Original oil painting by: Grandfather’s wife
Already computers are more powerful than humans in some cases … Technology is just another means of evolution. We are changing the definition of what it is to be human.
– roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro
Grandfather thinks back sixty ago, in a young married couples church group, saying he believed the next stage in human evolution would be a physiological discontinuity, where humankind would proceed as non-organic entities.
He remembers joking, “Pass the screwdriver, Honey, Let’s make a baby.”
Did Grandfather believe it then? Does he believe it now? What about competing scenarios, such as annihilation of humanity by independent, artificial intelligence?
He says: “I dont know.”
In Grandfather’s opinion, thoughtful people know one thing for sure: The more they know, the more they think they don’t know.
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About the Author: RD Blakeslee is an octogenarian in West Virginia who built his net worth by only investing in that which can be enjoyed during acquisition and throughout life, as opposed to papers in a drawer, like stocks and bonds. You can read more about him here.
Photos: Courtesy of the Blakeslee Family