Carbon to Silicone.

In the first seventy years of human flight the hand and foot of the pilot controlled the aeroplane. Now they’re controlled by computers because their performance envelope can be increased by designing the plane to be unstable; the pilot only supplies a general intention of what he/she wants it to do. In essence the computer takes the intention of the pilot and magnifies it to outperform other, mere human pilots. Like for sure I could type this blog out on a typewriter and post it to a friend in Chingford but it wouldn’t achieve my intention of bending the minds of millions to my will. It’s read in over twenty countries from the US to China, mostly, I grant you, by people who click on it by mistake, but it’s out there changing the world about as much as a butterflies wing beat. That’s Peter by the way, the butterfly, he’s called Peter and he’s at 1745 North by 2238 West. Oh no he’s moved. Anyway my point is computers magnify the effect of our intentions on others. Now according to Darwin we’re all involved in the survival of the fittest so if the envelope of the ‘fittest humans’ now includes a computer where is this leading us? Surely even fitter humans will be more closely integrated with their computer until the fittest will be a seamlessly integrated human/computer entity. Once embarked on this route there’s no going back because one would not compete and thus be unable to survive. And as computers are evolving a thousand times faster than humans what in this human/computer entity will gain the upper hand? Many years ago talking to a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh he argued we were the carbon based precursors of silicone based life forms. I argued against him then but I’m not so sure now.