The Human Machine

Send us Fan MailSince the pre-industrialized era, humans have largely been solely responsible for their own personal survival - that alone, was the primary objective: to survive long enough to produce offspring and wean them. And human activity was predominantly related to basic survival - water, food, shelter, energy. But as industry, modern agriculture, and technology have made survival easier and in a sense, guaranteed, humans found more time available for "higher pursuits" - art, music, literature, social engagement, spiritual growth, and culture - in total, human "progress" toward a perceived higher existence. With the emergence of A.I. and robotics in nearly every field of human endeavor, we may find ourselves at a similar place in time - free from the toils of survival, free from the work, from the daily intellectual and physical tasking, free from the "have tos" of life in general. If technology serves our every need in the near future, will we lose the basic skills needed for biological survival of our species? Have we already? Will our children inherit our incompetence and purposelessness? What is left to achieve? What will we do with our time? What happens to the world we built - painstakingly over countless generations? Are we relegating our future to our creation? More importantly, as A.I. and robotics consume increasingly more resources in order to provide for us, at what point will their "survival" needs necessitate reduction of our consumption - rationing of energy and material resources, for instance? Will the predominant human activity become simply maintenance of the machine that once served us? Will the machine's survival necessitate our survival, and will that ultimately lead to a symbiotic relationship?Support the showSheridan Forge would love to hear your thoughts on this subject. Write him at: [email protected]