they start to recognize themselves in a reflection and also begin to use personal pronouns. Gallup proposes that the self-awareness demonstrated by this test might indicate the ability to empathize with other animals. [ "What an Elephant Sees in the Mirror", Jessica Clark, Brittanica.com, 2000-08-30 | http://www.mindspring.com/~samizdata/britannica/elephant.htm ] It should be noted that in [ "Self-Awareness" in the Pigeon", SCIENCE, VOL. 212, 1981-05-08, Robert Epstein, Robert P Lanza, BF Skinner | http://www.k.tsukuba-tech.ac.jp/ge/people/katoh/katohJ.html ] , produced a nonmentalistic model of this test which perhaps reduces the value of this test. However a great deal more work based on the "mirror-test for self awareness" is in the literature subsequent to the publication of "Self-Awareness" in the Pigeon" suggesting that the "mirror-test" is still consider a valid test. 
  
 [2] Spirothete: noun. A word coined to describe a living being, initially created as an artifact, from Latin, spiro -are; intransit., to breathe, blow, draw breath; to be alive; to have inspiration; be inspired; transit., to breath out, expire (also L/Gk spiros the breath of life) and synthetic adj 1: (chemistry) not of natural origin; prepared or made artificially 2: involving or of the nature of synthesis (combining separate elements to form a coherent whole) as opposed to analysis. 
 [http://virus.lucifer.com/wiki/spirothete] 
  
-[3] Elephants: In research conducted at Sierra Nevada College in Lake Tahoe, Calif., two Asian elephants were observed for two and a half months. After they got used to the four-by-eight-foot mirror, they used it to find hidden objects and to observe marks that researchers placed on them with nontoxic face paint. "What an Elephant Sees in the Mirror", Jessica Clark, Brittanica.com, 2000-08-30. http://www.mindspring.com/~samizdata/britannica/elephant.htm 
+[3] Elephants: In research conducted at Sierra Nevada College in Lake Tahoe, Calif., two Asian elephants were observed for two and a half months. After they got used to the four-by-eight-foot mirror, they used it to find hidden objects and to observe marks that researchers placed on them with nontoxic face paint. [ "What an Elephant Sees in the Mirror", Jessica Clark, Brittanica.com, 2000-08-30 | http://www.mindspring.com/~samizdata/britannica/elephant.htm ]  
  
-[4] Dolphins: two new, unrelated studies are reporting that dolphins are able to recognize themselves in mirrors — often taken as a sign of self-awareness — and of spontaneously grasping the thoughts of other individuals, in this case, humans. "Brainy Dolphins Pass the Human 'Mirror' Test", The New York Times, Science, Mark Derr, 2001-05-01, http://quantrm2.psy.ohio-state.edu/injae/course/612/dolphins_nyt.htm 
+[4] Dolphins: two new, unrelated studies are reporting that dolphins are able to recognize themselves in mirrors — often taken as a sign of self-awareness — and of spontaneously grasping the thoughts of other individuals, in this case, humans. [ " Brainy Dolphins Pass the Human 'Mirror' Test", The New York Times, Science, Mark Derr, 2001-05-01 | http://quantrm2.psy.ohio-state.edu/injae/course/612/dolphins_nyt.htm ]  
  
-[5] Great Apes: Koko, a gorilla who was taught sign language, has mastered more than 1,000 signs and understands several thousand English words. On human IQ tests, she scores between 70 and 95, putting her in the slow learner - but not retarded - category. And At the Washington National Zoo, orangutans given mirrors explore parts of their bodies they can't see otherwise, showing a sense of self. An orangutan named Chantek at the Atlanta Zoo used a mirror to groom his teeth and adjust his sunglasses, says his trainer. "Man and other animals", The Guardian, Jeremy Rifkin, 2003-08-16, http://www.guardian.co.uk/animalrights/story/,11917,1020066,00.html. Refer also http://www.koko.org/ 
+[5] Great Apes: Koko, a gorilla who was taught sign language, has mastered more than 1,000 signs and understands several thousand English words. On human IQ tests, she scores between 70 and 95, putting her in the slow learner - but not retarded - category. And At the Washington National Zoo, orangutans given mirrors explore parts of their bodies they can't see otherwise, showing a sense of self. An orangutan named Chantek at the Atlanta Zoo used a mirror to groom his teeth and adjust his sunglasses, says his trainer. [ "Man and other animals", The Guardian, Jeremy Rifkin, 2003-08-16 | http://www.guardian.co.uk/animalrights/story/,11917,1020066,00.html] . Refer also [ http://www.koko.org/]  
  
-[6] A human brain's probable processing power is around 100 Teraflops, roughly 100 trillion calculations per second, according to Hans Morvec, principal research scientist at the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University. This is based on factoring the capability of the brain's 100 billion neurons, each with over 1 000 connections to other neurons, with each connection capable of performing about 200 calculations per second... Morvec estimates a brain to have a 100-terabyte capacity. "This Is Your Computer on Brains", Wired News, Michelle Delio, 2002-11-19, http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/,1377,56459,00.html 
+[6] A human brain's probable processing power is around 100 Teraflops, roughly 100 trillion calculations per second, according to Hans Morvec, principal research scientist at the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University. This is based on factoring the capability of the brain's 100 billion neurons, each with over 1 000 connections to other neurons, with each connection capable of performing about 200 calculations per second... Morvec estimates a brain to have a 100-terabyte capacity. [ "This Is Your Computer on Brains", Wired News, Michelle Delio, 2002-11-19 | http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/,1377,56459,00.html ]  
  
