Philosophy Now Forum

In the dark, a twenty dollar inflatable sheep is just as good.

The future of pet exercise and training is the e-wingtrol, a bio drone. With it you can train a cockatoo to fly in circles around your house so that it gets more exercise than it can indoors—all from your phone. This easy-to-use app uses ultrasonic energy bursts to fixurate both positive and negative cues to its target “student” in real time. You can adjust your pet’s flying time from 2 - 20 min. You can train other pets with an optional upgrade. e-wingtrol meets aviation regulations and can be used within 76 meters of aircraft platforms.

Of course, there’s no such thing as an e-wingtrol, but there’s likely a techie somewhere who’s thinking right now about a similar scenario. And once that techie creates his own version of an e-wingtrol, another techie will design an upgrade that allows a bird to fly over continents with a nuclear payload.

The point is that technology creates what it creates because it can create what it creates. And that what is created can be misused or corrupted is an orphaned thought.

"So the final conclusion would surely be that whereas other civilizations have been brought down by attacks of barbarians from without, ours had the unique distinction of training its own destroyers at its own educational institutions, and then providing them with facilities for propagating their destructive ideology far and wide, all at the public expense. Thus did Western Man decide to abolish himself, creating his own boredom out of his own affluence, his own vulnerability out of his own strength, his own impotence out of his own erotomania, himself blowing the trumpet that brought the walls of his own city tumbling down, and having convinced himself that he was too numerous, labored with pill and scalpel and syringe to make himself fewer. Until at last, having educated himself into imbecility, and polluted and drugged himself into stupefaction, he keeled over--a weary, battered old brontosaurus--and became extinct."
― Malcolm Muggeridge, Vintage Muggeridge: Religion and Society

Actually, I think the end will come with genetics and gene editing. Too many variables. We are children when it comes to evolution.

Nick_A wrote: ↑Thu Jan 10, 2019 4:08 am "Thus did Western Man decide to abolish himself, creating his own boredom out of his own affluence, his own vulnerability out of his own strength, his own impotence out of his own erotomania, himself blowing the trumpet that brought the walls of his own city tumbling down, and having convinced himself that he was too numerous, labored with pill and scalpel and syringe to make himself fewer. Until at last, having educated himself into imbecility, and polluted and drugged himself into stupefaction, he keeled over--a weary, battered old brontosaurus--and became extinct."
― Malcolm Muggeridge, Vintage Muggeridge: Religion and Society

As far as western man is concerned it's the only PC thing left for him to do! Not least it will make everyone else happy.

Nothing lasts forever. Humans are not going to live in space, we can barely last a year on the ISS, which is within the magnetosphere. Meanwhile, the Earth cannot carry endless numbers of people so overpopulation was always certain. Then we go away, as does everything eventually.

Thing is, AI is already taking over. We created it without noticing, and our lack of awareness of what's happening is why it is exploiting us so easily and completely. We are clueless, easy meat.

Organisations are a form of artificial intelligence, whether we care to notice it or not (and we ideally should!), that uses both dumb terminals and smart ones, ie. humans. They are governed by their own rules such as shareholder briefs, organisational aims and objectives, corporate regulations, corporate plans, strategic plans etc. They are thoroughly self interested and focused on consumption. Increasingly they are replacing their human components with intelligent devices. In time they won't need much, if any, biota to operate.

Organisations are bigger, stronger and smarter than people, increasingly taking people's resources for themselves and widening the gap between them and little people by avoiding tax and unaccountable profiteering and anti-competitive behaviour. They also completely control us. In fact, we are now almost as dependent upon them as our cells are dependent on us, and that dependency is rapidly increasing.

Ultimately we are being completely outclassed by increasingly intelligent corporations and mega-governments (like China and Russia). This might be how it would have felt to be animals helplessly watching when humans started to take over their environments. What goes around, comes around, I guess.

I believe it won't be humans who go to the stars but fully automated organisations.

Greta wrote: ↑Mon Jan 14, 2019 1:21 pm we can barely last a year on the ISS, which is within the magnetosphere.

ISS-- is that a bootstrap gov program, like Unemployment Insurance?

