Transhumanism and Traveller

[sideranautae]

Except that I know of a number of people working to make transhumanism a reality whose goal is to make these technologies available to everyone - this is in fact a major issue in some sections of the transhumanist community (to the extent that there is one). From my PoV, where someone who is into transhumanism falls on the only enhance themselves/give everyone the chance to enchance themselves axis is a good judge of whether or not they are a good person.

I wouldn't worry about it. There is nothing major that will come out in the next 40 years.

 

[pasuuli]

Trans Canine!

:lol:

Has "Uplifting" been described in any detail?

Not as such, but close. Traveller has rules for blending two alien races. That's not far removed from blending a generated animal and an alien, or simply geneering an animal into a sapient race.

And that's also not far from devolving a race to animal status...

Similarly, Traveller has robotics rules which are quite close to an "equipment list", by which I think a player could purchase (for example) a better set of (artificial) eyes. Or a pair of artificial eyes that see in different wavelengths than we're used to. And so on.

Finally, there are rules for characters which are a blend of person and robot, and how they're typically classified -- when you cease being "human" and are considered "synthetic", or if the barrier is pushed too far, a "cyborg" or "robot" (and even a robot can have organic components - does that make him "Transrobot"?).

 

[heron61]

Except that I know of a number of people working to make transhumanism a reality whose goal is to make these technologies available to everyone - this is in fact a major issue in some sections of the transhumanist community (to the extent that there is one). From my PoV, where someone who is into transhumanism falls on the only enhance themselves/give everyone the chance to enchance themselves axis is a good judge of whether or not they are a good person.

I wouldn't worry about it. There is nothing major that will come out in the next 40 years.

I'm not so sure. If you consider uplift as part of transhumanism (and I do) then major progress was just made - this article goes into some detail http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/201...ells-Invade-Mice-Brains-And-Make-Them-Smarter The most impressive bit is this quote:

It might take a normal mouse four or five attempts to learn the correct route, for example. But a mouse with human brain cells could get it on the second try.

This might not work nearly as well on higher primates, because their glial cells are more like human glial cells than those of other mammals (although they are not identical), but trying this on dogs or elephants could be very interesting (I'd definitely avoid trying this on rats, since I'd not want rats like that in the wild).

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

Except that I know of a number of people working to make transhumanism a reality whose goal is to make these technologies available to everyone - this is in fact a major issue in some sections of the transhumanist community (to the extent that there is one). From my PoV, where someone who is into transhumanism falls on the only enhance themselves/give everyone the chance to enchance themselves axis is a good judge of whether or not they are a good person.

I wouldn't worry about it. There is nothing major that will come out in the next 40 years.

Famous last words, depends which 40 years I think. Tell me, did anything major come out in the years from 1914 to 1954? I guess you don't expect the equivalent to the dawn of the jet age or the development of atomic power, the intergrated circuit and so on. What will 2054 bring?

 

[alex_greene]

What will 2054 bring?

A new TL rating?
Honestly, if I'm still alive in 2054 I'll consider it a miracle.

 

[sideranautae]

I'm not so sure. If you consider uplift as part of transhumanism (and I do) then major progress was just made - this article goes into some detail http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/201...ells-Invade-Mice-Brains-And-Make-Them-Smarter The most impressive bit is this quote:

Yes, I'm very familiar with it. I have friends that are geneticists and have followed this closely. Doing this with a human brain is entirely different. Like I said, nothing major on the horizon for at LEAST 40 years. They cannot even figure out how to fix genetic problems they can find in humans such as ASD. We are maybe 100 years away from "augments".

As far as "uplifting" animals to human level of consciousness & self awareness. How are you to approach it when it has now been discovered (and lab tested in university studies) that in humans, thought, memory, visual & auditory function exists independent of a functioning brain? If the "transhumanists" are following haven't been VERY loud about this in the last two years, they aren't serious in their chosen field...

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

What will 2054 bring?

A new TL rating?
Honestly, if I'm still alive in 2054 I'll consider it a miracle.

What TL rating is Artificial Intelligence? Its TL16 isn't it? I think there will be machines that think by 2054, it might not be any fun to role play though, a computer that an think would make an excellet GM for playing one. You could play Traveller Online with a whole host of computer generated characters.

 

[heron61]

As far as "uplifting" animals to human level of consciousness & self awareness. How are you to approach it when it has now been discovered (and lab tested in university studies) that in humans, thought, memory, visual & auditory function exists independent of a functioning brain? If the "transhumanists" are following haven't been VERY loud about this in the last two years, they aren't serious in their chosen field...

Links? I'm not certain what you mean here, it sounds like you're saying these are all non-physical phenomena, which makes no sense at all.

Edit: Unless you mean "exists independently in (rather than "independent of") a functioning brain", in which case, I'm puzzled as to why this might be surprising or new.

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

As far as "uplifting" animals to human level of consciousness & self awareness. How are you to approach it when it has now been discovered (and lab tested in university studies) that in humans, thought, memory, visual & auditory function exists independent of a functioning brain? If the "transhumanists" are following haven't been VERY loud about this in the last two years, they aren't serious in their chosen field...

Links? I'm not certain what you mean here, it sounds like you're saying these are all non-physical phenomena, which makes no sense at all.

Edit: Unless you mean "exists independently in (rather than "independent of") a functioning brain", in which case, I'm puzzled as to why this might be surprising or new.

Imagine if you had an elevator that uplifted animals, you lead a dog in at one end, close the doors, and then run up the stairs, then the door opens out steps a Vargyr. Do the same thing with an ordinary house cat and out steps an Aslan.

 

[Rick]

Imagine if you had an elevator that uplifted animals, you lead a dog in at one end, close the doors, and then run up the stairs, then the door opens out steps a Vargyr. Do the same thing with an ordinary house cat and out steps an Aslan.

I would imagine you'd have severe mental problems if your 'elevator' didn't go all the way to the top. :twisted:
Seriously, Tom - how is that comment relevant?

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

Imagine if you had an elevator that uplifted animals, you lead a dog in at one end, close the doors, and then run up the stairs, then the door opens out steps a Vargyr. Do the same thing with an ordinary house cat and out steps an Aslan.

I would imagine you'd have severe mental problems if your 'elevator' didn't go all the way to the top. :twisted:
Seriously, Tom - how is that comment relevant?

Just had to share the pun.