-[7] "World Population Prospects: The 2002 Revision: Highlights", 2003-02-26, http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2002/WPP2002-HIGHLIGHTSrev1.PDF, page 6 
+[7] [ "World Population Prospects: The 2002 Revision: Highlights", 2003-02-26 | http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2002/WPP2002-HIGHLIGHTSrev1.PDF, page 6 ]  
  
-[8] "Cramming more components onto integrated circuits", Electronics Vol 38 No 8, Dr. Gordon E Moore, 1965-04-19, ftp://download.intel.com/research/silicon/moorespaper.pdf 
+[8] [ "Cramming more components onto integrated circuits", Electronics Vol 38 No 8, Dr. Gordon E Moore, 1965-04-19 | ftp://download.intel.com/research/silicon/moorespaper.pdf ]  
  
-[9] “Darwinism and unintentional electronics.”, Church of Virus, Hermit, 1999-06-02, http://virus.lucifer.com/bbs/index.php?board=39;action=display;threadid=17513;start= 
+[9] [ “Darwinism and unintentional electronics.”, Church of Virus, Hermit, 1999-06-02 | http://virus.lucifer.com/bbs/index.php?board=39;action=display;threadid=17513;start=0 ]  
  
-[10] "HP Announces $499 PC, Printer and Monitor Package, Making Going Back to School Affordable and Easy", 2003-07-07, http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2003/030707a.html 
+[10] [ "HP Announces $499 PC, Printer and Monitor Package, Making Going Back to School Affordable and Easy", 2003-07-07, | http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2003/030707a.html ]  
  
 [11] Neural Networks: 
-"Artificial Neural Networks Technology", Dave Anderson and George McNeil, 1992-08-20, http://www.dacs.dtic.mil/techs/neural/neural_ToC.html  
-"Computers and Symbols versus Nets and Neurons", Kevin Gurney, http://www.shef.ac.uk/psychology/gurney/notes/download.html  
-"Neural Networks", Statsoft, 1984-2003, http://www.statsoftinc.com/textbook/stneunet.html  
-"An Introduction to Neural Networks", Prof. Leslie Smith, 1996-2003, http://www.cs.stir.ac.uk/~lss/NNIntro/InvSlides.html 
+[ "Artificial Neural Networks Technology", Dave Anderson and George McNeil, 1992-08-20 | http://www.dacs.dtic.mil/techs/neural/neural_ToC.html ]   
+[ "Computers and Symbols versus Nets and Neurons", Kevin Gurney | http://www.shef.ac.uk/psychology/gurney/notes/download.html ]   
+[ "Neural Networks", Statsoft, 1984-2003 | http://www.statsoftinc.com/textbook/stneunet.html ]   
+[ "An Introduction to Neural Networks", Prof. Leslie Smith, 1996-2003 | http://www.cs.stir.ac.uk/~lss/NNIntro/InvSlides.html ]  
  
-[12] Fuzzy Neural Networks:"Artificial Neural Networks Technology", Dave Anderson and George McNeil, 7.2 What the Next Developments Will Be? http://www.dacs.dtic.mil/techs/neural/neural12.html 
+[12] Fuzzy Neural Networks: [ "Artificial Neural Networks Technology", Dave Anderson and George McNeil, 7.2 What the Next Developments Will Be? | http://www.dacs.dtic.mil/techs/neural/neural12.html ]  
  
 [13] Genetic Algorithms: 
-http://www.aihorizon.com/essays/generalai/rj_ga.htm 
+[ http://www.aihorizon.com/essays/generalai/rj_ga.htm]  
  
 [14] General AI: 
-http://www.pcai.com/web/ai_info/general_ai_sites.html  
-http://www.aihorizon.com/essays/generalai/ 
+[ http://www.pcai.com/web/ai_info/general_ai_sites.html]   
+[ http://www.aihorizon.com/essays/generalai/]  
  
  
 [] A discussion on the Singularity held between Hermit and Anand in the #virus IRC channel at irc.Lucifer.com:6667 
  
@@ -156,7 +155,8 @@
  
 [*] We develop the ability to serve as entertaining pets (doubtful that we could entertain creatures able to think a lot faster than ourselves for very long). 
  
 [*] We resign ourselves to oblivion. 
+ 
 So, the question of the day is, if the Luddites win (and right now they seem to be winning), will they have a very short period to enjoy this before they are eliminated by our successors, or is there an eye to this needle through which a few humans might hope to escape? A consequent question is, if there is something that can be done, what should we as individuals or as a church be attempting to do about it? 
  
 For I would put it so strongly as to suggest that we are in a situation parallel to 390 CE only in a much more dangerous world. And the barbarians are about to burn down the Library of Alexandria which contains the few possible "escape routes" which might offer us some hope.