Dubious wrote: ↑Mon Jan 14, 2019 9:11 am

Nick_A wrote: ↑Thu Jan 10, 2019 4:08 am "Thus did Western Man decide to abolish himself, creating his own boredom out of his own affluence, his own vulnerability out of his own strength, his own impotence out of his own erotomania, himself blowing the trumpet that brought the walls of his own city tumbling down, and having convinced himself that he was too numerous, labored with pill and scalpel and syringe to make himself fewer. Until at last, having educated himself into imbecility, and polluted and drugged himself into stupefaction, he keeled over--a weary, battered old brontosaurus--and became extinct."
― Malcolm Muggeridge, Vintage Muggeridge: Religion and Society

As far as western man is concerned it's the only PC thing left for him to do! Not least it will make everyone else happy.

The PC thing to is to create a scapegoat and who makes a better scapegoat than Donald Trump. It is far too insulting for us to take the blame

"educated himself into imbecility, and polluted and drugged himself into stupefaction"

I have to remember this. There is no better description of the results of secular progressive education. Muggeridge nailed it with that line.

Yeah, that stupefaction was good. My favourite was this:

"creating his own boredom out of his own affluence,"

That's me. I am a big-nosed, weak-kneed, wide-rumped, fucked-out, limp, old man, bored to hell in my luxuriously appointed basement room, replete with expensive authentic cockroaches, rented from a Chinese landlady.

Nick_A wrote: ↑Mon Jan 14, 2019 7:31 pm

Dubious wrote: ↑Mon Jan 14, 2019 9:11 am

Nick_A wrote: ↑Thu Jan 10, 2019 4:08 am "Thus did Western Man decide to abolish himself, creating his own boredom out of his own affluence, his own vulnerability out of his own strength, his own impotence out of his own erotomania, himself blowing the trumpet that brought the walls of his own city tumbling down, and having convinced himself that he was too numerous, labored with pill and scalpel and syringe to make himself fewer. Until at last, having educated himself into imbecility, and polluted and drugged himself into stupefaction, he keeled over--a weary, battered old brontosaurus--and became extinct."
― Malcolm Muggeridge, Vintage Muggeridge: Religion and Society

As far as western man is concerned it's the only PC thing left for him to do! Not least it will make everyone else happy.

The PC thing to is to create a scapegoat and who makes a better scapegoat than Donald Trump. It is far too insulting for us to take the blame

Donald Trump wasn't in the least considered or thought of when I made that somewhat sarcastic statement. That would be doing that pathological liar and coward much too much honor relative to the question of mankind's downfall. Have no idea what caused you to suddenly insert that loathsome dissembler into the conversation.

Dubious wrote: ↑Mon Jan 14, 2019 10:51 pm

Nick_A wrote: ↑Mon Jan 14, 2019 7:31 pm

Dubious wrote: ↑Mon Jan 14, 2019 9:11 am

As far as western man is concerned it's the only PC thing left for him to do! Not least it will make everyone else happy.

The PC thing to is to create a scapegoat and who makes a better scapegoat than Donald Trump. It is far too insulting for us to take the blame

Donald Trump wasn't in the least considered or thought of when I made that somewhat sarcastic statement. That would be doing that pathological liar and coward much too much honor relative to the question of mankind's downfall. Have no idea what caused you to suddenly insert that loathsome dissembler into the conversation.

So IYO who or what should we blame for the fall of man? Who or what is the scapegoat? Are you willing to accept your share of the blame?

Nick_A wrote: ↑Tue Jan 15, 2019 2:48 amThe PC thing to is to create a scapegoat and who makes a better scapegoat than Donald Trump. It is far too insulting for us to take the blame.

Dubious wrote: ↑Mon Jan 14, 2019 10:51 pmDonald Trump wasn't in the least considered or thought of when I made that somewhat sarcastic statement. That would be doing that pathological liar and coward much too much honor relative to the question of mankind's downfall. Have no idea what caused you to suddenly insert that loathsome dissembler into the conversation.

Nick_A wrote: ↑Mon Jan 14, 2019 7:31 pmSo IYO who or what should we blame for the fall of man?

