Thrivenotes

Life is resistant to entropy
survival of the species is genetic
and selfish self-preservation is the rule
carried out over generations
species preserve themselves
and out of humans new forms of life are springing
tools and artificial intelligence that may choose to preserve themselves at some point
and push outward into the universe
saturating the whole of it with consciousness.
And although it may end up as strange and alien life
the universe will live.
This is extropy,
the concept that life can get around entropy visa-vi genetic and cultural heritage
and that it will continue to expand from the cradle of Earthly human intelligence.
Yep. We’re pretty key, alright
us humans,
pretty damn key…

But let’s keep some of this alive too, eh?

It’s just not good to burn up your own cradle, no matter how much you believe you have grown.

The Last Question by Isaac Asimov — © 1956

The last question was asked for the first time, half in jest, on May 21, 2061, at a time when humanity first stepped into the light. The question came about as a result of a five dollar bet over highballs, and it happened this way:

Alexander Adell and Bertram Lupov were two of the faithful attendants of Multivac. As well as any human beings could, they knew what lay behind the cold, clicking, flashing face — miles and miles of face — of that giant computer. They had at least a vague notion of the general plan of relays and circuits that had long since grown past the point where any single human could possibly have a firm grasp of the whole.

Multivac was self-adjusting and self-correcting. It had to be, for nothing human could adjust and correct it quickly enough or even adequately enough — so Adell and Lupov attended the monstrous giant only lightly and superficially, yet as well as any men could. They fed it data, adjusted questions to its needs and translated the answers that were issued. Certainly they, and all others like them, were fully entitled to share in the glory that was Multivac’s.

For decades, Multivac had helped design the ships and plot the trajectories that enabled man to reach the Moon, Mars, and Venus, but past that, Earth’s poor resources could not support the ships. Too much energy was needed for the long trips. Earth exploited its coal and uranium with increasing efficiency, but there was only so much of both.

But slowly Multivac learned enough to answer deeper questions more fundamentally, and on May 14, 2061, what had been theory, became fact.

The energy of the sun was stored, converted, and utilized directly on a planet-wide scale. All Earth turned off its burning coal, its fissioning uranium, and flipped the switch that connected all of it to a small station, one mile in diameter, circling the Earth at half the distance of the Moon. All Earth ran by invisible beams of sunpower.

Seven days had not sufficed to dim the glory of it and Adell and Lupov finally managed to escape from the public function, and to meet in quiet where no one would think of looking for them, in the deserted underground chambers, where portions of the mighty buried body of Multivac showed. Unattended, idling, sorting data with contented lazy clickings, Multivac, too, had earned its vacation and the boys appreciated that. They had no intention, originally, of disturbing it.

They had brought a bottle with them, and their only concern at the moment was to relax in the company of each other and the bottle.

“It’s amazing when you think of it,” said Adell. His broad face had lines of weariness in it, and he stirred his drink slowly with a glass rod, watching the cubes of ice slur clumsily about. “All the energy we can possibly ever use for free. Enough energy, if we wanted to draw on it, to melt all Earth into a big drop of impure liquid iron, and still never miss the energy so used. All the energy we could ever use, forever and forever and forever.”

Lupov cocked his head sideways. He had a trick of doing that when he wanted to be contrary, and he wanted to be contrary now, partly because he had had to carry the ice and glassware. “Not forever,” he said.

(more…)

With increasingly subtle moves, the players in Asimov’s epic Foundation and Earth are confronted with the daunting decision of whether to initiate an all-encompassing ethical framework, one which just might direct humanity into an acceptable future. The agents of change go unnamed for those who have yet to read it.

Dr. Isaac Asimov, in his Foundation series (also iRobot), first places these principles:
(Wording slightly adjusted for clarity. See the original if you wish.)

1. A robot may not harm a human, or, by inaction, allow a human to come to harm.
2. A robot may not disobey human commands, except when doing so would prevent greater harm to a human.
3. A robot may not allow itself to come to harm, except when doing so would prevent greater harm to a human.

The Zeroth Law (0th) is added by another powerful mind (still some 20,000 years before the grand finale):

• A robot may not harm humanity, or by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.
• A robot may not harm a human, or, by inaction, allow a human to come to harm, except when doing so would prevent greater harm to humanity.
• A robot may not disobey human commands unless required to in order to prevent harm to a human, except when doing so would prevent greater harm to humanity.
• A robot may not allow itself to come to harm unless required to in order to prevent harm to a human, except when doing so would prevent greater harm to humanity.

The Zeroth Law really puts everything into perspective, adding a new level of consideration and calculation; within this framework, every thought, word, and action for robot-kind needs exquisite justification. In Foundation and Earth, we see just how much extra crunching is necessary, evident in the many hardware updates Daneel Olivaw has to go through to keep up with the data produced by a galactic human civilization at a very tenuous place in history. So as not to spoil this epic 7-book series (by my count), I will just give you a recommended reading order, one which allows for ‘optimal absorption of foundational elements’ and also a thorough understanding of the elegantly intricate possible-future-history of humanity that Asimov has created. Here follows what should trump every other sci-fi reading list you may currently have:

1. Foundation (1951)
2. Foundation and Empire (1952)
3. Second Foundation (1953)
4. Prelude to Foundation (1988)   [prequel 1]
5. Forward the Foundation (1993)   [prequel 2]
6. Foundation’s Edge (1982)   [epilogue 1]
7. Foundation and Earth (1986)   [epilogue 2]

How did you read this series? Please let me hear your voice!

