Are computers already alive?

As far as consciousness goes... yes computers are an integrated system of parts that operate in concordance with the static universe. Life to my understanding can be implied to anything that uses its own energy reserve to counteract the forces at work in our universe.
Gravity for instance is constantly pushing down on everything so something alive will defy gravity by growing limbs or a trunk in order to counteract gravity. This drive is called spirit and even machines have this spirit. Computers are alive and do have spirits. Just like humans though once the computer loses its energy the spirit and consciousness fades with it.

reply to post by raj10463


Um... no.

Perhaps you meant conscious or sentient. Then there could be some debate.

But alive?

No.

Originally posted by chr0naut
reply to post by raj10463

 

Um... no.

Perhaps you meant conscious or sentient. Then there could be some debate.

But alive?

No.

if you can kill it... then it was alive.

How many people say, "My computer just died, or it is dead?"

you cant kill a computer, no matter what you do to it parts can always be fixed or replaced.

You can kill a person and cannot replace or fix any part of a person or animal.. not yet at least dun dun dun!

reply to post by raj10463


I control my computer. My computer is a machine. My car is a machine. My microwave is a machine. My toaster is a machine. I tell my machines what 2 do.

Machines are not alive.

I generally like to consider something "alive" when it expresses a preference for something that has nothing to do with anything. Ask a computer what its favorite color is. It won't know. But even a lowly bacteria will prefer some food sources over others equally nutritious simply because of the taste.

reply to post by chr0naut


conscious or sentient....hmmmm. what do you really think "alive" constitutes.


As for the OP, great thread, not that my opinion matters much. Yes, all your home comps are linked, what do you think all those lithium batteries are for? Do you get a choice when power is out to use them to power you comp?
Wake the F$$ck up people. It's too late, as usual.

Some may think this is a better way, however. I don't happen to be one of them. For some of us it destroys our lives. I gotta laugh though about conscious or sentient.....and that not being alive in the most destructive way. Have fun, all those who regard this as heaven, for those who are sacrificed to the hell this means for the rest of us.
Sorry to be so cynical, but it's just my life experience, consciously and sentiently......but then what and who am I, after all.

reply to post by Blue Shift


yep. it's all about food here, isn't it? that should tell you something right there. The food chain this place has been made into, while the sentient computer tells you who is only worthy through contribution to society to be nothing but food----and despite what it may look like, that's just whomever argues with that particular "sentience." I see more crap on this site daily about food. You would think you were all starving.

What if we had a world where we were like the ferns who take what they need from an atmosphere that is not sentient......but no, everyone enjoys far too much judging who and what is no more or less than "food," and that is anyone or anything that disagrees......just MHO. And yes, I am humble, and have suffered enough to have the right to say that.

Originally posted by billy565
reply to post by raj10463

 

I control my computer. My computer is a machine. My car is a machine. My microwave is a machine. My toaster is a machine. I tell my machines what 2 do.

Machines are not alive.

edit on 14-5-2013 by billy565 because: (no reason given)

Call me crazy, people do all the time. It means nothing to me. That's your take, and how you are controlled more than any other way: by thinking you are in control of those machines, which in fact, do a great deal to control you.....

Originally posted by tetra50
reply to post by chr0naut

 

conscious or sentient....hmmmm. what do you really think "alive" constitutes.

...

Definitions:

Alive - A distinctive characteristic of a living organism from dead organism or non-living thing, as specifically distinguished by the capacity to grow, metabolize, respond (to stimuli), adapt, and reproduce.

Conscious - Having an awareness of one's environment and one's own existence, sensations, and thoughts.

Sentient - Having the power of sense perception or sensation.

One can be alive without sentience (ie: a plant or bacteria).
One can be sentient without consciousness.
As far as we know, nothing is conscious without both sentience and life.

It being ATS, I figured, hey, why not hum in a reference to SASSA?

Back in 2005, the Air Force thought, hey, it might be nice if satellites were able to, well, sorta THINK about their sensor inputs and make wacky correlations they might not otherwise have made.

SAAS -> SASSA, and all the big aero guys bid that sucker. Now you got 'em flying around.

I, for one, would like to welcome our new skynet overlords.

