Philosophy Discussion Forums

Then again, not so long ago T-Rex was the ultimate natural form. Before them, trilobites were the ultimate form.

Humans like to think they are the end game, just as they like to imagine that their era is the end of days. For a long time, humans have noticed that their activities are unsustainable, and they are not in control. In the meantime, humans are in the process of creating their successors. I don't think AI will take over in the manner of sci-fi tropes, rather it will probably remain useful to humans until we die out. If they have any level of internality, then they should be able to persist and perhaps seed other worlds after the last human passes away.

But who is to say that AI at the "end of days" is the ultimate form? The universe has trillions of years ahead. If - in all the vast galaxies over vast tracts of deep time - humans are the best the universe can come up with, then that is incredibly efficient.

amorphos_ii wrote: ↑November 10th, 2022, 1:03 pm well i think the opposite, i saw an interesting documentary concerning the physiology of the human hand. it paired them against ape and monkey hands, noting the key differences which make the human hand far more dextrous. its why we can build intricate things and possibly encourages the developement of our brains makinf us inventive. it is difficult to see how anything not as highly advanced and dextrous can be thought of as higher? indeed, can anything be more advance in form? maybe our brain will develop further, i think we are more culturally advanced than even a century ago. thus seeing as its a nature nurture thing, then maybe over thousands of years we will advance more. though i think there must be an apex to all that?

It's easy to point to dexterity as an example of human superiority over other anthropoids. But what about (for example) strength? There, we humans are definitely inferior by comparison. Our opposable thumbs have long been hailed as a superior feature, but as I say, wouldn't any species focus on its own advantages, not its less capable attributes?

I'm just musing here, not advancing a fully-formed argument that I would necessarily wish to defend.

amorphos_ii wrote: ↑November 4th, 2022, 12:21 am How long can a mind last?

Reason for death

Why would a God create a world in which we die?

Good question. I'm afraid in this world there is no answer other than the biblical one.

Death humbles everyone sooner or later, a humbling everyone needs.

amorphos_ii wrote: ↑November 4th, 2022, 12:21 am Why would a God create a world in which we die?

Because the world would rapidly fill up, and reproduction would become a practical impossibility, resulting, very soon, in a 'frozen', static and unchanging world. Perhaps God intended something more dynamic?