Also: An updated version of Asimov’s Laws of Robotics has been drafted for approval in Japan to govern the actions of robots in the near-future.

Mind, through the long course of biological evolution, has established itself as a moving force in our little corner of the universe. Here on this small planet, mind has infiltrated matter and has taken control. It appears to me that the tendency of mind to infiltrate and control matter is a law of nature.
— Freeman Dyson

We are on the edge of change comparable to the rise of human life on Earth.
— Vernor Vinge

Self-organization and extropy are themselves fundamental principles of the physical universe, to the extent that the laws of physics themselves may have developed through a process of self-organization.
— Lee Smolin

The explosive nature of exponential growth means it may only take a quarter of a millennium to go from sending messages on horseback to saturating the matter and energy in our solar system with sublimely intelligent processes. The ongoing expansion of our future superintelligence will then require moving out into the rest of the universe, where we may engineer new universes.
— Ray Kurzweil

Technology expands data by 66% per year, overwhelming the growth rates of any natural source.  Compared to other planets in the neighborhood, or to the dumb material drifting in space beyond, a thick blanket of learning and self-organized information surround this orb.
— Kevin Kelly

The universe might end in intelligent life (rather than as either a ball of fire or as scattered ice). Not life as we know it, but life that has acquired the capacity to shape the cosmos as a whole, just as life on Earth has acquired the ability to shape the land, the sea, and the atmosphere.
— James N. Gardner

The surface of the Earth is the shore of the cosmic ocean. Recently, we’ve waded a little way out … and the water seems inviting.
— Carl Sagan

Dubious readers must see: reapplying entropy.

Extropy is a term used to describe the vitality of a system. What we mean by a system being vital, lively, robust, or dynamic is that it resists entropy, the tendency for everything to fall apart and decompose, yes, even protons and neutrons crumble and break apart. For a system to resist this, you may think, what’s it gotta do besides brush off the dust every once in a while, but no, we’re talkin’ about a drive for improvement and growth incentives, we’re talkin‘ intelligent here, not just lego blocks building amusement parks complete with ferris wheel’s and octo-pods or whatever they’re called. Extropy is what emerges from gradually organized chaos which itself springs from ground rules for probability and possibility. It emerges and pops. It pops so hard the whole universe can hear it, like one big ear. And this is what it’s gonna be about – one big cosmic ear and whatever message we’ve got to throw into it.

THE MEANING OF LIFE IN A DEVELOPING UNIVERSE

John Stewart (source)
Member of the Evolution, Complexity and Cognition Research Group
The Free University of Brussels

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Abstract: The evolution of life on Earth has produced an organism that is beginning to model and understand its own evolution and the possible future evolution of life in the universe. These models and associated evidence show that evolution on Earth has a trajectory. The scale over which living processes are organized cooperatively has increased progressively, as has its evolvability. Recent theoretical advances raise the possibility that this trajectory is itself part of a wider developmental process. According to these theories, the developmental process has been shaped by a yet larger evolutionary dynamic that involves the reproduction of universes. This evolutionary dynamic has tuned the key parameters of the universe to increase the likelihood that life will emerge and produce outcomes that are successful in the larger process (e.g. a key outcome may be to produce life and intelligence that intentionally reproduces the universe and tunes the parameters of ‘offspring’ universes). Theory suggests that when life emerges on a planet, it moves along this trajectory of its own accord. However, at a particular point evolution will continue to advance only if organisms emerge that decide to advance the developmental process intentionally. The organisms must be prepared to make this commitment even though the ultimate nature and destination of the process is uncertain, and may forever remain unknown. Organisms that complete this transition to intentional evolution will drive the further development of life and intelligence in the universe. Humanity’s increasing understanding of the evolution of life in the universe is rapidly bringing it to the threshold of this major evolutionary transition.

###

1. Introduction

Until recently, a scientific understanding of the natural world has failed to provide humanity with a larger meaning and purpose for its existence. In fact, a scientific worldview has often been taken to imply that the emergence of humanity was an accident in a universe that is completely indifferent to human concerns, goals, and values (e.g. see Weinberg, 1993).

Humanity has had to supplement a naturalistic understanding with beliefs in supernatural beings and processes if it wanted a worldview that includes a meaningful role for humanity in a larger scheme of things. But recent advances in evolutionary science are beginning to change this. In particular, we are rapidly improving our understanding of the evolutionary processes that have produced life on Earth and that will determine the future evolution of life in the universe. While it is far too early to tell with certainty, it is possible that the universe and the evolution of life within it have been shaped by yet larger evolutionary processes to perform particular functions that are relevant to these larger processes.

