I think we're already going down this route of turning into mechanical entities rather than biological ones.
Look how much we rely on technology already. We have mobile phones, computers , cars and all the other wonderous gadgets.
We have to upgrade as soon as theres something newer or better than the old one , like updating your mobile phone, so why aren't our bodies treated the same.
We buy a new phone or computer if our old one breaks down so why can't we do that with our bodies?.
We can fix any technology but we can't fix flaws in our bodies or replace biological parts as it's too difficult.
Sure we can replace parts but what do we replace them with the majority of the time, we replace them with mechanical ones.
Its only recently we have discovered that we can replace parts with biological parts but the chance of rejection is huge. If we had a mechanical body and we lose a limb we could go to a nearby tech shop and buy a new one and slot in on.
So why not 'upgrade'
There was that guy that added technology to his arm, can't remember his name though.
So only time will tell what we become, but unless theres a huge HUGE leap in technology that allows our conscious mind to be transferred to a computer safely we'll never see it.
Mind you if it happened that fast would you want to?
I for one can't see a future (near future) where machines try to kill us biologicals , why would they ? we can do that well enough and we've become almost machinely efficient at it .
As for aliens , maybe they have gone through the same development stages that we have, I can just imagine all the alien teenagers dying to get their mitts on the latest galaxy class mobile comms unit, with 5million megapixel holocam.
Necessaty is the mother of invention, we when we can't go any further on this world we'll try to transfer to the next and that would mean a leap in technology and hence another need for more advanced tech, look at man's history , full of invention to better the situation he's in. WE take technology for granted, but if you take it all away what are left with? Our minds , and that will need to be upgraded to make room for more memories and experiences and the pyschic powers we'll gain, yay.....
Now I must depart as I need a biobreak, I'd like to see an android do that..... unless we dumps hydralic fluid all over the floor. messy

Originally posted by guerande
BTW , are u living really in Europe? Italy, if I'm right ? USA being sleeping ...

USA sleeping? It's 5 in the morning there, for crying out loud!!

Nope, I ain't from Italy. Internos is! I'm in South India presently, enjoying the salubrious climate of the 'Queen of the Hills Stations'! And its almost 5 in the evening now.

Originally posted by DataWraith

So why not 'upgrade'.

Necessity is the mother of invention, when we can't go any further on this world we'll try to transfer to the next and that would mean a leap in technology and hence another need for more advanced tech. Our minds , and that will need to be upgraded to make room for more memories and experiences.

Interesting post Data! Yep, considering what you said, it is possible that advanced intelligent life has morphed into post biological machines. The motivating factor is the inherent desire to improve mental capacity.

It is possible that highly developed alien beings have already reached a point in their evolution where, having reached the peak capacity of their biological brains, have taken the next logical step and opted for robotic brains equipped with artificial intelligence of mind boggling complexity, which is way beyond our present comprehension. Is that our destiny? Only time will tell!

Wow mike! As always, great find! You are really living up to your title!

Really makes you think. All I could think about though are the Combine from Half Life 2!

But I now pose this question. It is said that humans only utilize half their brain. If thats so, and we can make a trillion calculations a second, wouldnt it be double then if we unlocked our other half?

This reminds me of a recent video game called "Mass Effect". Basically, 150 years into the future, Humans have joined a Milky Way alien community after finding alien technological ruins on Mars that allowed them space travel. They discover Charon is actually a giant frozen teleporter device that takes you to other regions of the milky way. None of the aliens or humans know who built the teleporters, but they use the ones that they know are safe to travel.
Well it turns out that the teleporters were built by a group of artificially intelligent beings (that look like strange, giant spacecraft) that come out of hibernation from the regions just outside the Milky Way every 50,000 years to extinct all species and let the evolution start anew.

This is a great speculative thought piece.

I have often thought something along these lines was one possible answer to the Fermi Paradox - if the Universe were populated by super computers that could explain why "aliens" would have no interest in us until we reached the point of Technological Singularity. At which point (or some presently unimaginable predetermined point beyond that Singularity point) we would be absorbed into the pan-Galactic AI culture ...or we are already part of the Matrix

It also could be cool to make it impact a piece of a variable in the Drake Equation - that some percentage of Intelligent life becomes AI/Bio and is essentially immortal.

Originally posted by SLAYER69

Originally posted by Zepherian
Welcome to the nightmare world of tecnocratic transhumanism, where a couple of second rate philosophers and elitist aristocrats plan the demise of not only the human race but the entire biosphere.

If I thought there was a bright future in transhumanistic machine based lifeforms I could go along with this, but am I the only one that thinks this is madness?

First Law:
A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

Second Law:
A robot must obey orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

Third Law:
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.


I hope they have some sort of preprograming with these basics replace human being with inteligent life.


[edit on 13-8-2008 by SLAYER69]

idont understand why you are quoting i robot maybe im missing the point of your post any a robot isnt sentient is is controlled AI is totally different if its intellegent in the same sence as us then it could deside what to do on its own laws would work about aswell as they do for humans

Originally posted by mikesingh
Is it possible that advanced intelligent life exists where biology has morphed into post biological machines? The motivating factor is the inherent desire to improve mental capacity. Is it possible that highly developed alien beings have already reached a point in their evolution where, having reached the peak capacity of their biological brains, have taken the next logical step and opted for robotic brains equipped with artificial intelligence?

Is it possible? Very! Is it a step forward in evolution? I do not know. That depends on the purpose and environment/living conditions of the beings being discussed, don't you think? In some instances, that could very well be de-evolvement.

I know that many on Earth are currently working on A.I that would make human life easier. SciFi has always had a fetish for having A.I that is so advanced, they pose a threat to their biological creators. Can this be a possibility on another plan, or on another plane of existence? Yes, I think so.

Thanks again Mike, for the thought provoking posts.

This is just crazy! Wow! I've always thought this could be possible but to hear the same thoughts from a NASA scientists blows my mind! Amazing research, this is so well done! IT is no wonder why you a conspiracy master!

Uh, yeah. They're from Cybertron. I remember hearing someplace once that they were more than meets the eye, whatever that means.

But seriously, flagged, starred, and feared.

Originally posted by unknownfrost
But I now pose this question. It is said that humans only utilize half their brain. If thats so, and we can make a trillion calculations a second, wouldnt it be double then if we unlocked our other half?

It is said that we utilize only about 10% of our brains! The computer revolution here on Earth has produced supercomputers capable of performing more than a quadrillion calculations per second! According to research by Hans Moravec, an artificial intelligence expert at Carnegie Mellon University, that is way ahead of the human brain's estimated top speed of 100 trillion calculations per second.

So that would translate to a quadrillion calculations per second if we utilized the full power of our brains! But then what? Would we be satisfied to remain stagnant at this level? Evolution would then force us to rapidly try and increase this capacity. But since we would have reached the peak efficiency of our biological brains, what would be the next step? AI with mind boggling capabilities - perhaps a trillion quadrillion calculations per second!!

Now is this frying your brain?

Cheers!

dont now if this is off topic but i had the wierdest thought ,

what if something could survive the big bang- big crunch-big bang scenario
jumping some where else just before the big singularity spectacle,
and re emerge just after ,

if that is possible and theyve learnt to cheet "death" they could be aeons old

I think we're already going down this route of turning into mechanical entities rather than biological ones.

Like I said before, mechanical machines are inferior to biological ones. It's just that we haven't mastered bio-technology yet, and are only able to create inferior mechanical machines.

if infinity truly exists

then so does everything else

kudos