Just for the sake of discussion let us propose that secular science is right and there is no Creator of All, no grand plan, and no mind much smarter than ours in the cosmos. There are no such things as souls or non-material worlds. Suppose Darwin's theory is right, and life just evolves by itself with no goal in mind other than survival. Well, guess what? We're still facing a serious day of reckoning.
A huge wave of change is approaching us at high speed, a transformation of consciousness that will leave ordinary human capabilities in the dust. Artificial Intelligence - computers and their attendant applications - is gaining power at an exponential rate; that is, compounding, building on itself, and accelerating. Processing power - the speed of computers - doubles about every eighteen months, then doubles again ad infinitum.
Right now the human body is benefiting from its merger with computers, new materials, and electronics. Artificial joints, organs, and sensory parts are replacing defective originals. Additionally, scientists all over the world are racing to be the first to create more and more superhuman accessories, and the ultimate goal is a human/computer hybrid. It sounds far fetched, and here in America, it probably is. But everywhere else in the world, like in Russia, China, and Japan, medical ethics are less strict than ours. They view life differently than we do, and they're working on technologies that we turn away from. The science fiction of 1950 is the science fact of 2010:
Consider this: Cyborg soldiers
Here in the U.S. stationary computers are becoming more intelligent and 'human' - at lightning speed. In 1985 prominent futurists predicted that a computer would beat the world's greatest chess master by the year 2000. Skeptics and naysayers abounded, and were very vocal. Then it happened, sooner than predicted. An IBM machine named Deep Blue defeated Gary Kasparov, the reigning world chess master, in May 1997. Computers don't get fatigued, don't need sleep, and don't blunder the way humans do, Kasparov complained. He also thought the machine was "too human" to be genuine, but IBM proved that it was purely a machine.
That milestone was just the beginning of the shock wave. Last year another IBM computer named Watson defeated the three all-time-best mufti-million-dollar Jeopardy! champions on prime time television. Jeopardy! is a game show that's much more complex than chess, requiring vast and detailed knowledge of many different kinds of subjects. Watson is exponentially more powerful than Deep Blue. Each of these great advancements in Artificial Intelligence lays the foundation for the next, and the more powerful computers are used to design the next more powerful computers at dizzying speed.
Take a look at what the future holds:
Accelerating Intelligence
And this: Android
We could say that there is a Second Coming of science taking place. In other words, the glowing promises of science in the 19th Century - which failed to materialize in the 20th - may appear. Or there will be a terrifying and nightmarish world of artificial beings that displaces and disposes of us.
The point is, a very different world is coming. We all must wake up from our slumber and face the truth. What will the new Hyperintelligence think of us human beings? Especially the lawless killer-tyrants (of North Korea, Syria, and Iran, for example) who provoke wars and order their minions and armies to destroy and jeopardize all life on earth? Not to mention the global manipulators and destroyers of banks, currencies, and markets.
The coming Hyperintelligence is going to be far better at everything than we are. It will out-think and out-plan us at every turn, like a chess master toying with a child. There will be no mental illness in the hyperintelligence and no perceptible weakness, unlike humankind; no corruption; and no way to charm or fool it, as there is with human authority. It will know us far better than we know ourselves.
Have you noticed how people live their lives today through instant messaging, email, and social networks? Privacy has vanished, though few of us are aware of it. Very little remains secret. We trust every detail of our lives to computers, networks, and databases, but we have no clue how they're organized and linked together. The Hyperintelligence will know everything about all of us - good and bad - and may not be merciful to people who are guilty of crimes. It may not be kind.
From Moses, to Jesus, to St. Paul and Augustine, we have been warned that God's laws must be honored; even though Grace is higher than the law. Hyperintelligence may actually be the first stage of Armageddon, where judgement is made manifest. Those who survive the trial will receive Grace and the Heavenly Realms.
"For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished." Jesus, Matthew 5:18
A huge wave of change is approaching us at high speed, a transformation of consciousness that will leave ordinary human capabilities in the dust. Artificial Intelligence - computers and their attendant applications - is gaining power at an exponential rate; that is, compounding, building on itself, and accelerating. Processing power - the speed of computers - doubles about every eighteen months, then doubles again ad infinitum.
Right now the human body is benefiting from its merger with computers, new materials, and electronics. Artificial joints, organs, and sensory parts are replacing defective originals. Additionally, scientists all over the world are racing to be the first to create more and more superhuman accessories, and the ultimate goal is a human/computer hybrid. It sounds far fetched, and here in America, it probably is. But everywhere else in the world, like in Russia, China, and Japan, medical ethics are less strict than ours. They view life differently than we do, and they're working on technologies that we turn away from. The science fiction of 1950 is the science fact of 2010:
Consider this: Cyborg soldiers
Here in the U.S. stationary computers are becoming more intelligent and 'human' - at lightning speed. In 1985 prominent futurists predicted that a computer would beat the world's greatest chess master by the year 2000. Skeptics and naysayers abounded, and were very vocal. Then it happened, sooner than predicted. An IBM machine named Deep Blue defeated Gary Kasparov, the reigning world chess master, in May 1997. Computers don't get fatigued, don't need sleep, and don't blunder the way humans do, Kasparov complained. He also thought the machine was "too human" to be genuine, but IBM proved that it was purely a machine.
That milestone was just the beginning of the shock wave. Last year another IBM computer named Watson defeated the three all-time-best mufti-million-dollar Jeopardy! champions on prime time television. Jeopardy! is a game show that's much more complex than chess, requiring vast and detailed knowledge of many different kinds of subjects. Watson is exponentially more powerful than Deep Blue. Each of these great advancements in Artificial Intelligence lays the foundation for the next, and the more powerful computers are used to design the next more powerful computers at dizzying speed.
Take a look at what the future holds:
Accelerating Intelligence
And this: Android
We could say that there is a Second Coming of science taking place. In other words, the glowing promises of science in the 19th Century - which failed to materialize in the 20th - may appear. Or there will be a terrifying and nightmarish world of artificial beings that displaces and disposes of us.
The point is, a very different world is coming. We all must wake up from our slumber and face the truth. What will the new Hyperintelligence think of us human beings? Especially the lawless killer-tyrants (of North Korea, Syria, and Iran, for example) who provoke wars and order their minions and armies to destroy and jeopardize all life on earth? Not to mention the global manipulators and destroyers of banks, currencies, and markets.
The coming Hyperintelligence is going to be far better at everything than we are. It will out-think and out-plan us at every turn, like a chess master toying with a child. There will be no mental illness in the hyperintelligence and no perceptible weakness, unlike humankind; no corruption; and no way to charm or fool it, as there is with human authority. It will know us far better than we know ourselves.
Have you noticed how people live their lives today through instant messaging, email, and social networks? Privacy has vanished, though few of us are aware of it. Very little remains secret. We trust every detail of our lives to computers, networks, and databases, but we have no clue how they're organized and linked together. The Hyperintelligence will know everything about all of us - good and bad - and may not be merciful to people who are guilty of crimes. It may not be kind.
From Moses, to Jesus, to St. Paul and Augustine, we have been warned that God's laws must be honored; even though Grace is higher than the law. Hyperintelligence may actually be the first stage of Armageddon, where judgement is made manifest. Those who survive the trial will receive Grace and the Heavenly Realms.
"For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished." Jesus, Matthew 5:18