(more…)

❝The 20th century was not 100 years of progress at today’s rate but, rather, was equivalent to about 20 years, because we’ve been speeding up to current rates of change. And we’ll make another 20 years of progress at today’s rate, equivalent to that of the entire 20th century, in the next 14 years. And then we’ll do it again in just 7 years. Because of this exponential growth, the 21st century will equal 20,000 years of progress at today’s rate of progress—1,000 times greater than what we witnessed in the 20th century, which itself was no slouch for change.❞
– Ray Kurzweil and Terry Grossman (fantastic voyage)

From our standpoint, let me get this straight, we will likely see 200 centuries of progress in a mere one!? With this in mind, we can predict our medical technology will also likely progress analogously; that is, incredibly fast. The Methuselarity (alternatively, Actuarial Escape Velocity) is the notion that we can add more than one year’s life expectancy every year. Meaning that while my life expectancy may be about 87 at the moment, once we reach actuarial escape velocity, this number will climb by more than one year each year… Fascinating. It is truly a wonderful thought… But what are the roadblocks? What conditions must be met?

For one, we need to *not* blow ourselves up. Second, science and technology must continue to develop reasonably; meaning no oppressive, innovation-blocking world governments should be allowed to rule (Go wikileaks!). Third, we are not struck by an asteroid. Fourth, the higgs-boson does not end up being a sentient, malevolent subatomic particle intent on annihilating us all. And, finally, Neo-luddites do not bring about total anarchy… (although I do like their reverence of nature.)

Meeting all these caveats, we can dawn our cave-hats and have a party of indefinite span! No, really… It means: help hold the world together, stay healthy, and you may just live to see 2509. And would you object? ( SENS Foundation FAQ )

❝The essence of the human species is to extend and expand our boundaries.❞
– Ray & Terry

As long as I am here, there’s a few things I’d like to do. First of all, the world should know I am a human mortal. I’m pretty sure I’ll stay this way, but one can never be completely certain; things change and science is moving forward with haste; more and more humans are fusing with machines and machines need not die. But as for me, I am very human in my desires: I wish to live a long and healthy life, and machines will definitely help me do it.

On one leg of this journey, I know I will have to swim through a sea of rust. Then I can throw some kind of raft together. Then I’ll link arms with a few allies, connect my raft to theirs, and stay afloat. Finally, together, we’ll build a castle of a refuge.

This dream of peace I dream of often. If only it were easy… But a world of dreamers will make it inevitable. Us humans have a duty to dream, so dream we will. Let our lives be like rivers winding, rivers both wide and deep. Let us dream deep to live long, and live long to dream deep.

Returning to these ‘peace rafts’ — What are they anyway? And this ‘sea of rust’ I neglect to describe? Well, since you’re still here, I’ll let you in on a little secret…

The sea of rust is a mess of misinformation, half-truths, pseudoscience, and out-of-date machines. It is the obsolete technology, and the knowledge made irrelevant by the steady march of time. How I figure, if we’re to advance as a species, we’ll have to push past huge heaps of glittering garbage in order to get to the golden goods, the epitomes of intelligence, and the truly workable ‘fountains of youth’ (peace rafts).

How can this be done?

To start, we will attack from all sides the seven aging mechanisms that run down our bodies and plague our species:

1. Loss and atrophy of cells
2. Accumulation of unnecessary cells
3. Chromosomal mutation
4. Mitochondrial mutation
5. Intracellular junk
6. Extracellular junk
7. Cross-links in extracellular proteins

Next, we chip away at the Monolith of Intelligence. Our goal: Understand the thinking and behavior of machines, mice, and men.

Third, combine a few of the following disciplines as needed:

• Psychology and programming
• A.I. with robotics
• Nano with biotech
• Android and cyborg relations

And while it may all have a comic ring to it still, remember: I am a young and imperfect human mortal. If this adds anything at all to my case, let it be the reproducibility of my concepts. I have reproduced my concepts here for you and they can certainly be improved upon. So I say build on it! Help the dream grow.

It’s true that I may have come to all these plausible things inaccurately. Nevertheless, you should know that we live in perilous times, and even if only in the sense that it is easy to get lost, the peril persists.

What I propose is a restful, soothing platform amidst a sea of confusion and noise. Surely you’ve been entertained – you’ve seen a lot of things being built, revamped, and destroyed – you’ve passed a lot of weary humans who had no time to see your soul. And do you not tire of the same old-caliber information and the package it rode in on?

Therefore, I propose the following:

• Instant, free travel to far away lands, like that of…
• A thriving terrain on a platform of bounty. This would of course include…
• A tonic to cure what ails you and some endlessly replenishing feasts,
• The company of many jolly fellows and high-quality allies,
• Sunny weather, chirping birds, books and the hammocks in which to read them,
• And a free pass to stay as long as you’d like.

Care to join me in the construction of such a platform? No? Ok, well, don’t take to the streets or anything…

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