Friday, March 28, 2014
Sea Creatures and a rant about Kurzweil
The article entitled "Sea creatures may offer clues to such vexing problems of medical science as paralysis" brings to mind an intriguing question of whether the ability of modern day science to alter the natural world we live in is an ethical option for improving the lives of humans suffering from disease or trauma. Of course we all want the quality of life for others to be at its greatest potential, however, genetic engineering scares me. This article is only venturing into the world of genetic splicing and altering genes to take on the traits of other animals but the future of this research leads down a path I personally find disturbing. The world of Ray Kurzweil and the "Transcendent Man" seems to play out as a horrific culture of futuristic computer brained zombies in my mind. The idea of merging our consciousness with the world of computers is one I am not looking forward to, or one I see as possible. What we know from our studies in Chinese Medicine shows the human mind and body are more complex and beautiful than a string of lasting memories easily downloaded onto a chip for future implantation. The evolution of our species seems to have an intelligence which outreaches nano technology and its ability to process data inside of our human cells, but maybe I am wrong. Kurzweil does have about twenty doctorates in "technology stuff" and I can barely use a computer to write a blog so who knows.
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I enjoyed reading your perspective. I don't think all technology is bad though. I believe the ancient and the new can create positive transformation. Though there are many far-reaching concepts, there are some that have great potential to make positive impact. For instance, this is the work of a friend of a friend: http://www.ted.com/talks/tan_le_a_headset_that_reads_your_brainwaves
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ReplyDeleteHey Tyler, I hear ya buddy. I was living in a cabin in the woods with no phone/internet and here I moved to this techy city of SF and now your are talking about downloading memories onto a chip. What about writing a haiku? I guess thats why we chose to study a 2000 year old medicine. Im with ya on the zombi image, although Im thinking back to a 1996 national geographic I remember with an ear growing out of a mouse's back. I don't know i guess I'll check out the above link and see what Ted has to say. Pretty wild stuff.
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