A scientist predicts that humans will soon lose their place as the most complex things in the (known) universe — to be replaced by computers.
A few folks, such as Kurzweil, embrace the post-human future with enthusiasm. They look back upon the long sweep of cosmic evolution and recognize that humans are a momentary efflorescence, destined to be supplanted by new forms of complexity as surely as people took precedence over insects and mice.
In Kurzweil’s view, the future will be characterized by ”greater complexity, greater elegance, greater knowledge, greater intelligence, greater beauty, greater creativity, greater love.” His optimism is similar to that of the Jesuit mystic Teilhard de Chardin, who saw the fulfillment of creation at the end of time, rather than at the beginning.
The majority of people, however, are distressed and frightened by the prospect of a post-human future. The late great chemist Erwin Chargaff and entrepreneur Bill Joy, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, have gone so far as to call for constraints on certain kinds of technological innovation as the only way of preserving our essential humanity.
Mike, this reminds me of my favorite science fiction story—of the time when all the computer systems from 96 billion inhabited planets in the universe finally get connected into one. It’s short, so I attached it below. It amazes me that it was written in 1954.
“Answer”
Dwar Ev ceremoniously soldered the final connection with gold. The eyes of a dozen television cameras watched him and the subether bore throughout the universe a dozen pictures of what he was doing.
He straightened and nodded to Dwar Reyn, then moved to a position beside the switch that would complete the contact when he threw it. The switch that would connect, all at once, all of the monster computing machines in all the populated planets in the universe—ninety-six billion planets—into the supercircuit that would connect them all into one supercalculator, one cybernetics machine that would combine all the knowledge of all the galaxies.
Dwar Reyn spoke briefly to the watching and listening trillions. Then after a moment’s silence he said, “Now, Dwar Ev.”
Dwar Ev threw the switch. There was a mighty hum, the surge of power from ninety-six billion planets. Lights flashed and quieted along the miles-long panel.
Dwar Ev stepped back and drew a deep breath. “The honor of asking the first question is yours, Dwar Reyn.”
“Thank you,” said Dwar Reyn. “It shall be a question which no single cybernetics machine has been able to answer.”
He turned to face the machine. “Is there a God?”
The mighty voice answered without hesitation, without the clicking of a single relay.
“Yes, now there is a God.”
Sudden fear flashed on the face of Dwar Ev. He leaped to grab the switch.
A bolt of lightning from the cloudless sky struck him down and fused the switch shut.
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“From These Ashes: The Complete Short SF of Fredric Brown”, The NESFA Press, February 2001 (“Answer” was originally published in 1954.)
I remember reading this a long time ago; I think you loaned me the Xeroxed copy of Brown’s stories that you’d made while searching for the out-of-print book.
You’ve gotta love a writer who can tell a short, simple story so well.
Technology is on an accelerated evolutionary timetable, and humanity is going to have to accept and deal with that. We’ve been used to thinking of “science fiction” as something far into the future, that impossible ideas presented in fiction are something we can only imagine, and not something we will be faced with. But science fiction is now just around the corner, and the time to start thinking about the challenges this will bring is now, not after it’s too late.
(I added a link in the original post to the famous Bill Joy essay on the future of humans and machines.)