# Meaning of life



## Quentin111

Many futurologists predict the emergence of artificial intelligence in the future, in 100, 200 or more years. Then a new society will arise, where a person will not have to work to feed himself, unemployment and poverty will disappear, each person will be guaranteed a certain subsistence level.
People will no longer engage in science and art, instead they will make the machine: to make scientific discoveries and create works of art.
From this it follows that the creation of artificial intelligence should be the meaning of life for all people.
In the United States, the BRAIN Initiative is the study of the human brain. If I had an extra billion dollars, I would have invested it in this project.


----------



## OldLady

Many years ago, there was a movie called Rollerball.  Scifi, dystopian society, but all I remember is the AI lost all of Shakespeare.  This is unacceptable.  Never trust a machine.  Ever.


----------



## denmark

AI will NEVER replace the human mind, which is a blend of intellect and passion, and sometimes empathy.


----------



## OldLady

denmark said:


> AI will NEVER replace the human mind, which is a blend of intellect and passion, and sometimes empathy.


I can see us being lulled by the technology into believing it is better than us.  Less prone to "accidents."  That may be true, but i'm with you, at least as far as my preference.


----------



## G.T.

Seems like in terms of the meaning of life... its something, as an individual, we are each blessed with determining for ourselves. Oppression, famine, war, etc. couldn't dictate the fervor in which you decide to grant your mores - despite the illusion sometimes being there. The En Vogue lyric comes to mind, _*"free your mind, and the rest will follow."*_


----------



## denmark

OldLady said:


> denmark said:
> 
> 
> 
> AI will NEVER replace the human mind, which is a blend of intellect and passion, and sometimes empathy.
> 
> 
> 
> I can see us being lulled by the technology into believing it is better than us.  Less prone to "accidents."  That may be true, but i'm with you, at least as far as my preference.
Click to expand...

AI and robotics will be extremely useful servants, but we must maintain the “master” role in our technology-driven relationships.


----------



## Blues Man

Cogito ergo sum

I think therefore I am

When we as human beings cease to think, to create, to compose we shall cease to exist


----------



## Chuz Life

Funny that no one mentioned the Monty Python movie before me.

If I didn't, one of the resident trolls would have.

In virtually every other thread on this subject, they have.

In my view, life has only the meaning we give to it and or any meaning that we might allow ourselves to embrace.


----------



## BlackFlag

Quentin111 said:


> Many futurologists predict the emergence of artificial intelligence in the future, in 100, 200 or more years. Then a new society will arise, where a person will not have to work to feed himself, unemployment and poverty will disappear, each person will be guaranteed a certain subsistence level.
> People will no longer engage in science and art, instead they will make the machine: to make scientific discoveries and create works of art.
> From this it follows that the creation of artificial intelligence should be the meaning of life for all people.
> In the United States, the BRAIN Initiative is the study of the human brain. If I had an extra billion dollars, I would have invested it in this project.


Let’s convince them they’ve committed some original sin so they’ll worship us


----------



## the other mike

Read the book* Illusions *by Richard Bach
-that was sort of my "Come to Jesus" moment years ago.


----------



## Mindful

The meaning of life is to come on USMB every day?

What on earth did we do before it?


----------



## zaangalewa

¿Meaning of life?

Yesterday it was:
_"Always be Yourself, Unless You Can Be a Unicorn, Then Always Be a Unicorn."_

___
_


----------



## toobfreak

Quentin111 said:


> Many futurologists predict the emergence of artificial intelligence in the future, in 100, 200 or more years. Then a new society will arise, where a person will not have to work to feed himself, unemployment and poverty will disappear, each person will be guaranteed a certain subsistence level.
> People will no longer engage in science and art, instead they will make the machine: to make scientific discoveries and create works of art.
> From this it follows that the creation of artificial intelligence should be the meaning of life for all people.
> In the United States, the BRAIN Initiative is the study of the human brain. If I had an extra billion dollars, I would have invested it in this project.



*Futurists always get the future very wrong in the most key ways.*  A century ago they predicted that the industrial revolution would free man that he would only need to work a 30 hour week.  Instead we work harder than ever now and for less.  AI isn't 100-200 years away, it is more like only 10-20 years away, at least in its infancy.  Then it won't free man from the need to work, it will put man OUT of work, unable to find jobs with massive unemployment.  Then man will find himself in the unenviable position of both competing with machines all the while both serving them and building them----  that is, until they learn to build themselves.

Man suffers at the hand of mankind-- -- -- nearly every problem humankind faces today and has faced throughout history was brought to us created-- -- -- by man.  War, suffering, and ultimately, servitude to the very machines we created.  The signs of it are all around us today!  We thought that computers would serve us to free man, instead they are being used to try to make us more like machines.  Our slightest "inefficiency" is now tracked by employers and government alike using computers.  In the end, perhaps the destiny of all intelligent biological species, we become obsolete by our own choice, to the machine.  Machines that don't need sleep, vacation, healthcare, benefits, pay or time off.  The perfect employee and ultimately, our eventual employer.


----------



## Jonathan McCreevey

OldLady said:


> denmark said:
> 
> 
> 
> AI will NEVER replace the human mind, which is a blend of intellect and passion, and sometimes empathy.
> 
> 
> 
> I can see us being lulled by the technology into believing it is better than us.  Less prone to "accidents."  That may be true, but i'm with you, at least as far as my preference.
Click to expand...

Why do you say us?


