Neil Hopcroft

A digital misfit

At last I’ve got an explanation of why scifi isn’t as exciting as it was – I’ve hit future shock level 3 ‘Nanotechnology, human-equivalent AI, minor intelligence enhancement, uploading, total body revision, intergalactic exploration. Extropians and transhumanists’.


Categories: Memories.

/ 6 Comments

6 comments

  2. karohemd

    However, I think the examples in the various levels are slightly screwed. While nanotechnology isn’t just a thing of fiction anymore, medical immortality is nowhere in sight, or even (fictionally speaking) simple things like a general cure for cancer.

    Reply
    • neilh

      I think its more about whether you can see the path to the creation of that level of tech, rather than its existance at the moment.

      Medical immortality is only a few years out, certainly within our lifetime, though reconstruction after significant head injury is unlikely to be an option for a while longer, we understand aging and regeneration enough to be able to envisage how to create vat grown organs, albeit without the detail of actually having done it. Once we can grow it in a vat, we can transplant in, with no fear of rejection since its grown from your own cells. Speed of growth is potentially a problem, since it takes something like 15 years for each to grow in the natural setting.

      Reply
  4. neilh

    You’re comfortable with the *concept* of the technology, its just the implementation that makes you uncomfortable. I have that problem too.

    Reply

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