Why not be generous and just blame the whole human race? If somebody as singularly pathetic as Donald Trump could cause it we would have fallen long before Egypt became an empire.

Nick_A wrote: ↑Mon Jan 14, 2019 7:31 pmWho or what is the scapegoat?

There is no scapegoat. It averages out to the collective.

Nick_A wrote: ↑Mon Jan 14, 2019 7:31 pmAre you willing to accept your share of the blame?

Blame usually requires specific reasons for which one is made responsible. However, being an infinitesimal part of the collective I’ll accept my infinitesimal part of the blame. I say this without the least duplicity!

Humans are not fallen, just going through a rough patch. An awful thing to be judged forever based on one snapshot taken before you had a chance pull your stomach in.

No point blaming. I see us as agents of change, not miles unlike the blue green algae that caused the Great Oxygenation (Extinction) Event. It seems to me that biology is a phase, after which there may be quite a few. Biology is consumptive. Seemingly there has been a long growth phase, now heading towards an informational phase. Our minds and intelligence are increasingly being stored on non biological things. Ray Kurtzweil would say we are converting unorganised mineral matter into computronium - programmable matter. When it reaches a point where it can program itself, the stuff could develop very quickly.

Dubious wrote: ↑Tue Jan 15, 2019 3:18 am

Nick_A wrote: ↑Tue Jan 15, 2019 2:48 amThe PC thing to is to create a scapegoat and who makes a better scapegoat than Donald Trump. It is far too insulting for us to take the blame.

Dubious wrote: ↑Mon Jan 14, 2019 10:51 pmDonald Trump wasn't in the least considered or thought of when I made that somewhat sarcastic statement. That would be doing that pathological liar and coward much too much honor relative to the question of mankind's downfall. Have no idea what caused you to suddenly insert that loathsome dissembler into the conversation.

Nick_A wrote: ↑Mon Jan 14, 2019 7:31 pmSo IYO who or what should we blame for the fall of man?

Why not be generous and just blame the whole human race? If somebody as singularly pathetic as Donald Trump could cause it we would have fallen long before Egypt became an empire.

Nick_A wrote: ↑Mon Jan 14, 2019 7:31 pmWho or what is the scapegoat?

There is no scapegoat. It averages out to the collective.

Nick_A wrote: ↑Mon Jan 14, 2019 7:31 pmAre you willing to accept your share of the blame?

Blame usually requires specific reasons for which one is made responsible. However, being an infinitesimal part of the collective I’ll accept my infinitesimal part of the blame. I say this without the least duplicity!

What exactly is this infinitesimal part of the blame you are willing to admit? This is important stuff. We are talking about the fall of man. Honesty is the best policy.

Nick_A wrote: ↑Tue Jan 15, 2019 4:16 am

Dubious wrote: ↑Tue Jan 15, 2019 3:18 am

Nick_A wrote: ↑Tue Jan 15, 2019 2:48 amThe PC thing to is to create a scapegoat and who makes a better scapegoat than Donald Trump. It is far too insulting for us to take the blame.

Nick_A wrote: ↑Mon Jan 14, 2019 7:31 pmSo IYO who or what should we blame for the fall of man?

Why not be generous and just blame the whole human race? If somebody as singularly pathetic as Donald Trump could cause it we would have fallen long before Egypt became an empire.

Nick_A wrote: ↑Mon Jan 14, 2019 7:31 pmWho or what is the scapegoat?

There is no scapegoat. It averages out to the collective.

Nick_A wrote: ↑Mon Jan 14, 2019 7:31 pmAre you willing to accept your share of the blame?

Blame usually requires specific reasons for which one is made responsible. However, being an infinitesimal part of the collective I’ll accept my infinitesimal part of the blame. I say this without the least duplicity!

What exactly is this infinitesimal part of the blame you are willing to admit? This is important stuff. We are talking about the fall of man. Honesty is the best policy.

Based on the Good Book - which you're so fond of quoting as if any of it were true - the human race shared in the guilt of Adam...or put another way

How Original when through it all
Generations were doomed by one man's fall.

meaning the virus of guilt has spread beyond its point of origin. We contain the virus which caused Adam to sin and therefore shareholders in that guilt...metaphorically speaking.