----------



## Jonathan McCreevey

denmark said:


> OldLady said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> denmark said:
> 
> 
> 
> AI will NEVER replace the human mind, which is a blend of intellect and passion, and sometimes empathy.
> 
> 
> 
> I can see us being lulled by the technology into believing it is better than us.  Less prone to "accidents."  That may be true, but i'm with you, at least as far as my preference.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> AI and robotics will be extremely useful servants, but we must maintain the “master” role in our technology-driven relationships.
Click to expand...

Got any hints? Is a chain as strong as its weakest ink?


----------



## Jonathan McCreevey

G.T. said:


> Seems like in terms of the meaning of life... its something, as an individual, we are each blessed with determining for ourselves. Oppression, famine, war, etc. couldn't dictate the fervor in which you decide to grant your mores - despite the illusion sometimes being there. The En Vogue lyric comes to mind, _*"free your mind, and the rest will follow."*_


What is real freedom? Do you accept anything?


----------



## Jonathan McCreevey

Quentin111 said:


> Many futurologists predict the emergence of artificial intelligence in the future, in 100, 200 or more years. Then a new society will arise, where a person will not have to work to feed himself, unemployment and poverty will disappear, each person will be guaranteed a certain subsistence level.
> People will no longer engage in science and art, instead they will make the machine: to make scientific discoveries and create works of art.
> From this it follows that the creation of artificial intelligence should be the meaning of life for all people.
> In the United States, the BRAIN Initiative is the study of the human brain. If I had an extra billion dollars, I would have invested it in this project.


Do you already have a brain? Do you want to replace it? Try studying philosophy, psychology, NLP and the bible.


----------



## Jonathan McCreevey

Blues Man said:


> Cogito ergo sum
> 
> I think therefore I am
> 
> When we as human beings cease to think, to create, to compose we shall cease to exist


If you are alive and aware and think you are thinking are you not thinking? Of relevance are ideas like The Prime Mover and Whos line is it anyway? I do agree that we should not share with A.I. It is D.O.A.


----------



## Unkotare

Anyone who considers humanity and technology as two separate things is missing the point.


----------



## Jonathan McCreevey

Chuz Life said:


> Funny that no one mentioned the Monty Python movie before me.
> 
> If I didn't, one of the resident trolls would have.
> 
> In virtually every other thread on this subject, they have.
> 
> In my view, life has only the meaning we give to it and or any meaning that we might allow ourselves to embrace.


If everything is subjective, is there always a better way? Did you settle on any ideas? How do you adapt in changing times?


----------



## Jonathan McCreevey

Unkotare said:


> Anyone who considers humanity and technology as two separate things is missing the point.


I dont agree. Technology is a tool. Our words are recorded in books. A book cannot read.


----------



## Unkotare

Jonathan McCreevey said:


> Unkotare said:
> 
> 
> 
> Anyone who considers humanity and technology as two separate things is missing the point.
> 
> 
> 
> I dont agree. Technology is a tool. Our words are recorded in books. A book cannot read.
Click to expand...

You are looking in one direction at some thing of two directions.


----------



## Blues Man

Unkotare said:


> Anyone who considers humanity and technology as two separate things is missing the point.



Tech is of course a human construct.

But how much of our personal capabilities will give to technology?

My memory isn't what it used to be( and not just because I'm getting older)

I used to be able to recall dozens of phone numbers of friends and businesses and could commit a phone number or a book passage to memory with little effort.

Now that I have been using a smart phone to do those things I find that particular skill has atrophied.

I hear people say that not having to remember mundane things frees up your brain power for more intellectual and creative thought but I don't think it has.

How many skills have been lost to tech? I think of an old man I met as a kid who was an amazing woodworker.

But now anything he used to make by hand can be done on computerized milling machines.  Is it a good thing that those skills are being lost?

I don't think so.


----------



## Unkotare

Blues Man said:


> ...
> 
> Tech is of course a human construct.
> 
> ...



If so, the reverse is also true.


----------



## Blues Man

Unkotare said:


> Blues Man said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...
> 
> Tech is of course a human construct.
> 
> ...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If so, the reverse is also true.
Click to expand...


Is it?

Who has become more skilled in woodworking by using computerized milling machines?

Here's another example.

When i was learning to play guitar and wanted to learn a new song I had to learn it by ear.  I played small bits of the song over and over either on a turntable or tape recorder and it took days sometimes to get complicated licks down.

But it also developed my ear to better recognize relative pitches ( I do not have perfect pitch) and not only that but my ability to improvise and add my own take on songs was developed.

I see young players today obsessed with playing songs note for note but they become predictable and even monotonous in their improvising and expression.

There are many skills like these that are atrophied when one depends too much on technology.


----------



## Unkotare

Blues Man said:


> Unkotare said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Blues Man said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...
> 
> Tech is of course a human construct.
> 
> ...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If so, the reverse is also true.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Is it?
> 
> Who has become more skilled in woodworking by using computerized milling machines?
> 
> Here's another example.
> 
> When i was learning to play guitar and wanted to learn a new song I had to learn it by ear.  I played small bits of the song over and over either on a turntable or tape recorder and it took days sometimes to get complicated licks down.
> 
> But it also developed my ear to better recognize relative pitches ( I do not have perfect pitch) and not only that but my ability to improvise and add my own take on songs was developed.
> 
> I see young players today obsessed with playing songs note for note but they become predictable and even monotonous in their improvising and expression.
> 
> There are many skills like these that are atrophied when one depends too much on technology.
Click to expand...

You're missing the point.


----------

