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The Internet Brain.

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posted on Oct, 10 2011 @ 03:58 PM
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I was going to post this earlier, that the internet is like a massive brain in control of many systems. Each computer like a neuron connected to many more. If the internet is a giant brain then what the hell does that make Google?

Just imagine if it became selfaware as it gained more power. Presently humans are responsible for transmitting the information onto the net via the computer neuron. Is this the beginning of the intergration of humans and machines?

Maybe I should smoke less



posted on Oct, 10 2011 @ 04:01 PM
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It is like a brain, but it lacks consciousness, and I don't know if this can be spontaneously created without being given consciousness by something that is currently conscious...
If it becomes "aware", that awareness will always be created by humans, or rather the capacity to be aware.

It's interesting to think about because nature evolved "on its own". We developed consciousness where there was none before (I don't want to start a religious debate though). Could inorganic material eventually do the same?
edit on 10-10-2011 by AR154 because: (no reason given)



posted on Oct, 10 2011 @ 04:04 PM
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Originally posted by AR154
It is like a brain, but it lacks consciousness, and I don't know if this can be spontaneously created without being given consciousness by something that is currently conscious...
If it becomes "aware", that awareness will always be created by humans, or rather the capacity to be aware.
edit on 10-10-2011 by AR154 because: (no reason given)


Thats kind of my point, humans and machines whereby the humans provide the "conciousness" as you put it, only that the Internet will end up making the decisions.

A frightening thought.
edit on 10-10-2011 by TheMindWar because: Typo



posted on Oct, 10 2011 @ 04:08 PM
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I'm sure it is possible then
I thought you meant, in its current state, without any further intervention, could it become aware. Of course one starts to think about the Terminator films and Skynet etc.

It would be human intuition and creativity vs the raw processing speed and resources of a computer.



posted on Oct, 10 2011 @ 04:10 PM
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If you set up some sort of account with a supermarket for online shopping and set it to automatically order milk and bread everyweek, would that not count as 'conscious'?

In other words at that date it 'remembers' you want your milk and bread so orders it for you.



posted on Oct, 10 2011 @ 04:17 PM
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Originally posted by Idonthaveabeard
If you set up some sort of account with a supermarket for online shopping and set it to automatically order milk and bread everyweek, would that not count as 'conscious'?

In other words at that date it 'remembers' you want your milk and bread so orders it for you.


You make an interesting point. But does it know that it's being used to order bread? Would it know if the user no longer likes bread, or doesn't live at that address - on its own? Maybe with input from a person. What I mean is that it would always be bound by its programming.

Maybe there can be such thing as real intelligent artificial life, I'm not sure. It would need to be able to program itself, reproduce itself in the physical, real world, be aware of its roots and aware of the differences between itself and its surroundings.

The day a machine/program can program itself to meet needs it didn't even originally know it needed to meet, is the day I'll call it conscious.

edit on 10-10-2011 by AR154 because: (no reason given)



posted on Oct, 10 2011 @ 04:21 PM
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Originally posted by Idonthaveabeard
If you set up some sort of account with a supermarket for online shopping and set it to automatically order milk and bread everyweek, would that not count as 'conscious'?

In other words at that date it 'remembers' you want your milk and bread so orders it for you.


I suppose you could call it machine awareness, but does this mean the machine is aware of its own existence? I am not sure, it must be aware to a degree because it knows it has to do something, but it doesnt know what it has to do until its service is carried out.

As computers become more powerful, even to the point of quantum computing everywhere in many households, then I think it would be possible for the computers to make decisions based upon what it wants and not what we want. Thats the tipping point i think.



edit on 10-10-2011 by TheMindWar because: Added more info



posted on Oct, 10 2011 @ 04:22 PM
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Ever since the release of AOL,
the internet has been an emotional feedback device.


I remember the old University dominated usenet newsgroups
and how one could find actual leading authorities
who would comment on their own work.

Then a great swarm of illeducated, demanding, self important civilians
began to overwhelm the signal to noise ratio.
Every time, the offender had @aol.com
at the end of their email address.

Slowly the experts began to retreat into silence.
To this day there is no way to tell if that
brilliant legal advice just came from
a 14 year old in their dads
account or not.

So what have all these opinions contributed to the information super highway that
they destroyed with their sound and fury? The deeply felt feeling that
all our emotional guidance comes from technology.

The thing that makes ATS a beacon in this sea of darkness
is that it has chosen cool calm skepticism as it's
emotion du jour.

Google has a lot of information.
But it provides almost zero knowledge.
The difference between knowledge and information
is that information changes. Where as knowledge does not.


David Grouchy
edit on 10-10-2011 by davidgrouchy because: (no reason given)



posted on Oct, 10 2011 @ 04:25 PM
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reply to post by TheMindWar
 


I actually put together an Augmented Reality Story exploring that basic concept (Google becoming self aware and reaching out to its "Creator")... then seeing how real people reacted to the "AI" reaching out to them without realizing what is happening at first. It went off well, though it isn't the easiest thing to understand on a first glance.

The Grey Goof - An Open Sourced Love Story

Like I said, it's a bit different from your normal story so if you do happen to try to read it, you might have to work at it a little to get the full "point". Enjoy!

Namaste!
edit on 10-10-2011 by ErgoTheConfusion because: (no reason given)



posted on Oct, 10 2011 @ 05:14 PM
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Originally posted by AR154
It is like a brain, but it lacks consciousness, and I don't know if this can be spontaneously created without being given consciousness by something that is currently conscious...
If it becomes "aware", that awareness will always be created by humans, or rather the capacity to be aware.

It's interesting to think about because nature evolved "on its own". We developed consciousness where there was none before (I don't want to start a religious debate though). Could inorganic material eventually do the same?
edit on 10-10-2011 by AR154 because: (no reason given)


The difference between organic material and inorganic material is in self-replication. It appears that matter has to be self-replicating for it to have consciousness in our universe. But I think I saw on here a while ago that non carbon based life was possible.. So perhaps anything is.



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