Tal Cohen's Bookshelf: A Collection of Personal Opinions about Books

Bob Morlock writes:
Repugnant?
Hofstadter calling Kurzweil's predictions of immortal soul repugnant and greedy because it's all based on fear of one's own death is quite ironic considering that life and greed are really two sides of the same coin.

The second irony is that this sort of ''evolution'' (the singularity) isn't artificial or unnatural at all since it's all coming from our very own intellect, i.e. the result of million of years of evolution.

So, if you hate those ideas, well, blame humankind itself.

Maybe Hofstadter's real fear is that machines will someday have more soul than he does...
[312] Posted on Friday, 13 June 2008 at 13:29 GMT [Reply to this] [Permalink]


kyb writes in reply to Bob Morlock:
Repugnant?
He probably just hopes that those high huneker AIs will be vegetarian.
[315] Posted on Friday, 13 June 2008 at 14:33 GMT [Reply to this] [Permalink]


abdulhaq writes in reply to kyb:
Repugnant?
ouch! how to tear apart a lifetime of analysis in one sentence...
[402] Posted on Friday, 17 July 2009 at 16:19 GMT [Reply to this] [Permalink]


ari writes in reply to Bob Morlock:
Repugnant?
Although there are evolutionary progressions that occur all the time I doubt that this will be the case with humans and technology. I maintain that technology is just a tool and not an evolutionary step. In fact, I resent the idea that humanity can be encapsulated by humanity. I see it as a rather self-absorbed notion that anyone could truly believe that the 'soul' as referenced here could be replicated in a machine. After all at its best would it not just be an echo incapable of unique expression?
[624] Posted on Thursday, 14 October 2010 at 10:49 GMT [Reply to this] [Permalink]

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