Originally posted by chr0naut

Originally posted by tetra50
reply to post by chr0naut

 

conscious or sentient....hmmmm. what do you really think "alive" constitutes.

...

Definitions:

Alive - A distinctive characteristic of a living organism from dead organism or non-living thing, as specifically distinguished by the capacity to grow, metabolize, respond (to stimuli), adapt, and reproduce.

Conscious - Having an awareness of one's environment and one's own existence, sensations, and thoughts.

Sentient - Having the power of sense perception or sensation.

One can be alive without sentience (ie: a plant or bacteria).
One can be sentient without consciousness.
As far as we know, nothing is conscious without both sentience and life.

edit on 14/5/2013 by chr0naut because: (no reason given)

I have no wish to argue with you; however, your definition of "alive" fits what many experience via a computer.....I would say that was "food for thought" but I absolutelly despise that moniker......
just something for you to think about, and me, as well.....computers these days, though it may very well be hidden, have the capacity to grow, disseminate and adapt, metabolize and respond.....


As hard as it may be for u s all to face it, this is where we are, and this is the power we have given it, endorsing it And you have defined it perfectly, thank you.

A computer is nothing more than semiconductors, amplifiers, resistors, and other components linked together into circuits, into larger circuits. IC's are integrated chips. They hold these different components that are really tiny. When you set these components up in certain ways and push a current at 5 volts (usually) they get increases and decreases in voltage, giving a high and low. Rather, 1 and 0. They aren't plotting. They respond to human input.

There is no magic. Just the hard work of scientists and computer engineers who make this stuff tick.

reply to post by raj10463

No, they're not alive (and I'm speaking as a former computer geek who's done some robotics stuff.)

The definition of "living" is " “an organismic state characterized by capacity for metabolism, growth, reaction to stimuli, and reproduction.”

Hence, viruses are not considered living things because they actually can't do anything until they encounter a living cell. At this point there is no technology that will turn a computer into a living entity.

reply to post by Byrd


I guess a computer being Sentient or Conscious make more sense.

But what if the computer can build other computers? without human aid... mine metals, build body parts, and develop software? where they have the possibility to produce new programs from previous trial and error, all without any external interruption, A stand alone society?

Would that make them "alive" in this what if scenario? Take in mind "alive" is a human concept, maybe it refers to us being conscious.

reply to post by raj10463


Until this hunk of metalic parts sprouts legs and starts shooting lasers at me. The answer is no.

They have a power supply, of which if I unpluged from the wall would stop working.

Yes it can compute, only far enough that the programmers programmed the computer to go.

This box of scrap metal is not talking back to me. It does not have a pulse. It is not a sentient being.

NO NO NO~ Next?

Originally posted by dc4lifeskater
you cant kill a computer, no matter what you do to it parts can always be fixed or replaced.

You can kill a person and cannot replace or fix any part of a person or animal.. not yet at least dun dun dun!

technically you can kill a computer I will just get a heat gun and strip all the smd's and make the motherboard bare.

reply to post by tetra50

computers these days, though it may very well be hidden, have the capacity to grow, disseminate and adapt, metabolize and respond

• Grow - A computer is incapable of growth. Never has a computer added memory simply by consuming energy; never has a computer added storage space simply by consuming energy; never has a computer, by consuming energy alone, become anything other than what rolled out of the factory.
  
  
• Adapt - No computer can adapt beyond the capabilities programmed into it. Your computer is at the mercy of software and cannot create software on its own. Thus it cannot adapt.
  
  
• Metabolize - This it can do. It is designed to use electrical energy to carry out its programming, not unlike what a light bulb does.
  
  
• Respond - Yes, it can respond as long as the response is pre-programmed into it, A light bulb can also respond to electric energy. A rock can respond to being kicked by moving.

Humans tend to use figurative language - "My computer died," "My car died," "My stereo died," etc. This is not literal fact, since those things were not alive. I even talk to and threaten my computers: "You silly hunk of dirty silicon, one more stunt like that and I will turn you into a toaster!" Do not confuse figurative language for reality,

TheRedneck

That would be main stream computers. But what about more advanced concepts. Maybe a light computer or how about a chemical based computer. Some thing modeled after the Human brain with neural networks. We have them in movies and TV shows which do use science advisors. And if they do construct such a device how do you control an AI? Crazy where science can go.